The Well of Being

When you go to a zoo, you see all kinds of non-humans there. Some of them look very much like humans — like chimpanzees or gorillas for instance. When you see such non-humans, you don’t presume that they are anything more than what they look like. Gorillas are just being “gorilla”. Dogs are just being “dog”. Birds are just being “bird”. That is what the thing is, and that’s that! That is what you think non-humans are doing. “But humans are more than that!” (laughter) They are supposed to be presuming that they are all kinds of great whatever.

Do you think that animals are simply presuming that they are organisms? That is what you presume about them. Is that what you presume about yourselves? Are you content with just that — that you’re just organisms?

You know how organisms are. They chug along, who knows what. In and out. Difficult. Yes. Good. No. Not so good. Dead. You know? And that is the end of that! Is that good enough?

That is how people seem. In my experience, if you just look at all that people are up to, with clarity, just seeing what it is, there would be no reason to presume that they are presuming to be anything but organisms. In other words, they don’t seem any different than the gorillas in the zoo. The gorillas are gorilla-ing, zebras are zebra-ing, and humans are human-ing, and that’s that.

So, what is it all about? What is it for? And who decides these kinds of things anyway — you know what I mean? (laughter)

Are you really content to be just these short-span organisms, or are you up to something profound? Because if you are not up to something profound, then it is enough for you to just be an organism. That is what you’re saying. Every moment in which you are not exercising yourself most profoundly — and I mean this in the real religious and Spiritual sense — you are just consenting to be the plastic process, the mummery of klik-klak, or passing organisms.

You must be occupied with what is profound. Never abandon it. Otherwise, you are just consenting to be some temporary bit of plastic. Push it in the slot every day, and it usually lights up. Sometimes a little dimmer, sometimes a little brighter, sometimes a little dimmer. But then one day you put it in and it rejects. Something comes up on the screen that says it is no longer applicable: “This card has been canceled,” or something. “This account is empty.” And that’s that.

Just because you are alive doesn’t mean that you are profound, or that life is profound. And just because you are alive doesn’t mean that you are doing what is right, or right and free, or rightly disposed, or up to anything of significance at all — other than just rattling through, being part of a squeeze, the digestive system of the universe. You start up on the table and you wind up in the sewer.

And yet, in truth, nobody wants to be superficial. Everybody wants to be deep. Understand this: It doesn’t feel good to be superficial. The chameleons don’t like it. They know inherently, it seems, that there is a depth that is the Well of Being, and just to be this fleshy “organism” guy out here in the elements is not enough. The first thing the non-humans do in their Contemplation is get deeper than body-consciousness. They spontaneously drop into depth. Their sign is naturally the one of depth being the Core of existence, not the superficiality.

Everything has to come from the center outward, from the depth outward. So you have to devote your life to this depth, to this process in-depth, to want to be in that — to be in the Zone of Happiness. 

– Adi Da Samraj