God's Will and the Peace That Passeth All Understanding
Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2017 7:14 am
To me, God is another word for Unicity, Totality, One-without-a-second, intelligence-energy, the Tao, Here / Now, Consciousness, Truth, What Is, Just This, emptiness, or whatever we want to call the undivided living reality. It is THIS, right here, right now—the tweet tweet tweet of the bird, the whoosh whoosh whoosh of the traffic, the barking of the dog, the colors and shapes, the sensations of breathing, the awaring presence beholding it all—all of it an unbroken wholeness, seamless and boundless—ever-present and ever-changing, without beginning or end—at no distance, utterly immediate, without separation, no inside or outside, no subject or object—just this, as it is.
I don’t think of God as a guy-in-the-sky who is planning out and willing his next move, and therefore, as I see it, expressions such as “God’s will,” or “thy will be done” are simply pointers to the fact that life is as it is in every moment. It is as it is because of infinite causes and conditions (and even that is a mental overlay on top of what truly passeth all understanding). To add, as some people do, that everything is unfolding as it “should” (as “God’s will” seems to imply) feels extra to me—as if there is some plan for how things “should” be. Better to stick with simply it is as it is.
Obviously, as living organisms, we are incredibly vulnerable and subject to pain, disability and loss. No matter how much money we have or how many walls we build between us and “them” (whatever we think might threaten us), insecurity remains, for it is the very nature of organic existence. No form endures. When we are completely identified with one perishable and apparently separate bodymind, this is a very frightening situation. We are trying to survive as one wave on the ocean, trying to grasp and hold onto water, trying to freeze and pin down the movement that life is.
But when there is the recognition of the larger happening that we all are, the ocean itself, there is peace. We recognize what cannot be destroyed, damaged or broken. We see that there is no way we can ever go wrong, that EVERYTHING is God. We see that we ARE the movement of life, not some separate thing that is being swept along in it. No-thing ever really exists (stands apart), and no-thing is ever really born or ever really dies. When that is recognized, it ends the suffering associated with the illusion of being a separate fragment with free will on a journey toward a better (or more terrible) future. This is the peace that passeth all understanding. It is the peace that is at peace with apparent conflict, upset and disruption, the peace that depends on nothing.
But even with this realization, life inevitably includes pain. Just the mere thought of a painful illness, a terrorist attack, or being pinned under the rubble in a catastrophic earthquake can fill the entire bodymind with dread. These are scary thoughts—but that’s all they are right now, thoughts. And if one of these things actually happens, the reality of it won’t be the same as our fearful fantasy. And one way or another, whatever apparently happens, we will survive it, whether as this ever-changing form we call the bodymind or as the great (beginningless, endless) happening itself. Ultimately, our whole life, all of human history, and the entire universe is like a passing dream, a dream that includes everything imaginable and unimaginable. Recognizing the dream-like quality of all that appears doesn’t invalidate the beauty or the pain. It simply means it has no inherent or lasting reality, no ultimate meaning, no great purpose beyond simply being as it is.
Awakening is not about getting a grip, figuring it all out, having the right set of beliefs, landing in some correct formulation, or surviving as this form. It’s the releasing of all that, the relaxing (melting, dissolving, letting go, free-falling) into the unformulated and indescribable living reality of this (timelessly present) moment—prior to labels, judgments, categorizations, explanations, definitions, comparisons or any other conceptual overlay. Of course, this unbroken wholeness includes EVERYTHING, even labels, judgments, categorizations, explanations and all other conceptual overlays, so awakening isn’t about the absence of all that. But when consciousness mistakes the map for the territory, or the label for the thing itself, or any story for the living actuality—and especially the story of being a separate, independent self who has to “make something of my life” and “do the right thing” and “get somewhere” and “be somebody,” then there is suffering. Awakening sees through these mirage-like mistaken identities.
That doesn’t mean we deny the apparent person altogether -- that would be ridiculous. I still know that I’m Joan and that this is a BBS post. But simultaneously, there is also the knowing that I am not limited to Joan, and that “Joan” is no-thing that can be grasped or separated out from everything else that is apparently not-Joan, and that to call this present happening “a BBS post” is a relatively accurate and useful description, but that ultimately, no one can say what this present activity (this BBS writing-posting-reading) is. It’s never really some-thing that can be objectified, grasped and understood.
Liberation doesn’t fixate on any mental construct or cling to any particular experience or any single “level” of reality (whether absolute or relative, boundlessness or particularity, zoomed out to the undivided whole or zoomed in to the personal story). Life moves freely because EVERYTHING is included and NONE of it is actually personal, not even what seems to be our personal story.
The thinking mind is always trying to get a grip, so it will try to make something (some-THING) out of unbroken wholeness or boundlessness or God—even to put those words (“unbroken wholeness” or “boundlessness” or “God”) on this-here-now makes it seem like some “thing” (this but not that). We use words to point, but beware of clinging to the words—the word “water” is not water. Because totality has no limits and nothing stands apart from it, there is no way it can be objectified. As has been said, you can use a thorn to remove a thorn—but then you throw both thorns away. You don’t hang on to the helpful thorn or it quickly becomes an obstacle. Don’t cling even to the no-map map. And if you do cling, recognize that there is no “you” doing this apparent clinging, and that this too is simply a momentary activity of being, a momentary shape that undivided wholeness is taking, a momentary appearance in a fleeting dream belonging to no one.
