Awareness Is Right Here

There are times when I have a profound and yet utterly ordinary experience of unconditioned awareness. In these moments, there is nothing that needs to be done. To suggest that there is something wrong, or even that there is something right, makes no sense. It is a bit disconcerting, because I can’t find anything in these moments, including a "me." On the other hand, it includes everything, without exceptions, so it is perfectly simple.

The only words that I can come up with are just this. Just right now. Right here. Nothing needing to be done. Nothing needing to change. Is there anything missing in this moment? Could there ever be?

All that is happening is this. We look for something else, for a dramatic end to our years of searching and it turns out it is right here all along. Where else could it be?

I don’t tend to ask people if they have had this experience or thoughts like this. It can be dangerous because it can lead our ever-constructing minds to build a goal and a path and then focus on this as some kind of future event. The big payoff for the years of effort. They are convinced that this is NOT it, that it must be different than this (and somehow better).

But most people have had the kind of moment of utter simplicity that I am talking about. It can happen looking at a sunset, or in a meeting, or after a run, or waiting in line at the airport. I had it happen to me when I was being downsized a few years ago. It doesn’t seem to matter. And we tend to notice it only when “it” is no longer happening.

Notice these moments. We all have them, but we often miss them. Instead, cultivate them. This is the beginning of the spiritual path. It is also the end.

Jeff