Dear Reader…
Consider the paradox: The more I try to get, the more I actually lose.
OK…
But hang on… say what?
That sounds crazy.
How could that be true?
… is it true?
Listen:
Because you already have everything…
Because you are everything.
Um…
No I’m not! That sounds ridiculous!
…right?
Or… am I?
Am I everything?
OK, humour me… how?
How am I everything?
Well, do you recognize reality for what it truly is?
Huh? I think so!
…don’t I?
Well, consider this:
You are not just a vehicle by which reality is sensed.
No?
No. That is only a tiny, tiny fraction of what you truly are.
It is?
Yes. What you mostly are is what you sense… everything you see, hear, feel, taste and smell.
I am?
Yes.
That is your true nature. Your true self: Everything that exists.
Really? How?
Because the sensor and the sensed are one; one cannot exist without the other.
Really?
Yes.
Otherwise, show how you, and what you sense, exist without each other.
How do you practically exist without your ability to sense?
Do you exist, can you exist, without sensing anything?
If you can’t see, hear, feel, taste or smell, how do you practically, functionally, actually exist?
Without sensing anything… how can you actually be?
OK…
And how does what exists, exist without your sensing it?
Does it? Does it practically exist without your sensing it?
Is there any point in even caring about whether or not anything exists if you’re not even there to sense it?
How could you even care if you’re not even there?
Hmm…
So let’s see: Remove yourself… or remove what exists…. and….. and…. what?
What then?
Um…
Well, what’s there?
What is practically, functionally, actually there?
Anything? Nothing?
Hmm.
Can you see how you, and what you sense are completely entwined? Utterly interwoven? That one simply does not, cannot, exist without the other? That the creator and the created require the other? Need each other? That you and what you sense are actually one? That what is, what exists, and your sensing what is, describe a complete picture? A whole? A oneness? A one? Can you see that that whole, that oneness, that one, is actual reality, total reality, and the actual you… not the ridiculous illusion that you are only a separate little person, ultimately disconnected from what exists and what you sense? (To understand this better explore dualism.)
Can you see the lunacy inherent in not recognizing this greater reality, this ultimate truth?
Wow.
Can you see that until you recognize the undeniable truth of oneness that you will never bridge the increasing gulf that arises between your misperception of reality and actual reality as you continue to believe the notion that you are separate from what you sense and therefore from what exists?
Can you see that it is your unconsciousness of this truth, this actual reality of your utter oneness with everything that is, and substitution of an erroneous belief that reality is something it is not, and something that you are separate from, that produces all your problems… not the least of which is a feeling of lack?
Can you see how the feeling of lack resulting from not realizing your utter connection with all that exists produces a kind of bottomless pit within you that you then try to fill but which can never be filled?
Can you see how actual reality is the utter reverse of this: overflowing abundance?
Can you open your senses and simply observe this overflowing abundance… in the endless universe that surrounds you?
Can you see how a sense of lack is illusion?
Can you see that you do not actually lack at all?
Because you have all… because you are all?
Wow.
Have you seen how the illusion of lack is a terrible taskmaster?
Because that illusion drives you… compels you… to try to get… what cannot actually be gotten… only making circumstances worse for you… through a vicious cycle where the more you try to get, the less you actually have?
Look: When we are unconscious of our utter oneness with what exists and instead believe a fantasy that we are separate from it, the result is we unavoidably feel lack. This is a deep, niggling feeling that, until we awaken, sometimes dimly appears in our consciousness in our quiet moments and dreams. This feeling of lack is our yearning to be reconnected to the source of life, to our true self, which is what we felt inherently and necessarily in our earliest years. Until we regain consciousness of our connection to all and instead live in an unconscious disconnect, we’ll attempt to compensate by seeking something to make up for the loss. We won’t have a choice because, deep down, we’ll feel increasingly miserable as we sense our increasing and desperate separateness from everything, and ultimately a separation from life itself. And in order to bridge the disconnect and fill the resulting void we’ll attempt to regain some sense of connection… to something… to anything. We’ll feel increasing need and our need will manifest in attempts to get… and eventually in attempts to take. But we won’t be able to truly get, and find real satisfaction, because in our misperception and unconsciousness of actual abundant supportive reality we’ll miss the cues relating to that in front of our faces, which show us we already have everything, because we ultimately are everything, since we won’t be looking for them… because we won’t even know they exist. Instead we’ll continue to act in ways that result from our growing belief that we are ultimately disconnected from what we sense, from actual reality, and we’ll have no option but continue trying to get. And this will frustrate us to no end, making us feel even more separate, because it will only reinforce that we can only feel connected by getting! Since there is nothing that actually exists in illusion, in the illusion of lack it is simply impossible to get what doesn’t exist, and until we become aware we are operating in an illusion, we will be constantly disappointed, and yet again, try to get… what cannot be gotten! Eventually as we move to taking as our mode of desperately trying to get, this will put us in a Catch-22 because what we take we’ll know we have essentially stolen, and we won’t want to be honest with ourselves about that. So we’ll lie to ourselves. And this will only accelerate the vicious downward spiral moving us further and further away from actual supportive reality and further into the illusion of separateness and lack. In our unconsciousness of actual supportive reality, the more we try to compensate, the more separate from reality we will feel. And whatever we manage to get, or simply steal, won’t stick around for long anyway since things have a mind of their own and it will take increasing effort to keep what’s gotten from disappearing while it’s had! And all this will exhaust us like a dog chasing its tail. (Paradoxically, it is at this point we may finally realize what is really going on!) Unless we become conscious of actual reality in which we are utterly and inherently connected to and one with everything, ultimately supported and also ultimately supportive, just as we were at the outset of our lives when we were supported by our caregivers and also supported our caregivers by providing them with life, our unconsciousness and consequent behaviour will burn us out and eventually we’ll give up. We’ll have been confused and scared to death. Literally.
