Every awakening proceeds in the same way: I awaken from the first place, I battle the illness of the second place, and then I asleepen back into the first place. If I do not prepare myself upon awakening, then I am likely to get swept away into the current of the second place, perhaps even getting lost.
To avoid getting lost, upon awakening I must refocus my awareness on the essential, where I have just come from. In remembering that I am the essential, the nature of the inessential cannot hide behind familiarity. This technique allows me to anchor myself to what is solid and real, so that when I do venture out into the inessential I will not get swept away.
I am the essential. My true nature is the essential. The inessential is a projection of my own creation, held together by my beliefs.
I am not the inessential. The inessential is an inward and outward projection from the essential. I am not this body; I only believe I am.
The inessential is in the essential. The inessential is a space within the essential. I have only to close my eyes and come back to the essential to realize that.
The essential is formless. The essential has no forms, constraints, or performances of any sort.
When I find myself getting pulled into the inessential, my focus shifting to either the inner or outer environments, I can pull myself back to the inessential by repeating these phrases. I can refocus on the essential, and repeat, “I am here”, as I feel the space around my crown buzzing with awareness.
By anchoring to the essential upon awakening, I can better weather the painful second place projections. The goal is to retain that connection throughout the entirety of my awakening, without forgetting, rather than getting swept away into the forms and performances of the second place. With time and effort, this will undermine and weaken the inessential bonds I have created and which underpin my illness.
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