Being and Being Human

Being and Being Human

I have been led recently to ponder and think upon the nature of being and being human.

The mantra... BE. HERE. NOW ... has always been a bit of a credo of mine, i have often pondered what exactly that means. Initially i thought that it was an existential state of being, and that by stripping away the baggage of ones personal history, and releasing oneself from the hopes and dreams of ones projected future self, one could arrive at a pure state of being, uncluttered by any retrospective, perspectival analysis that accompanies ruminations on a life lived, and simply be free from the mirage of some fantastic projected future self.

This pure state of being, the point at which Buddhists and existential phenomenologist's alike state is the point of liberation, at which one can jump off and experience the pure you, and be totally in the present authentically experiencing the liberation of the true self turns out to be nothing but pure experience. It cannot act in and of itself, it has no will of its own, no hopes or dreams that foster growth, no impetus pushing it ever onwards, no history anchoring it to anything. It ceaselessly remains in the temporal stream, allowing for only the ever changing moment to imprint upon it the reality of its own pointed perspective, and in that moment sheds all memory of the moment that has passed, it is but pure experience.

Yet, without hopes and dreams, without the baggage of ones life, and the historical construct of our existence we are left like flotsam on the surface of a ceaseless river. No will to move on, no climb or descent, no concept of right or wrong, no joy, no pain, nothing in fact that would separate us from nothingness itself except for that pure state of experiential perspective. Like peeling away the layers of an onion to find that at its core nothing remains, except an action-less, pointless, meaningless pointed perspective of pure experience.

Some have said that this is the moment of true liberation. An epiphany of knowing, that all else outside of this pure state is simply an appendage, an accidental happenstance that is not the real you. Yet the accumulation of moments piled one upon another are, at least in part, what define us as unique perspectival instances within the stream of this experiential consciousness. Future projections, images, dreams, desires, drives and constructs, depend upon the accumulation of these moments. The continuity of self is formulated so as to add even further to the appendages, if one can call them that, of the qualities we define as intrinsic manifestations of the self.

So although to experience such a moment may be enlightening, may free one from the design and detritus of reality created and occasioned, is it not in the accumulation of such moments that we become truly human. All our fears, dreams, joys, tears, wishes, hopes, fragility, regrets, triumphs, lived authentically, completely without fetter and brought into that ever changing and ever present moment are what make us human, what gives us our unique flavor, and creates the "us' that we are. For without them, no matter how desperate or despicable they may seem, no matter how dashed and destroyed, disabled and forlorn are those projections or memories, without them we are nothing but experiential flotsam in the stream of some great Temporal river flowing endlessly to some great uncharted sea.

Is that why we are here?....to strip away those things? To shed all those appendages, and reach and stay in some experiential nirvana, where in a moment the ego, superego, all personal history, and the histories of those we have loved and associated with, is annihilated in favour of a state of nothingness from which no action can come?....are we not human?...do we not mean anything?

I think not. For although it may be enlightening to experience the transcendent moment, to stay in such a place is a denial of life itself, a denial of all that makes us human, a denial of all those who we have loved and lived with, all justice and injustice, all hope and every dream, it is an a-morality of being. A dissociation, a disconnection with our humanity.

So let us experience that moment if we must, and i would suggest everyone does, as it will deepen that sense of self and well being, by connecting one to something greater than oneself, and remove the illusion of isolation, but never let us forget who 'we' are....who 'you' truly are....fragile, driven, bio-energetic beings who have the power to project, and forge new destinies in the true light of a truly accepted authentic past...for without that baggage, without that history, without our dreams, or hopes, or fears for the future, we are barely human. So many manifestations of love are not possible without that acceptance. Light merely falls, but is rarely projected without that authentic acceptance. For to stay in that state, seeking to deny the multidimensionality of our projected state, seeking to deny our humanity, we are like eternal black holes into which a constant flow of light and love disappears and is crushed under the weight of its own meaningless nothingness.

Yet with that realization and epiphany brought back into an authentic present moment, in which the entirety of who we are as human beings is merged with the reality of that infinite Epiphany, we can enjoy not only a more truly authentic state of being, in which mutual enlightenment in the moment and the multidimensionality of a fully integrated perspective can project authentically and clearly into the present and future states of being, but also we allow the light and love found in that place, to project through us.

In such a state, the deepest qualities of who we are as human beings can be extended more fully, free from the attachments we may, and possibly would, have impinged upon it had the enlightenment not occurred; but also free to shine forth in its true humanity, a melding of the divine with the true gift of being Human.

So... BE. HERE. NOW... but let us do so in the enlightened knowledge of all that we are, all that we have been, and all that we can become. Not stuck in or attached to those memories, dreams, or desires, but integrated with them, as authentic beings, in the knowledge of the unity of your own humanity, in light of the experience of the epiphany of that transcendental moment. For in such an authentic state, we become truly human.

Be Here Now!

© Richard Michael Parker 2009