The Essence of Who We Are: Living in the Now
Friday, August 19th, 2011The infinite reality of now… that’s what life is really all about. In many ways, we’ve created a prison around ourselves. The walls are all these limiting ideas of who we are, who others are, and what life is. Practice neti neti: not this, not that. Let go all the false identifications you have for yourself and everyone around you that limits both you and everyone in your life. We create a prison not only for ourselves but for everyone else, through our limiting attitudes and thoughts. It’s time to let the prison door swing open.
Let’s allow the walls to crumble that encase our minds. We do this by being with what is. When we let go of the labeling, the judging, the attaching, the craving, and the identifying, what’s left is pure I am-ness. In that simple state of being, who and what we are becomes apparent. It is, always have been, and always will be.
When we experience this, it cannot be described in words, but we come to a place of bliss and peace beyond imagination. There is only one thing in the entire universe that is for certain, and that is you. That you are. Anytime you add a label to who you are, that label can change. That label will change. So that label cannot be not the real, eternal you.
Let’s get back to being who we are. Getting rid of all the concepts, experiencing life in its pristine, raw form. Let us flow with life without embroiling ourselves in the constant internal mind chatter. If we allow ourselves to observe, to witness our racing thoughts, like clouds against the sky, they dissolve and float away.
In meditation, we practice clearing the mind of thoughts for a brief period of time. In enlightenment – the goal of meditation – we live our entire life without mind chatter and limiting judgments. We bask in the pure joy of every moment, simply flowing with life.
While witnessing the thoughts, you may find they don’t stop coming, but even just observing them brings us to a meditative, pristine state of awareness, where we can sense our true self and who we really are. The way to get there is to walk away from the repetitive thoughts, the mind chatter, and not identify with that anymore.
We get so obsessed with identifying with our bodies and personalities. “I’m kind.” “I’m mean.” “They’re rich.” “He’s popular.” “She’s beautiful.” “I’m poor.” But those cannot be who we are, because they are impermanent, transitory labels. The only thing for certain is that we exist. We need to identify with that.
Everything exists because we exist. If we don’t identify with all that changes, what happens is, we begin to experience life in its truest, most natural state: the beautiful state of pure being. And that is a state of indescribable bliss.
One of the best analogies for the nature of life is gold. Gold can be made into a variety of forms, and they can be very beautiful. Gold can look ornate and can take on many shapes. But no matter what form it assumes, gold is always gold. That’s it essential nature. It may display as an ornate piece of jewelry. It may become a shiny chain or an expensive coin. It may become a ring of promise for two people in love. But fundamentally, in their essential nature, the chain, the coin, and the ring are always gold.
When the life of a piece of gold jewelry is over, it is melted down into its original state: gold. Then it is made now into a new object that becomes worn or broken and eventually gets melted down again. This can go on for thousands of years, as the gold gets made into different objects, recycled each time into something new. But every time, it is able to maintain its gold state through all of the changes. Its essence – that which is most important about it – never alters. It will always be – simply, serenely, and gloriously – gold.
What stays the same for us is that we always are consciousness. That is our “gold” state, our essential nature. Consciousness can take on many shapes and forms, but it remains consciousness, began as consciousness, and always will be consciousness. See yourself as that: pure is-ness.
When you were a baby, you had no opinions, no concepts. All you had was pure beingness: your gold state. As time went on, your mind began to cultivate interpretations of reality and started labeling things, others, and yourself. With those labels came limitation and suffering.
What if you started losing those labels and got back to just being, experiencing life in its pure, raw form – which is really what life is. All those labels aren’t the reality. They are only going to change. Even labels you give yourself – today you think you’re the greatest and tomorrow you think you’re the worst. But ultimately you are neither outstanding nor horrible: you simply are.
Our likings and dislikes change, but what doesn’t change is the beingness. If we stay in that state of simple I am-ness, we find life gets much better, because we’ve gone back to our original state, which is truly beyond description.
It’s beyond description, but anyone can experience it. One of the best ways to do that right now, as you move in the direction of awakening or enlightenment, is to meditate. Meditation quiets the mind and brings us to a state of serenity. It’s a wonderful way to lose all the chatter in the head, and just be.
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Dr. Robert Puff, Ph.D. is a meditation expert, international speaker and creates a podcast and articles that explores the world of Enlightenment available at http://www.EnlightenmentPodcast.com. He also has a blog at http://www.Meditation-Enlightenment.com. He is the creator of the weekly Meditation For Health Podcast, available at http://www.MeditationForHealthPodcast.com. He has a weekly podcast that explores the world of Happiness at http://www.HappinessPodcast.org. If you would like to contact Dr. Puff, his e-mail address is [email protected]
