LOSS OF NOW:
THE CORE DELUSION
EVEN IF I COMPLETELY ACCEPT THAT ULTIMATELY TIME IS AN ILLUSION, WHAT DIFFERENCE IS THAT GOING TO MAKE IN MY LIFE? I STILL HAVE TO LIVE IN A WORLD THAT IS COMPLETELY DOMINATED BY TIME.
INTELLECTUAL AGREEMENT IS JUST ANOTHER BELIEF AND WON'T MAKE MUCH DIFFERENCE TO YOUR LIFE. TO REALIZE THIS TRUTH, YOU NEED TO LIVE IT, WHEN EVERY CELL OF YOUR BODY IS SO PRESENT THAT IF FEELS VIBRANT WITH LIFE, AND WHEN YOU CAN FEEL THAT LIFE EVERY MOMENT AS THE JOY OF BEING, WHEN IT CAN BE SAID THAT YOU ARE FREE OF TIME.
BUT I STILL HAVE TO PAY THE BILLS TOMORROW, AND I AM STILL GOING TO GROW OLD AN DIE JUST LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE. SO HOW CAN I EVER SAY THAT I AM FREE OF TIME?
TOMORROW'S BILLS ARE NOT THE PROBLEM. THE DISSOLUTION OF THE PHYSICAL BODY IS NOT A PROBLEM. LOSS OF NOW IS THE PROBLEM. OR RATHER, THE CORE DELUSION THAT TURNS A MERE SITUATION, EVENT, OR EMOTION INTO A PERSONAL PROBLEM AND INTO SUFFERING, LOSS OF NOW IS LOSS OF BEING.
TO BE FREE TO TOME IS TO BE FREE OF THE PSYCHOLOGICAL NEED OF PAST FOR YOUR IDENTITY AND FUTURE FOR YOUR FULLFILLMENT. IT REPRESENTS THE MOST PROFOUND TRANSFORMATION OF CONSCIOUSNESS THAT YOU CAN IMAGINE. IN SOME RARE CASES, THIS SHIFT IN CONSCIOUSNESS HAPPESN DRAMATICALLY, ONCE AND FOR ALL. WHEN IT DOES, IT USUALLY COMES ABOUT THROUGH TOTAL SURRENDER IN THE MIDST OF INTENSE SUFFERING. MOST PEOPLE, HOWEVER, HAVE TO WORK AT IT.
WHEN YOU HAVE HAD YOUR FIRST FEW GLIMPSE OF THE TIMELESS STATE OF CONSCIOUSNESS, YOU BEGIN TO MOVE BACK AND FORTH BETWEEN THE DIMENSIONS OF TIME AND PRESENCE. FIRST YOU BECOME AWARE OF JUST HOW RARELY YOUR ATTENTION IS TRULY IN THE NOW. BUT TO KNOW THAT YOU ARE NOT PRESENT IS A GREAT SUCCESS. THAT KNOWING IS PRESENCE- EVEN IF INITIALLY IT ONLY LASTS FOR A COUPLE OF SECONDS OF CLOCK TIME BEFORE IT IS LOST AGAIN. THEN, WITH INCREASING FREQUENCY, YOU CHOOSE TO HAVE THE FOCUS OF YOUR CONSCIOUSNESS IN THE PRESENT MOMENT RATHER THAN IN THE PAST OF FUTURE, AND WHENEVER YOU REALIZE THAT YOU HAD LOST THE NOW, YOU ARE ABLE TO STAY IN IT NOT JUST FOR A COUPLE OF SECONDS, BUT FOR LONGER PERIODS AS PERCEIVED FROM THE EXTERNAL PERSPECTIVE OF CLOCK TIME. SO BEFORE YOU ARE FIRMLY ESTABLISHED IN THE STATE OF PRESENCE, WHICH IS TO SAY BEFORE YOU ARE FULLY CONSCIOUS, YOU SHIFT BACK AND FORTH FOR A WHILE BETWEEN CONSCIOUSNESS AND UNCONSCIOUSNESS. BETWEEN THE STATE OF PRESENCE AND THE STATE OF MIND IDENTIFICATION. YOU LOSE THE NOW, AND YOU RETURN TO IT, AGAIN AND AGAIN, EVENTUALLY, PRESENCE BECOMES YOUR PREDOMINANT STATE.
FOR MOST PEOPLE, PRESENCE IS EXPERIENCED EITHER NEVER AT ALL OR ONLY ACCIDENTALLY AND BRIEFLY ON RARE OCCASIONS WITHOUT BEING RECOGNIZED FOR WHAT IT IS. MOST HUMANS ALTERNATE NOT BETWEEN CONSCIOUSNESS AND UNCONSCIOUSNESS BUT ONLY BETWEEN DIFFERENT LEVELS OF UNCONCIOUSNESS.
THE INNER PURPOSE OF YOUR LIFE'S JOURNEY
I CAN SEE THE TRUTH OF WHAT YOU ARE SAYING, BUT I STILL THINK THAT WE MUST HAVE PURPOSE ON OUR LIFE'S JOURNEY. OTHERWISE WE JUST DRIFT, AND PURPOSE MEANS, FUTURE, DOESN'T IT? HOW DO WE RECONCILE THAT WITH LIVING IN THE PRESENT?
WHEN YOU ARE ON A JOURNEY, IT IS CERTAINLY HELFUL TO KNOW WHERE YOU ARE GOING OR AT LEAST THE GENERAL DIRECTION IN WHICH YOU ARE MOVING, BUT DON'T FORGET, THE ONLY THING THAT IS ULTIMATELY REAL ABOUT YOUR JOURNEY IS THE STEP THAT YOU ARE TAKING AT THIS MOMENT. THAT'S ALL THESE EVER IS.
YOUR LIFE'S JOURNEY HAS AN OUTER PURPOSE AND AN INNER PURPOSE. THE OUTER PURPOSE IS TO ARRIVE AT YOUR GOAL OR DESTINATION, TO ACCOMPLIES FUTURE. BUT IF YOUR DESTINATION, OR THE STEPS YOU ARE GOING TO BECOME MORE IMPORTANT TO YOU THAT THE STEP YOU ARE TAKING NOW, THEN YOU COMPLETELY MISS THE JOURENY'S INNER PURPOSE, WHICH HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH WHERE YOU ARE GOING OR WHAT YOU ARE DOING, BUT EVERYTHING TO DO WITH HOW. IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH FUTURE BUT EVERYTHING TO DO WITH THE QUALITY OF YOUR CONSCIOUSNESS AT THIS MOMENT. THE OUTER PURPOSE BELONGS TO THE HORIZONTAL DIMENSIONS OF SPACE AND TIME, THE INNER PURPOSE CONCERNS A DEEPENING OF YOUR BEING IN THE VERTICAL DIMENSION STEPS, YOUR INNER JOURNEY ONLY HAS ONE, THE STEP YOU ARE TAKING RIGHT NOW. AS YOU BECOME MORE DEEPLY AWARE OF THIS ONE STEP, YOU REALIZE THAT IT ALREADY CONTAINS WITHIN ITSELF ALL THE OTHER STEPS AS WELL AS THE DESTINATION. THIS ONE STEP THEN BECOMES TRANSFROMED INTO AN EXRESSION OF PERFECTION, AN ACT OF GREAT BEAUTY AND QUALITY. IT WILL HAVE TAKEN YOU INTO BEING, AND THE LIGHT OF BEING WILL SHINE THROUGH IT. THIS IS BOTH THE PURPOSE AND THE FULLFILLMENT OF YOUR INNER JOURNEY, THE JOURNEY INTO YOURSELF.
