The Sparkling Ocean of Awareness

I recently chose a mystery picture on an app for coloring. Because I’m on my phone, I stay zoomed in to find all the smaller areas to color. For this picture, I found myself feeling disappointed as the images seemed to lack the typical crisp detail. However, I finished and zoomed back out to see the full picture.

Much to my surprise, the picture had so much detail and every area I thought was just a bunch of meshed colors was crisp and created a beautiful picture of nature. It reminded me of my current practice of connecting to awareness, my true nature, by bringing more space and presence to each unfolding moment.

I’ve heard many people, more experienced than me, say that when connected to awareness, it is like being the entire ocean. The emotions, thoughts, feelings, etc. are all just various waves that if allowed, will continue to flow and eventually dissipate. It’s when we become entangled in the difficulties that we get caught up in the storm or the waves and before we know it, feel like we are drowning.

I had the opportunity to go on a trip to the ocean that helped me understand this better. Now let me just say, I have an extreme fear of drowning or getting eaten by a shark (I have a very active imagination). Therefore, I like to stay on the beach, which is where I’ve spent most of my life. However, on this trip, I found myself walking further and further out from the beach and began to just ride the waves.

As each wave came, it would lift me up so I couldn’t touch the bottom and then would gently set me back down. Surprisingly, this didn’t freak me out. The bigger the wave, the higher I was lifted to see more of the vast ocean and sky. It was a very calming and grounding experience.

It came time to go, and my friend and I started walking toward the shore. We both turned around to see an approaching large wave. Shockingly, my instinct was to turn and walk quickly toward it. By the time the wave reached me, it lifted me up and set me back down. My friend, however, had decided to try and outrun the wave and was sprawled out on the beach as it crashed down around her.

After I finally stopped laughing and made sure she was okay, I thought how symbolic it was of life. When we are the entire ocean of awareness, there is a continual flow. We learn how to ride the waves instead of outrunning them. Had I not just practiced riding the waves, I too would’ve been wiped out on the beach. But through experience, I knew turning to the wave and riding it out was a better path to take.

So it is with our emotions, thoughts, feelings, etc. When we try to outrun our difficulties through limited thinking or avoidance, we can get stuck or spend time removing all the sand from our unexpected wipeout on the beach. Or we may not even leave the beach at all. Yet, when we turn toward our experiences without over identifying with them, then we get to experience more flow and openness.

What I also found insightful is the larger the wave, the more expansive my view became and the ocean just sparkled. Much like the disappointment of my zoomed in picture, when we can see our experience from a more spacious, zoomed out perspective, we are able to see things more clearly and have more options to choose from.

It doesn’t mean that riding the waves will be easy or always provide a sense of calm. Sometimes the waves may feel huge and push us to the bottom of the ocean. But that’s why it’s important to remember we are the entire ocean. Sometimes being at the bottom is where we may find our greatest growth and sometime it’s okay to choose self-compassion and swim to a calmer part of the ocean to rest.

This is a lifetime practice for me of being the ocean of awareness and riding the waves—and I still experience being wiped out on the beach many times. But I will say, I am grateful to know that the ocean of awareness, my true nature, is always there ready for me to access. I hope you too can step off the beach and practice riding the waves to connect with your own ocean of awareness, your beautiful authentic you.