Today's Column

Toil and Trouble

When we ask why we act as if we are separate creatures, with only this life to live, we must refer back to the basic question: who am I?

If the answer is That, then there are two corollaries.

1. It is actually That which is acting this way. There is nothing else.

2. It is normal and unalarming for That to act this way.

Since That manifests itself over and over as these beings acting this way, trying not to act in the way That has manifested itself is absurd.

Each instance of That in the world experiences awareness from behind the screen of a biological body that has evolved with the necessity of protecting itself first and asking questions later. In the wild this protective stress ramps up quickly and then disappears, either by escaping, or being eaten. In “civilized” society the stress ramps up and just stays there, because there is no way for the body that has not yet returned to awakening to understand that the constant danger it perceives cannot really harm it.

The average person in the modern world is trapped from the cradle to the grave in a matrix in which he or she is simply cattle for the rich and powerful and we all know it. The stress is chronic and it hurts, but chronic pain that can’t be avoided is denied, because until awakening begins to return no one feels they can do anything about it. Denying that stress simply layers more armor around the heart and the true knowledge that it is opening up to that pain and experiencing which will frees us remains hidden. The wonder is, as those who return to awakening begin to understand, not even this constant suffering can bring any harm to That.

The only way to return to awakening is the way that we return: by gradually returning, as That remembers Itself. The biological being that is experiencing stress is a construct, a part That is playing, and whether That is “conscious” of the drama is of no consequence. There is no effort the biological being can make that will speed up, or slow down, the returning: it has no such powers. Practice and bhakti are indications that the return is proceeding, not ways and means to speed it up or gain merit. There is no merit to be gained, as each being is always already that Perfect One. A delicate balance has been tipped when we “provisionally” begin to act “as if” this were truly the case.