awake. To gain awareness we need to unlearn what we know, or think we know. We need to let go of every piece of knowledge and just be. In the East they call it the way ‘neti neti’ which means ‘not this, not that.’ In the West we refer to it as ‘via negativa’ which means a way of nothingness.
We should see our lives as a passing of events without getting attached to anything. We should witness those events as they pass, but not lay claim on them. Rather, we should be a part of them without identifying them. We should experience them without saying, “This is mine” or “This is who I am.” Instead of saying, “This is my event, this is affecting me,” we should simply watch the events that occur throughout life.
We could use the analogy of going to a movie. When you watch the movie you might enjoy it, but you don’t identify with it. You realize that you are simply witnessing the movie. If we try to do the same with what occurs in our own lives this will grant us a more detached perspective, such as that of a witness. In this state you can experience events fully and richly without feeling that they define you.
The mind is always ready to identify events that occur. For example, we might tell ourselves, “Because I was kind to the lady at the store, that means I’m a nice person” or “Because I was rude on the freeway when that person cut me off, it means I’m a rude person.” We become so attached to our opinions, theories and interpretations of reality. This keeps us from achieving “just being.” The truth is, at our core we just are. We aren’t this or that simply because all labels eventually change. Anything that changes can’t be permanent. The only thing that is permanent, however, is you: the fact that you are. Identify with the fact that you are; identify with beingness. If you can do this, you’ll find that labels, both good and bad, dissipate so that you can experience the joy and bliss of being in the present.
What would happen if you let go of your opinions, theories and interpretations of reality and became more like the sky? Thoughts and opinions are merely clouds that come by, but we aren’t defined by them. Rather, we are the sky that bears witness to them. We should strive to return to being like the sky, which we have always been and always will be. We just forgot about our infinity because we were too busy identifying with different events and occurrences in our lives.
By losing the attachment to, and identification with, these events, we also stop suffering. The mind constantly wants to dwell on events, things and people. But instead of falling into this mindset, try to be with yourself, and see yourself as the one who witnesses everything. Explore who you are, without everything else that goes along with it. If you get back to the real root of who you are, you will find that in this state of beingness all the identifications will go away. You’ll be left with the infinite reality of now.
By not labeling, identifying, attaching, judging and desiring, you can break free of the prisons of your thoughts. You will gain pure beingness that contains the essential information of who and what you are, who you have always been and who you will always be. Experiencing this brings bliss and peace beyond any imagination.
You might not be able to stop your thoughts but if you witness them you gain that meditative, pristine view of your true self. You can then walk away from your thoughts so that you don’t allow them to identify with you anymore. We sometimes become obsessed about identifying our body and who we are. For instance, we might say, “I’m a kind person”, “I’m rich” or “I’m beautiful.” But these things are not who you are because they’re transitory and impermanent. They might change from one day to the next. But the only thing for certain is that you are. If you don’t identify with all the changes, what happens is that you truly begin to experience life in its true natural state: the beautiful state of beingness.
One of the best analogies for understanding this is the story of gold. Gold can be made into a variety of forms and shapes. But gold, no matter what shape it takes, is still gold at its origin. It may look like an ornate piece of jewelry or a coin, but at its core it is gold. When its life is over as a piece of jewelry or ornament, it is melted down into its original state and created into a new object. No matter what changes it undergoes, it maintains its gold state. That never changes. It has always been gold and it will always be gold. We, too, are like gold. Even when we were babies, we had no concepts. All we had was pure beingness. As time went on our minds started to cultivate interpretations of reality and started labeling others. With those labels came suffering.
All those identifications of love and hate change, but what doesn’t change is just being. If you stay in that state of just beingness, what you’ll find is that your life will improve significantly because you are moving back to your original, natural state which is beyond any description.
Meditation is a great technique to help one experience that natural state and go with the flow of life, blissfully immersed in it without restricting labels. When you are in the process of enlightenment, you are living your life and flowing with life without thinking. By following your breath, being still and quieting your mind, you learn to witness your thoughts without identifying them and you also give yourself a chance to just be. With a detached perspective, your life can change drastically because it will become quieter, more peaceful and much more enlightened.
Chapter 3
Dealing With Past, Present and Future: The Power of Here and Now
In life we experience two main emotions: one is pleasure, the other is pain. They come and they go; they are a normal part of the human experience. But what happens is that our minds try to maintain the good and push away the bad. It’s a kind of tug-of-war where we say “I want this” and “I don’t want that.” This has the result of causing struggles in our lives.
The mind tries to hold onto pleasurable events and push away or control painful events. It becomes restless and tries to dominate our experiences. What happens is that we suffer because we are hanging onto that which ultimately isn’t real. The mind tries to categorize, separate and divide events; it tries to seek pleasure and drive away pain. This process causes suffering. But what is real at the deepest level is our witnessing of the events (and what is there even before this witnessing occurs). What is real is the beautiful, perfect balance which we call the universe as well as the existence of the that which cannot be described. We are all that – an inexplicable, perfect entity.
Every one of us should see ourselves as the sky: the glorious, infinite sky. When a beautiful, fluffy cloud goes by and we jump into it, we say, “Oh, this is fun! I really like this!” and we want to experience it and stay there instead of letting it pass. When a dark cloud comes by, it is ominous and seems to cover us so that we feel we are the dark cloud. We might stay inside it because of all the pain and suffering. Ultimately, what happens is that we forget that we are not the clouds, but the sky. If we identify with being the infinite sky, when the dark cloud comes along bringing pain we will witness it but not identify with it. We won’t label it, but rather just experience it, and then it will go. The same is true with pleasures. When they come, we should enjoy them and witness them, but realize that they are not who we are. When we attempt to hang onto the pain or pleasure, we bring suffering on ourselves. If we just let them come and go, and flow with life, we can enjoy the beautiful light clouds while they’re there and realize that the dark clouds will pass. If we can witness this, we will return to the memory that we’re the infinite sky and all will be well.
At the deepest level, it’s important to know that we are even beyond witnessing, beyond the sky, beyond anything that can be described. We should try to be that. The sky and the clouds, they all come from us. We need to realize that everything occurs in the present moment, and this very moment is all that exists. The past and future exist but everything is happening in the present moment – right here, right now.
The present moment contains a true reality that the past and future can never possess, because they can only be held in the here and now. The past is
