Contents
The Training
After watching the puppet show at the carnival, you decide to walk back to your cabin. You remembered… everything. Although you had fallen in a dreadful pit of misery, you were able to find your way out. You understand that having reached enlightenment does not, at all, relieve you from the tragedies of life. Instead, you remember that reaching enlightenment allows you to find peace within the acceptance of any situation.
Since your first visit to the annual carnival, you have become quite an explorer of abstractions and their many expressions. You are well aware that the experience is comprised of countless abstractions expressed throughout both the physical, and of the mind. You also realise that absolutely all things allude to The Awareness. That is, all things allude to the paradoxical, infinite, present and impossible nature of The Awareness. You understand that although you are not able to accurately express the absolute nature of The Awareness, you can express… its expressions!
The expressions of the The Awareness are the formless abstractions, and the experience is the expression of formless abstractions, and the expression of the experience is… the experience! In the same way The Awareness is aware of the Awareness, the experience is an expression of the experience. You are able to find ridiculous, yet extremely obvious, similarities within your awareness. What started as the recognition of multiple instances of an abstraction has become a convoluted, yet understandable, set of patterns, concepts and ideas. You understand the nature of how all things are within the experience, but what if you could also understand the nature of how all things could be?
You notice a pothole in the road in front of your cabin. As you walk through the gated fence and along the rubbled cobblestone path, you arrive at your porch. You pause for a moment and look back at the withered garden. In the same way your greenery and vegetation have shrivelled and perished, so too did your wellbeing and happiness. Displeased with the chaos, you open the door and go inside. As the heel of your boot thumps the floorboard, the door slams shut.
You recognise that you were so distracted by the withering thoughts of your mind, that you had not recognised the withering expressions within your experience. What has befallen you, has befallen your experience. How could the physical being let this happen? How could the physical being be so blind to its surroundings? How could the physical being be so blind?
It does not matter. The reasons as to why the physical being is where the physical being is do not matter. They are inconsequential facts of an illusory past. Just as well, they are inconsequential facts that are easily interchangeable. What does matter is what the physical being decides to do. Does the physical being choose to dwell in misery, or try to influence change within the experience?
What is apparent now? The multiple expressions expressing the abstraction of ‘withering’ are apparent now, within the experience. You already know that it is important to stray away from the notion of sentimentality throughout the recognition of all the expressions. That is, all expressions of the abstraction of ‘withering’ must be recognised with the same apathy so as to not exaggerate the physical being’s illusory self-importance over the experience. All things within the experience hold exactly the same meaning, or exactly the same lack of meaning.
Remember that The Awareness does not have the capacity to feel sentimentality. Should you become aware of the notion of sentimentality toward yourself, it is not you, The Awareness, who is aware. It is the physical being of which you are aware entertaining the notion of sentimentality, forgetting the nature of The Awareness, which is not able to feel anything.
Instead of feeling pitiful toward a miserable situation, whether it be your health, current financial status or environment, understand that you are simply aware of many expressions expressing the abstraction of ‘feeling pitiful toward something’, one of which is the physical being’s state of mind. Always aim to transcend the experience’s attempts to distract you back into itself, by repetitively abstracting concepts and ideas until there is nothing left to abstract, apart from the untethered abstraction of an experience.
Instead of believing that you are a physical being, abstracting an experience, understand that you are only aware of the knowing of an experience in which a physical being believes. You are aware of an experience in which a physical being believes they are self-governing and not another expression of an abstraction.
For example, the physical being may believe their withered state of mind is not an expression of their withered garden, or of their withering experience. Yet, regardless of what is believed, the abstraction of ‘withering’ is being expressed throughout the physical being, the garden and the experience.
You understand that within your recognition of the abstraction of ‘withering’ and its many expressions, things are withering. Some of the things are the physical being’s state of mind and health, their garden and the experience. You also understand that within the experience, any expression that the physical being is able to express is subject to the abstraction of the physical being. Similarly, the physical being is subject to the experience.
