We have talked about the nature of being. I would like to explore this concept in a little more depth. What is it ‘to be’? In English, this word is used in the same context whether the state is permanent or temporary. In Spanish, there are two verbs that express ‘to be’. One is ‘ser’ which gives a permanent sense of being. “Soy Chico”, “I am a young boy” or “Soy Norteamericano”, “I am a North American” are expressions of this verb. The other is ‘estar’, which gives a temporary sense of being. “Estoy cansado”, “I am tired” or “Estoy aqui”, “I am here” are examples of this usage. In English, we use ‘to be’ in the temporary and permanent sense interchangeably and the meaning has to be understood in the context of the use. This makes it a little more difficult when talking about not being ‘the experience’.

In a sense we can become one with the experience in the temporary fashion, because all experience has a beginning and an end, so therefore it is temporary. It is also temporary because it changes; it is this and then it is that. Here, the sense is the same as the ‘estar’ version of the verb ‘to be’. If it is changeable in form, then it cannot truly be permanent. If it is not permanent, can it be real?

The answer is actually no. For it to be real it must be permanent. All we have discovered about the universe leads us to believe that it is not permanent as it is ever-changing. If it is ever- changing it cannot be everlasting, having therefore, a beginning and an end.

So as a matter of course only the sense of the ‘estar’ version of the verb ‘to be’ can be used to describe anything that has form, since we know it oscillates between form and non-form. The only sense of permanence associated with the verb ‘to be’ is legitimately is the state of potential from which all temporary oscillatory being arises. That is to say, I am nothing, yet have the potential for everything, is the only way to use the permanent sense of the verb ‘to be’. This represents the only unchanging state which exists and, therefore, the only state that is real.

What does this mean to us? It means that we have to acknowledge and claim this sense of the permanent state of potential which then enables us to create any additional state that we may deem necessary or may desire to have experience of.