I AM

Anything that I want to achieve knowing, or realizing, or anything I am going to do in my life, is already in me. Sometimes it's right in your face, and you don't know it, or perhaps your just not ready for it. Sometimes I like to make myself think that I am onto something, or that im headed in some way I haven't been before. But can't I just say that about my entire life? I started out as a human who knew nothing of anything. Whenever I heard the engine of a car passing by outside the hospital, I didn't need to associate that sound with car. When I was outside, and I saw the bird, there was no need to label that object as bird. It just was. I was breathing, blinking, seeing, feeling, smelling, tasting. Did I have the need to question it? No, I simply was. Was there any need to label anything? No, it all just was. Ever since the day I was born, since my life was conceived, I have been picking up information and many things my entire life. Can you say when I was 5 that I was more "enlightened" than when I was 1? Yes. You can say the same about each day that follows the next. But was there a need to put a label on your state of being when you were just born, when you just were? No. Is there a need to put a label on your state of being now, no. The only thing you do by referring to yourself as "enlightened" for example, is set yourself up to compare to something that you once were. Something that has dawned on me is that I have always had complete control on anything that has ever happened to me. I have control of every thought, every feeling, every single thing that happens to me. Yes, I have had many influences who have contributed to my character and the way I have turned out to be. But can't you say I chose those influences? I chose what to listen to and what not to listen to. Can you say that I am just a combination of every person I have ever met? No, but I can say that every encounter I have had has ultimately shaped some way of how I am in each and every moment. Yet, is how I am, who I am? No. How am I? How can you possibly answer that question without putting a label on me? So who am I? All that I can say is that I simply am. Theres no reason to really put a label on anything. Do I feel a need to name my hamster? No… he just is, and I know that. Is there a reason to name my plant in my front yard or put a label on it? No. It just is, and I know that. You can say that about anything. I have a friend named Matt. So is mine. Big deal, we know that each other just are.

I have gotten the sense that everything in the world already is mine. I am appalled at the fact that our society encourages placing "ownership" on pieces of earth. It's everyone's earth, everything's earth. We don't trip out when we see a squirrel in "our yard", but when a person is in our yard we make the biggest deal in the world. We all only are and everything only is. To say that this acre of land that surrounds my house is "mine", I am labeling land. I am labeling this earth. Its absolutely disgusting. If my family goes bankrupt and this land is now possessed by the bank, I still own it. Where man goes wrong is by becoming attached to that piece of land.

This is what leads to war. Its absolutely absurd to become attached to anything. What must be understood is that you own your universe! I am not to become attached to any feeling I have once had, or any relationship I have once had, or any experience I have had in my life, or any person I loved who has now died. I owned them all. Can I become upset over losing my car I had some great memories with? No, I own those memories. Being upset stems from becoming attached. Can I be upset that my grandmother is now deceased? No, I own the memories I had with her. Even though she is gone now, is she out of this story that I call life? No, she will very much be in it till the very end. So maybe when I die, my story will end. Does that mean my story never existed? No.

Again, you own your universe. Are you attached to your kidney? No, because you own it. If it is taken out of my body, should I all of the sudden be attached to it? No. I still own it. It is a misconception that just because it's out of your skin, it's not yours anymore. Your skin is just an organ, Nothing more. Your body is just as much a part of your universe as that tree in front of your yard is. It is all your universe. Is your body you? Well, its just as much you as that tree in your front yard, or that deer on the other side of the world, or that star 500 billion miles away. If you own that kidney ( inside of you, and outside of you), you own that star billions of miles away. Is that star you? No, but you own it. Is that kidney, or your face for that matter you? No, but you own it. Are your memories, your characteristics, your thoughts you? No, but you own them. If your thoughts and characteristics aren't you, than what is you? I am me. Well, who is me? Lets rephrase that. Who am i? Well, aren't we back to where we started? Who am i?

I am.

What can I say about my kidney? It is

That bird flying by? It is

That star billions of miles away? It is.

That's all you can say about anything. There is no need to compare things? Why compare now to how things used to be? That stems from attachment, that stems from labeling things. The only thing I can say is that I am, and I am now, in this moment. I own how I used to be and how things used to be. That's enough for me.