"Be newborn, be free of yourself"
Tao Te Ching
The author of the Tao Te Ching, Lao Tzu, apparently thinks change happens in us and involves a letting go. Perhaps Lao Tzu would smile upon the modern day words of Jim El Moore, who writes the following in response to an article I wrote for Op-Ed titled, "Prepare for Disaster":
When we step outside the bounds of the linear-time paradigm that constrains us, to recognize that the ONLY time anything can happen is in the present moment, we begin to take true responsibility: What do I choose, this moment, to give my attention to? What do I choose, right now, to be doing? As we develop new habits of consciousness, we can leave behind the old paradigm -- the suffering. We can empower Self to be living aware in the moment, carrying forth our intent.
How do we use this present moment as an impetus to change that Jim so beautifully speaks of? The key to change is in the above quote from the Tao Te Ching. In essence, we need to die to what we are now and become unconditioned. It is then that we will become newly born.
It is only by dying that we can become newly born. It is no accident that intercourse with a woman entails an act of surrender by the male to the woman which then leads to new life, or a higher / more integrated level of consciousness. In myth, this "swallowing" by the female of the male is reflected in the person of the Goddess as Fate which then initiates the birth of new life. A beautiful example can be seen in the above Egyptian image of Nut or Heaven and Ra, the Sun.
Many literalists interpret this image as being a reflection of human stupidity in understanding the cosmic process. They laugh as they see Heaven birthing and swallowing the Sun. However, could it be that the ancients used the language of metaphor more frequently than we in understanding the universe. Perhaps metaphor is a more advanced or evolved way of thinking? Epistemologist Gregory Baetson appears to think so when he states that the language of Nature is metaphor and metaphor is the language that connects.
This is exactly what the image does. It connects intercourse and birth to the process of the rising and setting sun as well as the process of the sun's rays entering into the body of the Earth (Hathor in this image) which then brings forth new life. The image metaphorically reveals a connection between human anatomy and sexuality and cosmic process. Being children of the universe, we mirror Her. Thus, in understanding this image, we should never feel ourselves aliens living in a crazy and mixed up world.
Meditation is the entrance way into the body of Nut. Nut is not an objective or an object. She is the unconditioned ground out of which all arise. She is that which exists before we are and it is she that sustains us as we live and receives us when we die. To understand, watch your thoughts as they are born, dance around, and then return to the font of your mind. Nut is that from which the thoughts arise, are maintained and dissolve. If you are able to get to the ground of your thoughts and dreams, you will enter the state of what some call Nirvana and others call Bliss. Or, you may choose to call this state Rapture.
It is also in this place that you are most open to change. Why? It is because at this point you are wide open to the possibilities within you in relation to the world in which you live. But, to get there, you have to be willing to die to what you are now! Like both Nut and Ra, you need to surrender. Sweet Surrender as any lover would call it. How many times when engrossed in the thrill of love do we say we "we lost all sense of ourselves?"
Let go!
In this same fashion, we must loose all sense of ourselves in order to be reborn into an evolved state. Evolution requires and demands death. Can we let go to our conditioned self in order to evolve? More than wondering about who is going to win the next election, it is this question that needs the intensity of your contemplation.
What will you find in your contemplation? Ultimately, it will be an understanding of that which is contemplating. It is that which is contemplating that serves as the mother from which our thoughts arise, are sustained and dissolve. This is the ultimate Seer, our true Nature which cannot be contemplated as an object. Why? It is because it is the Contemplator and the Contemplator cannot be contemplated just as an eye cannot behold itself except in a mirror image. It is this mirror image that exists as the world.
Thus, our planet has become a barren trashed up reflection of the barren trashed up mind that we have inherited from centuries of conditioning starting around the time the Bible's Genesis was set to writing. However, as clouds part to reveal an infinite universe with uncountable stars, then we will find that same infinity within us, once our thoughts part to reveal the clear skies ahead.. It is only by tapping into that infinity and what it holds that we will heal. . .
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