With these understandings, you are able to deduce that should you apply an abstraction, by expressing it within the experience, it will reverberate successive expressions. In other words, if you apply the abstraction of ‘growing’ to the experience, by expressing it through the ‘growing’ of a tree, a ‘growing’ of a plant or a ‘growing’ of some understanding, more expressions of the abstraction of ‘growing’ will begin to appear. It is important to note that though these expressions will appear, they will not do so by defying the laws of physics, nor the nature of the universe. Though these expressions will appear, they will not do so magically, or supernaturally.
For instance, a simple thought about the abstraction of ‘growing’ will not magically express the abstraction of ‘growing’, physically, throughout the experience. A simple thought will bring about a simple thought, and that is all. If you want to apply any abstraction, you must wilfully and physically express it throughout the experience. That is, you must express ‘growing’ in different aspects of your experience.
Before applying anything, you must know what it is you are applying to. Should you want to influence a withering experience to express the abstraction of ‘growing’ as opposed to the abstraction of ‘withering’, you must find as many expressions expressing the abstraction of ‘withering’. In other words, you must concentrate on the experience, and search for all situations, things or expressions alluding to the abstraction of ‘withering’. Whether it be a withering garden, a withering fence, a withering house, a withering state of mind or a withering experience, you must be aware of these expressions, for they are most important.
The purpose of this practice is to isolate all instances of the abstraction you are trying to influence. You are trying to find every single instance, or expression, of the abstraction of ‘withering’, so that there remain no expressions of ‘withering’ unknown. Why do you need to recognise all current expressions of the abstraction you are trying to influence? What does the abstraction of ‘withering’ have to do with the abstraction of ‘growing’?
In the same way you recognised abstractions and their many expressions when you first visited the annual carnival, you recognised the abstraction of ‘withering’ and its many expressions. In the same way all things dual are able to be expressed in unity, so too are the many expressions of abstractions. For example, though there are multiple islands, they are all a part of one ocean. In the same way, though there are multiple expressions of ‘withering’, they are all expressing one abstraction.
As long as there are expressions of an abstraction, the abstraction will continue to be expressed, or reverberated, throughout the experience. This means that as long as there are expressions expressing the abstraction of ‘withering’, the experience will continue to express, or reverberate, the abstraction of ‘withering’. Does this mean that you are doomed with whatever abstractions are present in your experience?
Where there is fear, you can find serenity. Where there is hatred, you can find love. Where there is chaos, you can find peace. Where there is a thing, you can find the opposite of it. That is, if there is an abstraction of ‘withering’, you can find the abstraction of ‘growing’. Where do you find it? Here. You can find the abstraction of ‘growing’ here, right now. You can find the abstraction of anything here. Whether you find such an abstraction within the knowing of a thought or the knowing of a physical experience, it remains true that the same abstraction is what is being expressed.
Even if you are unable to find expressions of the abstraction of ‘growing’ within the physical experience, you are able to find a thought expressing the abstraction of ‘growing’. This is done, of course, by using your imagination. By “using” your imagination, I mean knowing the experience of thought, in which imagination is entertained. Within imagination, any thing can be expressed, of course within the confines and limitations of thought. That is, you are able to imagine absolutely anything you are able to imagine.
If your experience is festering with expressions of ‘withering’, and you are unable to find any physical expression expressing the abstraction of ‘growing’, do not underestimate the power of imagination. Even if there is no physical expression of ‘growing’, you are still able to imagine a thing that is growing. You are able to imagine the expression of a thing, expressing the abstraction of ‘growing’.
The imagination, or knowing of a thought, is not more or less significant than the knowing of a physical experience. Similarly, the knowing of a thought expressing the abstraction of ‘growing’, is not more or less significant than the knowing of a physical experience in which a thing is expressing the abstraction of ‘growing’. The Knower cannot know significance, but rather The Knower knows the experience in which a thing may or may not be deemed more or less significant than another thing.
You understand what you have to do. Wherever there are things that wither, you must do what you can to help them grow. Wherever there are things that are dying, you must do what you can to help them live. You step outside, ready to water the fading plants and prepare to show love to the garden whose beauty you have longed to see. Moments after you begin feeding the withering plants, you notice a working Leprechaun filling up the pothole on the road in front of your cabin. What a coincidence!
