The first thing is to separate the present moment from the present situation. In life there is a natural ebb and flow. One moment we are outward relating to the world around us, in another we are inwardly focused seeing our wish and connected to our inner life; asleep, then awake; caught up in reaction, grasping, daydreaming, then being with ourselves inwardly, connected to our presence. In this, we are all the same.
This back and forth, this ebb and flow is natural and we should accept it. We often don’t. We grasp at the one and reject the other. Fight sleep and negativity, and attempt to hold on to the ‘higher’ wakeful state. The mechanical animal and the divine are both in us. They are who we are.
To quote Jeanne De Salzmann:
“Man is only a promise of man until he can live with both natures present in himself and not withdraw into one or the other. If he withdraws into his highest part, he is distant from his manifestations and can no longer evaluate them; he no longer knows or experiences his animal nature. If he slides into the other nature, he forgets everything that is not animal, and there is nothing to resist it; he is animal, not man. The animal always refuses the angel. The angel turns away from the animal”. –Reality of Being Page 21.
This back and forth see-saw becomes our reality, where we think that the inner good state is the real me and the sleeping part needs to be fought against. We create sometimes an inner war between our disparate parts that keeps us from real progress. What the Buddha called duality.
Neither of those two sides are what we are after. By accepting both parts of who we are, the ‘wolf and the sheep’ in Mr G’s language, we open to the potential of another energy coming in; one that is unseen, but clearly not “me”. Being present, relaxed, deeply relaxed, and opening to the unseen is an important part of our work. Sometime it is better to let go of our physical tensions, thoughts – even of the work – and emotional reactions, and just allow another attention to appear, rather than straining to make one materialize. Becoming free from the desire for a result.
Be aware of the ebb and flow – This is about vigilant consciousness and the transformation of our attention.
Jerry Toporovsky