THE ONLY THING THAT LASTS

We have a hard time here on earth. Despite the endless and ever-changing wonder of creation, the boundless beauty of nature, and the infinite expansiveness of our experiences, we always end up ageing, falling ill and dying, if not meeting our end suddenly and without warning.

Everything is empty, temporary, ever-changing except for one thing: spirit. Eternal, without beginning or end, without colour, without smell, without texture, without any form, expression or outline, without any way of apprehending or defining it, the nature of mind has only one aspect: consciousness.

Yet we go through our whole lives without experiencing it, except for a few indefinable moments of bliss that quickly fade away. For the true nature of consciousness, the true nature of mind, is indefinable. The mind cannot grasp it. It is beyond thought and all concepts. All holy beings, realized beings, those who attain liberation, enlightenment, the end of all attachment and free themselves from everything, even death, have all made the same statement: it has always been there!

It is so simple that those who attain it simply relax. Ultimate relaxation comes when we attain this great perfection of living constantly in consciousness, in our true nature.

We are consciousness and life. Yet we have chased after a thousand and one illusions, constantly seeking outside ourselves what is hidden deep within us. And in this incessant pursuit, we have sown and sown again and again the causes of our wanderings and turpitudes, going round and round in circles endlessly, chasing the tail that constantly eludes us, since it belongs to us and by running after it, we are constantly moving away from it.

That is why we must put spiritual practice first in our lives. That is why, in our indigenous ceremonies, the first and most important ceremony is that of the rising sun. It is the only thing we take with us into death: our journey towards the light. Good deeds create good situations, but they burn out and then disappear, leaving room for moments of unconsciousness when we have committed bad deeds, hurtful words and unhealthy thoughts, which will also create situations that are not always pleasant! But spiritual practice always remains with us, truly leading us to our fundamental nature, that which is eternal within us. Thus, the only thing we bring with us when we leave this life, the only thing that is truly good, that will always remain and that will one day lead us to the ultimate light, the fundamental clarity of the nature of mind, is our commitment to spiritual practice.

We must pray, do appropriate exercises and meditate. We must learn to pray, to meditate, to perform sacred dances, we must beg our ancestors to help us find and serve true masters, those who perpetuate ancient traditions and show unwavering devotion in their desire to help others. For nothing can surpass the experience given by those who show us the path, the beauty way. For in the end, the path that leads to the heart is the one that leads us to being, to spirit, to that consciousness which is one and infinite at the same time. It cannot be defined, but a true master can transmit it in many ways.

This search for the path is called spiritual practice. When we reach the other shore, the shore of our own consciousness, which is united with all awakened consciousnesses, then we will no longer need the practice. It is the path, the way to an ultimate destination that is beyond death. So, time is pressing to get started and to put our will first on this path, our commitment to daily spiritual practice.

An expression that the Tibetans use for this made me laugh and makes me smile every time I think about it. To convey in one sentence the urgency of committing ourselves to the practise, they say: meditate as if your hair was on fire!