Holding Water With A Fork

Trying to grasp the truth of life with the mind is like trying to hold water with a fork. But we can be conscious of the ineffable truth of life (in the present moment) by turning our attention to and abiding in and as our own silent center - they are one and the same. 

The Ego

The ego can be likened to the eddies that occur in a river as it flows toward the ocean. Moving water creates turbulence, like the circular patterns of thought and emotions create a vortex of identity.

When we look, we can notice that the ego is not constant. It gets bigger sometimes and smaller sometimes. And there are moments when the ego is not there at all, like in moments of deep meditation or being fully present in nature or when our attention is fully absorbed in any activity. In those moments, there are no thoughts of “me and my story”, just absorption in one’s experience — just being.

One could say then, that the ego is more of a tendency, almost like a behavior. In this sense it’s more like a verb than a noun — ego-ing. Oops! Pardon me, I was ego-ing again!

When the ego is believed to be some entity, whether superior or inferior, thoughts and behaviors get constellated around that core belief and difficulty soon follows.

But the vortexes of water are never separate from the river. Which is to say, our true nature is like the river of life, eddies form and disperse and the water flows to the ocean of infinity.

Still Water

In Greek mythology, the allegory of Narcissus has different versions. The one that most are familiar with has to do with some ego fixation.
But there is another version of the story that is more like the metaphor of still water that is used in Zen and Taoism.
That is; a beautiful youth who rejects the alluring nymph Echo, (who had the habit of chatter and could only repeat what others have said) and turned to the still pool of water. In the clear reflection, saw his-Self (his true nature) and fell in love with what he discovers and was transformed into a flower. 

When we stop giving attention to echoes in the mind, it’s like we stop throwing rocks into a pond, allowing the ripples settle down. In the still water we can see our reflection clearly and when we see ourselves as we truly are, we fall in love.