Joseph Campbell said people aren't so much searching for the meaning of life as they are for the experience of being alive. I agree. The feeling of Aliveness comes from two places:
1). The Things, People, Places That Mean You Forget Yourself
The first source of Aliveness is the things you love and the people and places you’re passionate about — the ones you could obsess over. Finding what these are for you is time well spent, because as Campbell said, this is a big part of the point of living.
When you're absorbed in these things, you forget yourself. You become so present that time seems to warp or disappear entirely. This is a good thing; you flow. In this flow state, your sense of a separate, limited self fades away. Worry and doubt disappear, and the past and future condense into nothing.
You transcend all, with the limited part of you, as was Gandhi’s life aim, reduced to zero. Nothingness … all that remains is love and what Gandhi referred to as ‘truth-force’ or ‘soul-force’: the pure power that remains when you get out of your own way.
It feels like magic; and if you’re measuring, performance is beyond the ordinary.
No wonder so many people chase these "highs": ultra-runners pushing their limits, surfers searching for the perfect wave, monks looking for nirvana, even kids making themselves dizzy on playground swings. These experiences are transformative, but they are only temporary highs.
The real challenge isn't just to find these moments but to use them as a guide for how to live all of life. It’s not just about pleasure or escape; it’s an invitation to find that same feeling of presence and Life in every moment.
2). The Moment Where There is No “You”
What if you could get that feeling of Aliveness without needing to chase an external high? These experiences can be "reverse-engineered."
Since Aliveness comes from being so absorbed in the now that your sense of a separate self dissolves, it doesn't really matter what you're doing. What matters is that you can get out of your own way.
So, work backwards: practice being present, dissolved in the deep now. The result is Aliveness — not just when you’re doing something you love, but because you’ve learned how to get out of your own mind.
This is a huge benefit. The people, places, and things you love are only available so much of the time. But presence is available in every waking moment. Imagine a life where the Aliveness you seek is with you all the time …
The Trouble is …
We often confuse cause and effect. We rarely practice being present, so we rely on external things to absorb us. We chase highs from sex, drugs, and rock n roll to extreme sports, shopping and Instagram because we can't get there on our own. But these highs are always temporary, and there's always a "come down."
When you learn how to dissolve yourself into the deep now, there is no come down.
The second problem is that we're attached to the intensity of the experience. We think transcendence has to be this wild, powerful, even psychedelic state. But it's not. The real goal isn't the intense bliss of an altered state; it's the simple, natural experience of being fully alive to the present.
You were born with this ability. As a baby, you were the definition of present and alive. You didn't have a separate sense of self limited by thoughts like "I am this or that." You simply experienced life without that barrier.
Only For a Select Few?
If babies can do it, so can you. We’ve been led to believe that reaching this state is incredibly difficult, requiring "diamond-esque focus" and a life of discipline.
That’s a myth.
Aliveness is so pleasant and rewarding that it's easy to return to it. With a little consistent practice, it builds momentum nicely. You don't have to give anything up except the willingness to replace overthinking and worrying about the past and future with the direct experience of now.
You do have to practice, but practice the right things and it quickly comes and gets you.
So, the path to Aliveness is two-sided: choosing to do more of the things you love and learning to love the things you have.
It’s a path of choice and contentment, of making a difference and being at peace with how things are. You can find both by practicing presence in the deep now. Practice this simple Aliveness whether you're doing something you love or something you'd rather not. Go beyond boredom and see what's there.
Why not try it? It might be the whole purpose of life. And if it isn't, the resulting Aliveness will help you find out what that purpose is.
Give it a shot this week and let me know what happens.
Go well,
Arjuna
PS.
Tools and teaching so you can leave worry and doubt and judgement behind and go deep into the present moment.
Come learn Ascension (meaning to rise beyond limitation and negativity). It’s the thing that I practice and love teaching because it makes this so simple.
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