The Basics Continued- By William Samuel

Transcribed excerpt from audio recording title

Woodsong #12 The Basics (continued)

By William Samuel

Woodsong #12

Let me talk about identity just a moment. Identity, who we are, what we are…Identity, I-identical. The search for truth, in essence, is a search for the real identity, the genuine identity. Ultimately, the search for that genuine identity is a search for God because we find out that God is the only identity on the scene.

Let's come back home to right here, right now which inevitably, includes a me-sense, the me who is listening to a tape recording, or the me who is talking into a microphone in the process of making a tape recording. The me-sense, what is the me-sense identity? The me-sense identity is the one we've lugged around with us from the beginning. The me-sense identity is the one that never knows what to do. The me-sense is the one that does too much or doesn't do enough, that eats too much or doesn't eat enough, that exercises too much or doesn't exercise enough, that says the right thing or the wrong thing, that makes the right investment or the wrong investment, that stands up when it should sit down and sits down when it should stand up. The me-sense identity is the one that's a few days and full of trouble.

Well, what about this me-sense?

Well, one thing we know about the me-sense is that it is, it seems, wrapped up in a body that has two feet and two hands and a head and eyes and ears and all that sort of thing. The me-sense is contained within a body that goes by a certain name: Bill, Rachel, Mary, John, Jesus. The me-sense seems to be limited in time and space, it always occupies a point in time and space. The me-sense always says: "I am here and you are over there". The me-sense is bound by time. It says I was born on such and such a date, I will probably live so many years. I am at present so many years old and the me-sense says: "My well-being hinges on how well this body feels, how well it is attired and how many dollars it's got in the bank. The me-sense is a few days and full of trouble. It never has enough dollars, it never has enough happiness, it never has enough friends. If it has dollars, they're lost, if it has friends, they're fickle. If it does have time on its hands it doesn't know what to do with it and if it doesn't have time on its hands it wishes it did. The me-sense is always concerned about the body-sense and how I feel. The me-sense looks in the mirror and says, my, my my, I'm getting old. The me-sense says "oh my, another wrinkle, another gray hair!" The me-sense says: "Oh, how time is flying, here the holidays are on us again."

Well, what about this me-sense? The me-sense says: "This life that is mine is made up primarily of consciousness, awareness. I am aware", the me-sense says: "I am aware, at the moment, of listening to a tape on a tape recorder. I am aware at the moment, of making a tape. I am aware, at the moment, of sitting in my study here, listening to the buzz of yon refrigerator, hoping that the furnace doesn't turn on and drown out the sound, hoping that the dogs won't bark outside again and mess up another tape." The me-sense says, I am aware of people, places and things. The me-sense says, "I am aware of a body in time and space." This is what identity is to the me-sense, a body in time and space that is so many years old, that has had this experience or that one.

Well, now what alternative have we for identity? As we began here with the me-sense, one thing we have to be absolutely positive about is that Awareness is. Aha…there goes the furnace, it just turned on…

We were talking about the me-sense which isn't much to talk about, but let's define what the genuine identity is right here at the moment. The me-sense says, "I am aware" because if the me-sense couldn't say, "I am aware", the me-sense wouldn't exist at all because Awareness is absolutely essential for life. As a matter of fact, the me-sense says awareness and life are synonymous terms. I am aware, I am alive. This living is awareness going on and it all belongs to me, as the words of the song go, it all belongs to me. And who is the me? To the me-sense, me is the one who owns this awareness that is aware right here, right now, listening to these words.

Now, when the answer to identity has been found by what we call the lights of the world, the prime movers, the founders of the great religions, the mystics, when identity has been discovered, lo and behold, a strange thing happens. Awareness is retained and the me-sense that owns awareness is seen for the idiocy and the nothingness it is. Let me say that again because, folks, as I sit here and talk to you now, I have no papers before me to read, I have no notes to work from, this comes from the Heart I Am. When identity is discovered, awareness is retained. The me-sense is let go right here, right now. Awareness listens to the words on this tape recorder. Awareness is, Awareness sees, Awareness feels. All the seeing that has ever taken place has taken place within this Awareness right here. All the hearing that has ever taken place or ever will take place takes place right here within this Awareness. We can't get outside this Awareness to make certain that any hearing takes place anywhere else or that any scene takes place anywhere else or that any feeling takes place anywhere else.

So, Awareness then is basic but, as I say, the me-sense is let go. The me-sense, the one that says, 'this is my awareness', who is this one that says "this is my awareness", who is it? Is it the body? We say, well, yes, yes, of course, it's this body-awareness belongs to this body. But has that view of life accomplished anything? It seems to have brought the world to the brink of absolute destruction. It seems to have been searching for happiness for the 10,000 years past but having now none it grows old and weary and aches and says, "my time is short". The me-sense that is a few days and full of trouble has been disparaged by all the lights of the world. We've been told to let it go, to put it off. So, the me who says, 'this is my awareness' is just a concept. Who says it belongs to the body because the body is included within awareness. The only place one is conscious of a body is within awareness. Without awareness there would be no consciousness of the body. Where do we see the fingers and the toes, where do we see the face in the mirror? Where do we see the protruding belt line or the sagging bust line but within awareness? Awareness is the primary and that which it includes are its qualities and attributes.

Awareness is the primary and that which it includes are its qualities and attributes. So the me-sense then is a fiction, a fraud from the beginning, and we can, this moment, right here, even now, as we listen to the tape machine making strange clicks in the background, we can, even right here, let go the me-sense. And what does it leave? It leaves awareness on the scene. We retain awareness and let go the me-sense.

I have a letter here that seems applicable at this moment. The gentleman writes, he says: "Dear Mr. Samuel, I enjoy your philosophy." And he goes on to say but he would like to have a very practical answer. He says, please be practical, tell me exactly how this awareness business is applicable to me and how it relates to my daily affairs. Tell me how it should feel to me. Then he asks this question that I would like to answer for everyone. "Am I supposed to feel the same when I'm working as when I study and meditate?" Well, let me address that. Am I supposed to feel the same when I'm working as when I study and meditate?

Now, listen gently, please just listen gently with the heart. When one takes hold of awareness to be his identity, that is, as we understand that awareness itself is identity and that we are not the possessor of awareness, that we are awareness itself. Now, if we do this we begin, and I must say that it's a slow beginning but it's a consistent, persistent beginning that continues. We begin to experience a practical and tangible and very obvious absence of anxiety, of fear, of the old human consternation and apprehension and especially, there is a lessening of human desire, that is a desire for anything other than a knowledge of the truth itself. This feeling of equanimity remains, I guess, in this-and I don't know what word to use except motiveless-this is the tang that the oriental has given it but awareness remains in this motiveless state for just a time…for just a time…and then it slowly blossoms into quite a new dimension that has an entire new sense of sensations that I don't know how to describe it except to call it peace-my peace. I can in no way describe this peace. I've tried. I don't think anyone can describe it but I can tell you how we go about our daily affairs with it. Our daily affairs seem to have a new vigor within it. We find ourselves with new insights. We find ourselves filled with new ideas continually coming and they're not ideas that just benefit us as an individual but they are ideas from which the whole world can benefit. (continues--)

This is a small part transcribed from William Samuel's audio tape Woodsong #12

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