The Wonder of Being

Key Takeaways

1. Life is a dance of appearances in the present moment

This is all there is – what a deadly message for the seeker!

Present-moment awareness. Life unfolds as a continuous stream of experiences arising in the here and now. Our tendency to grasp at permanence creates the illusion of a separate self moving through time. In reality, there is only the ever-changing dance of appearances:

• Sights, sounds, sensations, thoughts, and emotions constantly arise and pass away
• Each moment is utterly new and unprecedented
• The present is all that truly exists - past and future are mental constructs

By releasing our attachment to stories about past and future, we can fully inhabit the aliveness of this moment. This simple yet profound shift in perspective reveals the inherent freedom and wholeness that is always already here.

2. The search for enlightenment perpetuates separation

The seeking implies that there is something to be found, and somebody there to find it.

Seeking reinforces illusion. The very act of searching for enlightenment or awakening creates and maintains the sense of a separate self who lacks something. This perpetuates the core delusion that freedom and wholeness are somewhere else, rather than recognizing our inherent completeness:

• Spiritual seeking often becomes another form of ego gratification
• Beliefs about future enlightenment obscure present freedom
• The seeker is the sought - there is no separate self to be liberated

True freedom comes from seeing through the illusion of the seeker, not from attaining some special state or experience. When seeking falls away, what remains is the simple wonder of being.

3. Pain and suffering arise from resistance to what is

Pain is not the problem: I am the problem.

Acceptance transforms experience. Physical and emotional pain are inevitable aspects of human life, but suffering arises from our mental resistance to pain and our attempts to escape present experience. By fully allowing what is, without trying to change or escape it, we discover a profound freedom:

• Pain is a sensation; suffering is our mental reaction to pain
• Resistance creates an imaginary "me" who suffers
• Accepting pain dissolves the sufferer, revealing spacious awareness

This radical acceptance doesn't mean passivity, but rather a profound openness to life as it unfolds. From this space of allowing, wise and compassionate action can arise naturally.

4. Death is the ultimate liberation from the illusion of self

To look death in the face, and to fall on the floor laughing, that is enlightenment.

Embracing impermanence. Our fear of death stems from our identification with a separate self that we believe will cease to exist. Paradoxically, fully facing the reality of our mortality can liberate us from this core delusion:

• Death is the end of the personal story, not of awareness itself
• Recognizing our essential nature as timeless presence frees us from fear
• Embracing impermanence allows us to fully live and love

By continually remembering the inevitability of death, we are freed from our petty concerns and awaken to the preciousness of each moment. This intimate encounter with our mortality reveals the deathless essence of our true nature.

5. True love dissolves the boundaries between self and other

To love fully, to love wholeheartedly, is to love beyond all boundaries, all duality, all notions of right and wrong, of good and bad, of this and that, of you and I.

Unconditional openness. Genuine love arises when we recognize our essential non-separation from others and from life itself. This love transcends personal preference or attachment, revealing the inherent intimacy of all experience:

• Love is not something we do, but what we are
• True intimacy dissolves the imaginary boundaries between self and other
• Unconditional love includes even difficult emotions and experiences

This all-embracing love is our natural state when we release our attempts to grasp or possess experience. It manifests as a profound tenderness and care for all of life, including our own struggles and imperfections.

6. Freedom is found in embracing the void at the heart of existence

Everything is empty, as Buddhists have always known. I find no basis for anything, nothing upon which anything can stand.

Resting in groundlessness. At the core of our being lies a vast emptiness or void that we typically try to avoid or fill. Paradoxically, embracing this groundlessness reveals our true nature as boundless awareness:

• All forms and experiences arise from and dissolve back into emptiness
• The void is not mere nothingness, but pregnant with infinite potential
• Resting in not-knowing opens us to the mystery of existence

By releasing our attempts to find solid ground or ultimate answers, we discover a profound ease and freedom. This emptiness is inseparable from the fullness of life, allowing for spontaneous and joyful participation in the dance of existence.

7. Awakening is recognizing the intimacy of ordinary experience

This message is really about living in the moment! This moment is all there is! It's all we have! This could be your last moment!

Embracing the ordinary. Spiritual awakening is not about attaining special states or experiences, but rather recognizing the inherent wonder and completeness of ordinary life. This shift in perspective reveals the sacredness of every moment:

• Enlightenment is drinking a cup of tea or washing the dishes
• The extraordinary is found in the utterly ordinary details of life
• Every experience is a unique and unprecedented expression of the whole

By fully inhabiting our immediate experience without seeking anything beyond it, we discover the intimacy and aliveness that is always already here. This recognition dissolves the imaginary boundary between the sacred and the mundane, revealing all of life as a miraculous unfolding.

Last updated: November 18, 2024

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