A Doorway to the Openness of Being (5/5)

How often do you mistake knowing something conceptually for actually experiencing it? If I ask you, Do you know what an apple is? perhaps an image of an apple comes to mind. It could be good, bad, organic—different apples for different people. You probably conclude that you know what an apple is. But is your idea of an apple the same as an apple? No. If it were, you could eat your idea. When you create an image of an apple and look at it, you say you know what an apple is. But you can touch a real apple; you perceive it directly. You can taste the apple, and it nourishes you. Direct perceptions connect us to the truth of being. Thoughts do not. Thinking you understand something is not enough. Feeling something, experiencing it directly, is much more powerful. That is embodied knowing. When you feel the space of being and connect with it, thoughts lose their power to define you or your experience, and they no longer dominate you.

Excerpt From
Spontaneous Creativity
Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche

Image: Portal, Seamus Berkeley