The Field of Formless Potential from Steven Kaufman's blog

Science is like a magician

who has pulled a rabbit out of a hat,

but whose audience then wants to know

what the magician can pull out of the rabbit.

 

So science reaches into the rabbit

and pulls out some cells.

 

But then, still not satisfied with the show,

the audience wants to know

what science can pull out of the cells,

and so science reaches into the cells

and pulls out some molecules,

followed by some atoms

and then some electrons.

 

Of course the audience then wants to know

what science can pull out of the electrons,

and so science reaches into the electrons,

and to the surprise of both

the magician and the audience

there is nothing there,

no physical object there,

where the electrons appear to be,

only mind-like forms

that have the potential

to become the physical objects

we refer to as electrons.

 

The magician knows not

what he has found,

but if he were to see

what was actually happening

what he would see

is that he has reached so far

into the hat

that he went completely through it,

and without knowing it

has come back around

and is now trying to grasp

what he does not recognize

as his own mind.

 

And at a deeper level

it could also be said

that what we are trying to grasp

where mental form dissolves

into formless potentiality

is our own formless Consciousness

that we do not recognize

as our Self. 

 

As we dig down

from the level of physical forms,

from the physical stratum,

into the next level of reality,

we enter the mind stratum,

where we encounter

non-physical forms,

mental forms,

thoughts and ideas,

that have the potential

to become physical forms.

 

And as we dig still deeper,

from the level of mental forms,

from the mental stratum,

into the next level of reality,

we encounter That which,

although it has no form Itself,

does have the potential,

through Self-relation,

to become a mental form,

to become an idea,

which idea is then apprehended

by the still formless Self.

 

The physical forms

are apprehended by

the still formless Self

that thinks it is a body,

and the mental forms

are apprehended by

the still formless Self

that thinks it is a mind.

 

But neither body nor mind

is what the Self ultimately is.

 

Body and mind

are just vehicles,

just forms of the Self

the formless Self uses

to apprehend other forms of Itself

that arise like swirls

within the formless Ocean

of its ever formless Self. 

 

And so it is that That

which tries to apprehend

what seems to be there

is eventually found to be

not different from

or other than

what actually is there,

once what seems to be there

as physical and mental form

has been completely untangled

into the Formless Potentiality

that is actually there.

 

We are like a Thread

that looks outward into space

and inward into mind

and sees many objects,

many forms,

that appear to be different

and other than

what we are.

 

And we want to know

what these forms are made of,

and so we begin to break them apart

to unravel them.

 

And as we break them apart,

as we unravel them,

we eventually find

that all they are

is a single Thread

that has become tangled

upon Itself.

 

And so what was once

seen as other

is now seen as Self,

because the single Thread that appears

when the forms are untangled

cannot be separated from

the Thread that looks outward

and inward

and sees many forms

that no longer appear

to be different

or other

than what It Is.

 

A single Thread,

a single Being,

a single Presence,

tangled upon Itself

in so many ways,

and so appearing

as this and that,

and so appearing

as many forms,

and so appearing

as other.

 

This Thread goes by many names,

none of which are It directly,

because the names are always forms

whereas the Thread Itself is always formless.

 

One name It goes by is Consciousness,

another is Presence,

and still another name

we could use to point toward It

is the field of Formless Potential.

 

And so That which sees the objects,

That which knows the forms,

That which apprehends the forms,

is not different from

or other than

what we find

when the objects and forms

are untangled to the point

where they cease to be objects,

cease to be forms,

and become only the potential

to appear as an object,

to appear as a form.

 

And so That which knows the objects,

That which apprehends the forms,

is not different from

or other than

the field of Formless Potential

out of which

all objects and forms

arise.

 

And so ultimately,

the field of Formless Potential

is not different from

or other than

the field of Consciousness

that knows, sees, and apprehends

the objects and forms

that arise within Itself,

and are ultimately composed of Itself,

as It has become entangled within Itself

as a result of Flowing

in relation to Itself.

 

The One appearing as many,

the One apprehending Itself as many

but always remaining

a single formless Thread,

whole and unbroken,

indivisible from Itself.