The Substance That Is Already There
Transmission, Identity, and the Unknown Self
November 30, 2022
teaching

The Substance That Is Already There

La sustancia que ya está ahí

The teacher explores the nature of transmission between teacher and student, describing how what seems like receiving from another is actually the recognition and activation of something already present in oneself.

The Substance That Is Already There

The teacher explores the nature of transmission between teacher and student, describing how what seems like receiving from another is actually the recognition and activation of something already present in oneself.

It is a very interesting and mysterious thing. There are aspects of it that are very new to me, that I am still exploring. But I also have many years of experience on the side of receiving transmission.

What transmission actually is

There isn't really a "receiving" in the way it's usually perceived. How I see and experience it now is more like a recognition of something shared. Its nature is one of no separation. It can still be interpreted as receiving or transmitting, and something is happening in that direction, but at its essence it requires at least two people to be open. If one of these two is more grounded in that openness, a kind of substance develops. That grounding in presence has a substantive quality. There aren't really any words for it, but I've used the word "substance." Recently, in conversation with another teacher, I was describing it from my end, and he said it was exactly what he had always called "current." It's the same thing.

Openness as the essential condition

It requires two people to be open, a certain availability. But ultimately it is the recognition of something shared. At first, from my own experience, I felt like I was receiving transmission. Over time I realized that what I felt wasn't something simply received from outside. It was igniting something in me. And it wasn't even truly igniting, because it was something already present. It was more like activating something that had been still. Let me put it that way.

There is a substance that is still, that has a certain dormancy. Then there is the proximity of someone in whom that substantive aspect is in greater movement. When you come close to that, and if you are open, your natural substantive self will start moving or resonating. There are many metaphors for this. One is the metaphor of the candle and the lamp: a teacher is like a lamp that is already lit, and yours has the potential of a lamp, and the flame is then transmitted and shared.

Already in movement

That is a nice metaphor, but I don't find it entirely true to my experience. For me, the substance is already there and already in movement. What happens is more an increasing of that movement so that it becomes more available, more present. Over time it became increasingly clear that everything I had felt was being transmitted to me was actually my own self being aroused.

Experiencing that from the other end was also very interesting. In the past, I wasn't aware of how much it depended on my own openness. When I was around my teacher, I always felt that quality in some way, and I assumed everybody would feel it around him because it was simply his nature. Over time I learned to see that my openness was fundamental, and that the transmission would simply not happen otherwise. It is something that arises from the connection of a shared being. What is moving is the same in both.

Recognizing divinity in another, recognizing it in yourself

But what really matters is the openness. I was reading Adyashanti recently and I loved how he expressed something along these lines. He was talking about Christ, and it has to do with being able to recognize divinity. If you recognize it in another, you recognize it in yourself. Through recognizing it in another, it gets transferred and projected. But that relationship can, over time, mirror the fact that you are actually recognizing yourself, recognizing your own divine nature.