“The essence of you is everything you ever see, taste, touch, and experience. Everywhere you go, every step you take, every breath you take is actually happening by the essence, of the essence, in the essence, and to the essence. All the rest is noise and chatter.” Adyashanti

I read these words. Are they mere words? Do these words have any real truth to them? Not too long ago, they were just words for my mind to ponder. Now, when I read these words about essence, I can feel the truth of these words in every cell of my body. It’s not just in my mind for me to imagine and wonder how to make me feel this way.

This is how living the truth happens, living an awakened life. It is when there is a deep realization that the essence of life is living this life. There isn’t a “me” that is living a life.  This essence is everything and everywhere. It is the energy of life, the movement, the dance. Here I am (the essence) watching it all through these eyes.

It’s been six months to the day since my father passed. As I sit here typing away on my computer, I reflect on all of the changes that have occurred in my life in these past six months. Some of the changes are major life changes while others are more subtle.

What I wish to gain from this life altering experience is a deeper understanding of the living spirit. And make no mistake about it I do have a strong sense that the spirit of my father is as alive as it ever was.

As of late, I have been focusing my meditation on moving past this physical form, and trying to touch that which is in us that is formless. I am able to get there in my meditation. And once I am there, I try to stay there and let it penetrate me. What does it feel like to be formless? What does it feel like to be no-body and no-thing, absolute no-thing-ness?  There are no answers to these questions. The questions have to be experienced.

Adyansti talks about what he imagines the experience of death will be like. I love how he describes this experience. He says, “death is just the next experience- that’s all it is. It’s the next experience; it’s a different experience than sitting here talking to you, but ultimately it’s the next experience that consciousness has.” He goes on to say, “at the moment of physical death, there is the dropping away of the physical experience. In a way, it’s a forced awakening.”

I close my eyes and let go. I know my true self to be formless. And I allow myself to be just that. I let everything else drop away. I stay with this experience….until I open my eyes and let the world back in.

I was reading some quotes written by my spiritual teacher, Adyashanti. This one in particular really resonates with me.

“That which you are is totally in love with seeing Itself everywhere.”

 To me, this is the key that opens the door. Seeing that what we are Is seeing Itself everywhere. And that it loves seeing Itself everywhere is the whole point of this life that we are living. That’s it. Life wants to experience itself. Life loves to experience Itself in every way. When we let go of everything, that includes expectations and trying to control the outcome, and we can truly accept what is, we begin to become lovers of what is. Here lies the secret of putting an end to suffering. When we are no longer trying to control an outcome or putting expectations on events, then we can accept what is happening whether it is joyful or painful and just be there and truly experience it. You will begin to see the beauty in everything. Yes, everything. You will come to realize that everything is the One. The One is manifesting itself as a duck or as an eagle or a dog or whatever the One wants to experience life as.  Sometimes Life wants to experience sadness, death or broken heartedness. And even this is beautiful!

When we realize that everything is the One and the One is totally in love with seeing Itself everywhere, we start to let go and just Be that One. Here is your invitation to let go and as Adyashanti so poignantly puts it, “Enjoy Yourself”!