On Essences

    A professor of mine once described the investigation into spiritual studies and things metaphysical as the “study of essences.” He did not elaborate on this, and there was no opportunity to ask questions, so, over time, I came to feel that he was thinking of the forerunners to physical forms. What is it, in other words, that precedes what we deal with in the physical world? Essences, perhaps---the ideas or senses that are the core meanings behind our world of things.

Essences require attention...

So that things don’t just “happen,” we may need to pay heed to what drives them. Essences require attention. What is stoking a coming attraction? What accompanies the creation of a situation or a body of action? What are we thinking, feeling, dreaming?

How we shall think about our lives...

Sometimes we have to be quick in our search for the essentials. They can pop up behind an event like a flitting bird song and zip right by us. We can also create our own essential backgrounds by determining how we shall think about our lives, maybe even pray about them. How much meaning do we give what we do? Or do we just go along for the ride and pay no attention to what may be forming in the world of “becoming”?

What our essences give off...

Our essences announce more about us than we may know, and others often get a sense of what is coming by what our essences give off. Perhaps it might come to us that our essences can come across as an effortless, pleasant fragrance…or a stink!


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