Two Aspects of the One
by John No Comments »We could say that awareness has two different aspects or expressions. In one, it is the space that makes room for everything, the emptiness which allows what is to simply be as it is. In this aspect, our sky-Like nature is passive, unmoved and untouched by whatever clouds appear within it. It is the still and formless background against which the world of form appears and moves. In this aspect, the Sky is not really involved or engaged with the myriad forms that appear and then disappear within it. It is simply the silent witness of all comings and goings. Here, the expression is a silent one for the Sky really has nothing to say about any thought, sensation, feeling or experience that may be present. It is simply that boundless space that contains them all.
We could say that in this aspect, the sky-like nature of mind or awareness is a kind of disinterested observer or witness. You can maybe sense this aspect right now, the simple and effortless knowing or registering of whatever sounds and sights may be present, much like a movie screen passively registers the multitude of images that flash across it. Regardless of their content, every thought, image, feeling, and sensation is effortlessly known by this empty, awake, sky-like presence that we are.
But there is another more dynamic aspect or expression of this presence of awareness. And it is that dimension that becomes active when the container in a sense becomes interested in that which it contains. Yes, there is something – call it awareness - that silently registers the sound of the bird or the traffic outside or the colors and patterns of light that appear before its ever-watchful gaze. But what happens when the silent awareness becomes interested and curious about the sounds that are appearing within it? What happens when the still and unmoving witness becomes curious about that which it is witnessing? There is the sense here that the mystery that is awake (our true nature) has this natural interest and curiosity about everything. In its more active aspect or dimension, the mystery seems to live in a state of child-like wonder and innocence, a kind of quiet fascination, even awe, in the face of the utter miracle that is everything.
As the screen of presence-awareness or Being that simply registers what is, what we are is this deep and abiding peace. All is still and unmoving. But as the screen becomes interested in the images that are moving across its face, so begins the dance of the unborn and the born, of formlessness loving form, the boundless wonder of what is…