“Life is when we exist to observe and enjoy the beauties of nature; meditation is when we observe the beauties of the observer”

If we are at all serious about the wholeness of life, and by that I mean by not reducing it with philosophy, a religion or by being stuck within the knowledge of what we think we know – and by knowledge I mean everything that appears to be ‘logical’ or brain centered – if we are at all serious about living life observing and enjoying the beauty of nature and ourselves, entering within it, understanding it without drawing a conclusion upon any part of it including the color of skin, race or creed, monetary status, etc, – for nature and life itself doesn’t make a distinction between any of this –  if we are at all serious about the life we desire to live, and the wholeness it provides outside of all the fads, being tossed from pillar to post trying to look as good as anyone else, or trying to live within a mask of happiness and contentment – and by that I mean when we present ourselves as one thing in society but are another in the privacy of our homes – if we are at all serious about living our own lives in all truth, honesty and integrity, we’d be more concerned with our own actions, our own ways of thinking and our own ways of living the life we are gifted with.

To understand life one must, at the very least, attempt to understand self or the one living it; to observe our own actions, our own ways of thinking, our own feelings, and emotions which will eventually bring us to ask more questions of ourselves; to ask those questions within ourselves and – listen very carefully. This, of course, is the meditation that will enhance our lives; to become self-aware and conscious of what makes us tick. But that’s just the beginning because when we observe the self we currently are, we may begin to either like or dislike what we see. We can then become trapped within our own judgments upon ourselves either good or bad, but it makes no difference; none of what we observe is the silence, the enlightenment, the intelligence and motivation of what we really are; what we are observing is the subject and not the observer. And this is the nature of meditation; to live and experience being the observer of life; emotions, thoughts, and actions – to enter into a higher understanding and the higher intelligence of mind and heart.

My recent experiences within the meditations of my ‘self’ have led me to a query of the observer and the self being observed. I became aware of a quote I had read a few years ago as it came back to my memory as if to be a reminder and a pointer directing me to another depth, stripping away another layer of belief and fantasy.

 “The observer is observed” – Krishnamurti

Again, being an avid participant of meditation and using it to open up the mind within which there is a type of intelligence all of its own (unique, knowing and understanding itself) – and to be honest a type of madness to those who have not experienced it – the above quote made a lot of sense. To try to understand it with intellect alone is quite difficult – everyone knows that the observer and the observed need to be separate otherwise it cannot work. It works hand in hand with another quote, which comes to mind while I write, “An eye is not an eye because you see it; it is an eye because it sees you”. A beautiful understanding of meditation if there ever was; as you enter into the experience of meditation and observe yourself, physically, mentally and emotionally,  you soon become aware of something else looking back at you. This takes a bit of focus but that is what meditation is all about; to learn to focus an otherwise unruly mind, wasting itself upon the past and future that don’t exist and bringing it into the present moment, which is the only point in time that does exist. In the initial stages of learning to meditate, you are, or become aware, or have the perception, that you (in your physical-ness) are observing yourself, and you become comfortable with that. As you progress, you will become aware that not only are you observing yourself but that you are actually ‘the observer’; there is a definite distinction between the two in which the observer cannot be ‘the observed’ – you have rediscovered a hidden part of you that holds a lot of motivation and profound wisdom but, also, it is quiet but powerful in its silence; you experience a higher intelligence coming from your depth.

And yet again, as your experience in meditation increases and your mind becomes more focused, another progression is realized; within that progression, you become conscious and very aware that your mind is not what you initially understood it to be – the progressions of meditation and the will to focus begins to present to you that you really are your mind (the observer) unfettered by the demands (the perceived needs and wants) of the body. You begin to initiate an understanding that you are now experiencing yourself as you once were before the influx of error-ridden education and misunderstanding of the life experiences you have survived up until now. All the trauma and negative experiences make sense with the mind intelligently making use of that knowledge – this is but an initial rebirthing of your ‘self’; in a sense, it is an experience of a new ‘you’, but in reality, it is the return home – to the real you, the unconditioned mind.

As if that wasn’t enough already, there is yet another progression. Which brings me back to the quote at the top of the page “Life is when we exist to observe and enjoy the beauties of nature; meditation is when we observe the beauties of the observer”. This progression is sometimes seen as the final one, whilst still living in your body – the one in which you receive an understanding that even though you are the observer but you, as the observer, are also being observed. Life becomes the meditation and meditation ceases to exist; it is superfluous and unnecessary.

Within this progression, the mind you are experiencing dissolves into nothingness; you become life and life lives through you, unhindered and unfettered by the desire to reason with it; you trust it profoundly because you are the trust of yourself. You cease to want and try to explain your experience of it; you are it and that’s all that matters because nothing matters. The experience of love, for example, is unspeakable and a return to the ‘old ways’ is not on the table for negotiation – you attract that which you now are and settle for nothing less. Silence becomes the teacher, as the teacher becomes silent. The experience of being the creation and the creator itself; you are one with it all.

There is a scripture from the bible which is a favorite of mine that makes so much sense of this phase or progression, please read it and understand the profound truth hidden within it.

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love,

I have become a sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.

And though I have the gift of prophecy,

And understand all mysteries and all knowledge,

And though I have all faith, so that I could move mountains,

But have not love,

I am nothing.

And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor,

And though I give my body to be burned,

But have not love

It profits me nothing.

Love suffers long and is kind;

Love does not envy;

Love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;

Does not behave rudely, does not seek its own,

Is not provoked, thinks no evil;

Does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the Truth;

Bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never fails.

Try as hard as you might, the explanation of it all becomes an arduous task; it seems the language you speak is not intelligent to those who want to understand it or want to understand you. The language you speak is of your heart and soul and understood by, maybe, the few who have taken the time to understand their selves, but know this well, you will be misunderstood by many. It is within these times you know there will be a time for silence and a time for speech but you will be measured upon your action; your life will be the explanation and only the fewest of words necessary if any at all. You, the love you are, will never fail you even as it recognizes itself in another. Resilience is one thing, but endurance – yes, endurance – is your best ally whilst experiencing this phase of the meditation of life. It becomes you – and it becomes easier.

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