YOUR ESSENCE
Everyone is made up of a body, a mind and a third, very subtle part – spirit. Spirit is profoundly real, yet it eludes the senses and the intellect, revealing itself more so through intuition and other ethereal channels of experience. Learn about how to experience your spirit here.
Who am I? When was the last time you asked yourself?
Many spiritual teachers and philosophers have emphasized the value of finding the answer to this question, or at least seeking to answer it.
Some have even said that within the answer to this question lie the answers to all others.
If you haven’t sought to answer it, the world has probably attempted to answer it for you. But the only label that really matters is the one you give yourself.
Usually our label or identity speaks to the way our bodies look and the things it can do, or our minds – our personalities and ideas, and/or our relations to others.
In defining ourselves we rarely consider our spiritual identities. That's because it's just not practical. Or is it?
Unlike a body or mind-centered identity, which reinforces the idea of separateness and individuality, having a strong spiritual identity expands the notion of who we are.
Spirit has an ethereal quality that permeates the fibers from which the sense-based world is woven. It is the underlying essence of all that appears to be real.
Connecting with this makes us also feel more connected to each other and the rest of creation. It helps us to appreciate that some part of us is a part of everything else.
Experiencing life through the lens of a spiritual identity helps us understand Ramana Maharshi, a spiritual luminary, when he said, “There are no others.” He is directing our attention away from our apparently separate existences to point out that we are just different leaves on different branches of the same tree of life. True separateness is merely an illusion.
What does this mean in day-to-day life? There can be no loneliness, even in times of being alone. There are no true adversaries. There is only unity in diversity, a common ground from which we’ve grown and are sustained.
If you want a rational, Western explanation of the Self as spirit, I highly recommend Fritjof Capra’s classic, The Tao of Physics.
Or connect with some of your contemporaries to learn their thoughts and feelings on the matter. TED Conversations: The Age Old Question: “Who am I?”
So who are you?
Some have even said that within the answer to this question lie the answers to all others.
If you haven’t sought to answer it, the world has probably attempted to answer it for you. But the only label that really matters is the one you give yourself.
Usually our label or identity speaks to the way our bodies look and the things it can do, or our minds – our personalities and ideas, and/or our relations to others.
In defining ourselves we rarely consider our spiritual identities. That's because it's just not practical. Or is it?
Unlike a body or mind-centered identity, which reinforces the idea of separateness and individuality, having a strong spiritual identity expands the notion of who we are.
Spirit has an ethereal quality that permeates the fibers from which the sense-based world is woven. It is the underlying essence of all that appears to be real.
Connecting with this makes us also feel more connected to each other and the rest of creation. It helps us to appreciate that some part of us is a part of everything else.
Experiencing life through the lens of a spiritual identity helps us understand Ramana Maharshi, a spiritual luminary, when he said, “There are no others.” He is directing our attention away from our apparently separate existences to point out that we are just different leaves on different branches of the same tree of life. True separateness is merely an illusion.
What does this mean in day-to-day life? There can be no loneliness, even in times of being alone. There are no true adversaries. There is only unity in diversity, a common ground from which we’ve grown and are sustained.
If you want a rational, Western explanation of the Self as spirit, I highly recommend Fritjof Capra’s classic, The Tao of Physics.
Or connect with some of your contemporaries to learn their thoughts and feelings on the matter. TED Conversations: The Age Old Question: “Who am I?”
So who are you?
This part of you is eternally perfect
Normally, the feeling of perfection exists only in moments.
But there is a feeling of sustained perfection to be found within you.
This feeling is very similar to what would normally be described as perfect. But it’s different to what we call perfection in that it doesn’t depend on anything external (victory, accomplishment, someone else) and that it lasts indefinitely.
While I imagine there are various ways to experience this, the only one that I am familiar with is meditation.
There’s a point in meditation where the physical boundaries of your body disappear. It might be similar to being in 98.6° water. The feeling of where your body begins and ends, where it is separated from your environment, literally disappears.
Likewise, there’s a point in meditation where the mind effectively disappears. At the beginning of meditation practice the mind is full of thoughts, as usual. If the stream of thoughts passing through the mind is like water flowing from a faucet, the act of meditating effectively closes the tap and the thought flow becomes a trickle, then a drip. The spaces separating droplets of thought continue to increase until thoughts stop flowing altogether.