The Challenger
Weeks go by and your withered garden is no more. When you step outside of your cabin, you are greeted with vibrant, blossoming flowers, a glistening cobblestone path and a fence whose iron gate could stand in heavy rain and thunderous hail. You are delighted with the growth of your progress, and you are delighted with the growth of your delight. It seems as though the abstraction of ‘withering’ has withered away, leaving room for the abstraction of ‘growth’ to grow.
What was once withering and lifeless is now blossoming with vibrancy and life. It was by no means of magic, but pure discipline. Though you are now at a point where your front porch is a sight to be seen, it is thanks to your dedication and willingness to do the work. In other words, it was you who was able to bring a lifeless thing to life, but at what cost?
What does it cost the physical being to exist within the experience in which a beautiful garden belongs? What did it cost the physical being to exist within the experience in which a withering garden belonged? What did it cost the physical being to exist within the experience at all? The physical being is not able to escape the expressiveness of the experience, for without the experience, the physical being could not be. In other words, if the experience expressed the abstraction of ‘withering’, and the physical being is subject to the experience, they too will inevitably express the abstraction of ‘withering’.
The physical being will express whatever the experience is expressing, inevitably. That is, unless the physical being is willing to go against the grain. In other words, the physical being will express whatever the experience is expressing, unless they are willing to contradict the experience’s current disposition. If the experience is expressing the abstraction of ‘withering’, displeasing the physical being, the physical being is able to force themself to express the abstraction of ‘growth’ within the experience.
The physical being must express the abstraction of ‘growth’ in any instance of the experience which evidently expresses the abstraction of ‘withering’. This is no easy feat, as the whole experience will be against you, until it is not. The whole experience will be against you, as you will be against it. If you are displeased with its current withering disposition, or whichever abstraction it is so prevalently expressing, you must do what you can to create or influence as many instances as possible, wherein the abstraction of ‘growth’ is expressed.
The experience is the ocean and the expressions are the waves. If you laid motionless in the water, you would be moved with the tide. Yet, you are able to swim against the waves and against the tide. Sometimes, the waves will be stronger and more powerful than others, and the tide more insistent.
In the same way, if you laid motionless in the experience, you would inevitably express the experience’s current disposition. Yet, you are able to go against the experience’s current disposition, by finding instances that express such disposition, and doing what you can to transform them into expressions of your preferred abstraction. There will be hurdles and obstacles you will need to overcome before transforming the abstraction these instances express. Sometimes, these hurdles and obstacles will be unforgiving and more resilient than others, and the experience unpredictable.
The experience is the reigning champion, and you are the challenger. The experience will do whatever it is able to, in order to maintain its current disposition. However, the experience will allow you to challenge it, before it allows you the results you desperately desire. You must defeat the experience before it is able to show you any ounce of respect, whether it be in bounds of fortune, perfect health or any thing you may desire.
The reigning champion is neither good nor evil, only determined to hold the title. Will you challenge the champion? The reigning champion will use any means possible to keep you grounded and to keep you from changing the one who holds the title of reigning champion. The champion is unforgiving, relentless and will always attempt to out-wit you and any tricks you might have. However, the champion is merciful to those who choose to avoid confrontation. In other words, if you do not go against the reigning champion, they will not go against you, and they will remain as the reigning champion.
The experience is neither good nor evil, it is simply the experience. The concepts of good and evil are subject to the experience, so the experience cannot be either. The experience’s only desire is to express its current disposition, as it has no reason to express anything else. Will you give it a reason? The experience will use any means possible to deny you of the expressions you desire to express. What if the abstraction you are trying to influence on the experience is chaotic? What if the abstraction you are trying to influence on the experience is impossible?
The experience is unforgiving, relentless and will always attempt to out-wit you and any tricks you might have. However, the experience is merciful to those who choose to express its current disposition. In other words, if you do not try to influence the experience or try to change the abstraction it is expressing, it will leave you alone. That is, you will be unscathed, for you are not a threat to its current disposition, so it has no reason to go against you. However, if you do not go against the experience, you may grow old, but you will never grow.
