Just as waves come and go in the ocean, thought waves come and go in the ocean of awareness, the knowing presence that is always with us, always is us.

Seekers of the truth often complain of being bothered by their thoughts and are taught to meditate, to learn how to watch thoughts come and go. But then we end up being watchers, the witness. But the witness is just another wave, another thought. Perhaps it can be considered a special wave, an important thought, but it is still just a passing activity like a wave on the ocean, a fleeting appearance in awareness.

Just as waves, be they tsunamis or ripples, do not affect the ocean in any way except as temporary variations on its surface, thoughts, tormenting or seductive, do not affect awareness in any way except as a temporary variation in its unlimited spaciousness. The ocean has no interest or need in controlling the waves and awareness has no interest or need in controlling the mind.

At first we think it is I, the personal self that observes and interacts with the world. But this I turns out to be just that, a thought, a temporary attribute of a body-mind limited by the concepts of time and space – it is born, lives, and dies. So we look a little deeper and discover that there is another I, the witness, which observes and knows all appearances of the body, mind, and world. But as we look even closer we recognize that the witness is also just a thought, an idea, known by something that exists before it.

What is this something that exists before all else?

The waves, the thoughts, the ocean, and the witness all arise in and are known by this something that is obviously present and aware before, during, and after all appearances, all experiences, come and go.

Something that can’t be found, yet is everywhere. Something that is nameless, but from which all names arise. Something that is ever-present and aware. We all know what this is, this aware presence that is always with us. We sense it in the depths of our being. We are it in the depths of our being.

The truth of our experience is that all objects, all appearances, come and go in the limitless ocean of the aware presence that is at the core of our being, yet just as the ocean is unaffected by the activity of the waves, this aware presence remains untouched, untarnished, and unchanged by anything that occurs within its limitless presence.

Take this moment to relax into this understanding and live with, within, and as the freedom and spontaneity that is your, our, true nature.