Awake in This Life

Coming down the Mountain of Spirit we find that the ego has lost its grip on everything, including its own ability to manage itself. Sometimes, it is helpful to recognize this realization as “ego fully seen.” In stories like The Emperor’s New Clothes and The Wizard of Oz, both the emperor and the wizard are exposed for what they are. The Nondual traditions all emphasize the value of this exposure. Zen, Dzogchen, Taoism, Sufiism, Advaita Vedanta, Kabbalah and contemplative Christian practices show us that Spirit, Emptiness, Brahman, God, Big Self, Ein Sof, or the All is the condition of any and all states in which we find ourselves. This means that no matter where or how we might find our experience of being a self, we are still continually expressing the fullness of Spirit. We are, in other words, no longer a dualistic expression of “in here” versus “out there,” a “me” versus a “you,” or an “us” versus a “them.” No matter what state we’re in, whether it be the bliss of meditation or the pain of watching a loved one suffer, Spirit is expressing itself, and its Peace is offered to us continually as the timeless, singular, nondual flow of everything all at once.

A few years back, some friends experienced a tragic death in their family. The father died unexpectedly, putting major emotional and financial strains on the wife and two college-aged kids. In speaking with one of the kids, I was amazed at his continual peace in the face of the loss. Several weeks after the funeral I asked him how he was doing, and his reply impressed me.

“Mostly I feel terrible,” he said. “Dad’s loss aches in a way that I couldn’t have imagined. But, at the same time, there is still a deep peace underneath it all.”

Peace underneath. What a great way to express the experience of the nondual, timeless flow of our lives, no matter what might be happening. Peace, in other words, is neither dependent on nor independent from experience. It is neither this nor that, but instead the quality that lies underneath everything, equally present in our most glorious and our most painful moments. It is never not right here with us, and yet it can be easily veiled from our sight if our circumstances catch us, or, conversely, if we hang onto our circumstances.

Practicing intimately with our lives helps us find our way clear of attachment. But this is something that we need to do continually, time and again, and in the process we especially need to be aware of our tendency to attach to our practice itself. How dangerous, for example, for any of us to fall prey to the idea that from the nondual perspective, there are ultimately no boundaries and therefore all is illusory. We might falsely conclude that, since everything is an illusion, nothing matters. If we attach to this false logic, our practice will lose its balance, and so lose its ability to be a helpful and steadying force in our world. To prevent this from happening, we can remind ourselves of the simple distillation of the vows taken by sincere practitioners of all traditions: “I will not cause harm.” This reminder helps us to self-correct whatever is leaning in our nondual spiritual journey, and so helps us to uncover the peace underneath for everyone.