that we in our experiential world call being only has being insofar as it exists of, through, and to the absolute being; for "of him, through him, and to him are all things" (Romans 11:36). The absolute being gets its being from itself and is thus the pure reality above being. Gregory of Nyssa (4th century), one of the ancient fathers of Christian mysticism, says:
Nothing at all perceived by the senses or viewed by the intellect has true being except the essence above being, which is the ground of the universe, and upon which all things depend.18
All of our questions regarding the self and being are ultimately about our self-nature. Yet these questions can only be answered if we surpass the realm of distinction and recognize our true self as the self common to all beings. For if the same essence is the heart of selfness of every individual, then there cannot be a separate, self-sufficient individuality. Consequently, a totally separate, self-determining individuality is nothing more than an illusion stemming from the reciprocal identification of body and psyche and their numerous activities and abilities. The illusion of a psuedoself is simply a complex grounded in ignorance that has no exis tence of its own. That is why Meister Eckhart says, "All creatures are nothing in themselves." And Buddhism says, "All things are emptiness [sunyata]."
That all things are "emptiness" does not mean that beings and their perceived world do not exist, but rather that they are only pure phenomena without reality. In other words, they are not nonexistent, but unreal. These two concepts have different basic meanings and should not be used interchangeably. It is, for example, impossible for us to imagine a round triangle, which thus is nonexistent. A mirage, on the other hand, belongs to existent things although it has absolutely no reality, which is to say it is unreal.
The Buddhist view of the emptiness of all phenomena is not nihilistic. Its purpose is to make clear that all things lack basic substantiality. All things are governed by the principle of dependent arising and therefore lack self-nature (svabhava). The term "dependent arising" (pratitya-samutpada) means that there are no final realities that are independent and cannot be traced to something else. Hence, everything we perceive in the world, including our own skandha-conditioned personality, is a relative phenomenon of a transitory nature.
The truth behind all phenomena can only be imparted to us through a dissolution of ourselves, or a depersonification of the personality. To experience the emptiness of all objective phenomena in the universe is simultaneously to awaken to our true self.
As long as we continue to cling to the transitory through our identification with external appearances, we will be unable to experience our true state of unlimited, universal mind. Hence, we seek the eternal in the transitory without recognizing that the original source of all being, as the sole being and foundation of all experience, is present within us at all times. This source of all life finds expression in the divine relevation of the burning bush: "I am that I am" (Exodus 3:14), as imparted to Moses on Mount Horeb.
Divine being, the eternal "I am," shines in the light of pure consciousness The final mystery of all existence is experienced as the "I am" of the absolute self of which we become aware in the depth of our own being. "You will know that 'I am' " says Christ (John 8:28). He also says, "If you do not believe that 'I am,' you will die in your sins" (John 8:24). What this means is that we will die in our separation from the divine ground of being, which is the source of all life. For sin means "separation."
Separation from the source is an estrangement from the true self, in which the ego behaves autonomously because it has forgotten that it comes from this true self. The ego wants to be its own master and to realize itself. However, "ego-realization" is not the same as true self-realization; it is best likened to a self-estrangement that leads to the senselessness and waywardness of a poor, world-bound existence. That is why Augustine (5th century) writes, "How poor he must be, he who is without that without which he cannot be." And Christ says, "Abide in me, and I in you, for without me you can do nothing" (John 15:4-5).
Separation from the divine original source is also a separation from life. It is the original sin that stems from our ignorance of the presence of the divine self at our center. Our liberation from the cycle of birth and death, which is at the same time a release from our attachment to the world, can hence only be achieved by a radical turning inward, by a true "conversion" (metanoia). When we turn within ourselves and in our innermost unbecome ourselves and all things, we will then become what we have sought, aware only of "is"—in itself.
In the search for divine being, the soul disappears from itself. For "no one shall see God without dying" (Exodus 33:20). As paradoxical as it may sound, we can only experience our true self when there is no self left to experience it. Those who relinquish everything will regain everything as the divine truth itself, which all the time lay hidden as the eternal "I am" beneath the phenomena they used to pursue.
"I am" is the eternal divine WORD that says of itself, "Before Abraham was, I am" (John 8:58). It is the truth in everything that is. It is pure being, the original source from which all life flows forth in unending profusion. It is the all in everything, and whoever realizes it experiences all of creation as "I am" and can declare with the seer at the end of the Taittirya Upanishad:
How wonderful! "I am," even before the Gods were. I am the center and the source of immortality. And I shine like the sun.19
The Way to Liberation
THE CONSISTENCY OF THE SPIRITUAL WAY
The eternal divine light shines within us, far beyond all that can be grasped by our senses and abilities.
But what good is this to us when we are not receptive to the divine in our innermost self, thus becoming further entangled in the creeping snarl of our spiritual confusion? Just as filth covering a golden vessel is unable to detract from the vessel's true nature, the covering filth of ignorance is unable to touch the true eternal self lying hidden within.
"Seek, and you will find!" we are told in the Gospel (Matthew 7:7). This search, however, demands far more of us than we are generally willing to give. The search for divine truth is a search in the sense of an all-consuming longing that culminates in radical self-sacrifice to God. The consistency required in following the spiritual way will necessarily lead us away from everything that is viewed by those bound in ignorance as the highest meaning and purpose of their human existence. And thus it is written in the Katha Upanishad:
Fools chase after external pleasures, and fall into the snare of death. But the wise, knowing immortality, seek not the everlasting in the things that pass away.20
Only those who have no more illusions about the meaning and importance of their small ego and its world can fully appreciate this statement; for nothing is important in the presence of death. Such understanding presumes a great awareness of the transitoriness of everything that is worldly and of the suffering that results from this. The greater the awareness is, the more our wish for redemption grows; this wish can become so intense that it leaves no room for any other wish. In the Indian tradition there is a parable about a disciple whose head was held underwater in the Ganges by his master. When the master asked him afterward what he had thought while underwater, the disciple could only muster the words: "Air, air!" The master then explained, "As long as your longing for God is less than your craving for air while underwater just now, you are still far away from God."
Naturally it is clear to me that the consistency demanded by the spiritual way is not at all soothing or comforting. Still, whoever comes to honest terms with the Gospels will not easily be able to make light of the following statements by Jesus:
Strive with all your strength, to enter through the narrow gate! [Luke 13:24].
Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to (eternal) life, and there are few who find it [Matthew 7:14].
Whoever will be my disciple, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me [Mark 8:34].
Follow me, and let the dead bury their dead! [Matthew 8:].
We could cite many other such statements,