From: David Musick (David_Musick@msn.com)
Date: Sun Jan 26 1997 - 22:34:11 MST
Joy Williams wonders, "Just *what* is it that is having the experiences of all
the processes? Something is experiencing that, right?".
It is a common belief that there is something or someone *having* experiences.
This belief is what gives rise to the ideas of "souls". Our culture teaches
us to believe that we are separate from our experiences, that we are
individuals *having* experiences. This is the main duality our culture
embraces, the split between mind and body, between the experiencer and the
experiences.
When I consider this duality, I see how deeply ingrained it is in our way of
looking at the world and in our habits of speech. I also see how blatently
flawed the duality is. To me, it seems obvious that there is no such duality,
but I do not know how to explain it convincingly.
There is no one experiencing anything; there are only experiences themselves.
Consciousness is an *experience*; our experience of selfhood is an
*experience*. We *are* our experiences; we are not something *separate* from
them.
Do you want to know what you are? Behold yourself! That's what you are. You
are this. This Very Experience. You are right here, in all the details of
this very moment. Every feeling, every sensation, every thought, every memory
or impression; that is *you*! The *awareness* of the world, of other people,
of plants and animals and everything; that *awareness* is you. Everything you
encounter is within you, for you to even be aware of it. The moving colors
and sounds may come from an outside source (an objective world), but the
sensations themselves become an intergral part of you as soon as you are aware
of them. You *are* that awareness; you *are* that sensation. If it's
experienced, then it is already part of you; for you *are* that experience.
I know, I'm being redundant and repetitive and saying the same thing over and
over again; I'm just hoping that if I say it enough, in enough different ways,
it will sink in. It's such an obvious point, and so simple to see, once you
fully realize it. It's *amazing* how many people don't notice the obvious,
though. The *self* is this current moment of experience, the shifting
patterns of thought and sensation, of memory and emotion. Some patterns
change quickly, and others change slowly, but nothing is permanent.
We are ephemeral, transient patterns, rising from other patterns and flowing
on to become something else. From moment to moment, experiencing the reality
that we are. We are this; This Very Moment.
- David Musick
-- True wealth is in the savoring of each moment. --
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