On the path of self-exploration, one of the basic insights is that there is nowhere to go.
What does it mean?
It’s something we each have to explore for ourselves.
The essence may be that to us, the world happens within and as what we are, so there is nowhere to go.
And this has a few different aspects.
TIME
In my own first-person experience, the three times – past, future, and present – happen here and now.
My images and stories of past and future, and any images and stories I have about specific past and futures, happen here and now.
I cannot find it anywhere else.
In terms of time, there is nowhere else to go.
SPACE
I find the same with space.
Whatever happens in my experience – of this human self or the wider world or anything else – happens within my sense fields. It’s all happening within and as what I am.
There is nowhere to go, because to me, whatever I am experiencing happens within and as what I am.
I CANNOT ESCAPE THIS EXPERIENCE
I cannot escape the experience I have here and now.
It’s already allwed and already here.
Whatever I do is too late. I cannot escape it. There is nowhere to go.
I CANNOT ESCAPE WHAT’S UNRESOLVED IN ME
Similarly, I cannot escape whatever is unresolved in me.
It’s here. Whether it’s dormant or activated, it colors my perception, choices, and life.
And life will activate it and bring it to the surface.
If it is unresolved, it’s here, colors my life, and will be activated.
There is nowhere to go.
PRACTICAL CONSEQUENCES
I can recognize this, in an immediate and visceral way, through different forms of inquiry.
And it has a few practical consequences.
If there is nowhere to go, what does that mean?
For me, it mainly means to befriend what’s here. If there is nowhere to go, it doesn’t make sense to continue to actively fight with what’s here. It makes more sense, in the long run, to befriend it.
These days, I tend to do this by exploring contractions in me. A life situation may trigger a contraction. I notice where I feel it in the body and ground my attention in the sensations. I thank it for protecting me and stay with that thankfulness until I notice a good shift. I check for what universals it may need or want, and what lack it’s coming from, and notice my system giving it to this part of me and rest with it. I notice its nature, and rest in that noticing. I invite it to notice its own nature, and allow it to rest in that noticing.
This supports awakening (it helps the contraction to awaken to its nature). It supports healing. (Contractions are unhealed and unresolved parts of us.) And it supports living from awakening. (The more healed, the easier it is to live from noticing our nature in more situations.)
All of this fits with ordinary approaches to our experiences and life. If something needs to be taken care of, I take care of it. And if a contraction comes up in me, I can befriend it and help it recognize its own nature.
INITIAL DRAFT…..
One of the basic insights on a self-exploration path is that there is nowhere to go.
What does this mean?
For me, it has a few different sides, and there are a few different ways to talk about it.
TIME
To me, past and future happens here and now. My ideas of past and future, and any ideas I have about specific past and futures, happen here and now. I cannot find the past or future anywhere else.
For me, the three times – past, future, and present – happen here and now. I cannot find it anywhere else.
In terms of time, there is nowhere else to go.
SPACE
The same is the case with space.
Whatever happens in my experience – of this human self or the wider world or anything else – happens within my sense fields. It’s all happening within and as what I am.
There is nowhere to go, because to me, the part of existence I am experiencing – whatever that part is – happens within and as what I am.
CANNOT ESCAPE THIS EXPERIENCE
I cannot escape this experience. Life, mind, and space allows it.
It’s already allwed and already here.
Whatever I do is too late. I cannot escape it. There is nowhere to go.
My only option is to make friends with it, as best as I can.
ASPECTS OF THE SAME
These are all aspects of the same.
My ideas of future, past, and present all happen here and now.
Whatever I experience happens within and as what I am.
And I cannot escape what’s already here.
PRACTICAL CONSEQUENCES
Recognizing this, through different types of inquiries and in an immediate and visceral way, has a few different consequences.
The main one is befriending what’s here. Whatever is here, and especially my reaction to it, is something to explore and befriend and recognize for what it is. There are not many other options, especially not in the long run. It’s unavoidable.
The other is that this doesn’t preclude ordinary approaches to our experiences and life. If something needs to be taken care of, I can take care of it. (I’ll go to a doctor if I have serious health problems. I’ll pay the bills. And so on.) And if a contraction comes up in me, I can befriend it and help it recognize its own nature.
These days, I tend to explore contractions in me and befriend these. Thank you for protecting me. What is your need and want, and what lack do you come from? What is your true nature? How is it – for you and me – to rest in noticing your nature?
INITIAL NOTES
Nowhere to go
Past/future happen here now
Literally imagined
Also, all is what I am
I am this field of experience
My experience of anything is made up of what I am