utterly one - spira

Utterly One
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See clearly in this moment that we are the Knowing Presence to which, in which (and ultimately, as which) the mind, the body and the world appear. Normally we consider that ‘I’ (this knowing Presence) resides inside the body or as the body. But one clear look at our experience shows that the body and the world both appear in this Knowing Presence, just like our thoughts.

The mind, the body and the world are always moving, changing, appearing, disappearing, but Presence never moves, changes, appears or disappears. ‘I’ (Presence) was never born, never grows old and never dies.

When the mind, the body and the world are present, they are so utterly, intimately one with Presence as to be indistinguishable, inseparable from it. In any experience, there are never two things: Presence.., and the objects of the mind, body or world. These apparent two are not even intimately connected. They are closer than that: they are utterly one. When the mind, the body and the world are present, they are the shape that this Presence is taking at that moment. And their substance is only this Knowing Presence that we intimately know ourselves to be.

If we look at this Knowing Presence, we find nothing objective. And yet we know beyond any doubt that it is both Knowing and Present; that it is what we Are. However, it has no objective qualities and cannot therefore be found in the mind, the body or the world.

The belief that we are separate entities located somewhere inside the body is simply a belief. One clear look at our experience shows that this belief has no experiential foundation. There are no separate entities or objects anywhere in the universe, nor is there a personal subject.

It is simply a thought, an unsubstantiated belief, that divides the seamless totality of experience into a knower (an ‘entity’ inside the body) and the known (an outside world). However, in reality, there is no separate ‘knower’ of experience and no separate object, other or world that is ‘known.’ There is simply this Knowing, this experiencing, this Presence, taking the shape of thoughts, images, sensations and perceptions, and yet never becoming anything other than it always already is. If this is Known to be our experience, then there is truly nothing to be done.

However, if we think (and more importantly, if we feel) that we are an entity or a person located somewhere inside the body or as the body, then doing, choosing and seeking are inherent in that position.

If we stand Knowingly as this Presence taking the shape moment by moment of the totality of our experience, we simply abide as that.

However, if we think we are a person, an entity, if we feel that we are located somewhere behind the eyes or in the chest, then seeking is inevitable and unavoidable.

In this case, we take the belief or feeling of being separate or located and go deeply into it, tracing it back to its source and substance in Presence. As we come to Know ourselves again as this Presence, we simply abide as That.

Back and forth between these two (seeking the Source and abiding as Presence) our life unfolds, until we can no longer feel the difference between them.
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Rupert Spira