From a site visitor: OK, so I read the posts from the last days, and you did admit that the I AM is a part of the I AM THAT I AM, so the question is, how is any of that talk about consciousness and witnessing have any relevance to the I AM I’m trying to navigate through? Tom
F.: Thanks for the question, Tom. It points out again an interesting perspective: while most will never grasp the relevance of the Advaita Teachings, many are in awe of Albert Einstein for taking one of the central Advaita Teachings and sharing it in a scientific mode. Of course scientific advances have always lagged behind the Original Understanding and the Advaita Teachings. So it is. And what scientific theory that was rooted in the Advaitin understanding was set forth by Einstein? The Theory of (Special) Relativity.
One way for those with wisdom to understand the teachings and to see the relevance of discussing the topic of witnessing is to understand the Theory of (Special) Relativity. As a topical example, consider that eleven military vehicles are traveling at sixty miles per hour, moving from the Baghdad airport to the Green Zone in the city. Pretend that you are in vehicle number six, right in the middle of the convoy.
Next, imagine that I am standing on a hill near the midway point of your trip and witness two rockets, fired simultaneously, as they strike vehicle number one and vehicle number eleven at the same instance, exactly. I can see clearly what happened. I understand perfectly that the two rockets hit both ends of the convoy at the exact same second. But you cannot understand. You cannot see accurately because you are relative to Me.
F.: Thanks for the question, Tom. It points out again an interesting perspective: while most will never grasp the relevance of the Advaita Teachings, many are in awe of Albert Einstein for taking one of the central Advaita Teachings and sharing it in a scientific mode. Of course scientific advances have always lagged behind the Original Understanding and the Advaita Teachings. So it is. And what scientific theory that was rooted in the Advaitin understanding was set forth by Einstein? The Theory of (Special) Relativity.
One way for those with wisdom to understand the teachings and to see the relevance of discussing the topic of witnessing is to understand the Theory of (Special) Relativity. As a topical example, consider that eleven military vehicles are traveling at sixty miles per hour, moving from the Baghdad airport to the Green Zone in the city. Pretend that you are in vehicle number six, right in the middle of the convoy.
Next, imagine that I am standing on a hill near the midway point of your trip and witness two rockets, fired simultaneously, as they strike vehicle number one and vehicle number eleven at the same instance, exactly. I can see clearly what happened. I understand perfectly that the two rockets hit both ends of the convoy at the exact same second. But you cannot understand. You cannot see accurately because you are relative to Me.
Though I see accurately, you cannot because You are caught up in all of the relative mess and your perspective is relative to the movement of the convoy. Mine is not. I Am Absolutely still, fixed in one "location," and not moving. To you, because you are moving relative to me, you will think that the rocket that hit vehicle number one struck first. That’s the Theory of (Special) Relativity at work. See its counterpart in the Advaita Teachings and receive a lesson in the value of reaching the witnessing stages:
If you are in movement and having all of your relativisitc "experiences" but I am fixed and witnessing and non-attached, then I can know what is happening "with" you and "to" you. But your perception will be distorted by the fact that you are not still, not fixed, and not able to witness the totality of what is happening as a result of all of your motion and movement (relative to Me). What is the relevance of that teaching for you?
If you are in movement and having all of your relativisitc "experiences" but I am fixed and witnessing and non-attached, then I can know what is happening "with" you and "to" you. But your perception will be distorted by the fact that you are not still, not fixed, and not able to witness the totality of what is happening as a result of all of your motion and movement (relative to Me). What is the relevance of that teaching for you?
He who has not realized is in constant motion and is taking action and is ensnaring the self (or selves) in relative world activity, in experiencing chaos, and in running about—either mentally or physically—seeking the clear perspective and understanding that I have but that you don't. You cannot "stand back" and witness anything objectively because you are totally immersed in all of the relative nonsense of the planet. You are trying to "navigate" your way through a mirage, believing that the "world" that you're in is real and that you're following a course that will eventually lead to the fulfillment of your desires and to escape from your fears.
Since your machinations are happening relative to my Absolutely fixed position, I can see how far off course you are, but you cannot. You are on a course of accumulation, of adding to your knowledge base, of seeking happiness via things and people and places outside of Self. All other philosophies and all religions will require that you spend a lifetime learning their teachings and studying their holy texts and trying (there's your word) to be like them.
None, save this Advaita path, will tell that you do not need to learn more teachings, believe more beliefs, study more books, or do more work...forever. There is no ego involved with the Advaita Teachings which will claim that "you need what I have" or "you need to know what I know." Advaita makes clear that there is no "you" to have anything, that you do not need to learn more, that there is no trying involved, and that You already Are That Which I Am. Only Advaita will assert that it has nothing to teach you and that you have already been taught far too much and are now invited to begin de-accumulating...not accumulating more.
Einstein’s Advaita-based theory guarantees that you can never have an accurate perspective if you are in such constant motion...never fixed in Reality. The Theory of (Special) Relativity shows why persons require a guide who can witness and see and understand all that is happening in a person’s life of relativity. The requirement is for a teacher who can objectively witness what you are doing (even as you don’t have a clue about what you’re doing…much less why you’re doing it). Are you beginning to see the relevance of witnessing?
And here’s why the postings of prior days—including the discussion regarding witnessing—can be relevant for you, specifically: to admit that you’re “trying to navigate though” the “I-Amness” is to reveal that you’re not doing that as well as you might. Otherwise, the word “trying” would not have been used. The Realized are not trying to do anything. For the Realized, no doer exists and so no effort is required. All is merely happening, for the Realized. The act of finding this site also reveals that something is being searched for by you (and that for which you are searching is not limited to your activity on Google).
Yet at this point, there is nothing in your words to indicate that you have even the slightest clue regarding what you’re really searching for. Your search is for Truth, for True Self, for freedom from entrapment in a relative existence in which lies and concepts and distortions are in control of everything that you think and feel and do. To follow the “direct path” to truth as revealed in retreats and in satsang and on this site, you are invited to mobilize wisdom and apply logic, yet you also require an objective witness who can point out the distortions of your relativistic perspectives. See how logic is applied to define your present “condition” and to chart a course away from deception and toward the Truth:
THE LOGIC: He who is searching has unfulfilled desires (even if those desires are “subconscious”). To have desires is to be discontented and in fear (specificallly, discontented because desires have not been fulfilled and in fear that the desires will never be fulfilled and will thereby prevent your having a sense that you have been filled...full). Not to sense fulfillment is to sense some degree of emptiness. To sense emptiness is to be driven to find something (or “someone”) that will "fulfill you."
To think that there is a “you” who can be fulfilled is to show that you do not know Who/What You Truly Are. To think that there is someone “out there,” outside Self, who can fulfill you is also nonsense (of the co-dependent, dualistic variety) such as "He/She can make me happy." That which has the ability to make you happy will also have the ability to make you miserable. Whatever you like for a time will eventually make you miserable, and whatever you most like will make you most miserable. Your favorite sinner will become an intolerable saint, or your beloved saint will become your most despised sinner. Such is the relative existence for those trapped in personas and seeking outside Self. The postings you are discounting addressed that dilemma, and others, for you and for any who can activate wisdom and logic and thereby understand the pointers offered. Please enter the silence of contemplation. (To be continued)
