A Delightful Nothing Does Not Compare In Any Way To A Delightful Everything
Not to labor a point, but there is so much talk in self-development circles about an awake consciousness being completely empty or at the most a very pleasant experience of nothingness. And that anything else is just so much fluff. A continuing part of the journey can certainly be an experience of pleasant, uninvolved silence. For me this silence was the beginning of a grand unfolding. The main reason I called it silence was because it was not clear and that was all I experienced at first. However from even a logical or intellectual point of view why would anyone with a mostly nice life trade their present way of life for an inside experience of the absence of everything. Would a pure-awareness experience be robust or satisfying enough to alleviate all the life stuff that needs alleviating or at least seen from a grander perspective. It has been my experience that consciousness can be experienced so full and rich as the grandeur of a personal to universal joy that only then can all trials of life be experienced in relation to that unbounded self-realization. A completely new relationship develops in relation to obstacles or personal problems. A permanently expanded heart and mind has more capacity to deal with life problems. The issues are then as if swimming in a vast reservoir of expanded awareness.
I do experience an all-time unbounded field of almost infinate stillness that is the source of all the diversity of personal and cosmic existance. It is an all-pervasive experience that I can describe in numerous ways without taking anything away from it. If I appear to not talk much about silence it is only because in my life it has always been a part of a much larger detailed whole.
Beyond Imagining
In the same way that beautiful sights and wonderful sounds, in fact all breathtaking experiences are the greatest aspect of our lives. Imagine for a moment if this were also true of our inner awareness. What if the very fullness, divine content and structure of consciousness itself can be so subtle, so permanently expanded that it becomes an all-time addition to our regular lives. And if the heart can feel its divine radiance, the mind can understand its all abiding unity, the eyes can see its exquisite structure and the ears can understand and hear its reverberating intelligence all the time in regular activity what an addition it would be. Add to this that there is a beauty beyond imagining, an understanding beyond imagination and all within reach just for the finding. Finally imagine a very quiet but tangible contentment that cannot be shattered, which is a love and universal understanding beyond anything previously experienced. Sounds too good to be true. Remember that I am describing a state so quiet so subtle that it in no way hides or interrupts but only wonderfully adds an other element of conscious awareness to whatever is going on in our lives. And whatever is then our regular lives does not disappear or hide our new unbounded awareness. It is known to be so natural that I could easily call it an advanced state of what we already have. Also remember that all great traditions speak of gaining enlightenment or unity with God as the most worthwhile goal of our lives. It does however surely need to be experienced to be understood and appreciated.
