The Question Of Being
Above the entrance to the Oracle of Delphi were written the words, “Know yourself.” Jesus came along and added a sense of urgency and consequence to the ancient idea when he said, “If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you.”
What Jesus is saying is that spirituality is serious business, with serious consequences. Your life hangs precariously in the balance, teetering between a state of unconscious sleepwalking and eyes-wide-open spiritual enlightenment. The fact that most people do not see life this way testifies to how deeply asleep and in denial they truly are.
So what is it that we are to bring forth?
Within each of our forms lies the existential mystery of being. Apart from one’s physical appearance, personality, gender, history, occupation, hopes and dreams, comings and goings, there lies an eerie silence, an abyss of stillness charged with an etheric presence. For all of our anxious business and obsession with triviality, we cannot completely deny this phantasmal essence at our core. And yet we do everything we can to avoid its stillness, its silence, its utter emptiness and radiant intimacy.
Deep down we all suspect that something is very wrong with the way we perceive life but we try very, very hard not to notice it. And the way we remain blind to our frightful condition is through an obsessive and pathological denial of being—as if some dreadful fate would overcome us if we were to face the pure light of Truth and lay bare our fearful clinging to illusion.
………We are all born with being veiled in obscurity. We may recognize the transparency of being shining in the eyes of an infant, but such being is not conscious of itself. It is veiled in an absence of self-awareness. Infants live in a magical world of unconscious being, while adults live in a world of egocentric separation and denial of being. Rectifying and restoring being to its true dominion and sovereignty is what spiritual awakening makes possible.
The question of being is everything. Nothing could be more important or consequential—nothing where the stakes run so high. To remain unconscious of being is to remain asleep to our own reality and therefore asleep to Reality at large. The choice is simple: awaken to being or sleep an endless sleep.
From 'The Way of Liberation' by Adyashanti
SEED QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION: How do you relate to the notion that nothing could be more important or consequential than the question of being? Can you share a personal story of a time you became aware of your life teetering between a state of unconscious sleepwalking and eyes-wide-open spiritual enlightenment? What helps you bring forth what is deepest within you?
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8 Past Reflections
On Sep 18, 2018 Susan wrote :
To me we are all at different places in our walk in this life. I was put off the article by the authors writing,
"The fact that most people do not see life this way testifies to how deeply asleep and in denial they truly are."
It is a judgment statement.
As I am living and being in a different country, in a different culture, people do things differently. I am finding we are basically the same, just different. Everyone's journey is different and self discovery for each of us will be different...
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On Sep 14, 2018 Don wrote :
At times I long for true- authentic being- (like now as I sit enraptured by a beautiful song and I contemplate this passage). But I fade, float, get distracted and lazy so easy. Oh to have a sustained, free sense of deep being.
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On Sep 12, 2018 Sunil, Bangalore wrote :
The very purpose/essence of this invaluable human birth is to find one's true self, the eternal lifeforce within to become soul conscious. And to experience the perinial spring of kindness, love, peace, purity,power and all that is holy n worthwhile.Otherwise it is a waste of the lifetime n energy by loosing the golden opportunity.Meditate by the Kabir's Surat-Shabad Yoga helps.
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On Sep 11, 2018 Pius Thekmury wrote :
I was waiing for a very important reply. Each day I felt a deep melting of my identity as the reply did not come. Then I remembered whatJesus said: I am not what I do, or what others say or think of me or what I possess. Deeper than that, I am a particle of God, the beloved of God (Luke 4,1-13; Luke 3,21-21). Also everything works togeher for good if your open to th divine "Masterplan" (Romans 8,28). Human responses are bubbles in the river of life. My essence is the undercurrent, the Source, the Fountain, where I am part of Pure Being.
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On Sep 11, 2018 Deepak Sethi wrote :
Being reflects who you are from the soul within you . It is an inner expression of who you actually are . If one does not does not express from the level of being , then the ego comes in between and one only expressses oneself at the surface level and not from the level of being .it takes considerable amount of courage and express oneself at the being level .
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On Sep 8, 2018 david doane wrote :
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On Sep 7, 2018 Jagdish P Dave wrote :
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On Sep 7, 2018 Rajesh wrote :
This is such a beautifuil passage. The quote “If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you.” resonated very deeply within me. It has felt very true to me for several years now. In my experience, this is a very formidable challenge that is put forth and has been a hard one to meet. Meeting it means sustained inner work and going into inner territories that might absolutely frighten you. But the polarity of the choice as described in the quote is so stark that you have no choice but to attempt to meet it. Else it will destroy you. It is indeed serious business with serious consequences.