We reside in two parallel universes. One universe is manufactured from a time warp. It has boundaries, prescriptions, and a mechanized view of how it all should work. Movement is linear, reaching between the far reaches of the galaxy and back into its nucleus; a self-perpetuated feedback loop from outside-in, then quickly out again. The fabric is coarse dark material sewn with dense, thick thread, creating a sort of planetary chess board to plan the next move.
The other universe is timeless and emerged naturally. There are no boundaries. Movement is circular. The fabric is interwoven patterns of shifting light with spider web like thread. Every web is curiously unique. Webs circularly spiral inward with no beginning or end.
Control is the model of the manufactured universe. This need to control is born out of the delusion of permanence–that life should not be difficult, but rather fixed in the time frame of comfort. When difficulty arises we are propelled to fix the problem, as it shouldn’t be here. We judge the difficulty as bad, wrong, unnecessary and unwanted. But because we cannot separate the problem from ourselves, we see ourselves as broken. This fear of uncertainty becomes our basic insecurity.
The more uncertainty life presents and the more insecurity we feel, the greater the need to resist both the external fear and internal pain. We fear illness, losses, the unknown, death… We feel anxious, depressed, worrisome, and alone. We hold tight to fight against these catastrophes. This manifests in impatience, mistrust, and self-loathing. But because resistance is futile, we are so worn down by the effort, it is not death we fear but life we have to live. Ultimately we reject who we are to maintain this false illusion of safety.
We have propagated a sense of self to protect ourselves, with a fixation on future and past. The problem is the present, thus needs to be avoided. Out of this defensive, judgmental position, we are caught in the feedback loop between need to control and loss of control. We have set up a system of false security that can only fail. It is all about Self at the center and Other to fight against. We have constructed yet another delusion, that “I am here and you are out there—somewhere.”
Awareness is the model of the natural universe. Its vehicle is mindfulness: being in the present moment without judgment. Mindfulness accepts the law of impermanence; that all things are subject to change. Without judging what should and shouldn’t be, what we like and don’t like, we are able to work with what is, in both outside situations and inside feelings. From this neutral perspective, we are able to dis-identify from what is occurring. This point of view opens to the landscape of the ever changing nature of events that make up the whole of life: light and dark, growth and decay, sickness and health, life and death.
Accepting the impermanence of life cultivates qualities to serve on the journey: non-judgment, patience, acceptance, non-striving, trust, letting things be, compassion, equanimity, and beginner’s mind—looking at things, as if for the first time, without assumptions. The intentions of our actions lead us to wholesomeness and the desire to serve the greater good. Experiencing ourselves as whole and complete, just as we are, breaks down the boundaries of Self and Others. In this space between, there is No Self. Paradoxically: “In the very process of knowing Self, we lose Self and “gain the world.”
