The "Obscurant"
The "obscurant" is the elusive sense of a separate self - the ego - that seemingly operates through thoughts and beliefs, creating an illusion of individuality and separation where none truly exist. The obscurant isn't a tangible entity; it's a non-existent obscurer, a self-fabricating illusion that distorts and twists the truth, obscuring the direct experience of reality as it is.
The obscurant functions like a fog, clouding the simple, ever-present truth with self-referential stories, doubts, fears, regrets, defenses, and projections. It spins a web of illusory complexity, all based on the mistaken belief in individual significance and importance. This sense of self, this ego, is sustained only through identification with thoughts - thoughts that claim ownership, like "my thoughts," "my feelings," "my experiences," or "what I accept" and "what I reject."
These narratives support the illusion of being a separate entity with an independent existence, which obscures the liberation of recognizing oneself as the seamless, unified nature of consciousness. Direct experience reveals how the obscurant operates: the mind continually churns, producing commentary and judgments that maintain the illusion of a separate self. This endless narrative can feel so real that the obscurant seems like a solid, permanent entity.
Yet, the separate self is, in truth, a non-existent obscurant. It has no substance or foundation in reality. Its apparent existence depends entirely on identifying with thoughts and the narratives they create. When this is seen - truly seen in direct experience - the obscurant begins to dissolve. The fog lifts, revealing the clear, direct recognition of undivided reality. It becomes evident that there never was a separate self; only present thoughts and beliefs, and the innocent suppression of emotions stemming from the discord of these beliefs.
The effect of the obscurant on life's unfolding is profound. It creates a false sense of resistance and struggle, the illusion of being stuck in a reality that is always flowing. This illusion generates self-doubt, fear, anxiety, regret, and dissatisfaction, making it seem as if there is something to achieve or become - a better state to reach based on comparisons. This narrative is the obscurant itself.
The constant striving it creates is, in essence, getting in one's own way. The obscurant convinces that you're not enough and need to fix, improve, solve, or become something more to feel whole and satisfied.
But what happens when the obscurant is weeded out?
What is it like to truly see and dispel this illusion and get out of your own way?
Getting Out of Your Own Way
When the obscurant is seen for what it is - an illusion of thoughts without substance - there is a profound shift. The dissolution of the separate self opens the door to a way of being free from the need to strive, defend, or achieve. Life unfolds naturally and effortlessly. There is no longer a sense of getting in one's own way because the one who seemed to be in the way is revealed to be non-existent.
Without the obscurant, there is an unconditional ease and flow of being. Actions arise spontaneously, not guided by the fears or desires of a separate self but as the natural movement of life itself. Preferences emerge without the weight of anxiety or doubt because there is no longer a separate self to protect or defend. In this space of self-recognition, everything is seen as unfolding perfectly, without the need for interference or control. Nothing - no separate self or separation - is actually happening in the way it once seemed.
Getting out of your own way means recognizing that there was never anyone there to obstruct in the first place. It's the freedom of living without the burden of a constructed identity, the joy of being without needing to prove or achieve anything. It's living from a place of openness, where life expresses itself fully, without obstruction or resistance.
The effect of this shift is not subtle. There is a lightness and simplicity that permeates every moment. Challenges may still arise, but they are met with clarity and ease, without the suffering caused by the obscurant. Life becomes less about managing or controlling and more about allowing and trusting. There is a deep, boundless peace - not as a state achieved by a self but as the natural condition of being, free from the fog of the separate self.
Being without pretense or defense, without justifications or rationalizations, without the need to maintain the illusion of separation, brings clarity and simplicity where the obscurant has no place. Life unfolds effortlessly, like a river flowing towards the sea, with nothing to resist its natural course.
The direct experience of the present moment as it is - unobscured - is the gift of seeing through the obscurant. It's freedom from unnecessary struggle and the revelation of the ease and simplicity of what is. It's a profound realization that unfetters the deep peace and joy of being, recognizing what has always been true: the present moment is all there is, and it is perfect just as it is.