CHAPTER EIGHT

October 15th, 2024    Be still, be quiet, wait without expectation.

Because I am going to be away for a few weeks, some of the passages I have gathered here are short observations to think upon. I hope to write more fully another time.

PRACTICE

Enlightenment is vague, Life is real. That reality comes to us through Light.

 

In chapter seven I referred to Kurozumi Munetada, who absorbed the sun into his being. He laid himself totally open to Life and thereafter lived by, and through Life. His intention to do so began at a very early age. His was a rare path through existence, not open to many.

What we can learn from such folk is the Truth of The Near Life Experience.

 

That is, we can have confidence concerning our intention. The kind of faith we may have in an experienced surgeon about to cut our body open. We give ourselves over to her/his skill.

It is in the same way that we let go of self and give ourselves up to the demonstrated Truth of Life.

Our constant ‘practice’ is not a formulaic set of actions, but a releasing of hesitation, a letting go of control, expectations, and desired outcomes.

It is a trust that Life ultimately acts upon our existence positively, such that in time we will be brought to understand what we know, which as yet remains vague (yet certain).

Penetrating our existence, Light is a means whereby we can viscerally experience the symbiotic relationship with Life.

                                                                                                    See 'Light' in Chapter four

We may not become as Kurozumi, but we can open to Life such that it will bring maximum health and well-being to our body and mind. And with a strong intention, knowing with certainty, we open ourselves to the possibility of self-healing our afflictions.

KNOWING

On the home page I recount this seminal feeling of knowing. ‘It was always there, just out of reach… There was no denying its being there, just beyond my comprehension’.

 

Some assert that the knowing is a product of religious teachings over many millennia, but close observation does not bear that assumption out.

As a child I already knew, I simply couldn’t articulate that knowing, and I now understand why. It is a truth that cannot be framed linguistically as it is not thought formulated.  

True knowing is internalized Life.

 

It is the primary strand in the weave of symbiosis between Life and existence.

It is heart conscience, not mind consciousness, the difference is subtle as one would expect of such a close synergy, but vital.

One cannot disregard consciousness, but one can ignore conscience!

By overlaying Life with projected anthropomorphic self-images, we have assumed it to be a form of consciousness like our own. In so doing we inhibit its pulsations.

 

Ours is relative consciousness, confined by the limitations of the corporality of our brain function. The brain is a receiver of external stimuli, not an original generator, it can take in and pass on stimuli, hence it can learn, gain knowledge and share it, but it cannot know. It is entirely an existence phenomenon.

 

An example of the difference between primary Life consciousness and relative existence consciousness is that one can decide to be kind, but one cannot decide upon Love.

RELIGION

Those ‘anthropomorphic self-images’; Gods, reflect our ego and the fear of its own end; death.

Such constructions of the mind overlay the innate connection within us for Life. In so doing we exist in a state of tension, born of knowing that we rest the truth of our being upon invention, not reality.

 

This has been, and remains, the way we build what we call civilization. The very civilization that now faces its own potential destruction. Practically the whole of human history is an acting out of fear and tension.

We know better. Our hearts know better. Life within us knows better. The better way would be to trust our existence to Life and let go of our fear-filled self-projections.

 

Trust requires faith. Faith in the Truth that is reality, not invention. The Near Life Experience is True, any interpretations made of it are inventions.

We need courage to strip religion down to its heart, to trust beyond fear, to let go of control.

To have faith means to give oneself to Life, such that in time what is eternally known is known now.

                    DEVOTION

To give oneself to Life is an act of devotion. Whilst we cannot decide to Love, we can decide to make our devotion to Life. We can put in place a regular form of devotion, and/or keep vigilance moment by moment remaining open to Life. In so doing we experience the arising and strengthening of gratitude.

See ‘Gratitude’ in Chapter three.

DROUGHT

Because we don’t grow up drinking enough water, our bodies become drought resistant, like desert plants. We stay alive because we get just enough.

Our connection to Life suffers from exactly the same dearth. Being raised almost entirely with only an Existence understanding of ourselves, we are mostly uninformed of Life. Existence is a Life resistant state of being, thus we grow our societies suffering a deficiency of its essential nutrients Light and Love.

We usually only pay attention to sunlight when it is taken from us, with clouds and rain. Sometimes we ‘use’ it; to tan ourselves, dry washing, and take for granted that it will ripen our crops.

 

Without it we would not exist, yet in our denial and ignorance we are gradually polluting the atmosphere and ground, blocking its light with darkness.

That leaves the sun’s existent element, heat, without Life constraint. That heat, like all unrestrained existence becomes destructive.  

I realize you may be thinking about now that I’ve gone overboard, lost the plot in imputing intention to the sun.

 Although the sun, like everything else, is existence in symbiotic relationship with Life, it is not, as far as we are aware, like us, a self-knowing form of consciousness.

It is our intention, and only our intention, that is causal.

Because we fail to drink enough water, we eat too much food, and our bodies suffer. Because we fail Life, we over Exist, and the world suffers from too much stuff.

 

WEALTH

Wealth is not money, that’s a disguise. Wealth is the accumulation of intention.

Those individuals whose intention was entirely centered upon Life did not accumulate wealth.

 

Jesus was without wealth, Kurozumi Munetada and Ramana Maharshi were without wealth. Those, and others like them, did not place their intention upon Existence, they existed lightly, and in so doing brought forth Life in great abundance.

Their touch upon the world was enhancing not destructive, healing not hurting, peaceful not conflicting.

Our wealth accumulation is the root cause of what we are now experiencing; a destructive weight pressing us down, isolating us from the fullness of Life.

Humanity set out certain of its desired goal, wealth, only to now find itself in a ‘mid-life Crisis’ of questioning meaning and finding wealth has no meaning.

    

INTELLECTUALISM

‘The glossy surface of our civilization hides a real intellectual decadence’.

This quote by Simone Weil reveals the way in which we fail to measure our capability to reason against the Life impulse held in the heart.

We let intellectualism hold sway over what we know, wanting ourselves, our ego, to be the owners of knowing through the exercise of reason alone.

Thus it is, that we have prostituted reason in the service of Existence alone; the accumulation of wealth.

There’s nothing wrong with reason. Used as a means of decerning what Life moves within us - it formulates impulse into action.

Such action then naturally accords with and enhances Life instead of repressing it.

PAST NOTES

I think I mentioned I would 'treat you' to some insights into past thoughts and observations I have made on the way. Here is a note from 'This Moment - thoughts on life and death, and love'.

May you be well, may your days and nights be filled with Life.

 

Comments and questions - sucinno@hotmail.com   Subject: Nearlife.