This Amazing Realization
By Douglas Harding

Why or how Consciousness should arise as it does from the blank inane Here, as it's doing all the time, is just incredible mystery. And if you call this God, I'm sure that God is absolutely astonished by his own impossible feat of self-origination. He doesn't know how he does it. If he knew how he did it, he would be missing out on the greatest joy imaginable, which is the wonder of Consciousness arising from Unconsciousness for no reason and with no help.

Human beings are so incredibly blasé. You show them something like this, and they say, "So what! What are you going on about? Of course Being has to be. Consciousness has to exist. Isness is natural." I think that God's hair stands on end in wonder at her own self-invention. It's impossible! It's that wonderful. Gosh, let me live from this realization, this astonishment.

Put it like this: we congratulate ourselves on various things, don't we? I congratulate myself on being English, perhaps. Ha ha! I congratulate myself on being male, which is even more ridiculous. I congratulate myself on not having Alzheimer's too badly at this time. A million things we congratulate ourselves on, give ourselves good marks for. But there's one thing that's superb, and we never realize what an incredible thing it is: I Am. I've occurred. Not I am this, not I am that, but just I Am. That is the great Marvel. I Am! After that, a billion universes are chickenfeed.

This is so important for me because it puts in perspective my troubles. A reality that can get off its own launching pad with no help and for no reason and invent itself and get cracking and produce the kind of universe we have - I trust the One who can do that. I'm not going to get too bogged down in the silly, quirky little details of Douglas's nonsenses. I'm not going to take my little self and my troubles so seriously, now. I'm awake to this astounding miracle going on Here all the time. This mystery of what's behind the I Am puts the I Am and all other stuff into perspective, and my problems become peanuts in the light of this amazing realization" (Douglas Harding)

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