Suchness...Say What?

Suchness is an eastern concept and word we've been studying in Lake Tahoe Mindfulness Community lately. Here's the Webster formal definition of suchness--a nameless and characterless reality in its ultimate nature. How, you might ask, can something be nameless? Characterless for that matter? Suchness is an idea positing that nothing is a separate self-entity. For example, if we look at you, a name has been attributed to who you are, many names in fact: perhaps a profession, roles, gender, etc. however you would not be you without the animals, plants and minerals that you've consumed to fuel and maintain your body, nor would you be you without each formative experience, the beings and cultures that have come together to shape your beliefs and expression of your personality. Who would you be without your mother, your father, your ancestors? You can see that this idea of interconnection can lead us in many deep and complex underpinnings--all of which can be referred to as suchness.

Ahhhh, you and every occurrence in this natural world are miracles of so many perfectly timed causes and conditions. It's promising to be an insightful month of February as we dive into this theme that fits so beautifully with the Inner Constellation Blog purpose as seen in the welcome on the right of the homepage:

This blog celebrates that you are an expression of the Eternal: body, mind and heart are the gateways. Read on if you need reminding....

Suchness--nameless, formless, nondualistic, no coming, no going--eternal. As we enter the month of suchness, I ponder the next IC Blog Post with an image of a sculpture entitled, "The Death of Cleopatra." Its maker is remarkable and the story of how the sculptor came to be, even more so, as we'll explore in the next IC blog article, entitled--"Death of Cleopatra." Stay tuned and wet your senses until next time....

Mary Edmonia Lewis sculptor, completed in 1867