[BigJohn]

Originally Posted by Moondance

You knew this. That time on vacation - up on the cliffs overlooking the sea. The sun was luminous. The waves crashed against the rocks below. The air was electric. And it was glorious. You felt totally alive. Gone were the projections of the past. The future was nonexistent. And the construct of separation dissolved as the event of Life unfolded in real-time.

In this scenario the happen-ed self is absent. Only the happen-ing self (the functional self/body-mind) is operative - and this happen-ing self is simultaneous with everything in this present unfolding - right now. The happened self (the history self/future self of our stories and anticipations) has no actual existence in the bloom of the present.

We carry a virtual storehouse of memory, history, narrative around with us. It’s vast and takes up a huge amount of resources - and it’s heavy. We spend much (most) of our time there - recollecting, ruminating or rearranging (in the form of future planning.)

In the instant that we let it go something else suddenly becomes apparent. Something real, immediate, alive, vital… This is the natural state.

You knew this as a small child. It never left - it’s just obscured.

Well said.
I like that state.

I thrive for that moment.

I cherish the thought.