Changing One's Relationship with Creation

[deci belle]

There is an ancient taoist fable about a sheepherder boy who transcends the requirements of convention (maintenance of worldly concerns akin to duty), by changing the nature of his duty without violating the basis of what constitutes one’s natural relationship with creation.

Yes, one actually has a relationship with Creation.  Its activation is the selfless intent of the real human body which has no location. One’s intent beckons an open sincerity of enlightening being by its sustained, unbending quality. This is naturally inconceivable, naturally gradual entry into the nature of Power.

Sincere openness beckons the fruition of the selfless intent of the body of reality, which is one’s immaterial center, the locus of one’s aware living potential energy. Beyond nexus, such is Mind. Open awareness is its substance, function, and intent. Sincere openness is the go-between, entering where the elements of the primal organization are not differentiated in the macrocosm nor in the microcosm. It is the most subtle and exquisite vessel of enlightening beings. It is the point where thought arises. It is the door to all marvels. It is just this open sincere intent of one’s real body where the Way alights and wells forth.

Enlightening partnership in creation transcends one’s subjectivity to it. In working it, so to speak, one lets go of the small to partake of the great. It is a matter of clarifying the basis of one’s awareness, one’s relationship with awareness, that karmic evolution becomes a partner in oneself, and one is then no longer subject to its changes.  Working it is the ability of buddhas, wizards, saints, sages and the enlightening beings of all times.

Its active capacity is the inherent spiritual function of enlightening being. Self-reflective activity trapped within desire, form and formlessness is the function of sentient beings. The respective functions are carried out dutifully bound as a matter of course in everyday ordinary situations; the former, before the first thought, and the latter, after the first thought. What is this point of illumination at the cusp of the first thought? Who knows that it is possible to rest here at the point of incipient upwelling of potential before the first thought in perpetuity. Though "subject" to karmic influences, one adapts impersonally along with Creation, or not.

Correct concentration and insight into the nature of Mind and furthermore maintaining a subtle continuous extension of mindful observation on this nature of Mind while functioning adaptively in ordinary affairs eventually develops into an unbending impersonal intent of open sincerity subtly harmonizing with the Way. Harmonizing with the Way and its Power is making a bid with its Power, since the essence of the Way is the nature of human being. Power is its source, whereas its nature is our affinity with its Virtue. This is why seeing reality is the Way (in terms of incipient potential) as one's manifest virtuous accord in Reality.

Through a long process, self-refinement reaches a natural harmony with the Way, and one’s bid is recognized impersonally as resonance attuned to its Power. From that point on, enlightening being operates by a selfless fundamental reversal of the nature of one’s relationship with Creation hitherto unknown to ordinary people, who, furthermore, have no idea what constitutes their own nature. Ordinary people follow the light of creation within personalistic (selfishly) attuned ignorance, whereas enlightening beings turn the light around to align themselves with its universal undifferentiated source of illumination. There is nothing to understand. This is why it is called entry into inconceivability. No one knows there's nothing to know.

The source isn’t anywhere else but here and now. It’s you; though you are not it. Being here and now without employing psychological patterns habitually differentiating before and after, self and other, is already the light turned around. The terminology is only words, not the reality. The work of self-refinement is the dissolution of the mental patterns veiling authentic presence. Negotiating the viscidities of here and now is enlightening being; it is neither different nor the same as before and after, self and others because real knowledge is void of habitual mental patterns of discriminatory consciousness. This is why the nonpsychological is spiritual.

This is not a matter of sudden illumination, nor does its effect depend on the sudden. The spiritual is the very nature of the sudden. Therefore, the work of enlightening activity is the activation of the nature of the sudden operating in the midst of the gradual. Not only is this the nature of buddhahood, it is the nature of one’s own unborn awareness right now in the light of your eyes. It’s Mind through and through.

