We are not separate beings, we're just being separate.

Emptiness

Emptiness is not nothingness or a dull void. It is a profound presence and energy. Emptiness is the primordial source of Yin and Yang in Taoism, and the Mother of the Buddhas. The realization of emptiness provides awareness with clarity, emptiness clarifies the spirit. When the spirit is confused by dualistic mind, you have the separated ego self. The view from the ego "I" constricts our spirit. Ego feels like everyone has their head stuck inside their own bubble.

After the realisation of luminous emptiness, we find a transparent world. Like a photographic transparency, the image is there, but now we can see through it.

True and False

It is said that within each being there is true nature. It is also the case that within most of us there is false nature.

Taoists say we need to develop discrimination between what is real and what is false. I think it's very difficult to see the difference between fiction and non fiction, myth and reality.

When we look at life are we seeing life as it is, or are we seeing the contents of our own minds?

A Meditation for You and Me

Be present inside the body. Awareness exists in the body at a level deeper than thought or emotions. Notice the feeling of spaciousness, rest in the feeling of presence. Use the breath to feel everywhere inside the body, in the belly, in the chest, the head, the whole trunk, arms and legs.

Notice there is really nowhere inside that is other than awareness. You may not feel this at first,
that's natural, feel those areas that are not conscious and gently breath into them.

Thoughts come and go, that is their nature, just let them, don't try to hold onto thoughts or prevent them somehow.

Can you feel how vast the space is inside? Just breathing into internal space feels boundless, like you could breath everywhere. As you are resting in awareness, notice you are that. There is really nothing else there but empty awareness.

You may even begin to feel or notice this emptiness/awareness extends beyond the phyiscal body. It has been said "you are not in your body, your body is in you". That is true, just be aware of that. It is an illusion that space is other than or external to oneself. Space is just as much right here as it is out there somewhere.

The space inside the body is the same as the space outside the body.
The space inside the room is the same as the space outside the room.
The space inside the world is the same as the space outside the world.

Knots

A knot is a rope tied around itself,

the rope exists quite nicely without the knot,

but a knot can't exist without the rope.

Mind is spirit tied around itself,

and is not other than awareness behaving knot like.

The River of Wakefulness

I often go camping by a river, the river isn’t really trying to get somewhere, it’s just there flowing, being river like. Awareness is like that river, flowing along quietly (or sometimes noisily), being itself whether there’s anyone there or not.

Sometimes I stand in the river and it feels like I’m wearing it. But the river doesn’t pay any attention to the idea of me.

I used to think the river was trying to get somewhere, struggling to reach the ocean. Then I saw that it was me who was struggling. The river is an unbroken whole, from little stream to big river, to ocean, to vapor in the sky, to rainfall or snow pack in the mountains, to little stream…

The river isn’t seeking a goal; it’s perfect as it is.

True nature is thought free wakefulness.

The Alignments Practice

One of the methods used in the alignments practice is the heartspace meditation, (see the post titled "The Heart"). This very simple meditation is designed to introduce you to your essential nature, or the true nature of your being.

Through this inner recognition one learns to return and rest in their true heart. Also, with practice your insight will deepen and the inner heart becomes the teacher. In time one gains a tremendous confidence in the inner teacher.

One realization you may encounter is; because this inner truth is your true self-nature, it is also the true self-nature of the other.