At the junction of spirituality and science, we are yet to find words for a dimension which is truly formless. Yet we reside in and out of that dimension moment by moment.
It is not surprising that empirical science has not uncovered the formless, as it depends on all that can be perceived in the material world, and stretched only into some calculations based on absence or the space between what can be seen. In a way, the absolute formless is taken for granted in the blind-spot of the scientific endeavour.
Yet in spirituality, we find many claims of absolutes that are actually forms. We are infinite love. We are eternal consciousness in creation. We are pure awareness. These are all perspectives (places to sit and manifest), they are not absolutes.
Take consciousness as an example. How often we hear that we are eternal, creative consciousness and that consciousness is the end-point of who we are. While consciousness is without doubt a major player in the world of form, is it truly absolute? Inquire a little:
- How can we become more conscious or less conscious?
- Where are we when we are still alive yet unconscious?
- What is happening when we fall into the unconscious depths of sleep (on a regular basis)?
- What happens to consciousness in coma – beyond the classic near death experience – that is, when people are simply ‘gone’ sometimes for years and then are back?
What is form?
So let’s look into the world of form to understand its basic building blocks.
1.Form must be defined as a living equation of time and space. Everything that has a beginning and an end is a form. As such, form is transient
2. Form must have dimensions, a space. As such, everything that has a limitation in space or that is growing or changing size is a form.
3.All that appears to be separate is a form.
4.All that can be perceived by us, either through consciousness or awareness is a form. Why? Because it is separated in time and space from that which is the source of perception.
Emptiness and the Imperceivable
When we allow that there is a difference between consciousness and awareness – between waking state of mind or spirit, and the felt perception of dreams, atmospheres and vibrations, them we must begin to see perception itself as a form.
It gets more challenging. Take the often cited absolutes of peace and love. Out of the depths of the imperceivable, unattached dimension of existence, a first emanation is peace. Yet this peace is perceived through our awareness – through the felt perception of something deeper. It is a form. The same is true of love, which is a separate felt perception from peace. Love and peace are forms, just as consciousness and awareness are perceptive forms.
It is possible to perceive without form? The answer would tell us whether at source we are some thing or no thing or beyond the polarity of both.
If all this sounds abstract, drop the mind. This space of non-form is so all pervasive, so under-the nose, so charged with untroubled potentiality that we could miss it. It is normal and allowing it is sublime. It’s imprint is everywhere reverberating as a function of allowance.
The way is not far. In fact, the way disappears.
