Rest in the Nothing of Awareness

There is a story we tell. The story is that human beings are able to imagine themselves separate, vulnerable, and independent of their source. In the story, imagining that we are separate and cut off from our source is the trouble, and the trouble needs to be undone. Keep in mind that all of this – imagining oneself to be separate, undoing the trouble – isn’t really happening.

It is only the mind of the creature that imagines an apparent, interior world that it believes to be an actual, exterior world. But there is nothing there – no “exterior world” ever existed. That only exists in the mind of the creature. There is no actual, exterior world where a person can imagine himself to be separate. It never happened.

Turn your attention from the imagined, interior world that is projected outwardly from your mind, and instead notice that which makes these imaginings apparent. Look at this directly: this attention, or awareness, without which nothing would appear at all! Without this awareness, these imaginings could not even be noticed. Not a single thought would be noticed. You could think all day long and not know it.

This awareness is not spiritual, and it is not for special people only. Think of it as the normal, working attention that you are using right now to notice these words. If I say, put your attention on the window, you know just what to do. This obvious, clear attention is the only thing that you know is not projected, because it notices the projections. This normal daily attention is before your imagined world.

What can you do, in the story? Keep your attention on the attention itself. Don’t bother with the projections, the apparent happenings of a life. Those happenings are free to be whatever they are. They are of no concern. Seeking, despair, heartache, loneliness – all are the imaginings of a projected world. Turn your attention away from the imaginings, and toward that which notices the imaginings, and mysteriously the imaginings are not there.

Only the attention, the awareness, is there. Look only at that. This is not difficult to do. Look at it now. What is it? It is difficult to describe, and yet easy to feel. Soundless sound. Stillness. Emptiness but fullness. Nothing. Is there a person seeking, hurting? Absolutely no person in sight. Nothing in sight. 

Rest in the nothing of awareness. There is nothing in it for you.