The Natural Self Is Our Ace In The Hole
When I was a child, I used to listen to a lot of music played by my father. He was a fan of Jazz and Classical music. It was such a pleasure and listening to music has remained an important part of my life to this day. One of the tracks I fell in love with then was a version by the late great Humphrey Littleton of a very old traditional Jazz track called “Ace In The Hole”. The song was written by Frankie Laine (March 30, 1913 – February 6, 2007) and released in 1953 by Columbia Records. An extract of the song is as follows:
“This town is full of guys
Who think they’re mighty wise, Just because they know a thing or two.
You see them every day Walkin’ up and down Broadway, Telling of the wonders they can do.
There are con men and there’s boosters, Card sharks and crap-shooters.
They congregate around the Metropole.
They wear fancy ties and laces, But where do they get their aces?
They all have got an ace down in the hole!
Some of them write to the old folks for the coin,
And that is their ace in the hole, And others have friends on the old Tenderloin;
That’s their old ace in the hole.
They’ll tell you of trips that they’re going to take From Florida to the North Pole.
The fact is, their name would be mud, Like a chump playing stud,
If they lost that old ace down in the hole!”
I understood the underlying meaning of this lyric as we all need an 'ace in the hole' or something that gives us a feeling of safety in this world and is the basis for our living. Clearly, in the song, Frankie Laine points out that the 'ace in the hole' is the hidden source of money that each guy who thinks they are mighty wise has!
I suggest, however, that in this world, the only reliable 'ace in the hole', that provides a true refuge in life is that aspect of our experience that is not temporary but permanent. As we examine our experience, we find that the background of being aware is ever-present and untouched by temporary experiences that occur. Naturally Being refers to this as the 'Natural Self' (aka consciousness). All other forms of security in this world, even our bodies, are ultimately transient and therefore basing our happiness on them can only result in temporary happiness. At some level, we understand this and thus live in a constant deep state of fear for our existence until we can remember and identify as the one thing that is not temporary. I refer to this as 'Natural Self' because this is not an extraordinary or remote, or transcendent state but the most ordinary imminent experiencing that is going on in this present moment. Looking for it in the extraordinary is a distraction. As the famous Buddhist Leader Nichiren Daishonin writing in the 13th century stated, “no affairs of life and death are different from the ultimate reality and the sufferings of this world are nirvana” [Nichiren Daishonin Heritage of the Ultimate Law of Life and Death].
Recognising and resting in awareness/consciousness brings us into direct intimacy with it. This is not a boring experience but fills us with energy. By examining our experience, we see that there is no boundary to it, and it cannot be limited to our body. Nonetheless, it is as real as the apparent objects we perceive and think of as reality. We can then choose to live as if this consciousness is indeed the totality of all existence, and accepting this creates the embodied feeling of "completeness" or "wholeness" within us. We can see what effect this has on our daily lives.
Furthermore, understanding, and more importantly feeling, that the Natural Self is unbounded consciousness; we naturally perceive it in all the phenomena around us, including people and things. In other words, though we still perceive objects, we 'see' and feel that these objects, be it a thought in our mind, a feeling in our body or an external object, is not separate from us. They are part of our being. In otherwords, the Natural Self, which is our essence and the Universe are one. We stop looking outside for happiness as we see that there is no 'outside' as such. Life becomes a flow of spontaneous experiences within the Natural Self, and we drop the need to control this flow egoically.
Our body and the community of all other people’s bodies have needs that they communicate to us through their intelligence systems and to which we can respond to responsibility, clearly and with compassion. Having access to the Natural Self allows us to surrender to a far greater wisdom than our narrow intellectual minds. As we surrender to it, we discover the ceaseless creative inspiration that always allows us to perceive and find deep pleasure in the sacred ordinariness of life. We can always find a way forward and the next step.
At times the Natural Self may "choose" to lose itself in objective reality and for a while forget its own source, identifying instead with the limited experiences of thinking or feeling or perceiving and therefore believing the Self to be limited. As soon as this happens, our thoughts and behaviours become avoidant, suppressing or even violent as we try to control the fear that arises within us due to thinking of the Self as limited, and therefore separate from the flow of life. After suffering in this way, we again surrender our suffering back to the refuge of our Natural Self and return to consciously living in the present flow, which is our permanent 'ace in the hole' of constant indestructible happiness in life.
Naturally Being News.
I am very pleased to announce that I have now launched my new services which you can see on the services option of my website www.naturallybeing.one. These include my 6 week one to one introduction to the Natural Self, my one day look at how the understanding of the Natural Self can help us navigate our relationship with money and materialism called Natural Wealth. I am also offering individual therapy to those seeking a therapist that can incorporate a wider understanding of consciousness into their work. I call this Natural Mind. In addition, I am now launching a group meeting once every 3 weeks that is a general introduction to Naturally Being. Further information soon. All these service include the use of a simple and yet powerful ‘map’ of life I have developed that is easy to learn and helps everyone quickly return to a strong inner feeling of being at one with the Natural Self.
Please do not hesitate to email me if you have any questions regarding these services. The service pages explain how to book and what the fees are.
Warm wishes
Freyja
