Meditation is the art of consciousness meeting itself as consciousness. For those who can achieve this state of being, it can be one of the most profound and precious of all human experiences. This article looks at the paradox of consciousness and how meditation can bring us into communion with our very essence.
Meditation is the art of consciousness meeting itself as consciousness. For those who can achieve this state of being, it can be one of the most profound and precious of all human experiences.
Thomas Merton, the great Christian mystic, described it this way:
If I penetrate to the depths of my own existence, to the indefinable AM that is myself in its deepest roots, then through this deep center I pass into the infinite I AM, which is the very name of the Almighty.
What Merton described is the ability of consciousness to experience itself as the ground of all being—the place in which the AM, as individuated consciousness, can merge with the I AM, universal consciousness—the Great I Am. It’s where the one resides within the one.
At this point, you probably suspect where I’m headed with all of this. That is, what you call your present moment consciousness is in fact your essence; it is spirit consciousness. It is your soul.
However, when consciousness identifies itself with something it perceives to be outside itself, it falls into the illusion-of-separation, since there can only be what is, and that’s the eternal now of consciousness. Nothing is separate from the now of consciousness. In truth, there is nothing external to the eternal I AM. Believing otherwise is the primary illusion—it is the painful experience we call duality.
What’s Doing the Watching Is Consciousness
The human experience offers consciousness (spirit/soul) the opportunity to experience itself as separate from itself and from the outside world. Consciousness learns and evolves through the illusion-of-separation and the mistakes born of this illusion—not unlike the toddler who must first experience the fall before learning how to rise.
The concept of consciousness as the one doing the watching is not new, especially among the mystics. St. Francis of Assisi offered us great insight by going straight to the heart of the matter: What you are looking for is what is doing the looking. In other words, what you so desperately have been seeking turns out to be the one doing the seeking. Imagine the relief and surprise when you suddenly understand this most amazing paradox—it is enough to make you weep with joy!
Through meditation, consciousness learns how to rest within consciousness, and in doing so it disengages itself from thoughts, desires, and all other matters. Consciousness therefore becomes the no thing, and in the no doing it becomes the no being, which is itself the eternal now—the ground state of all being: pure consciousness.
Indeed, you are the one you have been waiting for all along. Deep inside of you, this wonderful presence—pure consciousness—has been patiently waiting for you to remember, to finally awaken to the wonder that is you: the wonder of infinite being and intelligence. And you are that! You are the great I Am That I Am.
When you know this to be true, no love is greater than the love that dwells within you—the one waiting for you to return.
From the book Henry’s Puzzle – Awakening to Infinity (2011) All Rights Reserved.
