The Matter with Matter
When i ask the universal higher consciousness,
does it matter what we do here?
we can annihilate ourselves and you’re going to be ok.
the universe answers me clearly.
• • •
you’re still thinking we’re “out there”
outside of you
separate.
we are outside but inside too
not separate
we’re here within you
around you
through you
and we love it,
the astonishing experience of a body.
oh we know sometimes it’s agonizingly painful and horribly suffer-able
but the joy of a body!
the adventure of the physical!
there’s the biggest laugh
that somehow the physical or material is bad
or dirty or shameful.
all completely, utterly false.
how can material be bad when it’s just spirit condensed?
without the material it’s only a concept.
but ah the physical
the material
the soft newness of a baby’s cheek
yes the baby is material
a physical being.
we exult in the bird’s physical material wing
a feat of extraordinary, elegant engineering
that still surpasses that of any man-made structure on earth.
ah the physical
— and oh
the sensations!
exhilarating sensations that are only possible
through direct physical experience:
the gaze of the beloved
music in all its varied glory
lovemaking, anytime
leaf-kicking on a brisk autumn afternoon
stomping on pristine snow under a brilliant winter sky
tango dancing on the banks of the river Seine
plunging into a surging, salty ocean
giddy ball chasing
the chew and goo of a perfect pizza
fizz in the nose from a bubbly cold drink
puppy hugging
and the smell of rain anytime.
we don’t have the smell out here you see
just for the smells alone, the earth trip is worth it.
we — the gods — the universe — the Everything
in our eternal formlessness
want to do and feel it all,
and we need you in-bodies to do it for us.
in this endlessly wondrous
physical material world
it all matters.
right now,
right this second.
until it doesn’t.
because ultimately none of it matters.
this is the paradox,
or rather one of many paradoxes,
which is so hard to reconcile with the in-body experience.
you in-bodies treat almost everything
as if it’s going to matter forever,
when most of it won’t matter for a week, if that.
but how can nothing matter ultimately?
it means no matter is matter forever.
all matter must eventually stop being matter
or at least change form
and so all matter stops mattering as it once was.
in that way, eventually nothing matters
and by the time we’re no longer matter
. . . it won’t matter.
and yet.
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even though in the end nothing matters,
the vibrations of the now,
of thought and feeling
of action and creation,
whether “good” or “bad,”
will reverberate in perpetuity
into the next now of the next game
the no-name frame of the next plane
in which being takes a different non-form
and where what we call matter
doesn’t, can’t, and won’t matter.
another paradox is that even though ultimately nothing matters
it’s all important
it matters now
right now
because now is all you ever have.
ever.
we must stop worrying about the next life
the later
even tomorrow.
yes, prepare and plan,
and even pray,
but avoid worry.
worry is the prayer of the ego,
and keeps you stuck in a time loop.
stuck is not your purpose here.
stick to the now
the power, potential and pleasure
of the divinely exquisite now,
and notice and be glad:
right now
right this second
you have everything you need
and from this vantage point
– very rich indeed –
you can think choose create
more better different
and relax
because it really doesn’t matter.
The Matter with Matter is excerpted from the forthcoming book
Down the Stream Gently: Inspiration for Authentic Living
(a working title).
Copyright © Jane Grey, 2017, 2026
First released as Matter in 2017
Revised, expanded and re-released as The Matter of Matter, 2026
All rights reserved.
My website: hopeinparis.com
Image: The Soul of the Rose (also My Sweet Rose)
by John William Waterhouse, 1908
(Public domain)
“There is no matter.”
– attributed to Albert Einstein
