Diamond Heart: Being and the Meaning of Life

by A.H. Almaas

Presence is completeness. When you finally understand what presence is, when you’re completely present, you are complete. There is the valuing of presence: there is the perception of completeness.

When I say valuing presence, I mean being content with being a presence without thinking you’re being present.

When you’re content with anything, you’re not thinking you’re content,

The notion of being content is a concept that the mind creates to explain why the person is not doing something else.

You conceptualize contentment only if you’re not content. If human beings were always content, we’d have no idea or concept called contentment. If it’s always present, you never conceptualize it. You don’t need to separate it out from the rest of experience. Only when it’s absent, can you become aware of it.

When you’re really happy, you’re happy and that’s it. You’re not even thinking or noticing that you are happy. Then at some point you do notice, and most of the time that’s the beginning of something else, of self-evaluating mental activity.

When you’re complete you’re not even interested in completeness. You’re totally unself-conscious; you’re not self-conscious at all.

With great chagrin we recognize that the state of self-realization cannot be sustained. I think many people fear this experience.

Half of the work of self-realization really has to do with the integration of support, not just attaining the state of realization.

In order for realization to become a permanent attainment there needs to be support for realization.

We stay in the dark because the state that arises when the rug is pulled from under us is one of not knowing what to do about it. We expect that the state, condition, realization, or actualization of ourselves that we experience should just continue by itself.

The basic element common to experiences of realization in all the dimensions is a sense of not being concerned about reality, of not being concerned about who you are. There is a sense of certainty about yourself and about your perception of reality. It also manifests as a sense of completeness,

The state of self-realization is better known by its absence than by its presence.

The ego personality deals with the loss of a sense of meaning by creating a sense of meaning.

In the dimension of Essence there are experiences of self-realization in which meaning is based on the presence of the realized state in the present moment, rather than being based on the future.

the aim becomes the present moment, and the present moment is its own significance, is its own preciousness.

From the perspective of the ego, realization or actualization is the goal you have. And you live your life according to goals, aims and ideals. These ideals might even be unconscious.

for the ego those goals or aims give the person a sense of meaning or significance only if their environment and their relationships support them, and let them feel that their goals are important.

People usually choose goals and aims that are idealized by society.

a friend is someone who helps you and supports you in the attainment of your goals. An enemy will be seen as anyone who takes your support away from you, or puts barriers between you and your goal.

On the essential level, a state of self-realization will not continue if there is no support for it. Any state of realization is insecure and vulnerable as long as there is no support for it.

When support for self-realization comes from outside you, it comes from feeling that self-realization is precious, acknowledged and valued. Here, the greatest support comes from your teacher. This is why your teacher is your best friend. Your teacher is someone who not only helps you to attain that reality, but someone who can perceive it in you and knows it is a valuable thing.