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Continual Creation

Diamond Approach

Glossary of Spiritual Wisdom

From the teachings of A.H. Almaas

What is Continual Creation?

Diamond Approach Teachings About: Continual Creation

Appearing is the Process of Continual Creation Out of the Absolute

As we go deeper into the mystery of the absolute we move away from the surface and experience ourselves as a vast immensity, a solid emptiness. We clearly perceive the universe as an unfolding surface of light. There is the sense of the manifest universe not only as appearance, but also as appearing from the absolute. So the perception is not only a matter of seeing the oneness of existence, but also that the oneness is a flow from the absolute. Appearing is the process of continual creation, out of the absolute. Appearing is time, is universal action. It is obvious and self-evident that there is no personal action, that there are no causes in time. The absolute is the only cause, the prime mover. We can then sink deeper into the mysterious darkness of the absolute, leaving the surface manifestation. We experience ourselves receding deeper, and the universe of appearance looking smaller and smaller, until we see it as a small luminous sphere floating at the distance, in the vast silence of the absolute. We recognize the vastness of the absolute, the immensity of its truth, and the smallness of the manifest universe, with all of its forms and phenomena. We recognize in this experience that if the universe is four dimensional, it appears as a spherical surface in the vastness of the absolute, demonstrating that this vastness is at least five-dimensional. As will we see later, it is infinite-dimensional, which is the same as being nondimensional.

Recognizing How the Potential of Being Becomes an Actuality

The outflow is, however, not a spatial translation. It is rather an unfoldment, where each point of space is always opening up and flowing out, the totality of this unfolding constituting the dynamic universe. In other words, the boundless presence is an unfolding presence, through whose unfoldment the universe comes into being and changes. We recognize here how the potential of Being becomes an actuality. Being simply opens up and unfolds, revealing in the process the universe with all of its variety, changes, and movements. It does not only flow from nonmanifestation to manifestation; it flows within a pattern, a pattern that differentiates this flow into the continual creation of all forms and phenomena. The flow and unfoldment create both the objects and the changes and movements of these objects, whether these objects are external or internal.

Seeing that the Flow of Being is from Nonmanifestation to Manifestation

So this is one way of seeing Holy Law, as a continuously changing flow of Being. A second way of perceiving it is as creation. In contrast to the Biblical creation story, this is the idea of continual creation, of the universe being continually created instant by instant, always new. The focus in this perception is not on the fact of the flow and process of change, but on the fact that the flow is not in time, not coming from the past through the present and into the future. The perception of the flow as creation reveals that it is from non-existence to existence, a flow that is continuously being renewed. When we think of water flowing, we usually think of the same water moving, but here, it is more the sense of a fountain of newly-arising water, constantly being created. Seeing that the flow is always in the now, you realize that it is a new creation. Everything is constantly manifesting, as in a magic show when a rabbit is pulled out of an empty hat. So when we talk about creation, we see that it is not a flow from the past to the future, but rather, a flow from nonmanifestation to manifestation. This continual creation is not separate from presence or the Divine Being; it is Being manifesting through countless and varied forms. It is difficult to perceive this continual renewal, this constantly new creation, when one is still caught in the delusion of separateness. Being and what is being created are the same thing. It is Being outflowing, creating how it appears from instant to instant.

Facets of Unity, pg. 261

The Universe is Never Old for it is Renewed Instant to Instant

All of existence is continually coming into being, where it is always a new existence. The universe is never old; it is always new, for it is renewed instant to instant. This includes absolutely everything. It includes both animate and inanimate objects, the earth and the sky, the planets, the sun and the stars, the galaxies and the space that contains them; it also includes all the thoughts, images, memories, feelings, sensations, and all phenomena at all levels of being. And all of this constitutes one manifold, continuous and continuously coming into being. We can experience this directly when we have realized the dimension of dynamic being. We do not simply perceive objects in space that move in time, but we experience ourselves as an infinite and boundless presence that continuously transforms itself into the various objects and forms of the universe. We experience ourselves as the ground and nature of all forms, but also as the substance that is in continual and eternal transformation, and through its transformation objects appear, continue to appear, and cease. All forms arise within this boundless manifold, as manifestations of its potentialities, but this manifold never becomes anything different from itself. There exist no objects, just the appearance of objects, which are nothing but in their totality the appearance that Being takes from instant to instant. All objects are Being itself manifesting as the universe. In other words, using monotheistic terminology, the universe is a theophany, and its changes are the life of God.

When Life Becomes a Continual Creation Because Essence is the Creative Element in Us

The discovery of essence is the beginning of the true life. Essence, as we have seen, is not a state experienced once and then always experienced in the same way afterward. Essence is rich and endless in its aspects, qualities, dimensions, capacities, and possibilities. All of this richness starts unfolding, bringing surprise, delight, beauty, value, and fulfillment. Life stops being the life of strife and frustration, the wish for success and the fear of failure. More than anything else, life becomes a process of creative discovery. Discovery itself becomes the heart of life. Life becomes a continual creation because essence is the creative element in us. Suffering and problems become less important, and creative discovery becomes the actual process of living. The unfolding of essence becomes the process of living. Life is no longer a string of disconnected experiences of pleasure and pain but a flow, a stream of aliveness. One aspect manifests after another, one dimension after another, one capacity after another. There is a constant flow of understanding, insight, knowledge, and states of being.

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