This is not a meditative exercise.  One does not see light!! The light does not look like lights. Even ordinary light is essentially immaterial. How can the light of awareness be conceived? If you see lights, and instead want to see reality, stop whatever it is you are doing. ”Wonders” derivative of the psychological storehouse are not the light.  Seeing the light is a formative reversal of one’s relationship with creation whereby the psychological apparatus of the being that is going to die now reverts to facilitating enlightening activity instead of being its hinderance. As such, all things are just this light. The light looks just like things because the light is the essence of things. So seeing the light isn’t a mystical contrivance at all. It never has been. It’s just that people only see through self-reflective patterns of habit energy and don’t see the light of awareness by virtue of true reality, which is your own mind constituting nondifferentiated unity being the nature of reality alone. Essence is things, yet things are not it. Therefore seeing reality is the basis of not being subject to creation. Seeing is not visible, it is solitary knowledge constituting enlightening being, not the person. Reality is seeing without activation of personalistic patterns of habit energy. Such seeing is the means to absorption of potential.

The ancient alchemic manuals state that “whatever can be seen is not to be used; only use that which cannot be seen.” The medicines are immaterial. Fusing them permanently in terms of the spiritual potential of the being that is going to die is the work of alchemy. Those who work with material and plasmic elements will come to an impasse.

Clarifying the basis of one’s awareness, one’s relationship with awareness, karmic evolution becomes a partner in oneself, and one is no longer subject to its changes. All things reverting to potential in oneself doesn’t change anything. That’s the point of transcending changes.

Changes aren’t potential. Only creation changes. The business of stealing potential is absorbing the stability inherent in one’s essential unborn awareness by virtue of and in spite of things. Partnership with creation is embodying the function of fundamental unity which is the light. The stability of illumination is your nature, which is changeless.

One’s partnership with creation is proven by seeing Change. One sees Change by not following its changes unawares. How difficult is that? How difficult is it to not follow thoughts unawares? Not being subject to creation is before the first thought. That’s how close reality is. Before the first thought is Mind.

Observing this Mind, how important is correct concentration and insight into the nature of Mind? Furthermore, how is maintaining a subtle continuous extension of mindful observation on this nature of Mind while functioning adaptively in ordinary affairs important to turning the light of this Mind around?

In seeing the light, one partakes of the nature of the light and does not entertain acquisitive, speculative relationships with things based on patterns reifying the multifarious personality’s karmic imprint. Why? Because enlightening beings see that things are not absolute in terms of the nature of creation (which is karmic), in turning the light around.

It is not a matter of belief, or faith. One does not act as if…(?) Reality is the way it is already. Reality does not depend on seeing.  Seeing depends on you. If you see reality, then you do not abide in karmic energy, and the totality of the being that is going to die is the nature of enlightenment.

In turning the light around, things revert to unrefined potential in terms of enlightening beings seeing reality. This is how one “steals potential”— it is just a matter of (one’s operating the light in reverse that is) not partaking in the created aspect of karmic evolution whereby one “absorbs” potential. It is not that one takes anything, or that things themselves miraculously stop acting like things overflowing in their foolishness, poisoned, deluded. It is simply seeing for oneself that there is nothing whatsoever to take (in terms of transcendent relationship in the created), that one “frees” potential inherent in any given situational event and then stores it away in secrecy void of intellectualism.

The upshot is that one accumulates the subsequently purified primordial energy for enlightening evolution by oneself for the purposes of one’s duty, carried out as a highly-refined relationship with creation based on its (the created’s) uncreated potential.

It is found neither in oneself nor in others; it is itself in Reality alone.

[deci belle]

This is a response I received by PM:

Let's see if I can offer something on topic, here.

"When you find your place where you are, practice occurs, actualizing the fundamental point."

("Genjo Koan" by Eihei Dogen, trans. by Aitken and Tanahashi)

Excellent, Mark— the quote you chose exhibits a practical understanding of real application of potential. Good job and thank you for the reference! Students who are ready should take advantage of this volume. Another excellent volume for study is a different translation of the same fascicle by Hakuun Yasutani titled, Flowers Fall, published by Shambhala copyright 1996 ISBN 1-57062-103-9

 

Furthermore:

What is manifest (psychological and external phenomena), is absolute reality (not beyond one's original unborn face). What lies at one's feet is this complete reality in one foot being neither ordinary nor holy. Entry into inconceivability on the spot, is one's whole mind and body never having suffered existence, being the nature of enlightenment. Those who see this, see reality presently.

Shining all along, following the heart's desire without ever once stepping beyond the singular rhythm.