There are many ways to talk about the aspects of what we are.
Most of us would say, if asked, that we are this human self. And that’s not wrong.
And yet, in our first-person experience, we may find that we more fundamentally are something else. When we look, we may find we are capacity for our world, and what all of our experiences – of this human self and the wider world – happens within and as.
SENSE FIELDS
To us, all our experiences – of this human self, the wider world, and anything – happens within and as our sense fields. It happens within sensations, sight, sound, smell, taste, movement, and thought, and any other sense we wish to include.
Here, there is no inherent inner or outer. It’s all part of the same field. And it’s all happening within and as what we are.
Any boundaries, labels, and stories come from an overlay from our thought field. It’s created by mental images and words. It’s not inherent in the world or what these images and words refer to.
CAPACITY
Even more fundamentally, our nature is capacity for all of this. Capacity for any and all content of experience.
We are what allows all our experiences, and takes the form of all our experiences.
Our nature is capacity, or void, or emptiness, or no-thing, taking the form of the whole world as it appears to us.
ONENESS
When we explore the sense fields, and notice it’s a seamless whole, we also find oneness. The sense fields are a seamless whole, and happen within and and as what we are.
Siimilarly, when we find ourselves as capacity for the world as it appears to us, the world is a seamless whole. It’s one.
Our nature is this oneness inherent in our experience. It’s always here, although it may be temporarily covered up if the mind takes it’s mental overlay – with its boundaries, labels, and stories – as inherent in what it refers to.
LOVE
Another word for oneness is love. When oneness notices itself, it’s naturally expressed as love.
It’s a love independent of any feelings or states. It’s the love of the left hand removing a splinter from the right.
And it can be, and often is, covered up by the mind holding (stressful) thoughts as true. It’s always here. It can be covered up. And the covering up is, in reality, love covering itself up. It’s part of the creativity and play of love.
STILLNESS & SILENCE
The world, to us, happens within and as what we are. It’s nature is it’s nature, independent of what temporary form it takes.
It doesn’t really move, even if it takes the form of movement. It’s silent even if it takes the form of all sorts of sound.
It’s inherently still and silent.
ALL THE MANY FORMS: HUMAN SELF & THE WIDER WORLD
All of this, to us, takes the form of all our experiences. All our inner experiences that are not on display to others. And all experiences of the wider world.
It takes the form of all our sensations, sights, sounds, smells, taste, emotions, thoughts, states, and so on. It takes the form of all beings as they appear to us. It takes the form of the universe as it appears to us, in bits and pieces.
ALL THE MANY FORMS: THE PLAY
All these many forms happen within and as what we are, and are expressions of the creativity and play of what we are.
That includes the mind not noticing what’s going on and temporarily taking itself to be a separate self, and something specific within itself.
And it includes the mind catching on to what’s going on, and finding itself as what’s described here, and perhaps far more.
HOW TO EXPLORE THIS
How can we explore this?
As I often mention, for me, the most direct and effective approaches are Headless experiments and the Big Mind process. These can give us a taste, and pointers for how to keep noticing and exploring it.
Investigating the sense fields, and how they combine to create our experinece, is another way that help undo many of the mental dynamics covering up the noticing of what we are. The Living Inquiries is a modern version of traditional Buddhist inquiry, and an effective way to explore this.
We can also do other forms of inquiry, like The Work of Byron Katie.
And there are innumerable practices that supports this noticing and living from this noticing, including heart-centered approaches (ho’oponopono, tonglen, prayer), body-centered approaches (yoga, tai chi, chigong, Breema), energy-sentered approaches (Vortex Healing), and so on.
As with any exploration, it’s helpful to have a certain orientation (receptivity, curiosity, sincerity, playfulness, recognizing we are our own final authority), a rough map, and a guide or guides who is familiar with the terrain.
Photo: The beach in Santa Marta by Alejandra Lobelo
INITIAL NOTES
capacity, oneness, love, stillness & silence, quiet bliss
all of the forms all of this takes, all of our experiences
all our subpersonalities, the wider world, etc.
….
When we explore the sense fields, and notice it’s a seamless whole, we also find oneness. We are what these sense fields happen within and as, and the fields themselves are oneness.
….
The world to us happens within and as what we are. It’s like the ocean taking innumerable forms, and remaining ocean.