Thought is spam. Actual intelligence is the boundless clarity of pure consciousness, prior to the arising of thought. Thoughts are passing clouds in spacious awareness. A thought can be said to contain intelligence only to the degree that the blue sky can be seen through the cloud.
Wise is one who, letting clouds of thought dissolve, rests in the boundless clarity of awareness, without an opinion about anything. But to those who cling to clouds of thought, this dweller in awareness appears to be a fool. For this reason scripture declares (my favorite verse): “The foolishness of God is wiser than the wisdom of men.” (1 Cor 1:25) I once gave a religion course at a prep school. The name of the course was “the foolishness of God.” Some of the parents wanted to have me fired.
Pure awareness is transcendental. It transcends thinking. Yet pure awareness is also immanent. It is the stuff of creation. Every sub-nuclear particle of matter is a spasm of pure transcendental awareness. Pure awareness is the stuff our bodies are made of, the stuff the earth is made of, and the stuff of stars. Matter is composed of what physicists call “fluctuations of the vacuum.”
Empty space is awake. It is vibrant. It is creative intelligence. The transcendent is immanent in each speck of dust.
The progenitors of quantum physics understood this. Max Planck wrote, “I regard matter as derivative from consciousness.” Sir James Jeans, a founder of quantum physics, wrote that this world is “a world created out of pure intelligence.” Sir Arthur Eddington, president of the Royal Academy of Science (and also a Quaker) wrote that “the stuff of the world is mind-stuff,” and, “all through the physical world runs that unknown content which must surely be the stuff of our consciousness.”
These are not just mystics speaking: they are among the greatest scientists of the modern age. They confirm the ancient wisdom of Vedanta. If you want to transform your world, transform your consciousness.
In an age of anxiety and information overload, there is no more healing discovery a human being can make than this: You are not your thoughts. You can bathe in the edgeless sapphire splendor of pure Being, to refresh the mind and energize every atom of the body. This is the gift of meditation. Peace.
