In The Only Way

 In the only way:

and from this comes compassion - it's just seeing that it all belongs in the only way the world could be right now, coming to this point from infinite choices taken alone and together. This is what we have, and I find through my own recognition of this, my capacity to open to the world, that everything is shared in some important way. My ache is yours, although we may break at different points. There is only our suffering, and too just one joy. What brings us here may differ - but it's all shared, a universal depth of consciousness. 

this is simply being human, that there is certain truth that life holds for each of us. We will all touch upon suffering. The things we love are fragile, designed to be cherished but not for long. We all break. My humanness recognizes yours. It's what we share. 

to see this, is to be aware - awakening doesn't remove me from concern for the world, not from it's least aspect to larger issues happening now. It's all one world and it all calls for me to care. To see - is to love in its truest sense, inclusion, of how the view is an embrace of always one more thing, seamless and ongoing. There is no line that shows me a different world for you, that your suffer ends here and mine begins somewhere other. We are shared. Life, happening together. 

that is all belongs in the only way the world could be right now - it's our common bond. We find life just the way it is, so often uncertain, always changing, shifting in both loss and sense of something new. It's our shared mystery. From this comes compassion - yes, we may see the world very differently, but there is always, only, one view. 

it's ours. 

~

Peace, Eric 

From Simply This

From simply this: 

only this for certain - that I am, and I'm aware that it's so. Only this. One thing implies the other, to know that I exist is to note my own awareness, to be aware is the display of my existence. I surmise a world from simply this. 

it's the first I am aware, and then comes the rush to name and explain the world in easy meaning. To find myself as capacity is to invite awareness to be filled, and in the intimacy of this holding there is an urge to define and personalize what's found. I claim the world as mine and then divide it by label and design, describing it terms that force a sense of separation to my mind. I've come to see the world as certain, a quick forgetting of the mystery of it all. 

my return is always seeing, to look and let the view unfold in the manner that it will - my first glance, initial seeing, is truest yet, just the world before a single thing is certain. This is remembering, a return to basic understanding - all I know is I'm aware. Perhaps I can't help but to build a world around the simplicity of this, the urge to create something from the raw purity that's first found. Yet there is always this return, coming back to original view, uncertain of it all but my sense of wonder, alive and appreciate to find myself aware. 

the world comes later - at first there's simply seeing. 

~

Peace, Eric 

No Longer Cherished

No longer cherished:

of my beliefs, they're simply now held lightly, no longer cherished in an ultimate sense of being true. They are of service in the art of investigation, to lead me to my own open nature, free from the weight expectations. 

to believe is to accept something as proven true - and little of my life is beyond examination, nothing has been shown to be permanent, what once served in a useful way will reach a point of limit, no longer being a source of aid or comfort. It becomes a belief of who I used to be. 

even in the comfort of beliefs there's little freedom to be had - I am constrained by a narrow grip of acceptance, without the courage to peer a bit further past these invisible confines. This is the inquiry of simply looking, nothing dismissed out of hand, no belief not given its due - but only asking how it serves, if still belongs to this point where life brought me. I am not without beliefs, yet they have little influence in any sense of who I am, they are tools to navigate through life. 

once let go, only the space of not knowing remains - an infinite space for life to be, and one free of any sense how it should all unfold. A better view of reality is shown. I still believe many thing, perhaps it's just the nature of the mind - but nothing has to be true, I am not invested in anything as certain. My beliefs are no longer cherished. They belong as every other passing thought or moment, here, for now, experienced and then let go. It's all without effort, life happening on it's own - no matter what my beliefs may tell me. 

~

Peace, Eric 

Not Knowing

Not knowing:

it's truly not knowing and resting in the relief of not having ready answers at hand - this is a space unfilled by belief and speculation, empty of demands. My point is being aware, of knowing simply and only that I am right now, existing this moment, and refusing to add anything from here. There is no need for a religion of myself, to believe I'm anything more than fleeting in existence. 

of course I may be more - I have no sure way knowing, and taking others at their word is just to borrow their own belief, giving the authority of this moment to a faith that isn't earned. Yes, I give myself permission to wonder of this mystery, perhaps a guess at how I might continue on, and new realities to be discovered. But nothing is held as certain. Nothing is believed to be true just because it becomes cherished by my mind. It's still, and always, this present moment. 

right now is enough to fulfill any wish for mystery, to experience the grace of simply being aware, and participate in life through every moment granted. Awareness is a precious gift of existence, the vital backdrop of being alive and able to appreciate all that's given. I do my best not to add to this, accepting this gift as all that's needed, no, as being endless in what it offers. What could I possibly add to life itself? Being enough almost sounds dismissive. This moment is infinite in its mystery, to be aware that I am right now, alive and a function of this expression, is enough, and yes more - it's everything. 

it's not knowing - and resting as I am. 