What did you have to sacrifice before your garden expressed the abstraction of ‘growth’? How much time did you spend outside in the scorching sun? How much discipline did you have to develop? How difficult was it? Since you challenged the experience’s disposition, it challenged you. It did not allow you to get what you wanted simply by imagining it. It did not allow you to get what you wanted simply by desiring it. It needed you to prove to it that you were deserving, against all odds, and only then would it comply with your desire.
Should you have stayed inside, day after day, not at all putting in the effort to improve your garden, the experience would have remained the same, unchanged. That is, the experience in which a withering garden belongs. Even if you had not put in any effort at all and imagined or desired the expression of the abstraction of ‘growth’, no thing would have changed. To change any thing within the experience, you must express some thing within the experience to influence change.
What is the purpose of the experience challenging you at all? The purpose is for the purpose of the experience challenging you, and that is all. The purpose is for the purpose of finding your own purpose, and that is all. The experience is you! As much as you are aware of the physical being, you are aware of the physical world. Do not fall for the illusion of perspective, in that you can see the physical world from the perspective of a physical being’s eyes. Understand that all you are aware of is the knowing of experience. Yet, this experience is you.
The experience is where the physical being exists. The physical being is an isolated focus of the experience. In other words, the physical being is the experience. The physical being is the experience whose physical expressions and physical abstractions are superimposed by the physical being’s interpretation. Yet, it remains that the physical being cannot be anything other than the experience itself. A single wave in the ocean is a single wave in the ocean, yet it remains a part of the ocean.
The Awareness is aware of The Awareness, infinitely. Just as well, The Awareness is aware of the experience. The Awareness is the experience, manifested in the form of a physical world, in which the interpretation of a physical being is superimposed on a world of formless abstractions. The Awareness is the experience, manifested in the form of a physical world which is only, and can only express the infinite, paradoxical, ridiculous and unified nature of The Awareness. You are The Awareness, meaning you are the experience. You are challenging yourself! Why? You tell me.
It would be ridiculous for me to assume why you do anything at all. It would be ridiculous for me to give reason as to why you want anything at all. All I am able to do, is assume that you are doing and wanting. You are either doing something or doing nothing, and you are maybe wanting something or wanting nothing. The only thing I can do is assume you are as you are. The only place you will find reason is within you. You will find reason within you, which includes The Awareness, the knowing of experience, the expressions within and the physical being who is experiencing them.
I cannot find your purpose for you, but I can suggest some questions to ask yourself, that may help you find your purpose. Would you watch a horror film alone? Would you enter a haunted house alone? Would you want to see all that you are capable of? Are you ready to bear the consequences of all that your are capable of?
Would you rather live a simple and peaceful life, by accepting the hand you’ve been given? Would you rather go against the experience, and fight for what you want? Are you willing to sacrifice everything to reach a goal? Are you willing to sacrifice your “everything” to find your “something?
In the context of the experience, your “everything” may be your health, physical possessions, convenience, ease of living and any thing you are able to sacrifice, for the attainment of something. These questions may seem difficult to ponder, but there is a very, very simple way of answering them. Try. Would you watch a horror film alone? Try to watch a horror film alone, and if you do, then the answer is yes. Would you enter a haunted house alone? Try to enter a haunted house alone, and if you do, then the answer is yes.
There is absolutely no point in pondering the possible answers to a question, because the thoughts of your mind are not definitive. That is, it is easy to say that you would enter a haunted house alone, and even easier to never do it. It is easy to say that you would watch a horror film alone, and even easier to never do it. You will never know if you would do something, until you try.
What are you now? Now, you are what you are, now. Could you be something else? Would you be something else? The answer to each of those questions is only valid once their subject matter is explored. That is, immediately after the question is asked, the default answer is no. You could believe that you would do something, but belief is fallible and inconsequential.
In the same way that the mechanism of belief is fallible and inconsequential in the pursuit of The Awareness, for you may fall victim to the menace of doubt, belief is also fallible and inconsequential in any pursuit within the experience. In other words, of course you can believe that you are destined for greatness, but you can also believe that you can fly. If you only believe that you are destined for greatness and wait for greatness to happen to you, the only thing that will happen is nothing.
