One Life Expressing in the Eternally Present Now

The appearance of Life and the Universe spawns out of modulating movements of Energy, continuously evolving into evermore complex expressions, ultimately appearing as Life and the Universe expressing Now, as a Whole. Such movement originates as vortices of Energy in perpetual motion, expanding and contracting – flowering, deteriorating – pulsing, inflating, collapsing – resting and waking – birthing, evolving, and dying – exciting, agitating, repelling, harmonizing – ultimately expressing in organic form as the stillness of a mountain lake or the rapid flow of a mighty stream, the brilliance of autumn colors or the stillness of a snowflakes falling on cold winter nights  – as plants, animals, and humans – ad infinitum – ongoing. If this were not so, there would be no Life or Universe to express, ponder, enjoy, or contemplate, as is occurring Now.  

What the movement of Life might “seem” to be (as regards meaningful or meaningless) from one point of view or another in any given moment of time, might “seem” different, per the intensity of a particular movement (or lack thereof) in said moment of time. But that “seeming” difference is nothing more than a vibrational difference of intensity in that specific moment of time. 

Regardless, as far as the ongoing movement of Life is concerned, such movement is perpetual – whether outward or inward, agitated or tranquil, flowering or withering – in all moments of time. 

The movement of Life/Energy, of itself, might seem on its face a meaningless enterprise, until one Realizes the radiant Presence of an unknowable, indescribable Source out of which Energy, therefore Life-forms, arise. 

Such Presence, variously called “Absolute Stillness” or “Utter Silence” or “Pure Awareness” is of a different ilk altogether than that of Energy arising, even though such Presence is never absent from Life/Energy, as a Whole. Rather, it is out of such Silence (which could be called “nothingness” from the point of view of Mind) that the movement of Life arises, expresses, withdraws, and has its Being. These two aspects of Life (from a conceptualized point of view) – “thingness” and “no-thingness” – comprise the ABSOLUTE REALITY OF THE WHOLE OF LIFE or the WHOLE TRUTH OF BEING. Neither “thing,” nor “no-thing” entirely, but ALL “things” and “no-thing” in glorious concert, inseparable from the other – a conceptualized “twoness” – appearing AS IF two aspects of the Whole, when in Truth, whether moving or not, encompassing ONE, WHOLE, INTEGRATED REALITY OF ALL AT ALL TIMES. 

This fact alone, of ONE, WHOLE, INTEGRATED REALITY expressing NOW, on Its’ own volition as Itself, seems incredible enough, magnificent enough, meaningful enough, and purposeful enough to never have to know or Realize more. Yet there appears to be a “seed” planted in the Human Energy Field we call human beings that moves one or another (or not) to seek to know more or Realize more, as regards Conscious Awareness of the Whole.  

Thus, we arrive at the apparent, essential purpose of human beings in the grand scheme of that which appears as the manifested universe. When considered in the context of the advent and evolution of Life and the Universe, as a Whole, from the beginning of time to today, one cannot rightly isolate the advent of human beings from the overall, evolutionary reality of the Whole of Creation expressing now, as if humans were somehow uniquely separate and distinct from all that appeared before. To the contrary, humans, like all other life-expressions, from the earliest to appear to today, arise out of the same Source and stand on the same foundation of all that came before. From the first atoms and molecules to appear and evolve billions of years ago, to plants, animals, and humans appearing and evolving in more recent times – from the simplest of organisms to the most complex – the movement of Life/Energy today epitomizes the Totality of Life expressing NOW, irrespective of the era in which such forms might have first appeared.

The essential, underlying purpose of human beings, therefore, cannot be separated from the essential purpose of Life and the Universe expressing, as a Whole, from the beginning of time to today, whatever that might be. 

This being the case, it follows that humans appearing today stand in the vanguard of evolutionary development, not only regarding the evolution of organisms and species, but also regarding the evolution of Conscious Awareness within that which appears. For all evidence suggests that, while all material expressions are founded in fields of Energy, there likewise has simultaneously evolved an ever-greater, ever-clarifying capacity for Conscious Awareness within that which appears, with each new phase of development. 