When the body and the mind disappear (not objectively, but relative to your perception) a feeling of absolute completeness emerges from the void.The feeling is one just like perfection experienced through action or engaging your senses with the world, but this feeling lasts longer than a fleeting moment. The feeling is accompanied by the realization that while you could open your eyes, get up and go do something, nothing you can experience “out there” will compare to the experience you are having “in here.”
You can experience this sustained perfection whenever you like because it’s a permanent part of you. Just as you are a physical body and a mind with thoughts and emotions, you are also this extremely subtle, yet unquestionably real essence.
It’s there right now, as always, but it’s hidden under your thoughts and sensations. Every time you go deep inside yourself you’ll find it the same; perfect.
And when you experience it enough you’ll know that it’s as much a part of you as your hands are a part of your body and your personality is a part of your mind. You’ll know that a part of you is perfect.
But there is a feeling of sustained perfection to be found within you.
This feeling is very similar to what would normally be described as perfect. But it’s different to what we call perfection in that it doesn’t depend on anything external (victory, accomplishment, someone else) and that it lasts indefinitely.
While I imagine there are various ways to experience this, the only one that I am familiar with is meditation.
There’s a point in meditation where the physical boundaries of your body disappear. It might be similar to being in 98.6° water. The feeling of where your body begins and ends, where it is separated from your environment, literally disappears.
Likewise, there’s a point in meditation where the mind effectively disappears. At the beginning of meditation practice the mind is full of thoughts, as usual. If the stream of thoughts passing through the mind is like water flowing from a faucet, the act of meditating effectively closes the tap and the thought flow becomes a trickle, then a drip. The spaces separating droplets of thought continue to increase until thoughts stop flowing altogether.
When the body and the mind disappear (not objectively, but relative to your perception) a feeling of absolute completeness emerges from the void.The feeling is one just like perfection experienced through action or engaging your senses with the world, but this feeling lasts longer than a fleeting moment. The feeling is accompanied by the realization that while you could open your eyes, get up and go do something, nothing you can experience “out there” will compare to the experience you are having “in here.”
You can experience this sustained perfection whenever you like because it’s a permanent part of you. Just as you are a physical body and a mind with thoughts and emotions, you are also this extremely subtle, yet unquestionably real essence.
It’s there right now, as always, but it’s hidden under your thoughts and sensations. Every time you go deep inside yourself you’ll find it the same; perfect.
And when you experience it enough you’ll know that it’s as much a part of you as your hands are a part of your body and your personality is a part of your mind. You’ll know that a part of you is perfect.
Quiet your body and mind to hear the whisper of your heart
This Electronic Age is one of hyper-stimulation, which often leads to technostress.
Our minds were built with a tendency to roam back to the past and ahead to the future, grabbing fistfuls of random information from the thought atmosphere along the way. That’s nothing new.
But due to the relatively recent availability of 24/7 Internet access via the array of digital devices many of us have, we are constantly exposing ourselves to an endless supply of increasingly vivid sensory stimulation.
With a helping hand from caffeine, the world's most widely used psychoactive substance, our mind's appetite for stimulation has grown increasingly voracious and difficult to tame.
We have faster, longer and more intense cycles of information consumption. Our mental activity is nearly incessant and leaves residual internal background noise that means more and more of us are losing the ability to turn the volume down and enjoy inner peace and quiet.
Long ago, our ancestors identified this problem and also developed a solution: seclusion and quiet contemplation. Wise people have been relying on it for centuries as a way to slow the world down to a manageable speed, clear out a crowded mind and gain clarity and insight. And it works as well now as it has in the past.
Unplug from the world whizzing around you for a short time and enjoy the experience of a self-imposed power outage. Turn off your phone. Yes, it does have an off button. It’s the one that looks unused. Let the caffeine wear off (as a bonus, the next coffee or soda you drink will feel extra strong). This will help quiet your mind.
Then listen for the silence underlying all the sounds around and within you. You will be able to hear the whisper of your heart. It’s a sweet sound. And it carries a very nice message that’s worth listening to.
Our minds were built with a tendency to roam back to the past and ahead to the future, grabbing fistfuls of random information from the thought atmosphere along the way. That’s nothing new.
