Inner Work

For the week of May 26, 2008

Being Seen

To see, in the spiritual sense, means to be conscious, to be in touch with that pure, cognizing stillness beneath all the content of our mind and senses, to be grounded in that pre-sensory foundation awareness. If I am conscious, I see. However that conscious energy also carries with it the feeling of being seen. Which raises the question: being seen by whom? It is not only a feeling that I am seeing myself, but also that someone is seeing me. But who is that someone? Or rather: Who is that Someone? If consciousness pervades the universe, which appears to be the case, then whose consciousness is it? Who is conscious through that all-pervasive consciousness?

Consciousness does not see itself, because energies do not use themselves. Will uses energies. That will can be our individual will, particularly for the energies under our control, such as the sensitive and the automatic. Individual will comes into play with the conscious energy also, giving us the feeling that we can see, we can cognize, and we can be fully ourselves. We perceive by means of that empty, silent background of awareness. But the conscious energy is vast, not bounded or controlled by any human individual.

So consciousness is not only in us: we can open to being in it. Our brain can serve as a perceptual organ, like the eye or ear. It generates and perceives thoughts and emotions. But it can also perceive the formless, silent consciousness beneath thought and sensation, the very substance of awareness. That self-same stillness underlies both our mind and the world around us.

The surprise comes when, upon entering that vastness, we feel seen, seen by a Will incomparably greater than ours. We see through consciousness and that great Will sees through consciousness. There we have an intuition that our will and that greater Will are of the same nature, that we could surrender to and be subsumed by that greater Will. In so doing we would take our rightful place within the Greatness, or rather allow the Greatness to take its place in us. We become not just one who sees, but part of the One Who sees all. Thus we arrive at the culmination of our spiritual path, leaving us in a position to serve well, compassionately, and wisely.

For this week, practice allowing your mind to settle into peace, so that you can open to the still waters of consciousness. Notice whether you feel seen in that vast space. And if so, look for the sacred, loving One Who sees you.

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