We sometimes use the well-known phrase, ‘It is what it is,’ to express resignation, as in, ‘Things may not be going my way but it’s what’s happening, so I just have to deal with it . . . or not.’ Or as a reprimand, as in, ‘Get over it.’ Or to show moving on with a shrug of the shoulders, as in, ‘Oh well.’

To all appearances, all experiences, all objects, subtle and gross, be they thoughts, images, memories, emotions, sensations, or anything that you can taste, touch, see, hear, or smell, be they good, bad, or neutral, we can say, ‘It is what it is,’ and it would be the perfect description.

To discover the source of our essential being, that which knows ‘I am,’ we can say, ‘It is what it isn’t.’

Just as the sky exists prior to the appearance of any clouds, you, the eternal and infinite aware presence, that which knows ‘I am’, precede all thoughts, sensations, and perceptions.

You are not.

Everything else is.

As far as appearances,

Nothing is more or less than it seems.

As far as the source of our essential being,

There is nothing to remember, nothing to forget.

There is just that which knows I Am,

And all that can be said about it is,

It is what it isn’t.