The Living Universe - Duane Elgin [45]
When we allow our ordinary experience of knowing to relax into itself, we find a self-confirming presence. When we rest in the simplicity of “knowing that we know” without the need for thoughts to confirm our knowing, we directly enter our stream of being. The nature of the soul is knowingness itself; when we rest within our soulful knowing, there is no distance between the know-er and that which is known. In turn, the familiar knowing of the soul is experienced as an inexhaustible mystery.
Recognizing Ourselves Before We Die
When our physical body dies, will we recognize our subtle body of light and knowing-resonance? Will we recognize the unique orchestration and music of our being, the distinct way we light up the world with our luminous knowing? If we fail to recognize ourselves in this way, if we require the assistance of a physical body to anchor our self-recognition, then we are limiting ourselves to a world of three dimensions. The afterlife is unknown; however, the body of resonance, light and love that lives in eternity is knowable. Our responsibility is not to be concerned with the afterlife, but to be so fully present in this life that we recognize the familiar resonance of who we are, wherever we might be.
Many spiritual traditions tell us how important it is to be awake to our soulful nature at the time of death. What happens after we die seems likely to forever remain a mystery. However, if we do not become familiar with our subtle self while we have the precious vehicle of a physical body, we can fail to recognize ourselves when our physical body dies. In The Gospel of Thomas, Jesus says, “Take heed of the Living One while you are alive, lest you die and seek to see Him and be unable to do so.”16 Because we are created from the non-visible reality of the Mother Universe, we may die and not see that this is who and what we are. Our physical body is an anchor for light illuminating light, knowing recognizing knowing, and love appreciating love. If, in freedom, we have not made friends with ourselves during this lifetime, our physical bodies can die and the animating life energy of our being may dissipate and lose its coherence. We may then require the constraint of a material world to enable us to encounter ourselves once again.
Years ago, in catching glimpses of myself as a being of knowing-resonance, I confronted the stark question we are each called to answer: Will I recognize myself without a physical body when I die? When I asked myself this question, in truth, I wasn’t sure I would. I had not made friends with myself sufficiently for me to feel confident that I knew myself as a body of luminous knowing-resonance. I was not yet adequately familiar with the music of my own being to recognize the unique orchestration I brought into the world. Looking beyond my short lifetime, I realized this unfamiliar-ity with myself would likely require further returns to our physical reality, so I would again have the opportunity for clear encounters with my cosmic Self. With this understanding has come decades of meditation and contemplation as I have sought to become a more intimate, soulful friend with myself—my own best friend who “I” recognize intuitively.
Why should we be concerned with recognizing the “Living One” or the eternal being within ourselves while we are alive in this physical realm? Jesus gives an important answer when he says, “In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, I would have told you.” (John 14:2). I believe Jesus is saying that, in the vast ecology of the cosmos, there are living spaces suitable for all beings. Another saying attributed to Jesus—found on an Arabic inscription on a city gate in India—makes the function of this world clear: “This world is a bridge. Pass over it, but do not build your house upon it.17
Buddhists also believe we must discover our subtle, inner nature so we can recognize ourselves when we