Human and Being

Why it's important to appreciate both planes of existence

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Let’s start with the obvious: you and I are human beings.

Those words point to two different aspects of our existence - both of which need appreciating if we are to experience life to its fullest.

On the human level, we are all individual one-offs. There has never been anyone like you or I before, and there never will be again. Everyone’s body and mind is different to varying degrees - and our thoughts, feelings, relationships and experiences are entirely unique to us.

Most people therefore feel separate from everyone and everything around them. We all age and eventually die, and in the meantime we largely try and do what is best for ‘me’, often disregarding the impact this outlook has on the whole. The corrosive effects of this focus on ‘me’ and ‘my tribe’ can be seen simply by reading the news.

But the majority of people overlook the being side of our existence. What does this mean? There is part of us that is aware of every element of our experience: our thoughts, feelings, perceptions, sensations, relationships and so on. It can also be described as the feeling of being, or simply the recognition that we exist; a fact we can be sure about without having to think about it.

It is so easy to miss being aware of being aware, as the vast majority of people do, because it is not staring us in the face. It is in fact so close that we can’t help but overlook it. It is like looking for your eye with your eye - in other words, what is doing the looking is also what you are looking for. But once you do recognise it, it becomes increasingly blindingly obvious.

Photo by Yasser Mutwakil ياسر متوكل on Unsplash

We are all in touch with this sense of aware presence or being that isn’t touched by experience, whether we realise it or not. Speak to someone of advancing years, and while they may complain about aches and pains and a slowing mind, they typically also note that a part of them feels exactly the same now as it did decades ago. This intuition is highly revealing, because on the being level, we are always in exactly the same condition - open, aware, spacious - and so is everyone else.

On this level, we are not isolated and independent. There is literally no proof that the Being that animates our human form is separate and distinct. The aware presence that is conscious of my experience is that same as the aware presence that knows your experience. Its characteristics are the same: it simply is, and it is aware.

Recognising this fact is hugely liberating. It is what many people refer to as ‘awakening’. There is part of us that remains eternally untouched by experience, and it is the one ever present element of experience. It is a place of peace, safety and connection.

Our human side passes through time. Our thoughts recreate the past and imagine the future. But our being is timeless. It is not present - it is presence.

And so being in touch with both aspects of our existence adds a richness that is otherwise missing. We are having a human experience, with all its ups and downs. Most of us would like to leave things a little better off than when we found them. We recognise that everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. We are all somewhat dysfunctional - and are all destined for the same ending sooner or later.

But on the being side, we are untouched by experience and are connected with everyone and everything. The result is a sense that behind appearances, all is well. We also inevitably become more loving, because we recognise that at the deepest level we are all the same. If I hurt you, I am simultaneously hurting myself.

Embodying this recognition on the human level as best we can adds a richness that is frequently otherwise lacking. The result? A rising sense of quiet background happiness that is beyond thought and independent of whatever happens to be taking place around us.