The physical world rests upon a substrate, base components at the fundamental layer of existence. Electrons, protons, and neutrons swirl in a dance of atoms, combining to make hydrogen, helium, carbon, oxygen, iron, water, air, soil, and everything else. All that we can see or touch derives from these basic building blocks.
The metaphysical world rests upon a substrate too. At the fundamental layer are the irreducible forces of awareness and love, the base components from which everything derives. All that we can hope for in a spiritual life sprouts from this double helix.
Appearance, sensation, perception, attention, thought, reflection, insight, ideas – none of these are possible without the faculty of awareness. Its absence cannot even be described as a dark void, because darkness and emptiness can be sensed, and without sentience, there is nothing. Simply and completely nothing. Awareness makes the vibrancy of life accessible.
Empathy, compassion, affection, friendship, fellowship, community, generosity, mercy, union – these are the shades of love that give meaning to what arises in awareness; its absence would reduce sentience to the dry and motionless act of observance. Love makes the experience of life worthwhile.
All of this can sound like assertions from a metaphysics textbook. The proof lies in our lived experience. When we quiet ourselves and look past the worries and distractions of the moment, we can see awareness and love as the soil of the field where life is continuously birthing and blooming; generative, affirming, pulsing with the color of a million wildflowers, each a seed of possibility. It’s the field we want to live and play in, the source of our rejuvenation, the place that offers solace when grief and darkness overcome us.
I center my spiritual practice around these two capacities. Sensing the breath; attending to body sensations; noticing the energies of liminal space; witnessing thoughts; absorbing the slow wisdom of sacred writings; capturing reflections in a journal – these inform my practice. Contemplating compassion; meditating on loving-kindness; voicing my longings in prayer; opening my heart to the suffering of others and the planet – these enrich my practice.
The more I explore awareness and love, the more they show up as working functions in my life. When I place conscious attention on a thought, a physical discomfort, or an emotional reaction, I feel a softening that allows more compassion to trickle in. Awareness leads to love. And when I perform a kindness, a crack opens in my perception, allowing a greater perspective than I had before. Love invites awareness. Separate refractions of a single light, they feed each other, like protons and electrons endlessly circling, combining and creating, weaving a spiral that moves ever upward.
To walk in the world with this view, looking for where I can expand awareness and amplify love, opens a field of possibilities. What would I become if I could walk in this field more fully? What forms of creation could I help birth and bloom? How would my contributions multiply like wildflowers?
Photo by Evie S. on Unsplash
What a beautiful post Steve! Awareness and love. It reminds me of a statement by Ram Dass describing who we are: “I am loving awareness”. You and your writings are gift to all of us on this spiritual journey. Thank you.
Darrell, thank you for your gracious comments. I think we are all trying to get to the place Ram Dass is describing.