Pure Conscious Awareness
There is no such thing as a singular event that is separate from the Whole.
There is no such thing as a singular entity or life that is separate from All that IS.
Even so, there appear to be billions of stars, as conceived of Mind, universally expressing everywhere at once in the eternally present Now. Yet, not one star is perfectly identical to another.
So also, there appear to be trillions of fish, as conceived of Mind, moving about the sea everywhere at once in the eternally present Now. Yet, not one creature of the sea, even of the same specie, is perfectly identical to another.
So also, there appear to be billions of trees, as conceived of Mind, expressing globally everywhere at once in the eternally present Now. Yet, not one tree, even of the same specie, is perfectly identical to another.
So also, there appear to be billions of birds, as conceived of Mind, flying, nesting, cooing, foraging, expressing globally everywhere at once in the eternally present Now. Yet, not one bird, even of the same specie, is perfectly identical to another.
So also, there appear to be billions of animals, as conceived of Mind, expressing throughout the world everywhere at once in the eternally present Now. Yet, not one animal, even of the same specie, is perfectly identical to another.
So also, there appear to be billions of human beings, as conceived of Mind, flourishing globally everywhere at once in the eternally present Now. Yet, not one human being, even of the same race, is perfectly identical to another.
So also, there appear to be uncountable manifestations of all variety and kind, as conceived of Mind – birthing, growing, blossoming, maturing, stagnating, and dying – everywhere at once in the eternally present Now. Yet, not one living expression, regardless of variety or kind, is perfectly identical to another.
How can this be so? Uncountable living expressions appearing AS IF separate from all others, as conceived of Mind (and only as conceived of Mind), yet not one apparent entity is perfectly identical to another, nor perfectly independent from all others?
Truth is: the movement of Energy and of Life is One movement, not many, arising out of One Source, not many, that forever expresses in the eternally present Now.
That’s All.
End of story of a separate “you” and a separate “me.” For there is only One Life, not many, expressing Now. Never before or hereafter, but only Now.
That’s All.
And to Realize this Truth – deeply, inwardly, non-conceptually – is to Realize the Actuality of Life – the One movement of Life – as such arises, expresses, and recedes out of and back into the One and only Source of All that IS in the eternally present Now.
That’s All.
One Life, One Being, One Reality is All that IS.
What appears to be “your” life or “my” life or some “other” life, as conceived of Mind (and only as conceived of Mind), is in Truth not “yours” or “mine” or “theirs.”
But is the One and only movement of Life arising, unfolding, Being, and receding in the eternally present Now.
That’s All.
Nothing in the apparent universe is ever separate from the Whole of Life appearing Now; the One movement of All, appearing AS IF separate when conceived of Mind (and only when conceived of Mind), when in Truth, such is not the case.
Truth is: there is only One Life expressing in the eternally present Now.
That’s All.
JC Tefft
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
Absent limitations of Mind, SILENCE IS.
Absent limitations of Mind, LOVE IS.
Absent limitations of Mind, PEACE IS.
Absent limitations of Mind, TRUTH IS.
Absent limitations of Mind, I AM IS….
Mind conceptualizes the Actuality of WHAT IS in the eternally Present Now, making it seem as though the movement of Life, as a Whole, is separated into parts, when in Truth, such is not the case.
Thus, the false sense of a separate self, of an egoically centered “me” born of Mind, is not the Silence out of which a sense of a separate “me” is born; is not Love out of which the sense of a separate “me” arises; is not the Whole Truth of what Actually IS SO in the eternally Present Now; is not the I AM of All that IS. The separate sense of “me,” therefore, is not now, nor will ever be the Totality of what ACTUALLY IS SO.
But rather, I AM is All and All and in All that IS in the eternally Present Now. I AM IS inclusive of that which perceives and conceives of Mind that arises out of the Silence of the eternally Present Now, and subsequently interprets such in conceptualized terms, but is not limited to same.
Thus, as one increasingly, egoically identifies with conceptualizations of Mind, a false sense of separation occurs, making what appears to be separate movements of energy, from a conceptualized point of view, seem as if separate from the Whole, when in Actuality, such is never the case.
Consequently, some say the Silence of All or the Presence of All or the movement of All or the appearances of All is merely a “dream” or a “fiction” of Mind. But I say that Silence, Presence, movement, and appearances encompass ALL that IS in the eternally Present Now. And the Totality of it ALL – Silence, Presence, Movement, and Appearances – not only encompass ALL that IS, but also is the Absolute Truth of what Actually is SO in the eternally Present Now.
Thus, the Totality of I AM is ALL and ALL and IN ALL that IS – inclusive of, but not limited to concepts of Mind.
Concepts merely appear as if separate from the eternally Present Now, begetting the illusion of separateness from the Totality of WHAT IS – until such illusion collapses, revealing the living Truth of WHAT ACTUALLY IS SO in the eternally Present Now – that’s ALL.
Full stop, end of story.
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