The waters of Oak Creek ripple through the Verde Valley bringing the green blush of deciduous trees hinted at in the valley’s name. I sat on the bank of one part of the creek recently, dangling my feet in the chill water. Here, the water level was shallow, and my feet brushed against the rough gray stone below. I let my mind sink into the sensation, delighted for a moment’s respite from an always demanding schedule.
After more than thirty years of daily meditation and a mindful lifestyle, my mind easily opened to the natural feast for the senses around me. The steady rushing and trickling of the water over the rocky and uneven creek bottom, the numbing coolness of the water and rock against my skin, the fresh greenness in the air with the faint scent of spring flowers all embraced me.
My mind did not remain with my senses, however. Its awareness soon went deeper and wider, and I could sense the spirit and soul of the earth that underlies and animates its form. As I did, my own spirit and soul felt more alive and I merged with that of the earth. I rejoiced as the boundaries between myself and nature shimmered into nothing.
And then I became nothing. As my consciousness descended even deeper and wider, I dropped down to the origin, the center of all, where nothingness is everything. I was beyond the compilation of cells and experiences and ideas known as Ilchi Lee. I became consciousness itself—the ultimate awareness and source of creation. I could see everything in that nothingness; it was in harmony and balance. From that perspective, everything was without flaw.
At the same time, Mother Earth, Mago, called to me, and I felt the usual urgency. In that ongoing moment of fundamental peace, I could still feel the mission that had been burning in my heart for years, and I knew once again that everyone needed to bring their awareness to zero point, to nothingness, and become the creative observer that could view the universe with clarity and balance. Only with this creative observer consciousness could the citizens of the earth adopt a lifestyle that expressed the absolute and essential values that exist at zero point when all that is ephemeral is stripped away. Only with this consciousness could all of us work together to imagine the creative solutions for changing the systems we operate under to be in alignment with these values. Only with this consciousness could we all live with love, oneness, and peace.
The towering red rocks looked ever more majestic when I opened my eyes. I got up and began my work again.
3 Comments. Leave new
There is really nothing like being attuned to one’s inner self. Once you get down there; it sharpens your senses and suddenly you are beyond the outline of your body, beyond what the eyes can see, beyond what the ears can hear. And words are incapable of describing that experience. SSN (Ilchi Lee) has given the experience a real concrete image… Thank you.
Thank you for this step by step sharing. Your experience helps me to see a way to nothingness thru nature. I will keep this so I can travel there with you again and again.HSP
How nature and your words can bring us to our souls. Thank you.