It is a very simple matter to know intellectually that all of spacetime is one field of matter/energy; that the individual self does not have any existence independent from the One; and that all creatures, matter, and energy are but fleeting manifestations of Being, organized according to Being's "transcendent wisdom." However, to truly know it -- that is, to experience this truth (to "Be Here Now") -- is to know one's real nature, to end the selfish desires which cause one's own and other's suffering, and to experience a peaceful yet indescribably, achingly beautiful sense of spaciousness in the One that Is, here, now, everywhere, and always. The factors which hold each individual back from this path vary from individual to individual, according to the values and fears residing in each mind. Yet the end of the path is the same: an end to desire and suffering, an experience of unbounded love and peace, the merging with the One.

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Jay Michaelson is currently teaching two classes on Jewish meditation, called "Nothing" and "Sitting with God," at the Ivry Prozdor.

More by Jay Michaelson (for a full listing, please visit the archive):

Quality of Life
What my grandmother's suffering teaches
January, 2002

Go as Far as Possible
Taking life beyond the idea of limits
December, 2002

Are we all asleep?
When life seems irresolvably absurd
November, 2002

Top Ten Lessons for New Homosexuals
Tips and advice from my first gay year
October, 2002

The Warm, Impossible, Wall-less Summer World
Summer days, summer nights are gone...
September, 2002

The Ghost and the Machine
Why is it easier to see God in nature than in the city?
August, 2002

Loneliness and Faith
Being at one with being
July, 2002

On Eighth Avenue in New York
New York, full of life, a cure for loneliness.
June, 2002

The Desert and the City and the Mall
If the desert feeds the spirit, and Paris delights the senses, what does McDonald's do?
May, 2002

Cheap Jews try to Save the World
Am I an environmentalist for the same reasons I don't like to spend money?
April, 2002

January 16, 97th & 3rd
Remembering a car accident one year later. Does anything matter?
February, 2002

McDonald's: A Better Opiate for the Masses?
If crass capitalism stops us from killing each other, is it such a bad thing after all?
October, 2001