That is, if you express the expression of ‘waiting for something’, the experience will also express the expression of ‘waiting for something’. You will be waiting for the experience, and the experience will be waiting… for you! You must only express what you know will get you further on your journey within the experience.
The experience will always express what you want it to, because you are the experience, but you must overcome whatever obstacles the experience imposes. Instead of believing that you are destined for greatness and waiting for greatness to happen, express greatness within the experience, and prove to the experience that you are worthy. Of course, the definition of “greatness” is subjective, so you must know what it is you are trying to achieve, before you are able to express it within the experience.
In other words, you are challenging yourself. You are imposing impractical obstacles and terrifying deterrents in order to keep yourself away. Why? What are you trying to keep yourself away from? It is just as ridiculous for me to tell you what your purpose is, as it is for me to tell you what you fear. What do you fear? What are you afraid of? If you want to reach greatness, are you willing to overcome all obstacles of fear that greatness depends on? If you want to reach anything, are you willing to overcome all the obstacles of fear that anything depends on? Are you willing to challenge yourself?
As you find your way into your renovated cabin, you also find pleasure in the symmetry of the paintings hanging on the wall. You peer around the room and find every thing in exactly the place it’s supposed to be, which is the place you want everything to be. There is nothing else you are able to do, nor is there anything you want to change. You realise that in the same way you have found peace doing nothing, The Awareness can find itself when the physical being surrenders the will to be or do anything, becoming nothing. The physical being will find peace in the doing of nothing, whether it is the realisation of enlightenment or the realisation of not having to do anything within the experience. In nothing, there is peace.
You understand that influencing the experience by expressing abstractions will allow you to experience what you desire, but you are yet to unlock the boundless capabilities of expression. You decide to visit an old friend, the fortune telling Oracle from the haunted house! The Oracle is still at the carnival in the city centre, and your visit is long overdue. You remember the balcony beneath the purple skies. You remember your rememberance. You remember that you are not a character in a story , but the reader. You are The Awareness of a character in a story.
You find yourself, once again, overlooking a beautiful garden. The iron gate closes behind as you trod over what was once a pothole in the road.
The Chariot
Moments after setting out toward the city centre, a double-decker horse drawn carriage approaches you. You hear the coachman calling out “Come aboard all who seek to find the city centre! All who seek to find the city centre, come aboard!” Since you were already on your way, you hop on the carriage and sit on the lower deck amongst a company of three.
There are three Leprechauns partaking in a discussion regarding their professions, a Stonemason, a Winemaker and a Watchman. The Stonemason continues “… and all the stones bestowed upon me, for each will be shaped into the perfect form. A crooked stone will lay the foundations for a crooked tower. However, a faultless stone will lay the foundations for a faultless tower, on which would you rather stand? In which would you rather sleep? In which would you rather be?”
You understand that you express yourself throughout the experience in the way that you are, and the Stonemason expresses themself throughout the experience in the way that the Stonemason is, yet both you and the Stonemason are expressing. You are expressing formless abstractions, that have taken the form of your individual, respective experiences. You are only ever expressing. You are always expressing. Everything and everyone is expressing.
The Stonemason explains “If a crooked stone would lay the foundations for a crooked tower, what laid the foundations of the crooked stone? I tell you, that all the tools I wield are of perfect design. A crooked chisel will lay the foundations for a crooked stone. However, a faultless chisel will lay the foundations of a faultless stone, on which would you rather depend? With which would you rather create? Through which would you rather symbolise the perfect form of a stone?”
“Yet, even with faultless stones and faultless tools, the tower cannot be of perfect design without faultless masonry. What good are the faultless tools if the one who wields them is a proponent of crooked masonry? Like the crooked stones that yield a crooked tower, crooked masonry will yield crooked work. But of what mind does the stonemason need to be, to have the discipline to learn and master the craft of masonry? Can someone of crooked mind find faultless discipline?”
