October 20th

One seamless dance

In enlightenment pointers, you hear about a realization into your true nature as formlessness (sometimes described as silence, space, emptiness, consciousness, awareness, nothingness, or spirit).When thought looks for formlessness, it can't find it.  That is because thought is form.  Practices, inquiry, and a host of other methods tend to keep the mind lost in form.

Of course, enlightenment is not about stopping thought.  Only another thought would seek to do that.  Enlightenment is about seeing.  Seeing happens only now.  Every attempt to move into some future moment of seeing is actually just thought arising now.

Sit in your chair, walk around, or go outside.  It doesn't matter.  Just notice what is already here.  There is already space all around the body.  That same space is within the body.  You don't sense it?  It can't be found through thinking about it.  It is already here, before concepts or images about it arise.  Notice that silence is already here.  It gives birth to every sound.  You don't sense it?  Silence can't be found through thought.  Stop looking there.

You are the conceptual movement of mind known as me that believes it must do something to realize true nature.  But in seeing what is already here, true nature is revealed effortlessly.  True nature is this movement of form (i.e., thought, objects, time, sound) dancing with this formlessness (i.e., space, awareness, silence).  True nature is this one seamless dance happening now.

Michael Brown

From PART V: 3. 

Why is it necessary to continue our breathing        practice after Session 10?

(Continuation...)

  The moment our life experience begins feeling heavier, and we put two and two together and realize we are not attending to our breathing, we re-enter our routine (our route in). The moment we recommence the breathing practice it is as though a veil is lifted and light comes pouring through our endeavours. Consequently, we comprehend the power of this simple present moment awareness activator. In this way these unscheduled breaks in our daily breathing routine come to show us the power of the practice.Even though we complete The Presence Process, it may still be challenging for some of us to comprehend what is being accomplished when we attend to our 15 minutes breathing twice a day. Sometimes the best way to integrate what the breathing accomplishes is by not attending to it for about a week or two. Sometimes, despite our intent to keep up with our practice, our Inner Presence facilitates us into entering this experience so we achieve this level of integration. When we cease our practice for a while, we notice that the resonance of our life experience changes; it is heavier, more unconscious, and decidedly less joyful. We also forget to wield our perceptual tools, we forget they even exist, and consequently re-enter reactive behavior. The majority of souls on earth operate in a time-based paradigm; when we do not maintain a frequency enabling us to ride above these unconscious waves, the current of the majority drags us under again. We remain vulnerable to these collective currents until we accumulate a powerful level of present moment awareness. We remain vulnerable until we activate emotional body awareness.   

Chapter 87  

Keep the Mind Silent And You Shall Discover

(Continuation...)

Q: Why then all these exhortations to practice Yoga and seek reality? They make me feel empowered and responsible, while in fact it is time that does all.

M: This is the end of Yoga -- to realize independence. All that happens, happens in and to the mind, not to the source of the 'I am'. Once you realize that all happens by itself, (call it destiny, or the will of God or mere accident), you remain as witness only, understanding and enjoying, but not perturbed.