Lesson 6 – Infinite Peace Lies in the Absence of Presence

Hey guys! Welcome to Infinite Peace Lies in the Absence of Presence.

In enlightenment teachings, we are usually taught that “peace” is a result of knowing the Presence of this moment. And in a way, this is true. To know the Presence beyond all form—to know that stable, changeless Presence of I-AM, beyond all the changes and things that come and go—offers very real peace.

However, when I first popped the bubble of Presence-Awareness, and the Void (or the Infinite Gap or the Infinite) was opened up to—was intuited, was instinctually realized—the peace that came with that was absolute. Total. Complete. I felt that nothing had ever belonged to me. I felt that nothing that ever happened in all of Creation—but specifically in my life—belonged to me anymore.

Presence is sort of like a “coping mechanism.” It is a form of peace, but it is almost like a coping mechanism for all the things that happen to you—mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. For all the turmoil, for all the things you don’t know anything about, for all the confusion, for all the questions, for all the seeking—Presence is your safe haven. You can return to it and realize that it is always already here. It can liberate you from overly-attaching yourself to the changing winds of your experience.

However, in a sense, Presence is still a way to cope with the realm of experiences and the realm of identity. It can be peaceful for a while, but at some point, you might want to penetrate a little deeper into the infinite mystery of The One and realize that True Peace is gained by completely annihilating the illusion of a self altogether—at least for a moment—by penetrating it.

This is not dismissing the appearance and illusion of a self, but knowing that the Infinite—which you are—is ultimately beyond all experiences. It is beyond your life and everything that ever happened to you. It is beyond everything that you have ever done, everything that will ever happen to you, and everything you will ever do. The game continues—it is not as if it ends—but the sense of self, or the sense of core identity, starts to disappear and you become more transparent. More on that later in this course.

For now, just understand that Presence is peaceful because it is present all the time. But True Peace comes from realizing the absence of Presence, because even the presence of Presence no longer bothers you. In my early days of realizing this, I usually compared it to a fly buzzing around in the room, representing Presence in an ocean of Infinity.

Yes, Presence is peaceful. But when you are ready for more peace—when you are ready to know the Infinite, when you are ready to truly let go—then you might feel that the sense of Beingness, the sense of Presence, becomes a little bit like a burden. This sense of Presence is just hanging around your Consciousness, hanging around in your Awareness. You are not even cultivating it anymore; it’s like, “Oh, I am… yeah. Oh, I am still here; I still exist.”

The sense “I-exist” becomes burdensome at some point for some people—not for everyone, per se; it depends on how relevant it is for you. The relevance is neither good nor bad, neither better nor worse, neither higher nor lower. It is just what is relevant for you to experience.

But for me, the sense of Presence felt very much like a fly buzzing around in my Consciousness all the time, and it just would not stop—until I popped the bubble and realized that, actually, I am beyond Presence-Awareness. That is when the sense of infinite peace came in.

I often use the analogy of plugging your phone into the wall and recharging it while you are not using it to realizing or recognizing Infinity—especially with repeated use after the first realization of it. The first realization is what is most crucial, in a way. Why would you reapply it? In a way, you reapply it to recharge your Consciousness with the ability to “execute applications”—to be aware of experiences, to engage with life, to be excited about what is here.

If you are not aware of yourself as Infinity (as Nothingness, in a way—it is not Nothingness, but let´s use that term), when you are completely oblivious to it, and you are always under the strain of assuming that you are a dense Presence or a dense I-AM that it is never transparent to the Infinite, to whatever is beyond itself, then Presence-Awareness will assert itself as an identity (inevitably in some ways). That is what becomes tiring. That is what becomes exhausting.

We are all trying to get to the initial recognition of Infinity. But once that is established, then what? Then it is always accessible; it is always available. It does not require a lot of practice, it just requires a certain insight. It is slightly different than practicing Presence or practicing Awareness; it does not require nearly as much practice. It is more effortless when it happens, when it is seen, when it is recognized.

There is something that is Nothing—that is infinite, that is indescribable—beyond the bubble of Awareness. There is something that is beyond Is-ness, that is beyond Presence-Awareness. Presence-Awareness is but a speck of dust floating around on an ocean of Infinity.

It all sounds fancy and metaphysical, but it is a very simple, direct, instinctual, experiential / non-experiential realization. This does not mean you have to become the whole universe and then see that this is not who you are. It just means that you realize there is something right here, right now which is beyond the density or the vibration of Presence Awareness—like the Nothingness or the potential that sourced this Awareness. When you realize this, and Presence becomes transparent, then Presence itself leaves you alone. It becomes optional.

Now that is Infinite Peace.

When peace is no longer required, when peace leaves your field of vision, then you are truly peaceful; then you can truly access Infinite Peace. And this is not at the expense of the value and benefit that comes with the peace of Presence-Awareness.

Just realize this. Play around with it. I know this method is not really much of a “method.” It is more like an insight you can contemplate. Use it and have fun with it and enjoy it.

I hope you get to experience the Infinite Peace that is already effortlessly here when you are no longer so focused on experiencing experiences—even if just for 2 to 5 seconds.

Bye.

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