Darryl Bailey - Essence revisited: slipping past the shadows of illusion

Essence, Copyright 2003 - Darryl Bailey

Revised edition, Essence Revisited, first published April 2011

Copyright 2011, 2012 - Darryl Bailey & Non-Duality Press

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author.

Editor: Sandra Stuart

Layout: Link Phillips, Julian Noyce & John Gustard

www.non-dualitypress.org

E-book ISBN: 978-1-908664-19-8

Paperback ISBN: 978-0-9566432-6-1

In 2003, I self-published the book Essence with the help of two friends, Sandra Stuart and Link Phillips, acting as editor and layout designer. Essence Revisited is a refinement of that first offering. Much of the original text is retained; the main points are still here, in simpler fashion; some elements are gone for the sake of clarity, and new considerations have arisen; but it still carries the flavour of those many summer hours that the three of us gathered in Sandras gazebo, excited by lifes dance and the possibility of presenting it on a page.

Darryl Bailey
September 2010

For those who are drawn to it.

Introduction

The ideas offered here are not the only possible views of existence.

If you relate to them,

wonderful;

if not,

wonderful.

Question and Answer: Part I

Q: You describe the human race as being perfect as it is, as perfect as any other manifestation of nature. You also say were not responsible for who we are or what we do. This is very different from other teachings, such as Buddhism, that promote practices for self-restraint, self-knowledge, self-improvement, and so on.

DB: It seems so, at first. Students of spiritual teachings often believe those teachings are about perfecting themselves through great effort. They do various practices in the hope of turning themselves into something called an enlightened being.

They assume an enlightened being is someone who never experiences unpleasant emotions, like confusion, anger, sorrow, jealousy, fear, depression, and so on.

The students are hoping to escape these difficulties and attempt to make themselves calm and contented all the time. Theyre looking for some kind of understanding and skill that will give them control over the unpleasant aspects of life.

I meet them after theyve been doing their self-development practices for many years and theyre wondering why those practices havent worked, why they dont feel perfected, and why they still experience unpleasant emotions.

Its because the so-called enlightenment that these traditions offer has nothing to do with self-improvement or control.

You can practice observing your thoughts and emotions, analyzing them, restraining them, and attempting to overcome them as much as you want, but theres a basic delusion in that situation that never gets addressed and that delusion is what these teachings are ultimately about.

All the great spiritual teachings ultimately point to a freedom that has nothing to do with self-improvement or control.

Q: And that freedom is?

DB: The realization that life isnt our doing; were a movement of nature. Everything, just as it is in any moment, is the already complete and pure expression of existence; its never been a person accomplishing anything.

Q: Could you elaborate on that?

DB: Yes. If we examine life, we can observe that everything is changing. Even the most stable looking thing in existence is undergoing some change in each moment.

This is easy to see in things that change quickly, such as thoughts, moods, and emotions, but its not so immediately obvious in things that change slowly, such as walls, furniture, and mountains. However, if we take the time to seriously consider it, we can acknowledge the fact that everything is changing.

If it isnt maintained, this house were sitting in will eventually dry up, turn to dust, and blow away. Nobody has the impression that it will stay brand-new for hundreds of years and then grow old overnight. Instead, there is the sense that its ageing slowly and that its changing right now, in subtle ways.

If we look at trees that have fallen in a forest, its easy to observe that theyre decomposing. Theyre slowly vanishing, turning to powder, and those bits of powder will eventually become so small theyll seem to disappear. The form of a tree is actually a movement that unfolds from a seed, grows to maturity, and eventually fades away.

Its the same with everything in existence. The Himalayan mountains are growing one inch every year, while other mountain ranges are grinding down and will eventually be flat land. There once was an ocean in this place where were sitting, but its not here now, and what is is changing in its own ways.

The planet earth began as hot gases that became molten lava and then solid rock, and this rock will move through its various appearances until it eventually disappears. Astronomers watch entire galaxies blipping out of existence in the far reaches of the universe.

If we explore life, with its plants growing, creatures ageing, rivers flowing, cities transforming, climates fluctuating, continents shifting, and so on, we find constant movement. If we look to our own being, we find the same happening: breath coming and going, heart beating, thoughts flowing, moods shifting, perceptions altering, sounds dancing, twinges, pains, pulsations, vibrations, and so on.

All of existence is a moving, vibrant event.

It doesnt matter what it is an atom, a thought, a sound, a situation, a body, a mental state, a plant, a storm, a mountain, or a galaxy everything that we know of is changing, either quickly or slowly. Inward and outward, big or small, there is only this shift and flux. If this is fully acknowledged, it may be realized that this is all that actually exists.

No object or thing is ever truly formed anywhere. Nothing is ever established or defined. No thing ever comes to stay, to exist, to be.

What we usually consider to be a collection of things, the many things of the universe, is more accurately pointed to as a great spirit, since this reflects the fact that it is a vital, flowing event.

In some spiritual traditions its referred to as an unformed presence, or simply un-form, since constant change is the ongoing absence of any particular arrangement or shape.

This constant flow isnt some imaginary situation: its all that is ever experienced. Its everything we are and everything around us. Inward and outward, there is only an unformed liveliness.

Some call it energy, quantum energy, or dark energy; some call it pure consciousness or pure awareness; some call it Mind, with a capital m; some refer to it as the ever-shifting ocean of existence; and some simply give it labels like God, Tao, or Atman.

Obviously, a happening or presence that always changes cant be described as anything in particular. Its an ever-shifting dynamic. Completely acknowledging this vital event brings a major shift in the sense of living.

If existence is seen as a collection of things, there is the hope of finding and holding some thing that wont change. Theres also the belief that existence can be described and understood. But this perspective brings a great deal of unhappiness, because it constantly refuses the dance that life is.

We want life to be something in particular something pleasant, something definable, something stable and secure a particular way of being. But existence isnt anything in particular. There is only an ever-shifting event, the absence of any intrinsic form.