Let's start with “what is Essence?”
"Christianity, Judaism, and Islam called it Spirit; Buddhism calls it Buddha nature; Taoism calls it the Tao; Hinduism calls it Atman or Brahman. The various traditions differ in how they conceptualise essence and how much they emphasise it in their teaching, but essence is always considered to be the most authentic, innate, and fundamental nature of who we are." — A.H. Almaas
"Essence is not alive; it is aliveness. It is not aware; it is awareness. It does not have the quality of existence; it is existence. It is not loving; it is love. It is not joyful; it is joy. It is not true; it is truth." — A.H. Almaas
"The spiritual teaching attempts to show people that they have within themselves already what they are looking for on the outside — the aliveness, the peace, the sense of deep enough fulfillment is already present in every human being as their innermost essence." — Eckhart Tolle
At its deepest, essence is unknowable — and can only be known through our senses when it condenses into form. At its most unknowable depths it is the absolute, the ground of being. Which is why you might notice me giving Essence a capital E at times..
And now.. “The way” of essence..
Each tradition that speaks of essence also speaks of its way — its natural movement into expression. The Tao flows through the ten thousand things. Spirit breathes and animates — the Hebrew word ruach means both spirit and wind. Buddha nature is already present in every being, waiting to be recognised in the ordinary moments of life. Hinduism honours the senses themselves as instruments through which the divine knows itself.
What is common across all of them is this: essence is not static. It moves. It expresses. It becomes knowable through form — through nature, through the senses, through the way life shows up when you're present enough to notice.
Follow this link to read more about how different traditions understand the way of essence:
Coming to my Essense’s
When I first came about my essential nature, I was not aware of anything about essence in the way it is spoken of above.
I was in pain. I was seeking refuge, calm. I had asked “whatever might be listening” for more gentlness. I didn't know it then, but I was asking for an essence quality — gentleness. And gentleness responded. It shaped me, slowly, to deeply know and be it.
It was through slowing down in nature, reconnecting to my senses, and noticing what I was naturally drawn to from a more relaxed place. As I became more still and curious with what drew me — the blue sky, flower petals — I noticed they emanated qualities.. Spaciousness. Depth. Vastness. Aliveness. Qualities I intuitively called essence qualities.
The pivotal moment was when I recognised that these essence qualities I was seeing were also the qualities of the ground from which I was seeing. This essential ground, the place I was seeing from, was spacious, vast, and had infinite depth — the very thing the sky was reflecting back at me.
This essential nature was the essential nature of all being, experienced through my unique prism. The essence-way was in the way I was seeing, and also in the way essence expressed through life. I would later recognise, in an even more embodied way, that these essence qualities were not just emanating through what I was drawn to — but through everything at once, as a vast essential field, constantly expressing.
There is a quote that I came across much later that is attributed to Suzuki Roshi, that says "Enlightenment is an accident. But we can make ourselves more accident prone." I recognise now that my slowing down in nature and reconnecting to my senses was making me accident prone.
Essence qualities
Essence qualities are the recognisable, nameable aspects of essence expressing through life — qualities like spaciousness, aliveness, warmth, clarity, freshness, and many others unique to your own experience, that express with a deeply intelligent timing.
These qualities express in two directions. You might notice spaciousness in an open sky, aliveness in the birds, clarity in morning light. And you notice that you're sensing these qualities with these same qualities — spaciousness meeting spaciousness, aliveness meeting aliveness. The quality of your seeing is the same quality as what's being seen.
This is how essence knows itself through form. And essence qualities are the language of that knowing.
The Essence-Way is learning to recognise these qualities, name them, and let them become the ground from which you live.
What becomes possible
As essence becomes the ground from which you live, it naturally transforms what each domain of life is — creativity, health, relationship, nature and more.
This is experienced as wholeness — not because something was broken, but because you come home to a dimension that was missing. Whole-creativity. Whole-health. Whole-relationship. Whole-nature. Each is what becomes possible when essence leads and expresses.
Explore this more:
Pathways into this work
The Essence-Way informs all of my coaching and companionship offerings, creating containers where this recognition can deepen and become more embodied in your daily life.
Those are seeking to recognise and live from their own essence qualities.
Therapists, coaches, spiritual directors, and teachers — wanting to weave essence quality recognition into the work they already do.
For those working with the living world
Regenerative agriculture, ecological practice, and land-based work.
The invitation
You'll know if the Essence-Way resonates — not because it's unfamiliar, but because it names something you've already been sensing, moving toward, longing to trust more fully.
If something here speaks to what you've been noticing — I'd love to explore what might serve.
What others are saying
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