The Dharma

 Life is created out of thin air. The Dharma is the power that creates this life. It is life itself. We may have many ideas about what life is because life has many forms and qualities. What is the root of all of these forms and aspects of life? This is what life really is, this is what the Dharma is. At it's root life is an overflowing abundance of vital life energy. It is undivided and undying. Individual beings are born from this and are One with it. We forget our Oneness as the result of the formation of conditioned consciousness within the individualized being. When we can sufficiently still the mental activity of this conditioned consciousness, this inner unity of life becomes apparent. It is an undivided field of being, a Oneness. This is where we come from and who we are. This is what the Dharma is. A Oneness of all life, of creation. Life creates itself. The Dharma manifests and sustains itself. It is perfect: without flaw or stain. It contains all life forms and simultaneously is all life forms. It is One consciousness living in all consciousnesses, all minds as One mind eternally in this moment. If we look carefully at our own consciousness, this is what we will find wherever we look. It is the true nature and reality of every aspect of our being. Simply put, this is it. It is not something to be known through conceptualization, or through the intellect by identifying it among many other forms. One must step outside of the intellect to perceive it. To perceive it directly, is to know it. Attempts to hold it through mental processes will fail. The correct way is to quiet these mental processes in a way that we step totally outside of them. This is not prior to the intellect, it is post-intellect. So it is not discovered through depressing our normal consciousness with drugs or other methods. It is not animal physicality that is instinctual prior to thought. It is through thought it a way that fulfills thought so that it's processing is no longer necessary. Truly, the aim of all thought is to produce this consciousness or awareness. Although it appears that thought gets in the way, it is truly through harnessing the power of the mind that we discover our true dharma-nature. When the dharma is awakening within us, our aim is to properly direct our attention, which often strays because of thought. This makes thought appear to be our enemy. Really what we are doing when we properly direct our attention, is turn our mind, which is One with these thoughts, to something that is more useful. I find that it is healthy to be mindful of what I am thinking and to allow these thoughts to play out. This mentation eventually leads to the dharma. When we seek to annihilate thinking, we repress our bodies natural processing, which is unnecessary. If we are patient and allow this process to unfold, it will blossom into enlightenment. If we recognize where we are along the path, we can refrain from excessive control over our being. By allowing our self to be with non-attachment, mindful of the true nature of our being, we will pass through the various stages of enlightenment. Fixation and attachment are born of desire and delusion. Nothing is worth clinging to, not even the purifying of our mind. No state of mind is worth clinging to. All states of mind are equally Buddha. Cultivating this non-attachment is the highest dharma. Even as we are called to perform many things, this should be at the forefront of our attention. Nothing to gain, nothing to lose. No reason to be attached to anything. Non-attachment to whatever arises in this moment. What is arises within our consciousness is independence of Spirit. It doesn't matter who we are or who we become. Our true nature is independent of what arises in this moment. This independence is what brings us peace, not any particular thing that we can identify with. The conditioned sense of self wishes to build up itself with a host of things that provide it security and gratification. It believes these things are good and that this behavior is reasonable. It believes in this world very strongly. What truly makes us happy is not acquiring or achieving any of this, rather by ridding ourselves of all of these shells that cover up are inner radiance. The conditioned mind creates endless ways to perpetuate this. This is why this way of behaving must be dropped altogether to wake up. Until we understand this as readily as we understand that this cup right here is full of water, we will persist in distracting ourselves with dysfunctional substitutes. We will remain thirsty, regardless of how hard we try and drink from the cup. It will always remain just outside of our reach. When we think about the act of turning to Christ, we may think of this as a great feat of moral strength. This may true, but it misses the fact that turning to the Dao or the Dharma, to Jesus, is also just an act of simple practicality. When something doesn't work, try something else.