But due to the relatively recent availability of 24/7 Internet access via the array of digital devices many of us have, we are constantly exposing ourselves to an endless supply of increasingly vivid sensory stimulation.
With a helping hand from caffeine, the world's most widely used psychoactive substance, our mind's appetite for stimulation has grown increasingly voracious and difficult to tame.
We have faster, longer and more intense cycles of information consumption. Our mental activity is nearly incessant and leaves residual internal background noise that means more and more of us are losing the ability to turn the volume down and enjoy inner peace and quiet.
Long ago, our ancestors identified this problem and also developed a solution: seclusion and quiet contemplation. Wise people have been relying on it for centuries as a way to slow the world down to a manageable speed, clear out a crowded mind and gain clarity and insight. And it works as well now as it has in the past.
Unplug from the world whizzing around you for a short time and enjoy the experience of a self-imposed power outage. Turn off your phone. Yes, it does have an off button. It’s the one that looks unused. Let the caffeine wear off (as a bonus, the next coffee or soda you drink will feel extra strong). This will help quiet your mind.
Then listen for the silence underlying all the sounds around and within you. You will be able to hear the whisper of your heart. It’s a sweet sound. And it carries a very nice message that’s worth listening to.
The difference between mindfulness and meditation
These two words, mindfulness and meditation, are often used interchangeably, but they are not synonyms.
Both involve heightened states of awareness. Both are beneficial in myriad ways. And that’s where the similarities end.
Mindfulness is about noticing the interplay between you and your environment, whereas meditation is about immersing yourself in the world deep within yourself.
The aim of a mindfulness practice is to notice what’s happening now, as opposed to thinking about the past or the future. You can practice mindfulness while you’re doing other things like driving, conversing and eating.
Developing a mindfulness practice is as simple as focusing your attention on one, some or all of the following:
Do that and voila! You’re practicing mindfulness.
You can know that you’ve developed a strong mindfulness practice when you find yourself in the flow and can return there often.
The concept of flow, i.e. being in the zone, is a deep form of mindfulness that we’re probably all familiar with. Whether it’s playing an instrument, a sport, or something else, nothing exists outside of the flow, not the audience or the noise in the arena. Not even the arena. Flow is complete absorption in the task at hand. That’s as close as mindfulness comes to meditation.
When it comes to meditation there is no task.
A quick, but important mention about the word meditation: It’s Latin for “deep contemplation.” Compare that to the Sanskrit word dhyana, which is a state of consciousness beyond the thinking mind. I’m actually speaking about dhyana, here. But I don’t want to complicate an already subtle subject, so I’m using meditation, instead.
The practice leading to meditation is about stilling the mind. Activity, even if it can be performed without concentrating, such as something habitual like walking, engages the mind. Therefore, the practice leading to meditation is a solitary one. You can’t meditate while you’re doing other things, either physically or mentally. That’s why it often happens seated in silence with eyes closed.
Yet even sitting crossed legged with your eyes closed is no guarantee you’ll enter a state of meditation. If you’re noticing your legs aching and the wind whistling through the trees you’re not meditating. But you are practicing mindfulness, which is actually good preparation for the practice leading to meditation.
More specifically, this is how a mindfulness practice can evolve into a meditation practice. First, practice mindfulness to develop your ability to focus. It doesn’t matter what on. The aim is to restrain the mind from roaming boundlessly. Next, narrow the focus of your attention by concentrating on an object. Begin with a physical object. Try selecting one with either a positive connotation or none at all. When you can concentrate for a sustained period of time, switch the object of your attention to something subtler, like a sound or a simple concept. Next, remove that focal point and focus on either your ability to focus or nothing at all. After focus becomes both the subject and the object of your attention, relinquish the effort to focus at all. Eventually, subject and object merge into One.
When your attention dissolves in a formless, timeless realm that “feels” complete you’re in meditation. That state can’t easily be described with words because words are a tool of the intellect and meditation is a state beyond the intellect. Nevertheless, you’ll know when you’re there.
Practice mindfulness and you'll eventually experience meditation, which yields profound enjoyment of the gift of simply being alive.
Both involve heightened states of awareness. Both are beneficial in myriad ways. And that’s where the similarities end.