If we let all our descriptions and conceptualizations and beliefs go, what remains?
If you’re thinking of an answer, or searching for one, drop that and simply BE what remains. There is no way to really say what this is, and yet, here it is—utterly obvious, unavoidable and undeniable. How simple can this be?
I don’t think of God as a guy-in-the-sky who is planning out and willing his next move, and therefore, as I see it, expressions such as “God’s will,” or “thy will be done” are simply pointers to the fact that life is as it is in every moment. It is as it is because of infinite causes and conditions (and even that is a mental overlay on top of what truly passeth all understanding). To add, as some people do, that everything is unfolding as it “should” (as “God’s will” seems to imply) feels extra to me—as if there is some plan for how things “should” be. Better to stick with simply it is as it is.
Obviously, as living organisms, we are incredibly vulnerable and subject to pain, disability and loss. No matter how much money we have or how many walls we build between us and “them” (whatever we think might threaten us), insecurity remains, for it is the very nature of organic existence. No form endures. When we are completely identified with one perishable and apparently separate bodymind, this is a very frightening situation. We are trying to survive as one wave on the ocean, trying to grasp and hold onto water, trying to freeze and pin down the movement that life is.
But when there is the recognition of the larger happening that we all are, the ocean itself, there is peace. We recognize what cannot be destroyed, damaged or broken. We see that there is no way we can ever go wrong, that EVERYTHING is God. We see that we ARE the movement of life, not some separate thing that is being swept along in it. No-thing ever really exists (stands apart), and no-thing is ever really born or ever really dies. When that is recognized, it ends the suffering associated with the illusion of being a separate fragment with free will on a journey toward a better (or more terrible) future. This is the peace that passeth all understanding. It is the peace that is at peace with apparent conflict, upset and disruption, the peace that depends on nothing.
But even with this realization, life inevitably includes pain. Just the mere thought of a painful illness, a terrorist attack, or being pinned under the rubble in a catastrophic earthquake can fill the entire bodymind with dread. These are scary thoughts—but that’s all they are right now, thoughts. And if one of these things actually happens, the reality of it won’t be the same as our fearful fantasy. And one way or another, whatever apparently happens, we will survive it, whether as this ever-changing form we call the bodymind or as the great (beginningless, endless) happening itself. Ultimately, our whole life, all of human history, and the entire universe is like a passing dream, a dream that includes everything imaginable and unimaginable. Recognizing the dream-like quality of all that appears doesn’t invalidate the beauty or the pain. It simply means it has no inherent or lasting reality, no ultimate meaning, no great purpose beyond simply being as it is.
Awakening is not about getting a grip, figuring it all out, having the right set of beliefs, landing in some correct formulation, or surviving as this form. It’s the releasing of all that, the relaxing (melting, dissolving, letting go, free-falling) into the unformulated and indescribable living reality of this (timelessly present) moment—prior to labels, judgments, categorizations, explanations, definitions, comparisons or any other conceptual overlay. Of course, this unbroken wholeness includes EVERYTHING, even labels, judgments, categorizations, explanations and all other conceptual overlays, so awakening isn’t about the absence of all that. But when consciousness mistakes the map for the territory, or the label for the thing itself, or any story for the living actuality—and especially the story of being a separate, independent self who has to “make something of my life” and “do the right thing” and “get somewhere” and “be somebody,” then there is suffering. Awakening sees through these mirage-like mistaken identities.
That doesn’t mean we deny the apparent person altogether -- that would be ridiculous. I still know that I’m Joan and that this is a BBS post. But simultaneously, there is also the knowing that I am not limited to Joan, and that “Joan” is no-thing that can be grasped or separated out from everything else that is apparently not-Joan, and that to call this present happening “a BBS post” is a relatively accurate and useful description, but that ultimately, no one can say what this present activity (this BBS writing-posting-reading) is. It’s never really some-thing that can be objectified, grasped and understood.
Liberation doesn’t fixate on any mental construct or cling to any particular experience or any single “level” of reality (whether absolute or relative, boundlessness or particularity, zoomed out to the undivided whole or zoomed in to the personal story). Life moves freely because EVERYTHING is included and NONE of it is actually personal, not even what seems to be our personal story.
The thinking mind is always trying to get a grip, so it will try to make something (some-THING) out of unbroken wholeness or boundlessness or God—even to put those words (“unbroken wholeness” or “boundlessness” or “God”) on this-here-now makes it seem like some “thing” (this but not that). We use words to point, but beware of clinging to the words—the word “water” is not water. Because totality has no limits and nothing stands apart from it, there is no way it can be objectified. As has been said, you can use a thorn to remove a thorn—but then you throw both thorns away. You don’t hang on to the helpful thorn or it quickly becomes an obstacle. Don’t cling even to the no-map map. And if you do cling, recognize that there is no “you” doing this apparent clinging, and that this too is simply a momentary activity of being, a momentary shape that undivided wholeness is taking, a momentary appearance in a fleeting dream belonging to no one.
If we let all our descriptions and conceptualizations and beliefs go, what remains?
If you’re thinking of an answer, or searching for one, drop that and simply BE what remains. There is no way to really say what this is, and yet, here it is—utterly obvious, unavoidable and undeniable. How simple can this be?