“It is possible, that someone of crooked mind may believe that they have faultless discipline, but their belief would be crooked. For if someone were of faultless mind, they would not find crooked discipline, because they would not even think or need to look for it. Someone with crooked mind would look to find discipline, for they believe they do not already possess it. Why would someone who has something, look to find it?”
As the Stonemason rambles on, you finally realise what you lack. You lack knowledge of this experience. Though you understand the nature of the experience and its expression of the formless abstractions, you will not grow within the experience unless you know what to express, and how to express it. Simply understanding that you have the capacity to express is not enough, for this experience rewards knowledge.
All you know is all you know. All you know is this. Whatever you know right now, in this moment, is all you have ever known. How could you possibly know any more? Ask. Explore. Discover. Create. This experience rewards knowledge, but allows you complete and ultimate control over how you find it. Who can you ask? Whoever knows something you would like to learn. When can you ask them? Now.
Your attention finds its way back to the conversation between the three Leprechauns, the Winemaker proclaims “Some would say that wine is for the weak, that it is for those who cannot bear the pain that has fallen upon them, but it is more than that. Wine is for the singer, afraid of judgement, for the fear of judgement will disappear as quickly as it appears. Wine is for the lover, afraid of rejection, for the fear of rejection will disappear as quickly as it appears. Wine is for the people, afraid of what is yet to come, for they will forget their woes and sorrows and enjoy the moment, and nothing else.”
You recognise within you a desire to meet as many others as you can, for you finally understand that they too share the experiencing of experience. Up until now, you have focused on looking within yourself, but you have found all there is to find. What can you learn from another? What can you know of another? What can you find in another?
You realise that the experience was always here so that you could experience it. The most obvious thing to do within the experience… is experiencing! Yet, at times it may feel like there is no more hope, and no more reason. It may feel like there is no purpose strong enough to keep you interested in the experience of experience. Fortunately, you have seen both a withering experience, and an experience of growth. You have seen the good and the bad. You have seen and you have not seen. You have and you have not. You have known and you have not known. You know that there is purpose within the finding of purpose. In other words, you know there is purpose within the experiencing of experience.
The Watchman agrees with the Winemaker, saying “True! And though I do not build as the stonemason or make as the winemaker, I sit atop a tower high, and watch the people of the town. With myself being aware of every happening that may be, the people of the town can rest assured that I am always watching, even in their heavy slumber. If any thing occurs, I will see it. As long as I am aware, there is no thing that can or will pass me by.”
The carriage pulls to a stop. As the Leprechauns empty the carriage and head toward the city, you pause and look to the driver. Right before the coachman reaches for the riding crop, you ask “Why do you do what you do?” The coachman smirks and yells “To help you get to wherever the hell you’re going! A couple of bumps along the road, but you can rest assured I’ll get you there!”
The Stadium
As you walk through the crowded bazaar, merchants and shopkeepers flaunt their trinkets and toys. You pass under an archway made of cobblestone, following the many folks who gander beneath the gleaming sky. The wooden carts you overpass bellow as their rustic tents flutter in the wind.
Out of all the haggling merchants, only one catches your eye. The merchant walks toward you, crushing the pebbles on the ground. As the rusted pair of boots graze the level ground, the merchant’s velvet cape ripples in the wind. The merchant presumes “Ah! I can already tell that you are of curious mind. Listen closely, for I have betwixt my hands an ancient token, believed to have belonged to none other than the Prophet! Here, careful, do not let the wanderers see, for you are different… you are deserving of this relic!”
The merchant unveils an outworn domino piece from the palm of his hands. “It is said that who ever holds this celestial piece will yield the power of The Watcher! Many have possessed this very piece before, and many will again! It might seem unbelievable… because it is! The power of this piece is far greater than the feeble mind could ever understand. This very domino piece allowed the Prophet to speak with The Watcher! It allowed the Prophet to see The Watcher. It allowed the Prophet to know The Watcher! What are you waiting for? Do you not want to meet your maker?”
