Lesson 13 – Formlessness



Hey guys, welcome back!

Today’s lesson will focus on and emphasize the innate quality of Awareness that I call Formlessness. This quality may seem very much like the qualities of Emptiness and Spaciousness, and in a way it is; but this one is especially subtle.

This quality is especially, shall I say, profound when you get it. When you understand this way of seeing Awareness, it can eliminate the seeking you may still have for Self-Realization. It may loosen up your seeking tension and allow you to very effortlessly notice that Awareness is always already the case.

Try to follow me to the best of your ability. Awareness is formless. This means it does not have a form of its own. This means that it is not any particular feeling. So many of us are searching for a feeling, which is great. In the Empowerment Teaching, we learn all about how to master our feeling state so the Universe can respond to our vibrational attitude in a particular, powerful way. Then we can start to see reflections of who we truly are made manifest.

This is gorgeous, and this is why we are here. This is why we are here! We are here to play consciously. However, for the purpose of realizing the changelessness and the truth of Awareness, the priority lies in realizing, in this lesson, the Formlessness of Awareness itself, and therefore, to relax the seeking, or the neediness, to feel a certain way.

We can’t freely choose how we wish to feel in any given moment if we are very biased and contracted about certain feelings; if we reject them while trying to attain other feelings. It is all well and good to have desires for certain feelings. This is completely natural, and like I said in the Empowerment Teaching, life is all about this, and it is beautiful.

It is very important to realize that a desire for a certain feeling should not come from a space of need. It should not come from a space of, “I need to feel a certain way,” or “I need to look a certain way,” or “Awareness or Self-Realization or Self-Empowerment needs to look and feel a certain way.” It is not helpful to start searching for a state of being to then say, “Oh, wait a second! Who I truly am, what I truly am, the full extent of what I am is encapsulated by this feeling. It is contained in this state of being; it is defined by this particular thought or way of seeing or way of being.”

To reach an ultimate state of Awareness—of I-I Freedom, of I-I Emptiness, Spaciousness, Formlessness, Unaffectedness, Timelessness—it is very, very helpful to take those 2 to 5 seconds of complete mental clarity and Spaciousness. You can do this right now and recognize, as always, that Awareness is always already the case. I am not even saying, “Awareness is here right now,” because that makes it sound like it is a particular feeling right here, right now, that you can pinpoint and identify. It is not anything, you see. It is already the case. It is already the truth of Existence.

Awareness Does Not Have a Form of Its Own

Awareness is always already the case, precisely because it does not have a form of its own.

If Awareness had a form of its own, it would come and go and come and go. It would be utterly unable to perceive the comings and goings of appearances. So, by the very nature of your ability to perceive the coming and going of an appearance, of a feeling, of a thought, of a state of being, this implies that the Awareness you are is more subtle—more profound, more ultimate, more free—than the feeling, or the appearance, or the state of being, or the experience.

You start to realize that Awareness is always already here precisely because it is absolutely formless. That which is absolutely formless can be the true container for all other experiences that have a form of their own. Awareness does not, and never will, have a form of its own. If it had a form, it would be in a state of identification with what it perceives; it would be identified as “I am this.” It would start to generate the feeling of, “Oh, I am this. I am this body, I am this mind, I am this personality, I am this feeling, I am this misery, I am this happiness, I am this, I am that, I am my circumstances…” and so on.

Awareness can become identified with a particular form, with a particular pinpointed focus of Consciousness, with a particular perception or appearance, but it will only be an identification; it will not be true. Awareness will still be the formless, empty, free observer of Being itself, identified with a particular form. It is still, and always will be, absolutely, utterly without a form of its own.

Does it make sense when I say, “Awareness does not have a form of its own?” It very literally means that you will not be able to find Awareness if you are trying to pinpoint it by saying, “Oh, it looks like this; it feels like that.” That would mean it has a form of its own, when it does not. Precisely because it does not have a form of its own, it can be the space for all forms. That which holds the space for all forms is Awareness, and therefore, Awareness itself is absolutely formless. It has to be absolutely without a form of its own.

In a sense, we could say that its only form is the quality of being aware. That is its only form; it doesn’t have a form of its own in any other way. It doesn’t have a form of its own in terms of feelings or perceptions or appearances. It is not limited to any defined forms.

It is very crucial—very liberating, most of all—to realize that Awareness is always already here, precisely because it doesn’t have a form. Everything that comes into your experience has form. Awareness does not come into your experience—it already existed before anything came into your experience, you see. You can recognize this, especially when you relax your mind completely for 2 to 5 seconds. As you progress through this Course, you will start to see that relaxing the mind for 2 to 5 seconds becomes less and less necessary. More and more you will start to be able to instantly recognize the Clarity, the Spaciousness, the Freedom, the Emptiness, the Timelessness, the Formlessness, and the always-already-here-ness of effortless, free, true Awareness.

Homework

The homework for this lesson is to sit down for 10 to 15 minutes, at least two more times before you open the next lesson, and simply meditate on how Awareness is formless. Recognize that you cannot find Awareness anywhere. You cannot really feel it anywhere, because the feeling would simply be another appearance appearing in the absolute, utter, subtle, ultimately beautiful, gracious Formlessness of Awareness.

Notice that all appearances that come up during this meditation are appearances appearing in, and due to, the Formlessness of the Awareness that is always already watching every experience. Become more profoundly convinced of the Formlessness and of the always-already-here-ness of formless Awareness.

Rest effortlessly and enjoy resting effortlessly in this Formlessness of I-I. It is absolutely formless; it doesn’t have a form, so it is always here. It has to be here because it doesn’t have a form; the only thing that comes and goes is form.

Enjoy.

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