The Seer

At our latest ‘Headless Way’ gathering at Gurukula, the discussion leader, Sam, invited the ten friends present to try out what he called “the Tree of Life Experiment.”

We all lay on our backs on the carpet of the dojo, an equal distance apart, with our feet almost touching in the center. Looking from above, we would have made a kind of star formation.

We were then asked to raise ourselves up on our elbows and, looking toward the others, imagine that our bodies together made up the trunk and branches of the Tree of Life.

The question was then asked, “In your overall picture of this Tree, where do you perceive the trunk to be?”

Of course, we all agreed that we saw our own body as the trunk, and all the other bodies like branches fanning out from the top of the trunk at our feet.

We were then asked to notice, on the basis of our own direct experience, what was at the bottom of our ‘trunk’, where the roots would normally be.

On the evidence, we each acknowledged that our ‘trunk’ mysteriously extended from the chest to our feet out of an alive, aware, spaciousness that took in the ‘Tree branches’ made up of our friends.

We were asked to note that, according to our own direct experience, everything ‘out there’ had color, shape, density and other qualities, whereas, what was witnessing all this, the very roots of this Tree of Life, had no color, no shape, was completely transparent and had no discernable qualities at all!

We also noted with some awe that while each ‘branch’ of this Tree ended with a head and had limitations or boundaries, the ‘root’ area at the bottom of each ‘trunk’ had no length, breadth or boundaries of any kind. Our roots were apparently vast and infinite!

Although we each had our own unique perspective of the trunk and branches of our Tree of Life at that moment, it seemed that, as friends, we were bound together into a unity by a common ’seeing’ or insight that transcended the purely personal … it was a kind of unitive vision as if Life was suddenly conscious of Itself, both as formless and as the many forms.

When I got to my feet with the others, it was with a heightened sense not only of my rootedness in or as limitless Spirit, but that I had some role to play in bringing this unitive vision to the branches and leaves that made up ‘my’ Tree of Life.

When you’re from the country – you look at things a little differently…

A Montana rancher got in his pickup and drove to a neighboring ranch and knocked at the door. A young boy, about 9, opened the door “Is your Dad home?” the rancher asked.

“No sir, he isn’t,” the boy replied. “He went into town.”

“Well,” said the rancher, “Is your Mother here?”

“No sir, she’s not here either. She went into town with Dad.”

“How about your brother, Howard? Is he here?”

“No sir, He went with Mom and Dad.”

The rancher stood there for a few minutes, shifting from one foot to the other and mumbling to himself.

“Is there anything I can do for you?” the boy asked politely. “I know where all the tools are, if you want to borrow one. Or maybe I could take a message for Dad.”

“Well,” said the rancher uncomfortably, “I really wanted to talk to your Dad. It’s about your brother Howard getting my daughter, Suzie, pregnant.”‘

The boy considered for a moment. “You would have to talk to Dad about that”, he finally conceded. “If it helps you any, I know that Dad charges $500 for the bull and $50 for the hog, but I really don’t know how much he gets for Howard.”

Presence just means eating potato chips, walking your dog, sitting on the couch, shuffling papers at work, talking on the phone with a friend, listening to your favorite music, or driving down the road thinking. Presence is your everyday existence without the need for something more to happen.

Seeking could be described as eating potato chips while desiring to reach a state of enlightenment or to be an awakened person eating chips or to have some experience other than the simple fact of eating chips right now. Presence is simply eating chips without that desire for some future moment.

Presence is so simple that it is overlooked by the mind seeking something other than what is happening now. In presence, life is simple. There is only the crunch, crunch of the chip, the sensation of it going down your throat, and then biting into the next chip. It’s that simple.

Just that — the reality of eating chips. It’s not about the story of a person eating chips. It’s much simpler. It’s just eating chips.

The desire for something more than what is happening is the problem, not the road to the solution.

From: Reflections of the One Life, by Scott Kiloby www.kiloby.com

Kirk: “what kind of chips do you recommend?” (See above)

Pete: I recommend your favorite kind … and as you enjoy them, be very present with what is happening. This is not as easy to do as it sounds. Usually, when we are eating etc. we are not fully savoring the chips but thinking of something else … like somebody’s ideas about enlightenment, or what was said or done in the past, or, what might or might not happen in the future.

If you can be deeply present with the chip-eating experience (or any other experience for that matter) it can be a portal into your conscious oneness with the alive awareness that is your essential, infinite and eternal nature/beingness (sorry, words are inadequate here.)

First, you focus on (notice, be aware of etc.) the taste and texture of the chips, the movement of your hand etc. between bag and mouth etc. and even the thoughts that come into your head at this time and any feelings they inspire.

Then, turn your attention back to what is aware of all these sensations, thoughts and feelings. Notice that this silent witness to your interior and exterior world is not a ‘thing’, that it has no form, no age, no limitations etc. This still silent ‘field’ or ‘background’ is the real You … the eternally awake and aware You … it has always been so. To actually see this, as all the sages attest, is ‘enlightenment’.

This aware Self is pure and wholly innocent no matter what you have done as a form nor what has been done to your form by other forms.

Once this is seen, it is realized that it is not the finite, temporary ‘Kirk’ person who sees ’something’ but rather it is the alive awareness that recognizes ItSelf, as though it had been asleep and was waking from a (bad) dream.

Then One is aware that you are just playing the role of a person sitting in a chair eating chips, or not doing so, and you can go on playing the game and not get taken in by it as before. You also realize that everyone else is also an expression of the One, as you are, and that they are part of the game too.

So, become aware of the self-shining awareness within, Kirk, and if you stay with it, it will become a Light that reveals many rare treasures.