The Natural State

In the natural state, the frequency of reality has reached such immac­ulate clarity and openness that it can no longer be differentiated from the absence of experience. It is so fundamental to who we are and to what reality is, it has nothing to contrast with. The natural state is neither an experience nor an experiencer, but our true nature in absolute unity with the true nature of reality.

levels of attainment in the natural state

Any state of awakening we reach should eventually mature into its own dimension of the natural state. In our evolution towards the complete natural state, we move through the natural states of awareness, being, and heart, until we reach the natural state of the soul. The natural state of awareness is spacious, lucent and free of crystallized energy. The natural state of being has the characteristics of pure rest, non-fluctuation of energy, absolute transparency and unbroken absorption in the now. The natural state of the heart has the attributes of warm and tender expansiveness, deep and delicate sensitivity, and an unconditional sense of love and unity with cre­ation. The natural state of the soul is a holistic and boundless expe­rience of oneself that results from the integration of the inner state, the awakening of me and the surrender of the mind. In the natural state of the soul, one abides in a dimension beyond inner and outer, in complete union with the pure subjectivity contained in the space of everythingness.

Our further evolution into the natural state takes us into the state beyond polarities, the transcendental state, and samadhi. In these states, the sense of individuality and the construct of the mind gradually merge with the inner realm and the soul. The complete natural state can be defined as the absence of personal self within the presence of universal transparency. 

natural absorption

For a state to be natural it must be linked with absorption in the vertical reality. Unless we are absorbed in the inner state, we cannot experience the necessary absence through which we can transcend self-referral. Natural absorption allows us to rest beyond our self-consciousness in unity with the dimension of pure subjectivity.

In the natural state, the soul is unconditionally immersed in the inner plane of being and non-being at all times. Her absorption is equally present during meditation and daily activities — beyond doing and non-doing, thinking and non-thinking, having the eyes open or closed. Natural absorption is the true goal of all mature paths, for it reveals the depth of reality without negating our ordi­nary existence on earth.

non-abidance

The ultimate reality has no support and no dwelling place. It abides upon everything and nothing, it abides upon itself. Non-abidance is the nature of reality — the formless, dimensionless foundation of the natural state. The natural state is one with the unoriginated con­sciousness of no support.

Non-abidance is the groundless ground of the now, the living depth of the enlightened reality. In non-abidance, one transcends the limiting need to have a relationship with existence. In truth, one can never ‘relate’ to existence as a whole. To experience the whole, one must get out of the way and dissolve into absence. In this absence, all is. In the state of separation, one dwells upon the external or internal reality through thought, experience or perception. In the state of one­ness, one dwells upon nothing. To realize non-abidance is to merge with the natural state of existence.

Although the inner state is the gateway to reality, one cannot reach non-abidance through the inner state alone, for in the very act of dwelling in it there is an inherent duality in the relationship between one’s individuality and the inner realm. To dwell in any state, no matter how profound, is to objectify it as external, even if this externality points inwards.

the stateless state

The natural state is unlike any ordinary state, for there is no one who dwells upon it. No one experiences the natural state, as the experi­encer is no longer distinct from the state itself ­— he has merged with the inner realm. Because the natural state is not external to the one who knows it, there is no movement of energy and no direction of absorption. Natural absorption is everywhere and nowhere at the same time. It is not within or without, up or down, here or there. In natural absorption, no one is absorbed into nowhere. The natural state just is. This stateless state is neither the soul nor the beyond, but their undifferentiated unity — the dimensionless abode of the one existence — pure reality as it is.

nothing special

When we arrive at the destination of our inner quest, we realize that what we have reached is actually totally ordinary in its essence. The ego believes that behind the idea of enlightenment something absolutely extraordinary awaits. Bored with its own ordinariness and suffering a permanent inferiority complex, the idea of enlight­enment holds a seductive charm, since it promises to transform its banal existence into a fairy tale of bliss and ecstasy. The ego looks to the path of self-realization as a way to gain spiritual power and col­lect all sorts of mystical experiences, but all of these projections are ultimately hollow. The ego cannot see the truth of the path unless it surrenders to it.

The natural state is nothing special; it is divinely ordinary and perfect in its simplicity. The ability to recognize its tremendous value comes from the surrender of the mind and the awakening of the deeper sensitivity of the soul. The soul does not seek anything special. She longs for truth, not intensity of experience. She seeks liberation from all that is false so that she can return to her natural state of peace, freedom and purity.

In its insensitivity, the ego is unable to even register the absence of the natural state until it gets so stifled by its own falseness that it is finally forced to recognize the lack of any internal space in which it can simply be. The natural state is like the air we breathe or the open space in which we live. No one considers space to be extraordinary, yet it contains all living things and is the very precondition of life. Only in the claustrophobic suffocation we experience when space is taken away from us are we able to see its priceless value. The natural state represents the basic goodness of existence, which is so primor­dial that we can identify it only when we lose or regain it.

If we do experience something ‘special’, it is not our natural state. As the mind cannot see beyond reality’s surface, it only gets excited by shallow experiences that have no existential value. By sur­rendering to the natural state, we transcend our craving for experi­ences. In the emptiness of just being we merge with the transparency of reality and become free from seeking at last.

the natural state of oneness

The natural state of being is non-abidance. The natural state of con­sciousness is not-knowing. The natural state of the heart is kindness. The natural state of the mind is egolessness. The natural state of one­ness is all-that-is, the one taste of existence. Dwelling in the natural state, the soul can finally rest in her original unity with the whole. The natural state of universal oneness is an ocean of pure bliss, the all-containing space of truth and love.