[From the
FROM A SITE VISITOR: Teachers sometimes speak of “impressions.” Are there not some impressions that are real or truthful in basis? Thank you for the site.
F.: Yes. There are two. They will be discussed after this series.
[Today’s post will now offer the response.]
So, there are two impressions based in manifest reality, if by “impression” the reference is to a “sensation” (as in an impression that is based in “the sixth sense”) or a “feeling” or “a perception” that can come into awareness via the “inner resource” or “inner guru.”
The two impressions which are based in manifest reality are a sense of presence (pointed to with the phrase “I AM”) and a sense of continuity (pointed to with the statement, “I AM THAT”).
Only that which is sentient, of course, can be aware of the two sensations. If the conscious-energy is not manifested, it cannot possibly be aware of anything. Once the consciousness manifests, it immediately becomes aware of its presence. That sense of presence is also accompanied by a sense of continuity.
The sensation of Am-ness or Beingness arises spontaneously in humans and birds and fish and all spaces by which the consciousness manifests. Almost immediately upon manifestation, the sensation of Is-ness becomes aware of ItSelf.
Thus, an infant will jump in reaction to a loud noise, a bird will fly away if approached by a human that is walking through the woods, and a deer will do the same (as a result of the accompanying sense of continuity…triggering a natural response to extend the sense of presence).
Genetic messages of "fight or flight" are based in (1) the sense of presence and in (2) a sense that continuity can happen as well. The birds that fly away when approached do so in order to extend the manifestation. It is natural. To act otherwise would be unnatural.
In some cases, doing otherwise—that is, not acting to extend the manifestation—can be supernatural in basis if the consciousness has been bastardized via programming and/or conditioning:
For evidence, see “The Reverend Jim Jones and His Kool-Aid”; see “Marshall Applegate’s Castration and Comet Cult”; see the billions who think that “temporarily suffering now is acceptable since later we’ll get an eternal reward and peace”; and see the billions who are willing to die for their religious beliefs or who are willing to kill for their religious beliefs.
[It has been asked, “Might a forfeiture of attachment to the sense of continuity ever be natural? What of those who end the manifestation as a result of a terminal illness that is marked by 24/7 pain and suffering?”
Maharaj witnessed his pain until the manifestation ended via a course that persons would consider “the usual method,” but he pointed out that Nisarga Yoga offers a means for natural living and that living with pain during every waking moment is not natural; thus, he made no judgment about persons who accelerated “the process of unmanifesting.”]
For billions of years “sentient forms” have been involved in the process of consciousness manifesting and consciousness unmanifesting. That manifesting and unmanifesting happened without any modification of the sense of presence or the sense of continuity until humans evolved to a point where languages developed. It also happened without any speck of consciousness believing that other impressions were also based in fact.
That development of communication allowed humans to dream up concepts and then communicate them to other humans, thereby warping the consciousness and inspiring humans to begin making false claims about that sense of presence.
Those claims led to a widespread belief in duality and eventually lead persons all across the planet to begin adding labels after the “I AM.” That act of dreaming up fictional personas as identities has led persons to believe that other impressions are founded in “truth.”
Those impressions—including a sense of separation, a sense of differentiation, and a loss of the sense of beingness only—have led persons to replace the sense of “I AM” with a sense of “I am this” and “I am that.” And it is the belief in those dualistic impressions that has led to all of the unhappiness and misery and suffering and fighting and killing and war that have become common markers of the relative existence. Please enter the silence of contemplation. (To be continued)
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