Fundamentals
Beyond the Superficial, Connecting with Essence
The majority of humanity is absorbed by appearances — how things look, appear, or seem.
In this absorption, 'what is' is not seen clearly. Things seem to exist as separate, clearly defined objects. A tree appears as a tree. A person appears as a person. A world appears as a world made up of distinct parts moving independently from one another.
This way of seeing allows communication, navigation, and practical functioning. But, when appearances are believed to be true or accurate, a sense of separation or being disconnected arises.
When a tree is looked at more closely, the sense of it as a clearly bounded object begins to dissolve. It appears to begin at the roots and end at the tips of the leaves, yet neither boundary can be found in direct experience. The roots extend into soil that is continuously shaped by water, minerals, fungi, and countless forms of life. The leaves exchange gases with the atmosphere. Light, rain, and air are not external to its existence but part of its ongoing functioning.
What is called a tree cannot be separated from what surrounds it. No point of division can be located where the tree ends and the rest of life begins. The idea of a boundary functions as a concept, but it is not found in direct experience.
In this seeing, what appears as a single object reveals itself as life interacting with life. There is no doubt that this is love. This is what is meant here by essence. It is what is recognised when conceptual boundaries and assumptions of separation are not taken as reality.
In everyday experience, man's primary focus on appearances is evident in communication — what is expressed rarely reflects what is present. This is not limited to communication between people. Environments and events are often experienced through interpretation that does not fully reflect their immediate nature or quality.
Connecting with essence includes seeing through this layer of appearance. It is the recognition of what is actually present, beyond how it is described or interpreted. Essence, in this sense, is the 'isness' of what is here, prior to interpretation.
This is what is meant throughout this site by 'connecting with what is'. It is a shift in attention from appearance to essence, from knowing about to knowing, from content to context, from stories to experience, from separation to connection.
