04 Mar The Way Of The Way 253

The universe is a circle that’s divided into two parts whose percentages of the whole change over time. One part is our self, the other part is the universe. For much of our time, the self is the bigger part; so big, we barely notice the universe part. However, when our body dies and the self it carries disappears, the universe is all of the circle.

Our self becomes much of the circle because it gets much of our attention. It does so by manipulating us into thinking that everyone else’s priority is their self and, if we don’t like others prioritize our self, others will view us as odd, shun us and we will be alone; others might even destroy us. Afraid, we pay much attention to our self. Our self then grows until we no longer see the universe.

However, if we give the universe our attention, it will grow and grow until we will barely notice our self. It is then we realize we are one with the universe, our true identity.

Social, religious, professional, national and personal identities, as well as our karma, are the hallmarks of self. These identities capture our attention. However, we can free ourselves from our selves by simply sitting quietly and gazing at the night sky, the eternally-changing and never-ending universe, until it overwhelms our selves. Then, we are at peace beyond words as we realize our true identity.

As the night sky is now nearly invisible in populated areas and much of our attention is taken by our connecting with others which in turn reinforces our self identities, meditation is another path to experiencing the divine universe, realizing our true identity. In meditation, we focus on the space between breaths; the space of nothingness from where every-thing comes and before time begins.