Only Ever Sensation

We only know this world by sensation—
thinking, seeing, touching, tasting, smelling, feeling.

Whatever we think we know about ourselves,
about this world and everyone we’ve ever met,
is known by and through sensation.

There is no one behind sensation—
no little man behind the eyes,
gathering information and making decisions.

The sense of “I” or “me” we take
to be the center of experience
is only an image that comes and goes
within sensation.

As for what sensation itself truly is—
How would you know?

There is nothing apart from it
to observe it from a distance;
nothing outside of it to measure it with;
nothing prior to it to witness
its coming and going.

There is only ever sensation.
Wherever “you look”
it is sensation that you are looking at.
And the one looking is itself sensation.

It is simply everything—
the universe in its totality.
Yet what is it?
Where is it?
You can’t put your finger on it.

It is, obviously...
but it is not a thing.
It is no-thing.

And that no-thing is here now—
alive, awake, observing,
dreaming a whole universe:
planets and suns,
cars and problems,
love stories—
everything you can think of.

It is the greatest miracle of all—
the sacred, unspeakable,
infinitely vast and diverse unfolding
of this unique
and all-containing reality.

There’s no need to find it.
You actually can’t miss it.
It’s here, and it’s all there is—
constantly revealing itself
in ever-renewed ways.

In the warmth of sunlight on your skin,
the scent of rain on dry earth,
the weight of a body sinking into bed,
the rustle of leaves in the afternoon breeze,
the sound of footsteps
echoing down an empty street—

And in everything else
that makes up the simple ordinariness
of life as we know it.

IMF - La Cathedrale Verte, Lausanne 13 June 2025