Spiritual Realization and Fire Alarms…

.............. November 8, 2014

“What is spiritual realization? The belief that you are spirit? No, that’s a thought. A little closer to the truth than the thought that believes you are who your birth certificate says you are, but still a thought. Spiritual realization is to see clearly that what I perceive, experience, think, or feel is ultimately not who I am, that I cannot find myself in all those things that continuously pass away. The Buddha was probably the first human being to see this clearly, and so anata (no self) became one of the central points of his teaching. And when Jesus said, “Deny thyself,” what he meant was: Negate (and thus undo) the illusion of self. If the self – ego – were truly who I am, it would be absurd to “deny” it.

What remains is the light of consciousness in which perceptions, experiences, thoughts, and feelings come and go. That is Being, that is the deeper, true I. When I know myself as that, whatever happens in my life is no longer of absolute but only of relative importance. I honor it, but it loses its absolute seriousness, its heaviness. The only thing that ultimately matters is this: Can I sense my essential Beingness, the I Am, in the background of my life at all times: To be more accurate, can I sense my essential identity as consciousness itself? Or am I losing myself in what happens, losing myself in the mind, in the world?”

(from A New Earth, Eckhart Tolle, pp. 78-79.)

These words, from Eckhart Tolle, ring true in my experience and understanding of the deepest aspects of Life.

At times along life’s journey I have enjoyed moments of connection to Life and Life’s Mystery… perhaps it is that rather otherworldly experience of being part of some great oneness… contact with the Source of Life Energy or Spirit coursing through my being… and so immersed in this world in the presence of the present moment…

Sometimes we are forgetful of this connection or lost in the mass consciousness of our surroundings, various roles we play, or just in the maze of the rambling thoughts from yesterday and tomorrow in which our egoic mind so skillfully plays with us… accompanied by fears, regrets, hopes, comparisons… and on and on … Sometimes we need a reminder to look for this essence of identity… and a few practices come to mind to help us do this…

…Then, all of a sudden the fire alarm blasts throughout the building and I spring into action …from considering consciousness and identity… to the role of resident manager… and respond with actions of known protocols and procedures on how to act in in a fire emergency. And of course, I am now writing this 3 hours later… after the commotion and smoke has settled… No fire, just smoke from a resident falling asleep with something cooking and burning on the stove…

There’s nothing like short loud bursts from a fire alarm to bring you right into the moment and away from moments of contemplation… yet there continued a real sense of presence even in the blaring noise… when one is responsible for the safety of others, direct communication is essential… and once the fire responders arrive, they are in charge of the scene… and I move to outside the building to see if anyone has been left behind… We were missing 8 people. Since by this time I knew it was more like a fire drill than a dangerous emergency, I ask permission to re-enter and check on residents that were not outside. Only one person chose to stay inside because they didn’t think it was an actual fire.

So, where there is smoke… there isn’t always fire… but there was definitely hot energy present which could have become a dangerous fire…

…and now we return again to this now…

Our identities and roles in the world are part of the journey and path we take on… although I know I am not really a role… I have roles, but they are not who I am… just like I have a continuously changing internal landscape of bodily functions and feelings and thoughts, and sensations and images and whatever other things come to consciousness…. We may have many important identities… to ourselves and others…. Yet in the middle of it all…in the middle of the blaring world around us… we remain still… in the center of consciousness… one with Life Energy… one with Source Energy… one with that observing consciousness that is at its essence, Being… and from this place we respond… rather than react from unconscious patterns, fears, or other ego-related aspects….

If you’d like to recall, discuss, or explore this aspect of who we really are, feel free to be in touch….

 

Here are a few resources you may want to try… (some of these oldies, but goodies):

·       Exercises from Psychosynthesis, compiled by friend and mentor Dr. Tom Yoemans
http://synthesiscenter.org/articles/0011.pdf
.

·       Intro to Centering – the Disidentification exercise:
http://two.not2.org/psychosynthesis/exer/ctr-di.htm
.

·       Find a spot like a tree or park bench or an ocean… and just ‘Be” and see what emerges.

Love and best wishes,
John Hutchinson

John@sunhutch.com