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Unquenchable
There are many paths
winding down rocky shorelines,
leading to a vast lake
called Awareness.
Quiet coves weave along its banks,
touching the calm and soothing waters
of understanding.
I have met a lot of people who have shared that they have something burning within them. “I don’t know what it is, but I am just constantly driven in my spiritual path. As I’ve grown older I’ve gotten more perspective on it, but I still don’t understand what it is. I don’t understand why it is there, and why it is so strong.”
This powerful drive is not limited to spiritual pursuits. We can feel the same burning, the same obsession, in art, music, poetry and more. So what is this thing?
At the far end of Lake Awareness is a waterfall. It channels eternity, and cascades downward in a silver stream, dropping a million miles to Earth. Far below, the power of that immense sliver of awareness thunders into our bodies, a pulsating presence, steady and relentless.
There are a thousand things we are aware of in our normal, everyday lives, things we take for granted. But on the other side of everyday awareness lies eternal awareness. In this realm we are much less familiar with the territory. We are so unfamiliar with the eternal dimensions that many of us wander around in the dark, bumping into walls saying, who am I, why am I here, is there a light switch, a door?
In normal life we effortlessly engage in routines that establish a facile approach to living. In the eternal realms, however, we are ignorant and clumsy hikers, stumbling and scrambling to find a foothold, scurrying around blindly, looking for some way to become oriented. Which way is true north in eternity, we ask, clawing in the darkness.
It’s an inner north. We don’t associate that steady inner presence with what it truly is - an umbilical, forever tethering us to forever. It is the fire of awareness, burning her eternal, unquenchable flame. Do you feel it?
10 Responses to “Unquenchable”
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August 19th, 2008 at 3:01 am
“At the far end of Lake Awareness is a waterfall. It channels eternity, and cascades downward in a silver stream, dropping a million miles to Earth. Far below, the power of that immense sliver of awareness thunders into our bodies, a pulsating presence, steady and relentless.”
I’m blown away. This is one of the most beautiful and accurate things I’ve read on the Web, ever. To answer your question, though, “Do you feel it?” is hard. It used to be, “hell, YES!” Now it’s more like, “hmmm, yeah.” Things have been very different since I sensed “the void” two years ago.
But there is that something, when the mud settles and the water clears.
August 21st, 2008 at 9:04 pm
Can’t f***ing escape it.
Unquenchable is a good word for it.
August 21st, 2008 at 9:05 pm
Oh yes… glad you’re back.
August 25th, 2008 at 8:40 am
I have been feeling it all my life, and it has at times been frustrating to me because I don’t understand it, and things I don’t understand are frustrating to me. It has not been something I have mistakenly expected to be calm and blissful and full of light and joy. Instead it has been something fiery and demanding, at times depressing, and definitely consuming.
There are times when I feel less pushed to “understand” and just relax and accept that it is there, those are the times of relaxation for just letting it be without forming it into some sort of mental understanding…but in all honesty there are times I can feel really weary from it. Unquenchable? I’d say so
August 25th, 2008 at 7:03 pm
I really like hearing your perspectives on this hard-to-describe feeling and drive. I think we need to talk more about this. Talking about it will, hopefully, help others become more vocal themselves, and maybe get better clarity of what this thing they feel is all about.
August 28th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
I think everyone feels it. However many people refuse to consciously acknowledge the feeling.
August 31st, 2008 at 5:54 pm
I agree, Rob.
September 9th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
How beautiful is this description: “an umbilical, forever tethering us to forever. It is the fire of awareness, burning her eternal, unquenchable flame. Do you feel it?”
I feel it tremendously, day after day, as I grow older. The umbilical cord of pure love is pulling me towards the Divine Eternity. There’s no going back, it’s like an unseen force I’m tethered to. So beautiful!
September 11th, 2008 at 7:23 pm
Diane - Thank you for finding a way to put your deep feelings about this into words.
November 17th, 2008 at 12:12 am
Peace Mark,
Long time no see!
I can see that your writing is as beautiful as ever. Allah!
I was in the presence of a teacher recently who expressed something very similar when he said, in a very calm and beautiful way, ‘God is the context of everything’. There is something inside leading us on to where (and how) we should be - isn’t that a cause for wonder, joy and hope?
Abdur Rahman