Here

Q: Is here, HERE, regardless whether one is enlightened or not?

A: Yes.

Q: This implies that the world remains whether I am here or not.

A: Yes. This ‘I' is simply a creation of the mind. This creation, this fantasy of ‘I', has no effect on the world. Remember it is the fantasy of ‘I' that has no effect on the world, but it is this fantasy, that is the source of your suffering. And all the while the world is always HERE.

Q: Do I ever get the chance to declare I am here.

A: You are doing it all the time. You are lost in this illusion and your declaration has nothing to do with reality. Your declaration is simply an expression of the ego. It is the same as those people who declared that the earth was flat. It did not make any difference to the world, but it made a great deal of difference to their lives. You can think that the earth is the center of the universe, but that does not change the universe, it just limits you. This is the same with having the belief in this ‘I', it does not change the world, but it locks you into the prison of the ego, the illusion, into the limitations of the mind.

Q: Am I the imposition or is the world the imposition.

A: The thought, the belief in the ‘I' is the imposition. The ‘I' is an illusion, a creation of the mind, a collection of thoughts. The world can never be an imposition.

Q: One more thing, Awake translates to presence,

A: Yes.

Q: while asleep translates to absence.

A: No. That which is absent is that which is not real. Dreamless sleep is the nearest you get to Enlightenment. It is just that in your dreamless sleep you are not aware. To be in dreamless sleep with Awareness, is Samadhi. ~Umi