Absolute & Relative

The Absolute

I find that I can arrive at the absolute in two distinct - although related - ways.

[Transdual Reason]

One is through (transdual) reason. Existence so obviously is beyond and includes any and all polarities, including nonexistence and existence, formless and form, timelessness and time, spacelessness and space, spirit and matter, creator and creation, mind and body, culture and nature, awakening and delusion, and so on. It has room for and allows it all to be and unfold.

From this view, everything is complete. Nothing is missing. It all just is.

And I see that any attempt to put it into words is insufficient. It is just an added layer of abstractions, an attempt to describe that which goes beyond all polarities through that which has as its purpose to discern and thus split the world.

[Direct Experience]

The other is through direct experience, either of this view (still with a subtle separation) or as it (absence of any separations].

This seems to typically happen through a certain process.

First, I find myself as the Witness, formless awareness, the Unborn, my Original Face. I find a completely impartial view, distinct from the world of phenomena.

Then, I realize that the world of form arises within myself as formless awareness. This human self and anything else happens within me. It all comes and goes on its own, as guests. It is all a fluid seamless whole - beyond separations and always new, different, fresh.

Finally, I deepen into a sense of intimacy with the world of form until the sense of "I" as the Witness erodes and falls away. Now, there is only what is happening - as it is - with no "I" located anywhere.

And as this deepening occurs, I also deepen into finding myself as Big Mind, that which is beyond and includes all polarities. I find myself as the absolute.

[Transdual Reason & Experience Together]

A direct experience of myself as the absolute obviously makes it easier to find a more transdual reason. And exploring transdual reason helps me clarify, interpret and express what is - in direct experience as the absolute.

The Relative

So if the absolute is so utterly complete, what is then the relative? To say it is an illusion obviously won't do as this itself is an exclusion. It is to make the absolute less than what it is.

The relative is as real as the absolute. It is one way the absolute happens.

The relative is the way the world appears when we are identified as less than the absolute. In most cases, it is how the world appears when I am (exclusively) identified with my human self - or parts of it.

And this is real. It is what is happening. And the suffering that arises from it is real as well. It is as real as anything else.

Absolute & Relative Together

Leaving the relative out from my own experience is to leave out how most living beings experience the world. And it leaves me cold hearted. Including the relative in my own experience opens up my heart for the suffering experienced by all beings.

It is the care and compassion which enlivens the wisdom from the absolute.

The absolute is complete release and freedom, and this release allows me to deepen into engagement, care and compassion. And the engagement and care is the incentive that helps me clarify and become more familiar with myself as the absolute.

Leaving out the absolute means unending confusion, struggle and suffering. Leaving out the relative means a certain cold-heartedness and lack of engagement. In either case, our view and experience of ourselves is incomplete.

With both, there is deepening wisdom & release, and deepening engagement & care.