the action of the universal life force
by bruce magnotti
The Fifth Element
The universal life force animates all living beings, all sentient life. According to the Tao Te Ching this force proceeds from the void, the empty space between the subatomic particles that compose all matter. This space or void is called the Tao in the Chinese tradition, the West has no suitable name for it. Gravity comes close, it has been called "the field" as well. This void has also been called consciousness by some that claim that every object and being that exists in the material world is a manifestation of that consciousness.
Our life and affairs revolve around the particles in our world, the space and energy that comprise our universe are often ignored. We do not often think of the silence that enables the tones, tempo, and harmony of music, nor the physical space that enables material objects to exist. We also do not consider the energy that is moving the particles of our physical reality through that space at tremendous speeds.
We have almost totally ignored the fifth element, the energy of sentience, or the flow of life. The purpose of this site is to explore it and the reasons we may have ignored these elements in the past. When the elements of nature are considered in poetry, prose, even in science, these elements are not considered along with fire, water, earth, and air.
Topics:
Meditation
Contrary to popular notions meditation has nothing to do with a practice nor can meditation be learned by a technique. Meditation is a form of thought where the mind is free of perception, free of the barrage of judgment, preference, and commentary. Meditation is a character of thought that enables pure receptivity of external stimuli, experience, without the interpretations.
Meditation is the natural state of thought when the mind and body are in concert. It is only when the mind splits from the body in cultural conditioning, becomes a separate entity, and needs the ceaseless chatter to assure its existence, that thought becomes incessant. Then the organism seeks to quiet this mind through techniques of meditation. If the organism identifies itself with this pseudo, conditioned identity, meditation is all but impossible.
Meditation can be restored simply when the mind and body are re-connected and the organism is whole again.
Reality
Reality is not what we see, hear, taste, smell, feel, move in, nor orient through. What our sensory and mental systems perceive is often what they are programmed or conditioned to experience. Prior experience and expectations play a huge role in that perception. Reality is only in the present moment, while experience and knowledge are in the past, and expectations are in the future.
Reality is also a factor of the nature of our sensory systems, our "processing" speed, the chemical and electrical nature of the neuronal paths, and the end process of the brain. We do not see things "out there" but rather on a screen in our mind, for example.
Mirrors of Life and Relationship
Life and relationship present us with mirrors that enable us to see who and what we really are. When you see another sentient being you are actually viewing yourself. How can that be? You are not as separate from other beings as it appears to your perception. The "other" sentient being you perceive is an expression of the same life force that you are, you both are, in many ways, a single expression, not multiple expressions. As you can really only perceive yourself in relationship to other things and beings, the other sentient being mirrors your inner self to you in any intimate relationship.
What we think of most of the time is ourselves, and that fact tends to be forgotten in our interactions. The Buddhists encourage the understanding of emptiness, nothing means anything until we give it meaning. Even if one is screaming at another, the other could interpret that behavior any number of ways. What we tend to do, rather than having intent compassion for the person screaming, is to take the expression personally then return the screaming.
Unconditional Love
The ulterior motives that are behind many of our actions tend to isolate us from our loved ones, indeed from the fulfillment of life in the present moment. The conditions we place on our relationships and the subtle forms of coercion that we use in acquisitiveness create stress and strain in those relationships. The result is a lack of true intimacy and the freedom of expression toward and enjoyment of our intellectual, business, social, and sexual relationships.
Present Moment Awareness
Many of us spend much energy escaping from the present moment. Goals, ideals, beliefs, faith, and intention all dissipate energy that is available in this present moment. The dispersion of energy into the future as anticipation or into the past as regret, remorse, resentments, indeed much of our knowledge, experience, and memory, leaves less and less energy to respond to life in the present moment.
Whenever we want things to be different than they are, our energy is being wasted in thoughts and reactions based on ideals and expectations rather than present realities. This is a subtle form of escape that pervades much of our life and responses.
Non Dualistic Thought
We tend to interpret any situation that arises in our life as either desirable or undesirable. This interpretation is quite arbitrary and often disregards the historic referents that gave rise to that situation. The tendency to judge desirability of any situation also is void of any knowledge of future outcomes surrounding the event we judge.
Our lives become a quest for the desirable and the avoidance of the undesirable. Then we live in a limbo between the excellent substance of change and evolution that is the reality of life itself.