The Human Experience
- Written by David Hall
- Category: The Human Experience
The world isn't meant to be easy. Human life isn't supposed to be all wonderful. Don't expect life to be kind to you. You're not necessarily going to succeed in what you want to do and get what you want. That may sound harsh, but sometimes people expect that life should be good, fun and full of happiness. But that's not the case. There may be some fun times and some happiness, but there will certainly be some trouble. Let's understand why.
The simple answer is this: humanity is mixed up. There is a general human sense that, "I am this human being, these are my things, and I'm focused on myself and my life." If we live a lie like that, or rather if we live by a mistaken belief like that, the world is going to challenge us. If I believe that I am a human then problems occur, because it's a mistake. Humans are not really defined and limited, and that's not who we are. At the core of all humans, and for that matter all apparently separate beings, there is a Oneness. One Consciousness. We are that One Infinite Consciousness, not many different beings - that is the illusory play of form in formless Consciousness.
When this error of identification takes hold, when Infinite Consciousness is drawn into the belief of being a limited being, it creates an imbalance. It's like we've fallen out of unity and got caught up in a world of opposing forces. Then there needs to be a rebalancing. We need to be shaken out of it, effectively. That means that life is going to be tough, until we get to the point of realising that something is wrong here.
Humanity is caught up in this clashing of identity - I am this, that belongs to me, you are nothing to do with me, you offend me, I will win. The root of all evil is not money, it is the delusion of separate identity. A limited being defends its limits, imposes its limits on others, and encroaches on others' limits. That's where all the clashing comes from in this human experience.
There have been enough human experiences for us to confidently say that it's normal for human life to have problems. What can we do about this? Accept it. There's no point fighting against the world. The world is this rocking, rolling wave of forces clashing sometimes and quietening sometimes. That's the world, but that's not you. You are not in this rocking, rolling world. You are the still Infinite One Consciousness, within which the world appears.
In truth you have not fallen out of unity into the world of opposites. You remain as you are, the Infinite One, beyond time and space. The human experience is the play of the human world, experiencing limitation, clashing, distancing, the push and pull, the joys and sorrows. Know it is not you. You are unbroken by the appearance of the separate world. Your infinite nature remains unblemished by what seems to come and go.
- Written by David Hall
- Category: The Human Experience
The identity we have of ourselves is inaccurate. We may consider ourselves to be a man, a woman, transgender, a father, a mother, a student, a lawyer, a shop worker, a customer, etc. We may say we are Welsh, English, French, American, Dutch, Chinese, South African, or another nationality. We may look in the mirror and believe that that's me. We can call this identity the 'limited self'.
What's really happening here is that thought structures in the mind have developed attachments and associations through the life experiences, creating an identity with the body and a sense of being a 'limited self'. This is fine from the perspective of a human living and surviving on planet Earth. But it's not really true. Even from the human perspective, the body isn't really defined. There are no real limits or end points to the body. It may seem to have an outer shell, so to speak, but it is really porous. The body is always in a state of interaction with the environment, and although there is an appearance of solidity, it is illusory. The body is always changing and doesn't have any firm limits.
So identifying with a human form that is in a state of flux and has fuzzy edges isn't going to be accurate. This 'limited self' identity is even less accurate when we take a deeper look into the mind. Common human thought formations believe that the mind is inside the body, and thoughts are inside the mind, whilst the world is outside. But it is more accurate to say everything is experienced inside the mind. The identity and the thoughts are perceived right here in the mind, as are the sounds, sights, tastes, feelings, and bodily sensations. They're all experienced in the same 'place' that we call 'the mind'.
But we can go deeper still. When we realise that thoughts and the identity are perceived it can be recognised that there is a deeper awareness that perceives this. We may think, "Yes, that's me, thinking the thoughts." But really it is the thought-form identity that is thinking, "I'm thinking." You perceive this thought process. The thought process may think, "I'm thinking to myself," but it's the thought-identity that is thinking to itself. It isn't really you. It is the sense of being and the attachment to form that creates this thought-identity. Then thoughts arise as belonging to this thought-identity. This 'limited self' is itself a thought formation.
