Spirit at Home Abroad

 This is it. There is nothing that can be gained nor lost. Reality expresses itself effortlessly in this moment and no other thing exists. What this moment is, is reality, and nothing else exists. However it may be, this is it, and nothing else exists. No matter what I do, I cannot change this. My true nature is this which is present, it is free of any traces of individuality while containing everything that we call self. To me, the self experience is completely an illusion, and a temporary phenomena. Our true nature as human beings is simply the unconditioned being that is this moment, which appears to be expressing itself eternally. I do not think we are anything else, nor do I think anything else exists or is real. I do not think any thing we perceive is real except the naked awareness of this moment, which reveals the non-reality of everything that we believe is ourself and this universe we inhabit. For the time being, self experience appears to be apart of the expression of this moment, even so it is unreal. This does not need to be upsetting, because there is no self for us to lose, and the dissolution of said self in consciousness is actually liberation from suffering which is inherent in self. Everything we hope to gain or achieve for ourself is ultimately empty, and the need to fulfill said ambitions or realizations are unnecessary and similarly empty of substance. There is no self, there is simply Spirit expressing itself in the here and now. There is no self anywhere in the universe, there cannot be, for what is here is Spirit, and Spirit is totally without self. Everything here is simply Spirit expressing itself, everywhere we look, Spirit. Boundless, formless, full of form, the same radiant Spirit that is One with this universe of expression. This is who we are, this is who I am. 
Spirit is infinite. Though it includes self, it is empty of self, itself being formless, yet a formlessness that is not other in any way from form. The true nature of form is emptiness, formlessness. They are ultimately One and this Oneness is Spirit. It is a Oneness that is equally formless and Empty. I always thought the self would totally disappear when Spirit was realized. By self here I mean the formal universe and one's life in it. I don't think it does. I think self is relegated to a secondary status and position, and becomes like the life of a single cell that is apart of the greater life and whole of the body. I think that self experience continues, but as an article of clothing that adorns Spirit, it no longer dominates consciousness. It is apart of the expression of Spirit, but Spirit is not lost in it. Part of me feared that it would go away completely, which seemed lamentable because this Universe has so much to offer and I do not feel ready to leave it yet. I think self can be apart of the expression of Self and obviously is. The universe in it's entirety is Spirit, and a part of Spirit is the expression of form, yet their is no real substance to form, for it is Spirit and formless. When we get lost in form, we suffer, when we realize that form is formlessness, then we can be free to live here on Earth without trepidation. By remaining in Spirit among form, we can be free of delusion, and we can live in harmony with the Universe because our eyes are unclouded by selfish thirst. It seems to me that within the ever-changing universe, we incarnate within form periodically. I think while we are here, we can be enlightened, and live well. I do not think this type of life should be avoided. I think that the Universe sends us many things and that we can live well regardless of where we go. I think perhaps that form may be inherent in emptiness and that the two are inseparable. Spirit is triumphant wherever it may be

This life is the rolling dream of Spirit. Regardless of who or where or what we are, it is Spirit unfolding in all places all of the time. This is why Spirit is at home regardless of where it is. Even when Spirit loses itself in form, it remains perfectly itself. The reason we have nothing to gain as human beings is because our true nature is that of Spirit, which is already perfectly established as itself everywhere all of the time. This is our true nature right now. This is who we are right now. This and nothing else. It seems that we come and go from our resting place in Spirit as Spirit, yet Spirit we remain. Spirit is the soul of the Universe, it is it's life, it is the power that animates everything. It is always changing yet forever staying the same. Our life path is forever evolving before us, when we recognize our essential nature is Spirit, we can surrender to what life brings us and face it directly.  By studying the dharma we can learn of this nature and the way to realize it. This realization blossoms in the universe like a flower blossoms in a field, spontaneously and because the elements are in order to make it so. The seed of the dharma lives within each of us. If we water it with the attention of our awareness it will sprout. The dharma is the light by which we perceive the truth of Spirit. We must attend to it until it is bright enough for us to see the true nature of the universe. Seeing it so, we can let go of the dream of conditioned being and find relief from suffering. The dharma is alive and well throughout the universe and within all things. Each one of us has the potential to realize the buddha-nature of all things and the dharma is ready to awaken within us to show us the way. Through compassion Spirit reaches out to sentient beings and delivers them the dharma and ultimately through the dharma to their buddha nature. Spirit always reaches out compassionately to all life. By turning to it we allow it's wisdom to pour into our being. This is our responsibility and the effort we must make to bring the Buddha and the Dharma into our lives. Recognizing the wisdom of the dharma, and the truth of the Buddha is picking out the grain of rice from pebbles in the sand. It is separating the wheat from the chaff. It is the chocolate within the wrapper. Among many different avenues we may take in life, their is none better at getting where we want to go than the dharma, it is where we want to go and the way to get there. The truth of the Buddha-nature of all things and that true nature is Buddha nature is the truth that clarifies ones perception so that they may clearly see what is real and discard what is false and not useful. Realization of Buddha nature is the most useful thing in the universe. It is so useful that we can trade every other tool we have for it and still come out 10 times ahead. It is so useful that we will give up every other tool we have so that we can use it all the time. Maya, the chocolate wrapper is only useful because it holds the dharma and the buddha. Once we find the dharma and we digest it we can throw away the wrapper because we have realized the Buddha. We throw away the delusion which is the dream of self-nature as true nature.