Um. OK… So this explains the paradox, the more I get, the more I lose?
Yes.
Oh boy. Can you explain it again, more simply? Why can’t I get?
Listen:
Because getting is illusion!
Why?
Because how can we get what we already have?
How can you possibly get more when you already have everything? When you already are everything?
Wow.
And in order to think we don’t have and therefore feel the need to get… we must first believe the lie that we don’t have!
And that is nonsense.
Why?
Because we already have everything!
And attempting to get is just part of the illusion of lack, which results from the arch illusion… the illusion of the separate self.
OK. Again, why can’t we get?
B e c a u s e w e a l r e a d y h a v e !
We already have everything… b e c a u s e w e a r e e v e r y t h i n g !
Look, how did you come into existence? Did you create yourself? Did you manifest your existence? Does your existence have anything to do with you?
Wasn’t your existence simply provided?
Yes.
And don’t you take your existence for granted?
Because it was granted?
Look: Without your existence, how could anything even be happening for or to you? What would the point be of anything to you? What would be the point of you?
There would be no point since clearly without your existence you don’t exist!
Right?
True.
OK, but why don’t more see this?
Because it’s so obvious that it’s so easily missed!
We miss the obvious fact that our existence was provided based on no merit of our own and that without our existence we can’t do anything, or even be anything! Without our existence we don’t exist!
It’s like trying to absorb the concepts on this computer screen without remember that without this computer and all the myriad of details and effort that went into putting this computer screen in front of you face, you wouldn’t even be trying to absorb these concepts!
Wow… OK.
Look: Can you argue with the fact that existence was simply provided to you?
Well, no. How could I?
And that, no matter how many differing opinions abound about how your existence appeared and is occurring, the fact remains that your existence somehow factually happened and is happening, right?
Yes.
And can anything be more precious to you than your very existence?
No, I guess not really.
And would you say that your existence is even priceless?
Yes.
And can something so precious, and so priceless, and so inexplicably provided, be described in any other way than miraculous?
Um… no, I guess not.
And if that miracle is the base note of your very existence… how could the rest of your existence be any different?
Well, stuff happens, you know.
Yes, it does: we are subjected to the unconsciousness of our providers and they are subjected to the unconsciousness of the society in which they must live.
You mean there’s like a limiting factor that keeps us… down?
Yes. The lowest-common denominator factor. And mass psychosis.
Like the blind leading the blind?
Exactly.
But actual reality is that you are not only utterly one with yourself, but also utterly one with what your very existence miraculously appeared from.
OK, I’m starting to get that.
So, why try to get things?
Because I want them?
But you already have them!
I do?
Y e s ! All you have to do is sense them!
See them. Hear them. Feel them. Taste them. Smell them.
That’s all?
Well, what else is there? Can you really get things any more than that?
Well, I might want to own them.
But can you?
And what is ownership?
Control?
But is control what you actually want? Do you want things just so you can control them? Why would you want to do that? Does this make you feel safer? Do you need to feel safer because you feel scared? Insecure? But why would you feel scared and insecure? How could you possibly feel scared and insecure when you are everything? Could it only be when you have unconsciously disconnected from reality? From real life? And hence are trying to get things in a feeble attempt to make up for the disconnect? Is having control your attempt to make up for a disconnect from reality? Your disconnect from your own actual self and your real life? But can anything ever make up for that disconnect? Wouldn’t the only way to truly counter that disconnect be to simply become consciously connected again? And possibly consciously for the first time? Or will you continue to throw your precious life away, and continue to attempt the absurd and the impossible, trying to live outside of actual reality and real life… while the possible, the miraculous, the real, is all the while staring you in the face?
Can you see that?
A little.
Why flush your precious life down the toilet believing an illusion that you can have things any more than your simply sensing them?
Why enslave yourself to the illusion that you are disconnected from that which produced you and therefore have to get things to make up for the belief you are disconnected from that… when in reality you are NEVER disconnected from it! And when you and it are in fact one and the same!
Wow.
Stop trying to get… and focus on the fact that that is completely unnecessary because you already have… simply by opening your eyes, your ears and all your senses. Stop putting the reality of your miraculous existence outside of you somewhere. Realize miraculous existence is what you are.
Be in a state of wonder.
Be wonderful.
Be real.
Be true.
Be you.
Be.
OK?
Hmm.
-
Peace & Love, D
—
Purchase books about this and related issues by the author of this post, Darren J Nast, for sale now on Amazon.com.
—
Like us on Facebook! — Ponder a Paradox community page
Follow on Twitter @ponderaparadox
—
(c) 2012. Ponder a Paradox Publishing. All rights reserved. No printing or retransmission of any content of this blog post without the express written consent of the author and copyright owner.
—
