Coming clean
………or “word-of-the-day”……….
Last night’s Michael Jeffreys Nonduality Community meeting on zoom extended an invitation to take a closer look at what is really happening, what is really present.
It touched upon a variety of areas of interest around the general question of the “me” and its characteristics:
- wanting to feel better
- wanting to matter, be important, be relevant, wanting attention, wanting to be right, etc.
- hoping that with enough effort or luck there will be salvation, liberation, awakening, absolvement from guilt, etc.
The “me” seeks some form of completion, hoping that by finding the missing peace(s) it will be whole once again.
Those elements are driving the imaginary “me”, giving it purpose and drive to keep striving to meet its objectives.
All this happens within the context of an adopted model of reality, where the personal self, or the “me”, is seeking to gain, keep or re-gain control over what is taking place. It is an endless endeavor, or as some might say, a losing game: The very assumption of a position, identification with a particular role that is driving a particular agenda, presupposes a sense of separation from wholeness. And that very sense of separation results in the driving force for the personal self to reconnect with the whole.
“So what’s the problem” some might argue – “isn’t it all this anyway”?
Yes, it is indeed “all this” already – so the conversation about it is simply a play of fictitious characters on a fabricated stage following an assumed script.
Our thoughts, appearing as “the voice in our head”, are the central office, the command center, from where the “me” operates and conducts its business: How can I make this better? How can I become whole again? And on and on it goes…………
Let’s do an experiment: What would it be like to live in a world without a “me”?
Such a world that is void of a central hub, from where the conclusions are drawn, the decisions are made and the interpretations are derived.
So here, beyond such a model that implies there is time, space, identity, purpose, etc. – putting all that aside for the sake of the experiment: What is that like? What remains present? – Initially, there may be a sense of surprise, perhaps a remaining desire to understand, explain and describe. However, once all of that is put aside, or, is no longer maintained and supported with attention, is there anything at all? Perhaps nothing that is continually filled with the variety of appearances we call “our life”?
Yes, ultimately, when no one is here to experience, understand and describe what is happening, what remains is “this”. For those that struggle with the word “this” – call it whatever you prefer. It won’t matter – as we all know, words are just pointers, metaphors, or simply stories.
That, dear friends and co-hummers, is the “word-of-the-day” in the aftermath of a Wednesday-night-meeting that shed light on those areas the above rant is reflecting on.
To be continued and see you all on Sunday at 4 PST.
