On the third Sunday of every month, the Silent Eye hosts a Zoom-based discussion to explore one of the core topics of modern mysticism.

This series of ongoing posts features a summary of each monthly discussion; of which this is the third.

The talks are open to all, and we welcome new visitors to the group – whether you drop in to take a look, or decide to stay and join our work.

There is link at the end of the post to enable you to join one of our discussions.

No-one wants a dry set of ‘minutes’ of such meetings. We’ll tell the story of these special events as informally as possible.

The SE-Exploration talk for Sunday 17th November 2023 was : A ‘present’ for Christmas: a new relationship with the now

We began by welcoming a new member of the group, then continued our investigation of the present, asking what was its content, and who inhabited it?

There was an enthusiastic and rapid convergence on the idea that we could not separate presence – discussed at length in our previous meetings – and the present.

To be in the present means to be conscious with presence; that inner deeply personal connection and clarity that belongs, uniquely to each of us, though being shared as the foundational ‘layer’ and nature of all consciousness.

We went on to question whether any other form of ‘now’ exists? The usual scientific route of finding a ‘practical slice’ of passing time from which to expand the past and consider the future seemed ‘too thin on reality’ in the words of one of the group. We concluded that there is nothing ‘thin’ about Being – the real identity of presence, and a place of inner knowing and certainty.

We delved deeper into the combined ‘now::presence’ and concluded that it was the ‘entire content and nature’ of that theoretical slice of time but far richer, since its nature is Being, and, once we cast off the mindset of subject-object, ‘me and it’, existence becomes that ‘glowing’ and all-pervading knowing.

We examined whether there were any ‘objects’ at all; and proposed that, from the level of Being, rather than Mind, there were not. Existence is a continuity of consciousness in which we are free to travel. Whether we travel as a minded individual or open ourselves to the overall flow (as our new attendee suggested), is our choice … and our birthright.

The group-leader told the Sufi-derived tale of the wise man and the sad river, reproduced below:

A wise man sits down in a familiar spot by the river to rest, but feels there is sadness present. After a while, he locates the sadness in the presence of the river, itself.

“Why are you sad,” he asks his old friend, the river.

“I have developed the consciousness of what I am,” says the river.

The wise man smiles and nods his head, suspecting what is coming.

“I can let myself sense downstream, and there I find a large lake, which is much bigger than I am. Even worse, when I feel what it is like to be there, I hear a great roaring in the distance and am fearful of what that might be!”

The wise man considers his words, carefully.

“And what are you now,” he asks his old friend.

“Why, I am the river!” The reply is instant and without pause.

“And what will you be if you let yourself go downstream?”

The river says, “That’’s the whole point! I do not know what I will become!”

The wise man pauses, looking into the waters of the river for a long time…

“You were never a river,” says the wise man, softly. “You are the flow and substance of what, here, is seen by others as a river.” He listens to the listening of his friend, knowing that the truth is flowing into him.

“When you let go the narrowness of these banks, you can become anything you encounter without fear, for you are the nature of that which forms and shapes them all, yet is none of them…”

The river thinks long and hard, and begins to smile back at his wise friend as he lets go the bank and surrenders to the glorious flow. “Was there, then, any value in my being a river?”

The wise man laughs. “Most certainly. We could never have had this conversation if I did not stop here to rest on your soft banks…”

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It was felt there was much to discuss in this shared subject and will return to it in future talks.

Why not join us for our December zoom meeting? The details and synopsis are below:

The SE-Exploration talk for Sunday 17 December 2023 will be : The Technique of Self-Inquiry. We will also have a group meditation to celebrate the coming Winter Solstice – the birth of the returning light.

Our regular closing text from the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas urges us to Inquire within:

“Knock upon yourself as upon a door and walk upon yourself as a straight road. For if you walk on that path, you cannot go astray; and when you knock on that door, what you open for yourself shall open.

Let the one who seeks not stop seeking until he finds. When he finds, he shall be troubled. When he becomes troubled, he will be amazed, and shall come to transcend all things.”

Gnostic Gospel of Thomas.

At the next meeting we will examine a practical technique whereby we may ‘knock upon ourselves as a door…’

Join us for 90 mins of friendship and amicable sharing of views and experiences … not forgetting fun. It’s Christmas! Bring a glass of your favourite tipple with you…

If you’re not on our contact list and you or a friend would like a Zoom invitation to join us at the next SE-Explore meeting (see above), send an email to rivingtide@gmail.com.

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©Stephen Tanham 2023

Stephen Tanham is a writer-photographer and mystical teacher. He is the founding Director of the Silent Eye, which offers a mentored, journal-based journey from personality to the awakening of realised Self and its world of Being.

http://www.thesilenteye.co.uk and http://www.suningemini.blog