No going back

People often tell me they've lost it. "I had it for a while, but now it's gone," they say. "I was there yesterday, but today I can't find my way back." It's a common experience - this sense of falling in and out of recognition.

The mind loves to sort experiences into categories: got it, lost it, found it again. So when recognition happens, we naturally think of it as a state we can enter and leave. We treat it like a place we need to find our way back to.

But here's something interesting: you can't un-see what you've seen. Try to forget what a circle looks like. Try to un-know how to read these words. Even if you don't think about circles or reading for years, the recognition remains. You might get distracted, but you can't truly lose the knowing.

The same applies here. What we're pointing to isn't a state that comes and goes. It's more fundamental than any state. When you think you've lost it, you're actually just focusing on that thought of loss. The very noticing of "not having it" happens within what you think you've lost.

Our attention naturally shifts throughout the day. Sometimes we're caught in thoughts, sometimes we're clear. But what we're talking about doesn't depend on attention. It's here before any thought of having or losing it arises.

Even when you're completely absorbed in daily life - working, talking, solving problems - it's still here. Not as a special state or feeling, but as the simple reality that can't be lost. You might forget to notice it, like you forget the feeling of your shoes while walking, but it never goes away.

So when that familiar feeling of "losing it" appears, pause for a moment. Notice what's already here before you start searching for what's lost. You'll find you haven't moved an inch from what you thought you needed to find again.

Remember, you can't lose what you essentially are. You can only temporarily believe the story of loss. Even that story appears in what can't be lost.