Looking at everything from a distance

Filed under Notes on 31. May 2007 »

Our primordial identification with form, and as such a very common obstacle in spiritual practice, is identification with the body. The idea that I am this body and you are that body, both completely separate from everything else. Then on top of that come the labels we attach to the body, a physical description, judgment in comparison with other bodies, and of course our name, which, lumped together along with an endlessly complicated string of more concepts and labels, makes up who we think of as ourselves.

Breaking this identification with the body is difficult — simple in and of itself, but difficult because of the momentum of the idea that “this body is who I am.” It is the very foundation of our conditioning, deep seated and stubborn, and most people would probably find it absurd to even question it. “Of course this is who you are, just look in a mirror,” they might say.

The illusion starts to fade away when your level of awareness rises, and the more you go into stillness the deeper the recognition that who you are is beyond the body. So it’s not really necessary to address the issue on this level, as simply becoming still quietly resolves all doubts and form-based conflict, but using inquiry and pointers can be helpful and speed up the process.

The other day I came across a quote by Nisargadatta Maharaj, from the book I Am That, which is a useful pointer towards realizing who you are beyond the body. He was talking about how you are not anything that takes form, whether it be a thought, an experience, the body, etc., and that who you are is the witness to all of these. Everything happens and you are simply there to witness it, “look[ing] at everything as from a distance.”

Looking at everything from a distance is a way of detaching from the body and the world of form. Stepping back, observing how everything happens, how the body moves, how thoughts come and go. The idea of distance brings a bit of space between you and the world, between you and form, and points to a way of experiencing the world of form without being bound to it. Wearing the world like a loose garment, as St. Francis put it.

The idea of looking at everything from a distance is a sort of mantra: an idea that you return to over and over again, every time causing a tiny little shift in perception. Eventually, all this nudging at the foundations of the conditioning will cause it to crumble. And when you create space between you and the world of form, between you and the body for example, you will find yourself increasingly able to simply relax into it, abiding in peace within and looking out at the world from a distance.