You Are The Self


CONTENTS




Introduction
1

Time and Truth
2

The Game
3

Solidity and Self
4

Wholeness & Distinctness
5

Self and Other
6

Two-Way Looking
7

Helping Others
8

The Knower
9

Dividing Reality
10

Time & the Eternal
11

The Presence
12

The Boundless
13

Everything & Nothing
14

Seeking Form
15

The Miraculous
16

Attention & Illusion
17

Saying Yes
18




The Absolute & the Relative
19

Cosmic Laughter
20








  

INTRODUCTION

Our quest for drama has gone too far. We are alienated from our true identity, at war within our Self and with apparent others. 

Love is the recognition of the Self in the other.  You are that Self.  Come home.

Life is programmed for partisanship.  We are programmed to see and to relate to motion as a multitude of distinct systems and patterns, which we tend to either support or oppose. 

As we mature, we begin to recognize the Self in all systems and patterns and to see our identity wherever we look. 

TIME AND TRUTH

      All things have their time.  Now is a time to know Truth rather than illusion.  It is time for increasing Knowledge of the Self rather than continuing to play the game of conflict.  The drama of motion and form needs to emerge from the desert of separation to flow into the universal sea of being.  It’s time for us to awaken to the recognition and realization of the Self. 

We normally know only part of what we are.  We know only our becoming, we overlook our being.  Focusing on our becoming, we know only the imperfection of the temporal; we overlook the perfection of the eternal Self, our ever-present awareness, the host and knower of all form. 

While noticing the content of your awareness, notice also what contains that content.  While knowing objects, also become aware of the Subject.  In addition to being aware of your imperfection in comparison to what you strive to be, know the perfection of what you already, always are. 
  
THE GAME

     Our game is the creation of form.  You are formless, the eternal being, whole, complete, ever present here and now, the only Self.  Your game is to create definition, what is limited, to experience becoming, to know time and space.

To play the game, you have launched your Self into motion, stretching yourself toward definition, into becoming.  You have denied your being, your wholeness.  You have embarked on an enterprise of time and space, of separation, of having shape, size, direction, color, boundaries, and vulnerability.

Your game is one of winners and losers, of uncertainty, striving, successes and failures, appearance and disappearance. 

When you tire of the game, return to the reality of the Self; rest and be whole.

SOLIDITY AND SELF

     Solidity is an illusion, there is nothing solid.  Everything is in motion, a continuous flow through changing patterns.

You are what always Is.   You are the only being, the presence, the substance, flowing to form, alternating between forgetting and Self-knowledge.  You are the only Self and the apparent multitude.

Though presently experiencing yourself as separate, having form and boundaries, enter the universal Self, your true identity, and be free,  undefined, the essence of all things, the single Subject. 
  
WHOLENESS AND DISTINCTNESS

     Whenever you seek wholeness, it’s always here, waiting for you.  Nothing is external to you.  The cosmos is the movement of a single being, your Self.  Know both your wholeness and your distinctness. 

Your movement particularizes you, creating unique trajectories of attention and experience, with our sense of individual identity. Honor your eternal Self as well as your temporal individuality.  The distinct you gives us the interest, drama, and adventure of the world.  It also allows awareness of the universal Self, since knowledge of anything is only possible in  relation to its opposite. 

We love both the creation and contemplation of form, the defined, as well as wholeness and the freedom of the undefined.  Your creativity, your becoming, requires tension; your being, your wholeness, requires nothing, only the relaxation of tension.  To know liberation from tension, to know wholeness, relax in your perfect, formless being.
  
SELF AND OTHER

     The apparent other is you.  The mind of others is your mind, the bodies of others are part of your own movement, the Tao.  What happens to others is done to you, and will affect your continuing experience of the world.

There is no part of life that is alien to you, and  that is not essential to the whole.

Life is entirely seamless, and is rent apart only by the nature of perception.  Greet others as your Self.  Honor the creative variety of life in all movement, and know it as your own. 
  
