The presence unitively grasps the inseparable unity of all creation and the integral experience of life. The pretence identifies itself with physical form, the body, its name and form. With this primary identification as the basic limitation and framework, it then perceives the world as a battle of "I'' and "not I”, a tense and fearful tussle and conflict. People are perceived as "mine" and "not mine" again based primarily on bodily identification and associated notions. On this notional split is based the dichotomy of thought and the multiplicity of theories and concepts that confuse our minds and complicate our lives. The pretence deceives and confuses. It calls for a return to presence, our own deepest self free from conceptual divisions and fear, to intuitively perceive the underlying unity of all creation.

The pretence clings to name and status, power and possessions to protect itself against the entire world except those narrowly defined areas of "mine". The presence needs no protection as it experiences an innate and joyful unity with the whole of creation. The pretence clings to memories of the past and hopes for the future as it seeks an ever elusive fulfilment and security. The presence is completely joyful and contented here and now. Awareness is forever free from the shackles of identification with past and future based on memory and imagination. This is not to say that one cannot remember or imagine. It means that memory and imagination are tools of awareness consciously deployed when required. One is not a prisoner of memories and imagination. One is not confused by the dead and obsolete impressions of the past and the unborn possibilities of the future. One's perception is completely clear here and now, unclouded by the lingering remnants of the past and the flickering hopes of the future.

The pretence is a shadow - ever-changing, flickering, startling and shifting. The presence is constant, unchanging and the very foundation of all virtue and strength. The pretence, our ego, has an imaginary existence yet is all powerful as long as we believe in its existence. The presence is like the very earth, carrying us always, yet silent and unnoticed until we awaken to its presence. Our limited and partial perceptions of ourselves and the world mislead us into believing the reality of a separate existence, a fundamentally separate self. While in physical terms, each individual is indeed separate from birth to death, his very existence and birth is on account of those who lived before him. Thus, nature represents a continuity that defies separation and points to the underlying unity of all creation.

Our bodies, minds and intellects, our perceptions, feelings and thought – all these have their uses and powers. They also have their limitations. Our awareness transcends partial perceptions. Our awareness transcends sensations, feelings and thought. Our awareness transcends learnt notions and learned analysis. It is simple and direct. Yet, it is illuminating and all encompassing in its scope. This unconditioned, unbounded, unitive awareness is what we really are. This is our true nature and our deepest self. It is the source of all love, peace, contentment and joy. Since it is our very core, there is nothing to do and nowhere to go to find it. To be as we are, to abide in total stillness free from the binding cords of memory and imagination based on bodily identification and a sense of separation is to return to the presence. Infinite peace, love, contentment and joy await us here. When we find our own deepest self, we have found the ground of being, an inexhaustible treasure that will enrich our lives in a manner and intensity beyond imagination and words.