If the Buddha Got Stuck_ A Handbook for Change on a Spiritual Path - Charlotte Sophia Kasl [33]
To better understand this concept, imagine the ocean representing All That Is or the One Substance of the Universe. Then, imagine your lifespan as a tiny bubble that forms on the surface—still part of the ocean but with a separate identity. You go through your life as a bubble, bobbing around on the ocean, having your particular ride on the waves or time spent sitting in a bog. When you “die”—or, you might say, when your bubble pops—you dissolve back into the ocean. At one level you were a separate bubble with a separate lifespan, and at another level you were always part of the One Energy.
What does this have to do with getting unstuck in life? It reminds you that you’re part of something bigger, a force beyond your comprehension. You can bring attention to the dance of today while simultaneously remembering that you’re passing through a moment in the cosmic scope of time. You are, always have been, and always will be, part of the One Substance of the Universe. This perspective gives you a touchstone to help you remember the temporal nature of your physical body, emotions, joys, and thoughts. It brings deeper meaning to the phrase, “This, too, shall pass.” We’re part of the One Substance that can neither be created nor destroyed.
EXERCISE:
Ponder the One Substance That Is Eternal
With the following exercises, notice any internal shifts you feel—lighter, heavier, confused, relaxed, and so on. Also notice any ego resistance.
Pay attention to what happens when you narrow your vision and get completely upset by a problem—it becomes intense, dramatic, do or die. Then notice what happens if you drop back and ponder that you are part of the field of All That Is, the One Substance, and this too shall pass. Now see if you can hold on to both realities at the same time.
Ponder the enigmatic question posed by Nisargadatta Maharaj, “Eight days prior to conception, were you?”
Look up at the stars, or imagine them. Think of the stars, the space between all the universes, all the people on this earth, the trees, water, everything, as made of one substance condensed down into different forms. Then, as you are sitting in a room, or outside in the daylight, think of the empty space between everything as energy and made from the same substance as the objects you see.
Look at a table, chair, book, rug, or whatever, and contemplate its history, going back to the time it was emptiness. For example, start with a piece of wooden furniture, go back to when it was a board, then a tree, then not yet a tree, just a seedling, then the sun, rain, earth, and air that helped energy condense into the growing tree.
20. Feel the Ease: You Are Born into the “I Am”
When you become you, Zen becomes Zen.
When you are you, you see things as they are,
and you become one with your surroundings.
—SHUNRYU SUZUKI, ZEN MIND , BEGINNER’S MIND
You are born. You are a Zen baby because you live totally in the present—the world of “I Am,” a concept taught by Nisargadatta. You exist without language, interpretations, or labels. You are a little sensorimotor creature motivated by hunger, discomfort, and need for human connection in the form of affection, holding, feeding, cooing, and eye contact. In fact, for the first five or six months you are like a kangaroo baby because you experience yourself as merged with your mother.
In this state of be-ing, if you are hungry or need soothing, you cry. If you are sleepy you sleep. As you start to crawl, you go in the direction of whatever intrigues you—a stuffed animal, a red block, a puppy dog. Your creativity has no rules—you rip up tissue paper, explore what’s in the trash, put things in your mouth, take things apart,