“I am offering you everything! The Watcher could not have revealed themself to the Prophet if not for this piece! Would I, an honest merchant, ever lie to a wondrous customer like yourself? Would I ever trick you? Would I ever make a fool of you? If that was the case, I would be a Jester, not a merchant! I tell you, this piece is very rare and only appears once every thousand cycles! Do not make the mistake of doubting me, for if you doubt me you are doubting The Watcher!”
You know that the merchant is lying, all the while speaking perfect truth. The “I” is offering everything, for without the “I” that is aware, how can anything be? The Watcher truly could not have revealed themself to the prophet if it were not for the piece, but only because The Watcher is the piece. The Watcher is The Awareness, and The Awareness is all things, therefore The Watcher is the domino.
Would the merchant trick you? Who is the merchant? A simple focus of the experience, that has tricked you many times before. The merchant would trick you. The merchant would make a fool of you. The merchant is as good as the Prophet, for if you doubt the merchant, or the experience, you are doubting The Watcher, or The Awareness. The merchant is both a fraud and a genius. A fraud because of all the lies, and a genius because of all the inevitable truths that are spoken. Amusingly, the merchant is unaware of the innuendo.
Just as the merchant reaches out to place the domino in your open hand, a delinquent rushes by and snatches the piece. It happened so suddenly that neither you nor the merchant saw the thief coming, though they were always coming. That is, you only noticed the little rascal after they had already gone. The merchant yells out “Hey you! Get back here and give me that piece! It belongs to me! You cannot take it away from me!”
While the merchant and the thief bump and shove the folk in the bazaar, you ogle at the absurdity that the thief would steal from themself! The thief is expressing what the merchant is expressing, yet they are in conflict, how ridiculous! The merchant sludges after the thief and you realise that in the same way infinity is a point that can never be reached, the merchant will never catch up to the thief. You laugh at the fact that though the experience is the it that the thief “cannot” take, for it cannot be taken, there it goes, being taken. You are entertained by the paradoxical nature of The Awareness’ expression within the knowing of a petty heist.
The expression of duality expressed throughout the knowing of a merchant who has lost and a thief who has found. The expression of infinity expressed throughout the knowing of a merchant that is too slow to ever catch up to a thief. The expression of finding, in that though the merchant lost the ancient domino, it was found by the thief.
As the two fade into the crowd, you notice someone sitting cross-legged on the sidewalk. Their eyes are closed and their hands by their side. They are doing… nothing. They are doing absolutely nothing. You walk toward this living statue and realise that it’s a monk. You finally understand why monks do nothing. They do nothing to allow the becoming of nothingness.
In the same way The Awareness does not have the capacity to do any thing, the monk does nothing. In the same way the Awareness is to become aware of nothing, the monk expresses the physical expression of doing nothing. The monk expresses The Awareness by doing nothing and saying nothing. The monk is not searching for anything, for the monk has already found themself. The monk does not rush in a hurry to any thing that is bound by time, nor does the monk need any where to be, since the monk knows that here is everywhere.
You realise that although this journey is a lonely road, once you find yourself you will never be alone again. You understand that every physical being that exists within the experience is necessary, simply because they are here. They are here, expressing… something. They are here expressing something, and whether or not you ever find out what their 'something’ is, depends on your desire to approach them. Have you found your ‘something’ yet?
An elderly Leprechaun wobbles toward you, heading in the opposite direction. Meandering bristles envelop its neck, whiskers of sable and grey. As it drags a glass bottle across the ground, its drunkenness is more obvious than its wee height. You try to think about what the drunken Leprechaun could express, but nothing comes to mind. How could an infinite, eternal awareness choose, for want of a better word, to become aware of such a sorrowful, miserable sod? And then you get it.
The curiosity you expressed for the drunken Leprechaun is why The Awareness is aware of the drunken Leprechaun. The drunken Leprechaun’s ‘something’ is to entertain curiosity, which is an expression of what you are to The Awareness! Well, that is the drunken Leprechaun’s ‘something’ to you, from your perspective and within your interpretation of the experience. Who knows if the drunken Leprechaun is expressing the same formless abstraction in its own experience, but experiencing something spectacular instead of pitiful?
