"The Door to All Wonders" - Reflections on the Nature of Existence

“In one drop of water are found all the secrets of all the oceans; in one aspect of You are found all the aspects of existence.” ~ Khalil Gibran

“It isn't by getting out of the world that we become enlightened, but by getting into the world…by getting so tuned in that we can ride the waves of our existence and never get tossed because we become the waves.” ~ Ken Kesey

The Ageless Search

We human-beings are born with a intense natural curiosity. Anyone who has spent time around a child knows that from the time they are able to speak, their minds are filled with an endless stream of questions about everything around them. These questions come much too fast for any parent to possibly answer a majority of them, but they keep on coming. The lack of answers can even create a whole new arraying of questioning, for this is the nature of the mind.

It is not long after the first many questions about our surroundings arise, that our mind reach further. What is beyond this world that I know? And what is even beyond that? Does it ever have any ending? If so, what is beyond that? Humanity has wondered about these questions from our very beginnings. We all seek answers to the fundamental questions about the nature of existence and our place in the cosmos. These questions bring out a deep longing for answers that is familiar to everyone. It is this very questioning that is at the core of who we are as people.

Scientists and philosophers, artists and mystics across time have seeked for answers to these fundamental questions; Why do we exist? Why does anything exist at all? Is there an higher intelligence or creator? Does any semblance of our individual essence survive death?

One of the first civilizations to record answers to these questions were the ancient peoples of the Indus Valley civilization. Their myths and songs were later collected written down, several thousand years ago, and form what is know as the Vedas. The Vedas contain within them the wisdom of thousands of years of civilization and are even considered the Word of God by modern Hindus. One of these Vedas, the Rig-Veda contains a work know as the Nasadiya Sukta or Hymn of Creation. This ancient song echos the same essential human wonder about existence that humanity today still feels. A translation of the hymn is as follows,

At first was neither Being nor Nonbeing. There was not air nor yet sky beyond. What was its wrapping? Where? In whose protection? Was water there, unfathomable and deep?

There was no death there, nor yet deathlessness; of night or day there was not any sign. The One breathed without breath, by its own impulse. Other than that was nothing else at all.

Darkness was there, all wrapped around by darkness, and all was water indiscriminate. Then that which was hidden by the Void, the One, emerging, stirring, through power of Ardor (Tapas), came to be.

In the beginning Love arose, which was the primal germ cell of the mind. The Seers, searching in their hearts with wisdom, discovered the connection of Being in Nonbeing.

A crosswise line cut Being from Nonbeing. What was described above it, what below? Bearers of seed there were and mighty forces, thrust from below and forward move above.

Who really knows? Who can presume to tell it? Whence was it born? Whence issued this creation? Even the Gods came after its emergence. Then who can tell from whence it came to be?

That out of which creation has arisen, whether it held it firm or it did not, He who survey it in the highest heaven, He surely knows or maybe He does not!

These ancient verses have been present in the mind of the author during the whole writing of this work. They are the universal voice of humanity calling out to existence, humbly wondering if there is anything greater out there.

Unity of Being

Across our history, humanity has had many cosmologies and many ideas about our place in the world. Many of these ideas are wholly opposite of one another and indeed conflicts of this sort have been a source of great suffering. But out of the many cosmologies humanity has at one time or another embraced, the oldest and most enduring is that of a transcendental universal unity. That is the knowledge that all things are but parts of a greater whole that, in its essence, transcends all parts and is complete in itself.

With knowledge of this unity, one can grow to see that all things known and witnessed today have their origin in an eternal essence that is absolutely transcendent and also, paradoxically, existing as everything everywhere. This essence has been called by many names across history. The ancient Chinese sage Lao-Tzu perhaps defined it best in the first section of his Tao-Te-Ching which states,

The way that can be spoken is not the eternal way.

The name that can be named is not the eternal name.

The nameless is the origin of Heaven and Earth.

The named is the mother of myriad things.

Thus, constantly without desire, one observes its essence.

Constantly with desire, one observes its manifestations.

These two emerge together but differ in name.

The unity is said to be the mystery.

Mystery of mysteries, the door to all wonders.

Growing in our relationship to this unity we begin to see that inwardly both body and spirit are aspects of Absolute Being, whole and absolute in itself. It must said through that even if our relationship to this unity is strong, in this worldly plane of existence, the forms of body and spirit remain different in their outward nature. But despite this, both body and spirit share many fundamental similarities in their nature.

For example, both the body and spirit must grow, change, and evolve over time to be healthy and, for both, certain practices and substances are needed for this growth to occur. This is why there is great wisdom saying, 'one must eat for their body but also eat for their spirit, and meditate for their spirit but also meditate for their body.'

There are many traditions that say the body must be denied for the benefit of the spirit but this is a grave mistake. Both the spirit and the body are manifestations of soul, or pure individual being, and therefore both aspects of your inner true-self. Of course, it is true that the organic matter of our bodies will die when we, our consciousness, detaches at death; but it is not only the life-force of our spirit that leaves but also the life-force of our body, which is another expression of the same essence. Ultimately, it could be said that both body and spirit are partner manifestations of a higher level of self, the soul, who is ultimately a manifestation of Absolute Being.

With this view it becomes clear, both the body and the spirit must be given equal care to cultivate a truly balanced life. For while we human-beings might outwardly have a dual nature, this duality has a unity to it, a perfect natural harmony with the universe that comes from our inner-most being; and as we grow in our relationship to this unity duality become an increasingly small aspect of our existence. Eventually, we simply realize who we are and become nothing but what is.

Unity of being is the natural way of existence. A look into the world of natural life will most certainly confirm this. We can witness natural unity of being in every sort of simpler life. Crystals, being the most base form of life, manifest this unity with the most perfection. Plants and most animals are also mirrored reflections of this unity of being.

Does the cow seek meaning for her existence? Of course not, she simply is. She is being without consciousness and therefore has perfect contentment. None of the simpler lifeforms have spiritual wants because they are fulfilled naturally without effort, it is their very nature to be spiritually complete. It is only with the awakening of consciousness that the illusion of choice in this matter is even possible.

It is within the hands of human life to choose if they are to embrace the reality of natural unity or to resist and become discontented. The ego can only exist as long as the illusion of separateness is thought. It can only live where a distinction is made, for good or ill it does not matter. The ego is nothing but the imagined separateness of self, there is no independent existence for it. Ego does not “think” for itself; it is thought up by the self.

With any distinction comes disunity of being and therefore discontentment, this is the message of Lao-Tzu and the other sages across time. Remove the distinction and the ego disappears. The thought is gone, it is as simple as that; and without ego there are no distinctions and no discontentment, there is only being. The natural way is that of just being. Return to this natural way and all seeking will cease, all discontentment will stop, everything simply will be.