The essential purpose of humans, therefore, cannot be anything other than directly linked to not only the evolutionary development of material expressions, as a Whole, but also, and equally important, to the evolutionary unfolding and flowering of Conscious Awareness within that which appears. Thus, humans appearing today are the most Consciously Aware of any and all expressions that have ever appeared to date, as they appear to be the most recent species to evolve. 

Therefore, the essential purpose underlying the evolution of Life and the Universe, including the advent of human beings, appears to be the same today as has been since the beginning of time. And by all appearances, there seems to be an intended goal that is directly linked to the evolution of ALL of the above: to the development of ever-more complex organisms and species with ever-expanding Clarity in Conscious Awareness through time. This, in itself, seems a meaningful enough purpose for an intelligent Universe of unspeakable beauty and fathomless depth to appear and evolve and have its’ Being without having to know more. Beyond this, who can say?

Just reverent AWE – beyond description and nothing more. 

JC Tefft 

INQUIRY: “As you know, I write poetry and I was drawn to your recent statement about creativity being a process of exploring the nature of God and life in the present moment.  Those weren’t your exact words, but that’s what I gleaned. Would you please elaborate?” 

JCT RESPONSE: While reading this most recent inquiry, as restated above, the first question that arose is, “Did I write that?”  This led to a review of prior correspondence in search of such commentary wherein I discovered the following:  

“… as you write, remain open to whatever arises from within to express on the page. And while in the midst of this movement, continue to rest in the Silence out of which the words flow. Resting in this Silence allows for evermore profound creativity to arise from within. And as such arises in the Present Moment, simply allow this flowering to occur and nothing more.” 

The point that was wanting to be made, as noted above, does not contemplate a separate entity “exploring” anything at all, least of all, God or the movement of Life. For no such entity exists that can “explore” somethings else, as if “something else” is separate from the movement to explore. This is what you (the Absolute Truth of “you’) must discover from within. Such a discovery – often called an Awakening – is when the sense of a separate self – “searching” or “exploring” – ends – in the eternal Present Moment – Now. Truth is, no such entity exists that can BE in the Present Moment. But rather, BEING in the Present Moment requires there be no sense of separation at all. 

In the eternal Present Moment, there is no separate self, there is only Source or God, if you will, experiencing life as a human being. And that experience is not separate from the human experiencer. God already “experiences” life through many human expressions, so there is no need for an imaginary separate entity to “explore” the nature of God from the standpoint of self, there is only a need for the sense of egoic separation from God to die away. And when this occurs – whalla! The sense of separation between the experience and the experiencer is no more. 

To Realize this fact is to Realize the living Truth of the movement of Life Itself. It’s not about the birth and death of organisms, but about the death of a sense of separation that is centered in the egoic self that, without exception, everyone experiences – until such sense dies away. It is ultimately God’s Will that this be so: that the two Be as One in the eternal Present Moment – Now. 

So, what does this mean, as far as writing poetry is concerned? It means that prior to writing a line of verse, breathe deeply and let go, as much as possible, to the sense of separation from the movement to write arising from within. This practice allows the Silent Source Itself – the Spirit of God, if you will – to express of Itself, absent the egoic sense of separateness getting in the way. The more this is practiced, the greater is the loss of separateness, and the greater the loss of separateness, the more one purely expresses in the eternal Present Moment, Oneness of Being, rather than separateness of self. And like the works of the Sufi poet, Rumi, the words might wash over others, like a mighty stream, and thereby cleanse the Soul of the sense of separateness in them, as well.

Out of the Silence of the Present Moment, the Spirit of creativity arises from within. This is the underlying Truth of Being that cannot be “explored” by an imagined separate entity, but can only be Realized when the egoic sense of separateness is no more. 

JC Tefft