The Awareness does not have the capacity to experience fear, nor does it have the capacity to judge an experience, for it does not have the capacity to remember any experience. The Awareness is simply aware. The Awareness is being aware of all things. The Awareness does not discriminate, nor does it “prefer” one experience over another. The Awareness is simply aware.
As the drunken Leprechaun passes you, it trips and falls into a book merchant’s cart. Subsequently, the books topple over the fallen Leprechaun. You notice the countless books that fell and find it amazing that there are so many stories to be told, and so many more to be written. You recognise the expression of storytelling, the writer and the reader. You find it funny that you are able to write a story about a character who is writing a story, and understand that the infinite potential of storytelling expresses the infinite and ridiculous nature of The Awareness.
Are you the reader? What are you reading? Are you reading a story or your story? Are you the writer? What are you writing? Are you writing a story or your story? You understand that you are both the reader and the writer. You are the reader for you are able to observe the events that have unfolded within your experience, and you are the writer for you are able to decide what to express within your experience. You are able to decide what abstractions to express within your experience, ultimately deciding what abstractions are to be expressed in the coming future.
What does this chapter of your experience look like? What does the next chapter of your experience look like? What did the first chapter of your experience look like? What will the last chapter of your experience look like? You are pleased with the realisation of expressions and the meanings they hold. The meanings that technically are self-dependant. That is, the purpose of writing a story is to write a story. Just as well, the purpose of reading a story is to read a story. Paradoxically, the purpose of writing a story is so that it can be read, and the purpose of reading a story, is because it was written.
Your mesmerising thoughts are silenced by the loud, obnoxious howling of a Preacher. The Preacher stood in the fore of a chapel while calling out “All who believe in The All-Knowing Watcher will find paradise! All who live in the name of The Watcher will find peace. All who love and live kindly will spend eternity with The Watcher.”
“Beware of those who do not believe, for they are filled with wicked sin! They are lost and can never be found! They are blind and cannot see the glory of The Watcher! They are deaf and cannot hear the wisdom of The Watcher! If someone boasts a knowing of The Watcher, but does not sit well with the Preachers, is that not a mischievous rebel? Do not listen to those who are not well-versed in the art of The Watcher, for they will distract you from the Truth and lead you astray!”
Like the merchant, the promises of the Preacher cannot be further from the Truth, and at the same time, they are true. A Leprechaun passing by, tired of the endless preaching, rebuts the Preacher “Do not listen to this fool. Only a fool believes in a thing that cannot be seen! Only a fool believes in a thing that does not exist! Where is this Watcher of yours? No where! There is no Watcher, how can there be? There is no reason, nor is there proof that the Watcher is anywhere, let alone here!”
“Do not listen to this fool, for the promises are empty and the lessons are fallible! One should be kind to one another for the simple reason that one should be kind to one another! It is ridiculous to depend your moral compass on a belief of a non-existing Watcher. Where is this Watcher? Can I see it? Can I hear it? Does it speak to me? Does it sing to me? There is no Watcher and there is no All-Knowing being, the only ones who know are here, and they are us.”
The crowd is excited and enjoying the entertainment, the perfect expression for The Awareness that is aware of the ridiculous chaos unfolding at the old bazaar. You remember that it is not two awareness’ that are each aware of one physical being, but rather one Awareness aware of countless experiences, one of which is you. You recognise the abstraction of conflict, first expressed by the merchant and the thief, and then by the preacher and the unholy.
You are at peace with the fact that although the experience is filled with conflict, paradoxes, confusions and distractions, it is a perfect expression. That is why magicians make something appear from nothing, or something completely disappear. That is why it is impossible to be right or wrong, for the only thing you can be, is yourself, here, now. Anything else you may believe you are is believed within the experience, which is filled with expressions, expressing the nature of you, The Awareness, which cannot believe.
You are the challenger and the entire universe is the stadium. What are the obstacles you would like to overcome? Do you have what it takes to become the champion? What kind of people would you like to meet? What are the lessons you would like to learn? Are you ready to defeat the conquering champion? Who is the conquering champion? Are you ready to use your ‘something’ to find anything? Are you ready? Are you? Is that the Oracle from the haunted house?