Lost and Found

For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light. - Psalm 36:9

Across all the great spiritual traditions there are a variety of metaphors and parables that illustrate how one can discover the truth of their own being. Jesus, of course, shared this insight through many parables that alluded to how one might discover the inner kingdom. The implications of each followed the theme of an already existent reality that is perceivable if seen rightly. He cautioned about judging by appearances as surface observation cannot comprehend the truth of us that lies deep in us. The Prodigal Son’s search for happiness in the world's offerings left him ignorant and suffering, and it was only when he turned around, did he find what his soul was yearning for.

In Advaita Vedanta, there are a number of such stories that can lead one “from the unreal to the real.” One of the most well-known, that aims to break down the “body/mind” identification, is “The Tenth Man” parable.

In this story, ten friends are traveling together, when they come upon a river they must cross. After they had crossed, it occurred to them to make sure all of them had successfully crossed and nobody had been lost. So one of the men proceeded to count the men. He counted the men he could see "1,2, 3,4,5,6,7,8,9." He could not find the 10th man and frantically announced, "One of us has been lost in the river." The others began counting as well and each one could only count 9. They were filled with sorrow for they were convinced that the 10th man had been lost. While lamenting their loss, a sage happened by and asked them what was wrong. They told him that only 9 of them could be accounted for and they had lost the 10th man. The sage counted the men and found there were indeed 10 of them and understood the problem. He said to them, "Do not lament, the 10th man is here, you have not lost him." The men were hopeful that this could be true but they could not verify this and asked "Where is this 10th man among us?" And the sage told one of them to count again. As he counted the 9th man, he exclaimed there are only 9 of us. But the sage took hold of the man’s finger and turned it around to point back to the man that was counting, and said, “10,” You are the 10th man. Thou art that!” And the man was elated and proclaimed to the rest, “The 10th man is found! We have not lost one of our friends! Each man followed suit, counting the 9 men around him, and turning his finger around to point to himself to “find” the 10th man.

We may laugh at this story, maybe even scoff at the obvious error the men made in simply overlooking themselves in accounting for the 10th man. But such overlooking is the heart of the error we make when we fail to discover the presence of our true being. The dualistic nature of our mind defaults to an object-referred perspective. That is, we readily see objects both gross (material) and subtle (thoughts, feelings, sensations). What eludes our observation is that of us which witnesses all that arises in perception. Such a witnessing capacity is the foundation of what we call reality, and it is purely subjective, and therefore not observable in the familiar objective sense. Being the source of reality, this aware presence is prior to each and every observation we make. Like the screen, it is essential to the movie (life’s appearances). The movie depends on the screen for its reality. The screen does not depend on the movie for its reality. Turn off the movie and the screen remains. The screen is invulnerable to whatever movie is displayed on it. Love story or war drama it matters not to the neutrality of the screen.

This witness capacity is the Light of Consciousness itself. It’s what we truly are. Jesus proclaimed, “I am the Light of the World, and you are the light of the world.” The problem is we fail to find this light when we look “out” for it. It is not an object to be found. It is the looking itself. As St. Francis is quoted as, “What’s looking is what you’re looking for.” As the seer, we can’t be seen. Just as the sun cannot illuminate itself nor can we pinpoint consciousness. The sun illuminates itself by being itself. So we realize our Self by being our Self. We falsely identify with our bodies and minds since they are changeful, and yet our sense of being and awareness remains constant and ever-present. We are aware of these bodies, minds, and the world, so what must we be? All these are phenomena that arise in the light of awareness. When we begin to look inward at the nature of our experience, we come to realize that the one ever-present constant is awareness itself. And we notice that no matter the content of experience, this awareness is unaffected by all that it is aware of. Could this then be what all the sages talk about as our true spiritual nature? The Kingdom of Heaven within? The Atman? The Christ? Buddha nature? The peace that surpasses understanding? If so ( and to yours truly it is becoming increasingly apparent), then we can call off the spiritual search that promises we will someday become enlightened, and bend the finger of our attention back upon our own inner recognition and behold the ever-present knowing that reveals the Truth that sets us free, here and now.

Namaste

Rev. Larry