TWO-WAY LOOKING

     We normally look in one direction only—out at the world of time and space, at the front portion of who we are.

Learn to look also in the other direction, at the back portion of who you are, at the looker. 

The front part of who you are appears solid, defined; the back portion is empty, undefined.  The front portion is limited, confined; the back part is infinite, without limits.  The front part of you is full of imperfection; in the other direction lies perfection.  The front part consists of objects; the back part is the Subject.

Your front part is what you see and feel; your back part is the One who sees and feels.  Your front portion is always changing; your back part doesn’t change. 

Your movement is always different; your awareness is eternal.  The Self is both the temporal you and the eternal you.  Practice two-way looking.

HELPING OTHERS

     Look for ways to help those in distress to discover their wholeness.  Those who know the Self, who experience the perfection of their being, are better able to engage in the  adventure into the imperfection of time and space. 

You can best help others by recognizing them as your Self.  As you encounter each person or thing, say internally, “Here is the Self.” Your actions toward them will then begin to reflect your own Self-awareness.  

Beyond the beneficial impacts of your respectful action, on occasion you may have the capacity to help others to experience their wholeness. 

Look for ways to help others to realize that their wholeness is not out there somewhere, it’s here, where we are.  Wholeness is not in becoming, but in being, which is now, and already complete.
  
Wholeness is not in the future, or in the past, or in only part of what is, but in the entirety of the present moment, which is the Self.   

THE KNOWER

     You are not your changing thoughts, which are simply abstractions from the movement of the Self;  you are the knower of your thoughts,  

The knower, whose attention wanders the cosmos and occasionally returns home, is the host of all that is. 

Be careful not to confuse the knower with the known.  The known is only an imperfect image of a portion of our movement.  The knower is what cannot be lost, and is always here. 

The knower is our identity—awareness itself, undefined, infinite, eternal.   The knowing Self is the Holy Grail, the Source, and the Sustainer.

DIVIDING REALITY

     We create form by dividing the Self,  becoming blind to our fullness, and focusing our attention on only a small portion of our seamless reality.  

Dividing life, we create a limited identity, which is the sense that we are separate individuals. 

Abiding in the Self, I am free from limiting definitions, and encompass all of the present moment, not just part of it.   Allow your attention to return home, to what exists without effort, here and now.  Rest in the simple presence of your undivided being, the eternal Self. 

TIME AND THE ETERNAL

     Time is your adventure into imperfection.  When it becomes too painful, come back to the perfection of the immediate present, what you eternally are.  

Deny the images of time a separate existence.  What you see is only a passing appearance; what sees is true, and beyond time. 

You are not becoming anything; you are the changeless, and are complete in the present.  You are not in time and you occupy no space.  Space and time are within you.

Your present being is complete, and extends to infinity, containing all that is, was, and will be.  Know your eternal being, in the here and now.
  
THE PRESENCE

     When you experience your infinite presence, there is no room for any other.   All existence is complete and accounted for.  Nothing has been left out; it is all within you. 

In the experience of the presence, here and now, the Tao moves according to its nature, needing no assistance or interference.   In the present you are unbound and unconditioned.  Here is true Value.

Know your Self, what you always are, in the utter present, the eternal moment, the center of time.

THE BOUNDLESS

     The key to the Self is boundlessness.  If anything has bounds, it’s not the Self, and will pass away and be lost.  The Self has no bounds and cannot be lost. 

Let the Tao deal with objects, which have bounds.  They will all pass, and more will come.  Enjoy them in their time, but hold them only lightly.  They are your play, they are not your Self.

Unlimited by form or definition, in your natural motion you are the creator of worlds through the flow of the infinite Tao.  

EVERYTHING AND NOTHING

     We can experience the Self as everything, or as nothing—as the single fabric or substance of all form, or as the pointless point and formless source of all motion. 