~

Peace, Eric 

There's A Path

 There's a path:

of course there's a path - and my every step at once reveals my only destination. This is it, truly, there is no further awakening beyond this moment, no ultimate understanding, nor final enlightenment. There's nothing more than this, and that's the path itself, my step realizing it's sure place against earth, my breathing drawing near the air of our connection. The path is now - and it's all I do. 

and so it is with practice - nothing I do will make me more awake than now, awareness remains present even as I step away from my meditation mat. My practice is simply life, reminders I'm given through the day that serve as a wink and nod from mystery. My view serves in this as well, showing me both the world in all its details and my own absence from its hold. I practice seeing in all its obvious showing. It's an easy way of practice, just allowing life to be, noting my own belonging, and going on my way. Even as I sit in meditation it's not to gain anything, there is no seeking to arrive to any certain sense of peace. I sit, for the pure and simple pleasure of my sitting. That's my practice. 

everything happens now. So this is alone is my moment to awaken, life itself was all the practice needed to arrive here. I'm awake - simply because I am. I'm not declaring this, it's just a note of wonder, finding myself aware right now, through no effort of my own. Is there is more? Another, higher, state of being? If there is it's not now. This moment, being aware, is what I have - my path and practice is life. I'm in no hurry for anything more. 

~

Peace, Eric 

Reality of the moment:

there's no pretend life, I'm not spirit cloaked as form, nor an illusion playing out a given role. This is it, the reality of the moment and nothing more. 

life. 

of course I make no call on mystery, I'm not assuming any knowledge of what may happen when my time is gone. It would only be speculation and bring nothing to this one life I now have. This moment is enough and truthfully it has to be - nothing further is promised, no other moment is guaranteed. Mystery has me here, right now, life in just this instant. There's no role to play -it's enough to simply be.

accepting that only now is promised brings me immense gratitude to simply be alive. There's no reason nor time to pretend to be something other, to add a spiritual dimension to an already spirit filled world. I am alive, with no idea of what's truly possible, and this gives me the joy of cherishing all that happens now, each breath being a one on deal and the next one drawn is such a gift. To attempt to be other than this, to seek a version of myself that somehow knows more than the simplicity of being alive - seems to be a wasted moment. This breath holds every secret I wish to know. 

the reality of the moment is mystery, one too deep to be revealed. But life gives hints, the experience of unexplained and unasked for grace being one. Life sometimes happens in a way that I am gifted to receive this, we all are. But my own sense too is that grace is every moment, more subtle in the everyday, yet just as present. I see no reason to try and transcend this. I would miss the everyday grace that's found right now. And that would surely be a shame. 

~

Peace, Eric 

A Certain Way

 A certain way:

that I should, or that things should be a certain way to reflect my own awakening - it was this for a very long time that kept me in a certain mind frame, believing that life would be degrees easier once I truly understood reality. 

of course I understand nothing, seeing how things are is not quite the same as understanding, the world is just too vast to grasp beyond this moment. What I really know are only aspects of right now, that things are this way without my call, or at least not in particular choices for that way the life unfolds. Things are exactly and only as they are and there's no point in asking if there is anything I should have done to make them otherwise. I only have this moment. 

in this same light there is no certain way for me to be right now, no specific mind-set of reaction, no calm acceptance of how life is. There's just what is, there is only my response, and sometimes it suits the mood and often too I'm left wondering at my own reaction. There is no certain way that life should be and this includes my own participation. I belong fully to the whole. 

but I do now find myself more at ease, abdicating responsibility for the way I believe life should be has brought me to a more responsive state of being. Not everything needs my control, nor a make-believe enlightened response. Life only needs my attention, and by this I don't mean mindful of every detail, or a measured approach to every thought and action. Just an an easy attention to how things are, relaxed, giving a nod to life as motion and already changing to something other, even as I prepare my argument against it now. It's hard not to find this all a bit amusing - serious, yes, but amusing in the faith of all my previous unmet demands and how I might suspect that this time things will turn out other, I will bend reality to fit my whims. 

but life continues to surprise. 

there really is no certain way - only life unfolding, mysterious, even in the moment it appears. I find no true way to prepare for this, and leave it all to grace of how things are, and the trust that life continues changing, flowing, motion always. 

~

Peace, Eric