The Spiritual Wonder of Life
Do you know what it is like to sit quietly on a secluded beach late at night? Comfortably, sitting and watching a bright full moon, high in the sky. Quietly, you are listening to the waves of the ocean flowing near and far. You begin to feel completely pleasant, focused and relaxed. The night air has a very cool breeze that blows gently across you and you feel the essence of tranquility. It is very relaxing and soothing just being alone watching the cool sand, the darkness of the moving water and the opened sky above. There is a great delight seeing the soft, gentle clouds passing by. There is a sense of wonderment, letting go of everything while watching the horizon in the far distance. Quietly, you begin to notice how peaceful this is. There is such great beauty enjoying this moment to the fullest that you simply drift off into the calm sunset, effortlessly.
All of us must deal with this thing called life, which includes death. It does not matter if we are young or old, rich or poor. The continuous struggle to survive: food, clothing, water, clean air and shelter, is a constant pursuit for all of us. We are aware of the necessities of the things we all need and the urgency to attain them. This we are not denying. What concerns me and perhaps you have thought about it as well, is rather or not there is more to life than just survival. Have you ever questioned this for yourself? Are you ever curious at all about this thing called life? Of course, if we are at all serious, mature human beings, it is necessary to take time from our everyday lives, no matter how busy we are, to inquire into this. To be a mature and intelligent human being is to understand the wholeness of life and not just the continuity of the organism to sustain life. What we need is a mind that is in a state of learning and not a learned mind locked in experiences and knowledge. A learning that is a constant movement in which ones perception is complete and not clouded by the accumulation of yesterdays' experiences and our storage of knowledge. This endless attachment to knowledge is the very denial of intelligence. There is complete understanding only in the present moment that is absent of a so-called 'self.'
Spirituality of living is the wholeness within mankind.
Man has divided life into the past, the present and the future. Being divided and bound by time, this 'self' is in conflict and creates, among other things, chaos and confusion. Our conscious state, this thinker, prevents seeing life 'now' in the present. This means, we are forever responding to the shadows of life and not life in the pristine moment. We live our whole lives inattentive of our surroundings and unaware of our consciousness. When you are attentive, there is no 'self.' Look into this and see the truth of it for yourself. Being inattentive, this conscious 'self' can only respond after the fact. Instead of being in life, directly responding to the act, you are actually doing something 'about' the act, after the fact. This entity, we call our 'self,' is continuously projecting itself into the present, preventing us from seeing life, 'as is,' which is completely new and ever changing. This constant process of change is the essence of life and the enemy of the 'self.' Only by learning to die in each moment will you see the many wonders of this life. Beauty, love and happiness only come into being when there is no 'self.' This inward ending of you, which is death, is the awakening of immortality.
So in going into this so far I now ask, do you know what it means to be silent? When you understand and live with silence and attentiveness, only then will you be a creative human being, changing with the river of life. In understanding this, you will see that wisdom is not a gathering of knowledge. It is the very ending of knowledge. In seeing this you will understand there is no life in time. It is through death that something new can come into being. Then each moment, you are a new, creative human being. Free, complete and full of life. Surely, you can understand the meaning of all this. It is to live life in the abundance of joy, contentment and love.
Spiritual Master Adonis Alexander
