That Which You Seek Never Left You

"That Which You Seek Never Left You" 153 x 183 cm, oil on canvas 2013

Hummingbird (detail)

That Which You Seek Never Left You....
This painting  has a feeling of being seen from above. The part of you which is doing the "seeing" is also the "seer" and the "seen" therefore there is no separation. The seen and the seer only come when there is seeing ~ they are merely attributes of seeing. When we as the seeker are searching for something outside of ourselves, for example ~ an amazing experience of enlightenment or something that will give us the answers, (to the great mystery of life) that which we seek, we miss.  The unchanging, ever present non~conceptual awareness is us and everything, simply waiting to be realised. We have been looking for it everywhere but it was right here from the very beginning. This is the nature of our true identity. Hence the title....that which you seek never left you. By dropping the self~identity and the belief that we are separate beings, that which is revealed is boundless consciousness (just a word which doesn't really sum up the vastness it's trying to describe).  Ever present, nowhere to go, nothing to do, pure "being". Once we realise the simplicity of this, all seeking will stop because the very thing we seek  has been here all along, albeit forgotten and so obvious that it has been completely overlooked.
The magical hummingbird represents the nectar within...the sweetness that is within each and every one of us. The tiniest of birds, they have a very important job to do, collecting nectar and pollinating the flowers of the planet thereby spreading beauty, love, joy and colour into our lives. It is the only creature which can stop dead whilst travelling at full speed; can hover, fly backwards and forwards, up and down ~ they represent infinity. They vibrate inner joy, and a wonderful and creative free-spirited aspect of life. I was informed recently in a workshop run by the maestro of lucid dreaming ~Robert Waggoner (the author of "Lucid Dreaming~Gateway to the Inner Self") that the hummingbird was a symbol of lucid dreaming in the Meztica/Toltec tradition and helpers for lucid dreaming... I'm really happy the hummingbird flew into this painting.
The water element appeared again! The mighty wave pulsating with life-force, is representing the sub-conscious coming into our conscious awareness. Nothing to fear, nowhere to hide, "be" the waves as they will simply appear and disappear, and what remains will always be with us. Everything is simply happening and everything that manifests is absolutely neutral.
The islands again seemingly separate, forge together to create the whole. The mountains in the background are soft yet very present. The clouds meander across the painting, both revealing and hiding, highlighting the paradoxes of our existence.
Finally, the shafts of light. These represent the coming of new energies to planet Earth. The raising of the vibrations. The shift in consciousness. The recognition that we are multi~dimensional cosmic beings. Again, it is only the seer doing the seeing of the seen. If we really look we will see this new energy coming to Earth, but it's always been there...it is simply being revealed to us as we continue our journey of transformation.