Our True Nature

The Illusory Life

The Actual is that which exists in the immediacy of the present moment. This includes

• That we exist and know that we exist. Existence is actual.

• We know that we are Aware - this is plainly evident and in plain sight.

Neither of the above require thought or analysis for verification. They are self evident - meaning the evidence is right there for all to see. No question about it.

We are that which is aware, not an object of awareness. Our true nature is "unknowable" as an object because we are the subject, not the object.

In that Natural functioning there are preferences and opinions, but there is no "me" there that apparently owns those opinions and preferences. The opinions are just opinions and so if they are disagreed with by others, one's very existence is not does not seem to be threatened.

If preferences are not fulfilled it is not the end of the world. There is no-one there taking delivery of it and no reference point other than the universe at this instant.

Ramana Maharshi said

"The state of pure being, which is common to all and which is always experienced directly by everybody, is one's true nature."

Amazingly, despite the fact that it is plainly evident that we exist and are aware, we conceptualise - make abstract - our own existence and nature.

When Life Itself is apparently conceptualised, Life Itself is not modified at all in any way. Life Itself keeps on Living.

Our actual Life - Aliveness - Awareness - Consciousness - does not need identifying with, and does not need conceptualising.

There is no such thing as "Identifying with Consciousness" unless one's self - the "me" - is already held to be an Object in which case the identification is with the concept of Consciousness, which as a thought form - an object as well.

It is only possible to identify with an Object - this is called Objectification. Even then, Life Itself does not become identified with an Object - it continues and life is Lived, just as before.

A belief can exist (which is held by no-one - as there is no-one there to hold it) which "believes" that our / your / my actual nature is embodied in a set of concepts in the mind.

Initially the concepts, when they were forming, were "about me", but as the belief in the concept set becomes stronger - the belief into "these concepts ARE me" (beliefs, as usual, are held by no-one as there is, as always - no separate entity there to hold them).

At this point there is a belief, held by no-one, that a set of concepts in the mind encapsulate and ARE your true nature.

This is an apparent Objectification of your true nature - your True nature is now an apparently an mind Object.

This belief and the concept set that accompanies it become a reference point. When things come up about "you" the thoughts are referred to the database in the head that has been constructed about you - but better than that - it is "you".

Life Itself is apparently reduced to a mental concept - a mental construct devoid of aliveness, awareness, presence intelligence. This is an apparent deadening. An deadened abstraction of who we are apparently replaces the Aliveness that we actually are - from the perspective of the "me".

Life cannot actually become an abstraction - this is only an apparency from the perspective of the "me" - a reference point in the mind.

Life continues, just as it always has, and the apparent existence of an independent 'me' does not change anything in actuality. We are Lived and have always been lived.

It is the classic state of mistaken identity. The original non-identification with any objects - including thoughts and concept - continues. This is the actuality.

Meanwhile in the mind - the "me" which is now believed in - is identified with the content of many thoughts and concepts. The mental construct of the "me" identifies with another part of the mind which concerns the the attributes and history of the "me" - although they are not really separate.

The conglomerate of thoughts that make up the "me" is vulnerable. It comes to believe that it IS life itself and in its own thoughts takes ownership of all that is done. This is an illusion taking illusory "credit" for what Life Itself is doing (which is yet another thought)

It is the ultimate hijacking - but in actuality all of this is "happening" only in thought - only in imagination. It is the cosmic joke.

The vulnerability is as quite expected - it is holding that IT is Life Itself and is to be praised, or blamed for whatever is happening. But it is all imagination - a joke - so that any challenge to the "supremacy of the me or the mind" is taken as threat.

Being sustained only by thoughts the "me" needs to be "pumped up"continually by thoughts of the "me". It is a bit like computer memory that needs to be "refreshed" many times a second to ensure its content survives. So there is a continuous stream of thoughts about the "me" - some baldly referring to the "me" (as if it existed) and other subtle references to the "me - which take for granted that the "me" exists but does not mention it directly.

The "me" becomes deeply embedded in the thought processes - despite the fact that it a hoax. After a while the "me" thoughts become can almost invisible as they are there all the time and are not noticed for what they are, or questioned in any way.

While the 'me' in believed in suffering can occur, it is only the 'me' that suffers. Natural functioning gets on with Life, but the 'me' dwells on misfortune, blames self and others, gets into conflict with self and others and the list goes on.

Nisargadatta Maharaj said

"The person is a very small thing. Actually it is a composite, it cannot be said to exist by itself.

Unperceived, it is just not there. It is but the shadow of the mind, the sum total of memories.

Pure being is reflected in the mirror of the mind, as knowing. What is known takes the shape of a person, based on memory and habit.

It is but a shadow, or a projection of the knower onto the screen of the mind."

When the 'me' is seen through as the fiction that it is the suffering falls away of itself without directly addressing the apparent cause of the suffering. It is almost as if the floor is pulled out from under the suffering.

The Mind as a Reference Point

Suffering come from the belief in the 'me' and the apparent losing cognizance of one's true nature. In actuality one's true nature can never be lost - so losing it only seems to be true from the perspective of the "me".

The 'me' is a subset of the mind which is believed in. There are many other thoughts that are believed in but do not directly relate to the 'me'. The Mind appears to have credibility - it is believed. The mind is taken as a warehouse of knowledge - always there, always available.

Conceptualisation of other people

Amazingly there are situations where the actual is there (e.g. a friend) and also the mind content about the friend (the abstraction).

The question is - however - when something comes up about the friend - what is referred to - the actual or the mind content? The friend is here, alive, in the immediacy of the present moment. The thoughts about the friend are from the past and are dead.

Krishnamurti use to say to his audiences occasionally "You have been married to your wife for 30 years and you have not actually seen her for years and years". The apparent relation ship to which Krishnamurti refers is with the conceptual wife and not the actual living one.

Referring to the conceptual person is a "deadening" process - where the actual person is ignored and it seems that only the non-alive mental image exists. This could be considered a form of violence.

Similarly the belief in the 'me', and the staunch defense of it, is a deadening process. The Aliveness of your true nature is 100 percent present, but there can be a belief in the conceptual 'me' that is not even alive.

Aliveness is fully there, but the "dead one" is believed to be 'me' !! Astonishing!!

The Illusory Life

The Illusory Life is Life "lived" from the perspective of the "me". It is completely in the world of thought - the "me" being a thought construct, and life is looked at from the perspective of that "me". Things that happen in the actual world (you know - the real one) are objectified and conceptualised in the mind. The "me" responds to the objectified and conceptualised versions - the copies - not the actual, the live.

This is the Illusory life - lived by an Illusory "me" in which the world is made up of concepts and abstractions - all of which are in the mind. Life - so-called - goes on in there - at least from the perspective of the "me".

That is the Illusory Life. (Call that life?)

Real Life is the Natural Functioning - which occurs spontaneously in the immediacy of the present moment - in the absence of a "me".

Natural Functioning does not have to be "practiced" or "embodied".

It is your natural state.

That is "Real Life".

The Linchpin is the "me" - see through that and everything changes, but nothing changes.

Life goes on as it always has - We are Lived. That is the "nothing changes" part.

The conceptualisation and Objectification of Life Itself falls away. There is no longer a reference point called "me".

The "me" is seen through - and suffering - which depends on the "me" also falls away - of its own accord - without being directly addressed.

That is the "everything changes" part.

Written by Mike Graham, 11 September 2009, last edited 15 Sept 2009