ANOTHER APPROACH

There is, in fact, another approach, where we ponder the basic teaching "the universe is the body of God" while applying this teaching to all matters. For instance, we might start by asking ourselves: If the universe is the body of God, who am I? Since God is perfection, joy, and love, who claims to be unhappy or worried, for example? Is it me? Who am I, anyway? Am I this separate ego enclosed in a bag of skin? How can I be so sure that I am not more than just that? Oyasama said that you are not the body, which is only on loan from God. Since all my feelings of unhappiness and dissatisfaction depend on my identification with the body, the realization that I am not the body and that the whole universe is God's body in which I am constantly embraced will free me from those complaints, worries, and agitations, and helps to make my mind calm, peaceful, and secure. Thus having shifted my point of view from the self-centered worries and complaints to a sense of calm, peace, and security, I am able to see things clearly as they are. That way, I don't have to block the experience of the Joyous Life, our birthright.

When the worries, complaints, and other feelings and thoughts of the self-centered imagination are allowed to become quiet, what remains is a pure, clear awareness or consciousness which has always been there, except that it has not been obvious because of our noisy imaginings. Oyasama referred to the pure consciousness as the "mind like clear water," the imagination being like the mud that clouds the water. The mind like clear water is a totally secure point of view because it remains unaffected no matter what may happen, no matter what imaginings we may engage in. It remains unaffected in much the same manner as a mirror remains unaffected by any images we might see in it. If we see flames of a fire reflected in it, the mirror itself does not burn. Even if the mirror reflects two men fighting and punching each other, it does not bleed. We might identify with one of the men, maybe the one who seems to be the stronger, and this might make us feel good about how we are not the loser; however, we might also be aware of the pain and suffering involved in the fight. On the other hand, if we want to be totally free from all the pain and pleasure, suffering and petty satisfaction, we can identify, not with either man, but with the mirror itself, which remains unaffected and without which neither man's reflection would be possible in the first place. In this analogy, the images in the mirror refer to the self-centered imagination, and the mirror itself refers to the underlying consciousness, the mind like clear water, which offers the secure point of view.

The implication of this analogy is that, while it may be fun to look at things from the point of view of the self-centered imagination -- and there is nothing wrong with that, because all imaginings are accepted by God and are duly reflected in the mirror of God's consciousness -- yet when we want total freedom and security, we can just shift our point of view from the self-centered imagination to the mind like clear water, the consciousness which exists prior to the imagination and which remains unaffected no matter what happens. And from that point of view, the world of imaginations, ideas, and objects is no longer an insecure or painful world but is experienced as an ever changing joyful playground of miracles and wonders.

Now there is a simple way to see how this shift works, if you are interested. Please notice the little voice in your head as you say something to yourself in mind. Perhaps, you can say hello to yourselves. Can you hear that voice of the mind? I'm sure you can. The fact that you can hear this mental voice indicates that, besides the voice of the mind which is talking, there is something else which hears or is aware of that voice. What if your real identity is not the body or the mind, but, rather, this "something else" (whether you call it "consciousness" or "mind like clear water" or whatever), which hears the mind's voice? I am not suggesting that the body and the mental voice are not part of you or unnecessary. All I am suggesting is that the body and mental voice may not be your whole being and that you may benefit from trying to shift your viewpoint from the body and mental voice to the mind like clear water which remains unaffected no matter what situation the body undergoes and no matter what the voice of the mind says.