The Standpoint of the Sages

In meditation circles you will hear the phrase that, "Experience is all there is." Or that, "Consciousness is all there is."

And when this is spoken, you can tell that what is meant by consciousness is just the state where there is experience.

This is not true wisdom.

This is not the standpoint of the Sages.

They are declaring experience as illusory. As Maya. They declare this world as empty of independent existence.

To a Sage, any reality that an experience has, is borrowed, is granted, is gifted by what is actually truly real.

Every experience is pointing back to the non-dual nature of Reality.

You can look someone in the eyes and that is the reminder. Or you look at the sky and see the light dancing there. Or you hear music all around, pervading this space, and that highlights what Consciousness truly is.

Or you feel the depth of emotion in your own heart, and you know how deep it goes; all the way to Infinity.

Everything is a sign and a reminder to a Sage.

But to a normal mind, experience is what is solid. A personal experience, separate to all other experiences.

And Consciousness or Awareness, these seem vague and unknown. And if you inquire, "What am I?", again the answer seems elusive and unknown.

This is opposite to the Sage's perspective.

In the normal, what we're calling the normal perspective, experience is solid and feels real.

And what is being pointed out by the Sages seems vague and unknown. So, you're standing on shaky ground.

Because if your experience is all there is for you, then you know there was a birth. And there will be a death.

To the Sage you are the Unborn. Eternal.

So, let's use an example to flip this view around. And let's use the sense which is maybe the most solid of all.

The sense of touch.

You know the eyes can trick you. If you're looking at something it might be a reflection or an illusion. But the sense of touch is much more intimate.

It feels very real. And it is hard to consider something an illusion if you can touch it, you can feel it.

So consider the solidity, the solidness, of the ground on which you're sitting or standing. This solidness is associated with the ground.

Normally, the solidness of the ground is taken to be the proof of a physical world. And from this stems the idea of you being an object in the world.

And all this is happening quite effortlessly, it's not involving thoughts that you're thinking in the moment. This has all been established by the mind.

The sense of touch seems to be proving that there is a physical world and that you are a particular physical object in it. Because touch obviously involves contact between two things.

So how can there be Nonduality if there are multiple different physical beings in a physical universe?

This perspective is not accurate.

To loosen it, let's first look at the science. Of course, the Sages don't think in this way, but in the modern world we are first mostly rational; rationalistic. And often I have found the inquiry should begin by satisfying the rational mind. To an extent.

So, consider what is happening when your body is in contact with the ground.

It seems like there are two physical things in contact, but what is actually happening is that the electrons in the ground, they're following a particular dance, a pattern. And electrons in the body have their own dance going on. And as these two clouds of electrons approach each other, these two dances, there's a force that pushes them apart. The force of electromagnetism.

It's not possible for the two clouds of electrons to occupy the same space, unless a certain immense amount of energy is supplied.

So your body is never actually contacting the ground. No two things ever touch.

And while this interaction between the electrons is going on, you're not directly experiencing that.

From that, some signals go up to the brain because of special nerve cells in your body. And then the brain processes the signal, and at that point there's an experience. The sensation of touch.

That is where the contact is made.

The contact you experience is not really that between the body and the ground. It is the contact of You and the brain activity.

Processes taking place in the body contact Sentience. Interactions taking place in Reality are known.

This is what gives shape to the ground; to the sensation of it. The solidness of the ground is borrowed from this contact; the contact between Awareness and what arises in it.

Awareness is what grants the touch of reality to the sensations, to the sights and sounds, to the thoughts and memories, and emotions; to everything.

Only when something is known does it feel real.

It's quite obvious. It is this Awareness granting the solidness of everything.

And this is why the Sages have declared Awareness, in different terms but always pointing to the same, they have declared Awareness as the highest aspect of Reality. Because what grants reality to all these passing phenomena, to these objects, is only Reality itself.

What else can have this power?

Now, see this clearly, what is your relation to Awareness? Is there a relation? Or is it your true identity?

Are You not the one that is aware In this moment?

It is You. Awareness is another name for You.

So, remember this then:

The solidness of the ground beneath You, is the solidity of your own Being.

The proofs, the signs are all around You.

Every experience points back to the reality of your own Being.