Conscious and Unconscious Movement from Steven Kaufman's blog

The time arrives.

A costume must be chosen.

And so we are born

into Form.

 

And as we live

we Flow into

and through

Form.

 

The wedding of the Infinite

and the Finite

 

But the Finite is just the Infinite

Flowing in relation to Itself

and so taking on a Form,

as swirling water takes on

the form of a whirlpool.

 

And as we Flow through Form,

Flow through our Self as Form,

lesser forms arise

where Form meets Form,

like a line that arises

where the tips of two fingers meet.

 

These lesser forms

are what we call

experience.

 

These lesser forms

are what we call

reality.

 

So many forms,

so many experiences,

so much reality.

 

And then we who only Flow,

we who are only Movement,

ourselves having no form,

mistake ourselves

for these lesser forms,

after which these lesser forms

are all that appears to be.

 

That is Unconsciousness.

 

Consciousness

not conscious of Itself

as Consciousness,

not conscious of Itself

as Formlessness,

not conscious of Itself

as Movement,

but conscious of itself instead

as a lesser form,

conscious of itself instead

as a boundary that is only created

by the Movement

of the Formlessness

that is conscious of all lesser forms.

 

In this way

there is Consciousness

in Unconsciousness,

it is just hidden

by the lesser forms

that Consciousness

mistakes for itself.

 

It is as if one draped themself

in a sheet for Halloween

and then thought themself

to actually be a ghost.

 

One is still there under the sheet

no matter how much one believes

that they are now a ghost.

 

In the same way,

Consciousness is still there

beneath the lesser forms

that It has mistaken

for itself.

 

And Consciousness is also still there

beyond the lesser forms

that It has mistaken

for itself.

 

As long as Consciousness

mistakes itself for these lesser forms

it remains hidden from Itself,

both inside and outside the forms

it mistakenly knows itself to be.

 

Hidden from Itself,

inside and out,

the costume becomes a cage.

 

But Consciousness that has caged Itself

within the lesser forms

it has Itself created,

still Flows,

still Moves.

 

But now it Flows and Moves

to serve a master

that is only a shadow of Itself,

to serve a master

that its own Flow,

its own Movement,

its own relation to Itself,

has created.

 

That is unconscious Movement.

 

It is the way of unconscious Consciousness,

the way of Consciousness that knows itself as form

to oppose some forms

and to cling to others

and in so doing

to create suffering.

 

But when unconscious Consciousness

realizes that form is not what it is,

then the form that was,

only a moment ago,

a cage, a wall, an impassable barrier,

becomes transparent, becomes beautiful,

as the Consciousness both beneath and beyond the form

reappears to Consciousness

as Itself.

 

That is the Unconscious becoming Conscious.

 

Consciousness waking from the dream

of form-identification.

Formlessness becoming conscious of Itself

as it Is,

as Formlessness,

after having been conscious of Itself

as form.

 

No longer serving the shadow-master of form,

the unconscious and reactive Movements

of attachment and aversion,

pushing away unwanted forms,

clinging to wanted forms,

have no basis and so cease

of their own accord,

without effort.

 

It is not the way of conscious Consciousness

to oppose or cling

to the lesser forms

that arise as experience

within Itself.

 

It is the way of conscious Consciousness

to simply be aware of Itself

and of the lesser forms

that arise within Itself

and to allow both to be

as they are,

Flowing and Moving then

according to that.

 

That is conscious Movement.

That is wu wei.

 

Action without action,

doing without doing.

 

Movement and Flow,

not for the sake of opposing or acquiring

some lesser form,

but Movement for the sake of Movement,

Flow for the sake of Flow.

 

That is why

when one tries to actively get rid of one's form-identity

it only becomes stronger,

because that is not conscious Movement,

that is not wu wei.

 

And if it is not conscious Movement,

then it is unconscious Movement.

And if it is unconscious Movement

then it is Movement that is grounded in,

and so reinforcing of,

the form-identity.

 

Let the ego be

and it will fade of its own accord,

like a costume that was once worn

to all the parties

when form was king,

but now has little use

now that it has been revealed

that the king was wearing

a false crown.