“What is this a picture of?” asks the teacher.

“A bird?” says the student.

“It is a picture of the sky” replies the teacher.

* * * * *

What is Enlightenment?

It is the (most often) slow realization of something we always knew about ourselves, but didn’t fully and consciously realize that we knew it . . . even though it is always there, in the background.

Our attention and our sense of who we are is focused on the object, the Figure: The physical form of our bodies, the things we own, the things we see and sense and touch around us. The thoughts that stream through our head. The stories our brains effortlessly weave 24/7 to make meaning of our world — and much of the time, to pad our small self’s sense of permanence. The accomplishments, workshops, lectures, fun times, goals for the future.

We believe the form, the things, the mind's movement, the doing is who we are.

But sometimes, when we are very still (perhaps when we have chosen to be in one spot in a wild place, alone for three days with the wind, the ant, the rock and the raven; perhaps with a longing in our soul to know who we truly are) — we become aware of a Great Spaciousness, the Ground.

Can you sit, right now, and feel the space inside yourself? That spaciousness is actually you, your true self. Can you practice BEING that space, just for moments, now and again, whenever you remember?

Practice this and see what happens.