Mindfulness is about noticing the interplay between you and your environment, whereas meditation is about immersing yourself in the world deep within yourself.
The aim of a mindfulness practice is to notice what’s happening now, as opposed to thinking about the past or the future. You can practice mindfulness while you’re doing other things like driving, conversing and eating.
Developing a mindfulness practice is as simple as focusing your attention on one, some or all of the following:
- What do you see, hear, smell and feel around you?
- What sensations do you feel on the exterior and the interior of your body?
- What thoughts are flowing through your mind?
- What feelings do you have about your surroundings, sensations and thoughts?
Do that and voila! You’re practicing mindfulness.
You can know that you’ve developed a strong mindfulness practice when you find yourself in the flow and can return there often.
The concept of flow, i.e. being in the zone, is a deep form of mindfulness that we’re probably all familiar with. Whether it’s playing an instrument, a sport, or something else, nothing exists outside of the flow, not the audience or the noise in the arena. Not even the arena. Flow is complete absorption in the task at hand. That’s as close as mindfulness comes to meditation.
When it comes to meditation there is no task.
A quick, but important mention about the word meditation: It’s Latin for “deep contemplation.” Compare that to the Sanskrit word dhyana, which is a state of consciousness beyond the thinking mind. I’m actually speaking about dhyana, here. But I don’t want to complicate an already subtle subject, so I’m using meditation, instead.
The practice leading to meditation is about stilling the mind. Activity, even if it can be performed without concentrating, such as something habitual like walking, engages the mind. Therefore, the practice leading to meditation is a solitary one. You can’t meditate while you’re doing other things, either physically or mentally. That’s why it often happens seated in silence with eyes closed.
Yet even sitting crossed legged with your eyes closed is no guarantee you’ll enter a state of meditation. If you’re noticing your legs aching and the wind whistling through the trees you’re not meditating. But you are practicing mindfulness, which is actually good preparation for the practice leading to meditation.
More specifically, this is how a mindfulness practice can evolve into a meditation practice. First, practice mindfulness to develop your ability to focus. It doesn’t matter what on. The aim is to restrain the mind from roaming boundlessly. Next, narrow the focus of your attention by concentrating on an object. Begin with a physical object. Try selecting one with either a positive connotation or none at all. When you can concentrate for a sustained period of time, switch the object of your attention to something subtler, like a sound or a simple concept. Next, remove that focal point and focus on either your ability to focus or nothing at all. After focus becomes both the subject and the object of your attention, relinquish the effort to focus at all. Eventually, subject and object merge into One.
When your attention dissolves in a formless, timeless realm that “feels” complete you’re in meditation. That state can’t easily be described with words because words are a tool of the intellect and meditation is a state beyond the intellect. Nevertheless, you’ll know when you’re there.
Practice mindfulness and you'll eventually experience meditation, which yields profound enjoyment of the gift of simply being alive.
The mind is a tool with its inherent limitations. Its domain is relative reality. Go beyond the mind to know absolute reality.
“I think therefore I am.” – René Descartes
Descartes wasn’t wrong, but he wasn’t totally right, either. You are much more than you think.
Thinking is a function of the intellect and we are capable of much more.
We’d all agree that an open mind is a good thing, right?
The more open it is, the wider our view of the world and the richer our experiences.
The extreme of an open mind is meditation. Meditation is not the process of sitting cross-legged with eyes closed. It’s the result of the process of opening your mind.
Sometimes we think the world is full of darkness. But that’s because we have our hands covering our eyes. As we spread our fingers a little light makes it through, but the view between them is obscured and confusing. Meditation is a view of the world that we attain when all obstructions are removed.
Descartes wasn’t wrong, but he wasn’t totally right, either. You are much more than you think.
Thinking is a function of the intellect and we are capable of much more.
We’d all agree that an open mind is a good thing, right?
The more open it is, the wider our view of the world and the richer our experiences.
The extreme of an open mind is meditation. Meditation is not the process of sitting cross-legged with eyes closed. It’s the result of the process of opening your mind.
Sometimes we think the world is full of darkness. But that’s because we have our hands covering our eyes. As we spread our fingers a little light makes it through, but the view between them is obscured and confusing. Meditation is a view of the world that we attain when all obstructions are removed.