Presence
“In most cases there is an assumption that our experience is divided into two essential parts: an inside part – the inside self, and an outside part – the object, the other or the world. So this belief that there is the inside self that knows the outside world is the presumption that underlies almost all of our thoughts, feelings, activities and relationships.
But if we look at either of these two apparent parts of experience, we don’t find that experience is divided into two essential ingredients. The term presence is really to indicate this. We can explore either side, either the inside self or the outside world. If we explore the outside world, before we know anything about the world, before we know what it is, we know that it is. There is something. It has existence. Even if we don’t know what it is. In fact we don’t know what it is, but it is.
Likewise, before we know anything about ourself, we know that I am. That is beyond doubt. It is self-evident. We may not know what I am, but we know that I am.
So if we explore what the world is, and what I am, we don’t find two separate ingredients there. We find that the is-ness of the world and the am-ness of myself are not two things – advaita – not two things. They are one and the same.
So what can we call – this? Presence is that word that I use to indicate this absolute lack of two things – lack of an inside self and an outside world. But it’s not an inert presence. It’s an aware presence that is shared by the apparent outside world and the apparently inside self. So presence points towards the essential reality of our experience." Rupert Spira
Rupert Spira - 'The Seamless Intimacy Of Experience' - Interview by Renate McNay
