Pure Presence – In Gita Verse 7.8 O son of Kuntī, I am the taste of water, the light of the sun and the moon, the syllable oṁ in the Vedic mantras; I am the sound in ether and ability in man.
Now Krishna slowly guides us, invisible within us. He says that all the manifestation in the objective world is me and through that tangible manifestation I give you all my presence which is invisible, intangible.
I will again give you an example of seed, it has everything within it to grow as a tree. But that everything is not visible, not tangible, unless it grows. It cannot be said that a seed is a tree unless it grows as a tree. Ya it has brought all the potentiality to grow but if he is ready to die as seed then only the tree can grow. Even then the tree cannot show how it has grown, it only can grow. We can see either seed or tree but the invisible force cannot be seen, only it can be experienced. That experience is eternity.
For us unless we are ready to die as our personality then we can grow in consciousness. In the process of growing in consciousness we experience the invisible, intangible force within us.
Krishna is giving all the examples of the objective world and coming to us that he is present in our ability means how we act and not what we act.
Recollect from your own life when you have thought of taking any revenge, how you act and think. Also when you want to express your love how you act and think.
Arjuna is confused as for him the war is only revenge but he cannot think that while fighting the war I can be loving. As he is stuck in his knowledge. Not only Arjuna many times we are also confused about how to act from our love and awareness when we have ill feelings for others and also when we don’t want others to interfere in our individuality. As our individuality has pureness and innocence in it, it doesn’t have any road map or knowledge but has awareness.
This is the reason Buddha gave importance to Awareness. As Awareness is a Pure Presence.
The essence of the religion of Buddha is awareness. There is no prayer in it, there cannot be – because there is no God. And there cannot be any prayer in it because prayer is always motivated. Prayer is a form of desire, a form of lust.
Prayer has deep down hidden in it the very cause of misery. The cause of misery is that we are not content as we are. The cause of misery is that we would like a different type of life, a different situation, a different world, and the world that is before us pales down before our imagination. The cause of misery is imagination, desire, hope. And in prayer all the causes are present, so there is no possibility for prayer in Buddha’s religion. Only awareness is the key. So we have to understand what awareness is.
When you pray, you ask for something. When you meditate, you meditate upon something. But when you are aware, you are simply centred in your being. The other is not important at all. The other is irrelevant. You are simply aware.
Awareness has no object to it. It is pure subjectivity. It is a grounding in your being, it is a centering in your being. Standing there inside your being, you burn bright. Your flame is without any smoke. In your light the whole life becomes clear.
In that clarity is silence. In that clarity, time ceases to be. In that clarity, the world disappears. Because in that clarity there is no desire, no motivation. You simply are… not wanting anything whatsoever. Not wanting any future. Not wanting a better world. Not wanting heaven, moksha. Not wanting God. Not wanting knowledge, liberation. You simply are.
Awareness is a pure presence, a centered consciousness. Buddha’s whole effort is how to make you centered, grounded, a flame without smoke, a flame which knows no wavering. In that light, everything becomes clear and all illusions disappear and all dreams become non-existential. And when the dreaming mind stops, there is truth.
Krishna says that when you become Awareness in that moment the world within and without will disappear and you become your pure presence, you act and in your act you will experience the ability of yours to act with compassion. You may have to fight with someone but your act will be from compassion. It will not be a response to others but it will be a response to yourself and your Godliness.
Tags: Pure Presence
