Can there be absolute security for people in this life?

No, not for people. Everything is temporary and changing…without much or any control. Who knows when you might suddenly be laid off and unemployed? Who knows when some sickness or illness will happen to the body? Inevitably, each person will die. There is no absolute protection from ever becoming sick, unemployed, relationships ending, or death. So as long as you think of yourself as a “me” (i.e. a person or people), then there is no absolute security.

The nondual realization is that the Self is all there is and there is no other. As there is no other, what do you need protection from? What kind of security do you need when there is nothing to lose? Who/what could harm you?

Only a “me” fears others and seeks security. When there are no others and no “me”, there is no reason to fear.

After the revelation that there is no “me”, my experience has been continued opening and deepening in vulnerability…not seeking security. I kind of keep an eye out for when I are donning armor to protect myself mentally and emotionally…and then I look at it deeply. These patterns and habits for self-preservation…physically, emotionally, and mentally…run deep.

I remember a few years ago that my daughter asked me about trust. She asked me whether I trust people upon meeting them or do they need to earn my trust. I told her I tend to trust people immediately. She then asked me, don’t you ever get hurt? I told that I do sometimes get hurt by people who I initially trusted; however, it is a very small minority of people. I then asked her…if 1 out of every 20 people I trusted hurt me…should I withhold my trust from the nineteen so that I am not hurt by the one? Do I penalize the nineteen because of the one? Furthermore, I would be inviting the evil (so to speak)? I would be assuming the worst in people as a general mind set of life. People tend to meet our expectations and so instead of inviting the evil…it is better to invite the good.

I said I choose to assume the best in people as a general mind set and trust them, but I am not naive. I know that in doing so, I am certain to be hurt at times. I do not insist that I am never hurt by the people that I trust. I just don’t trust the ones who hurt me anymore. The choice is to be vulnerable…knowing and accepting that you will be hurt at some point. I am more open and connected with people because of this…instead of keeping myself at bay and protected.

If I was seeking absolute security, it would be difficult to expose myself to potential harm. Even since ancient times, everyone knows that the safest place is behind walls. However, erecting walls may protect you…but it also creates “others” who are on the other side of the wall. It keeps potential friends on the other side – who you do not yet know – from meeting you. Walls keep strangers…the good and the bad alike…outside. Some call it safety and security, but it could also be called isolation.

To live without walls is not easy for a “me” who seeks security. There is no way to live as the Self if there are walls. Regardless of walls or not, the Self is all there is…but to ‘live as the Self’ means there are no others…or other side of a wall.

So in a weird kind of way, absolute security (knowing nothing can harm you and nothing can be lost) is realized within absolute vulnerability (having no walls at all). The Self needs no walls or protection. There is only the Self. Nothing can harm the Self…and nothing can be taken from the Self.