When we focus fully on the present, reality is seamless, both in essence and in its flow.  The completely Here is whole, the eternal presence, the Subject that contains everything.

When you are rooted Here, as the source of all existence, undefined, formless, then the world of apparently distinct objects and forces becomes a single flow, all of which is you.  

When you are totally Now, you are nothing, and at the same time you are everything.  Come to Here, and Now. 
  
SEEKING FORM

     It is the nature of the Self to seek and to produce form, which in turn makes us more keenly aware of its opposite, the formless, which it is also our nature to embrace. 

We stretch our Self into time and space, seeking definition, then rebound into balance and peace through Self-awareness.

We are fascinated and enchanted by form and motion, even when they are painful.  The pursuit of form clearly has its time, as does the need to be free of form.

Recognize the joy of definition and the need for form in their time, as well as the need for wholeness and peace which is also fundamental to your being.
  
THE MIRACULOUS

     You are a miracle substance, absolutely clear and transparent, yet able to generate and contain unending complexity. 

You are the infinite, eternal, boundless presence.  You are unchanging and at rest, yet also in motion and constantly transforming.  Your ability to diversify and surprise yourself is an amazing feature of the cosmos.

You are continually stretching the strings of your being, seeking manifestation and drama, before subsiding again into wholeness and peace. 

Your motion is a magical tour, the supreme adventure of the Tao. 

ATTENTION AND ILLUSION

     The truth is that we are all a single substance; the illusion is that we are all separate.

The Tao concentrates our attention, creating an illusion of individuality and temporarily blinding us to our fullness of being. 

The sense that we are limited objects among others is an illusory image we abstract from the single flow of the Self. 

No matter how petty or disturbing the objects of your attention are, remember that they need your pure awareness, your undivided mind in order to appear.  Let the perfection and infinity of the knower balance the pain and limitation of the known.  The known will soon pass; the knower will endure.

Bring your attention home to the Self.  The universal Self is the ultimate value. 
  
SAYING YES

     Take an inclusive approach to life instead of an exclusive one.  Rather than rejecting any experience, add to it what is missing.

Be the here and now; accept all of it.  Enlarge what is petty, make what is partial part of your own wholeness.  

Say Yes!  Honor everything, no matter how limited, by adding to it and not denying it.    

In truth, each thing is part of the seamless flow, the One being, your being.  Acknowledge and embrace it as your Self.  

THE ABSOLUTE & THE RELATIVE

          You are absolute being, what always is.  You are what is beyond description, the always here. 

Words are temporal and relative.  You are beyond all becoming and change, the Self eternal, for which no words are adequate,

You are the All-Value, existence itself, One without a second, the Self in everyone. 

You, the Absolute, are not in the world.  You contain everything.  You are the unmoved mover, the Tao, Mind itself.    
  
COSMIC LAUGHTER
    
            One day your attention will turn a corner, and you will be there, laughing at your absolute freedom and wholeness.

The biggest joke is when we realize that we have been imagining ourselves to be separate and our motion to be independent, bringing cosmic laughter at the enormity of our mistake.

Time is a charlatan, form is a fraud.  When you see through these illusions, you may find yourself laughing or singing with joy.  I do. 
  

First printed in the United States of America, June 2014.
Third edition, July 2017
                                                                                 ISBN 9781497411074

            Daniel Clark has also written "Experiences with Truth" containing four titles, "Notes to the Self," "You are the Self," 'It's all the Self," and "A Spiritual Jourrnal," as well as “The Nature of the Self” containing six titles, “The Nature of the Self,” “The Dream and the Dreamer,” “The Paradox of Perfection,” “The Divine Game,” and the “Doing and the Doer,” and in addition has written “The One: A Collection,” containing three additional titles, “The One,” “The Experience of the Absolute,” and “One Mind.”  
 He can be contacted by writing to PO Box 1222, Walla Walla, Washington, USA, 99362, or by email to clarkdn@charter.net.