In the midst of everything that changes, there is one element that does not. It takes on none of the qualities of what is being experienced, and it is present in every experience without exception.
It is the sense of simply being yourself. Everything else is added to it.
This week’s exploration runs from the section break on page 178 through to the end of Chapter 17 on page 181,* following the one element in the mind that leads back to its own origin.
(*The page numbers indicated here each week refer to the original publication of the physical book – they may vary slightly from more recent versions, owing to the publisher’s design modifications.)
The Known and the Unknown
In deep sleep, we experience nothing; in the waking state, we experience the world. As such, sleep stands for whatever is not known, and waking stands for whatever is known.
What is sleep for infinite awareness is waking for the finite mind; what is sleep for the finite mind is waking for infinite awareness.
Awareness is a dimensionless field of potential in which everything is enfolded, but it cannot know that potential directly. To know an object, such as a thought, feeling, sensation or perception, requires a knower who stands apart from what is known. Awareness by itself cannot stand apart from anything. Where would it go? It is the totality.