The thought-identity and the thoughts it generates are perceived by the Awareness that you are. Without the thought forms there is just Awareness. In fact, there is just Awareness, whether there are thought forms or not. There's not really a 'mind'. There is just Awareness or Consciousness, and the identity, thoughts, feelings, sensations and perceptions are perceived in Awareness. It's all a seeming fluctuation of Awareness, in Awareness, made of Awareness, perceived by Awareness.
The false identity, the 'limited self' is a reflection of the true unlimited Self. The more hardened, solid and restrictive the sense of 'limited self' is, the further it seems from the reality of complete, clear, unlimited Awareness. But this opposite or reflection of Reality, this distance from Reality, this condensing of Reality, is an illusion. There is only ever Awareness. There is no distance from Awareness. There is nothing other than Awareness. Awareness cannot be limited. The 'limited self' is only imaginary.
- Written by David Hall
- Category: The Human Experience
It's human nature to fill the space. If there's a lull in conversation or a silence when we're with someone, the human urge is to say something, anything. If we have some spare time, we wonder what we're going to do, how we're going to spend that time. How will we fill the space in our time? Also in our homes, it's easy to fill them up with things. We're always filling the space.
It seems unusual to sit with someone in silence, doing nothing. It feels okay if we're on our phones or reading books, but not just sitting there. Even on our own the mind keeps active with thoughts. We find something to do. If not we feel bored and the mind complains that there's nothing to do.
This is where the spiritual practice of just being comes in. It's not what the mind wants. It's afraid of the nothingness. But the nothingness is our spiritual saviour. The nothingness is the prefect peace of our true being. We truly are the stillness, the silence, the peace, the emptiness, the spaciousness, the nothingness. Our true nature is the core stillness that allows movement. We are the invisible nothingness that allows the apparent visible everything. We are the permanent full emptiness that animates the changing world.
This emptiness scares the human self, so it fills the space with things. The human self distracts itself from the silence, the emptiness, the peace. At least until it gets to a point of looking for that peace, looking for the quiet. Then the human self seeks quiet places and quiet times to sit and be at peace. Maybe the human self meditates. Maybe the mind relaxes a little.
Sometimes it seems that more work needs to be done to reach that placeless place of peace. We need to recognise that the mind's impulse is to avoid it.
Sit back and just be. Let go of thinking and doing, and be as you are. You are not the human who is afraid of silence and emptiness. You are the Perfect Peace of Stillness.
- Written by David Hall
- Category: The Human Experience
We are not troubled by thoughts. We perceive troubled thoughts. Rest in Awareness, in the clear knowing, without identifying and without attaching to thoughts and the body.
There are times when thinking seems to get the better of us. We might try to calm the mind, but it even fights against that. We know that a calm mind is a good thing. We know that's how we should be. But sometimes the mind gets tangled up in trouble.
It may be that the mind starts dwelling on something that happened. It may be that the mind has negative thoughts about someone, maybe even our own self. It may be we are trying to meditate, and thoughts keep butting in and we fight back, trying to calm this troublesome thinking. And then we get frustrated that we can't stop it, and it all seems difficult.
But none of this is who we are. This is the mind tangling with itself, with its sense of self. Just as a torchlight cannot shine directly on itself, so we cannot objectively perceive our being. What we can perceive can never be what we are.
We are the Awareness that perceives these thoughts. We perceive the troublesome thoughts, and we perceive the sense of self that is unhappy with them. We perceive the struggle to stop thoughts and we perceive the sense of frustration when this is difficult. Truly we are the witnessing of this.
So what do we do about troublesome thoughts and the sense of self that we perceive? We do not do. Let them be. Do not get caught in the belief that you are there trying to do something about the thoughts. Who is it that is unhappy? Not you. You simply witness whatever appears within.