Many people believe
that the body produces consciousness.
When the brain stops,
consciousness disappears.
And so,
they come to believe
that they are nothing more
than this body.
But perhaps
the relationship
is not what it seems.
The body
is neither
the source
nor the container
of consciousness.
It is
one of the forms
in which
manifestation appears.
Through eyes,
seeing appears.
Through ears,
hearing appears.
Through the nervous system,
sensation appears.
And so,
a world appears.
What appears
is not consciousness
as an object.
It appears
as seeing,
hearing,
touch,
thought,
emotion,
and the entire field
of experience.
The body
does not create consciousness.
Nor does consciousness
use the body.
Rather,
body
and world
arise together
as manifestation.
True observation
is not the search
for a higher self.
It is the recognition
that the body,
thoughts,
emotions,
personality,
and even the world itself
are simply
different ways
manifestation appears.
When nothing
that appears
is mistaken
for a separate
and independent self,
formation
begins
to loosen.
The world
still appears.
The body
remains.
Experience
continues
to flow.
There is no one
standing outside
manifestation,
watching it.
There is only
manifestation,
exactly
as it is.
