The Fragility of the Jar and the Boundless Space of Being

We often find ourselves wandering through the noise of spiritual chatter, perhaps even considering a visit to a body mind spirit expo, looking for that one missing piece of the puzzle. But who is it that is looking? And what if the very act of looking is what creates the illusion that something is missing? We talk about finding peace or achieving a state of awareness as if these were destinations on a map, but the absolute has no coordinates. It is the totality, the ever-present light that makes this very moment possible. Think about the energy that keeps a galaxy spinning in the far reaches of the "out there." That exact same energy is what causes your eyelid to blink right now. There is no division between the two. We could say the galaxy is blinking your eye, or your eye is spinning the galaxy. They happen together because they are the dance of a single, undivided energy. The separate self, however, likes to claim a small corner of this dance. It builds a wall around a specific body-mind and says, "This is me, and everything else is not me." This is where the feeling of contraction begins. It is an apparent tightening of the absolute into a small, psychological "I" that feels it must journey somewhere to become whole again. But look closely at the metaphor of the clay jar. We imagine there is a space inside the jar and a vast space outside of it. We spend our lives trying to protect the jar or, conversely, trying to "break" it so the inside space can finally meet the outside space. This is the great misunderstanding of the seeker. The space has no parts. The space does not care if the jar is whole, cracked, or shattered into a thousand pieces. The space is already there, through and through. The body-mind is simply a form appearing within that space, totally immersed in it. Whether the "jar" of your personality feels expansive or contracted, the absolute remains unaffected. It is already here. When we gather in silence, it isn't to "do" something. It isn't a technique to refine the body-mind or to reach a higher vibration. Many people are tired of the noisy apps, the New Age soundtracks, and the endless spiritual separate self that permeates groups. They seek a space to simply be what they were before words began. This isn't about spiritual growth because there is nothing to grow into. You cannot become what you already are. The "aware presence" that is reading these words is the same presence that was there when you were five years old and will be there when the body-mind ceases to function. It is the screen upon which the film of "your life" is projected. The screen doesn't change because the movie changes from a tragedy to a comedy. In this context, things like meditation might bring a sense of comfort to the body-mind in the immediate moment. It might feel like a release of weight, an expansion of energy. That is perfectly fine, but it is not a ladder to the absolute. There are no ladders because there is no height to achieve.