F.: Samskaras, involving memories and mental impressions, are by definition “of or pertaining to the mind,” and “the mind” over the ages has devolved into nothing more than a repository of lies and concepts that are to be transitioned if Realization is to happen. (NOTE: Such "impressions" are quite different from one property of the manifested consciousness, namely that which allows for “non-personal communication” as consciousness speaks to consciousness without bounds. An example of that was offered earlier when a woman named Elaine in Louisiana awakened abruptly at 4:30 A.M. CST and became aware of the fact that her daughter LeeAnn, in California at 2:30 A.M. PST, had been involved in an accident.)
Over the last several million years as the brain evolved from an organ the size of 400 mls to one that is over 1400 mls, two "new" sections developed that made possible the storage and retrieval of "memories" and the sensing of "impressions." The intent was for those sections of the brain to facilitate the survival of the species. Thus, if one man saw another walk off the edge of a cliff and shatter on the rocks below, the brain of the witness would record the incident in memory. Later, if that witness happened upon the edge of a cliff, his brain would retrieve the earlier memory from a section of the brain and make the man aware of a threat. Soon, the threat would be given a connotation and a sense of “not good” would be felt every time a similar happening occurred.
On different occasions, after returning home from extended hunting trips that had ended in success, the same man might approach his mate. Each time he did so, he would raise their next meal into the air for her viewing. They both would develop from those instances a sense of “good,” and that would be associated with such tangible concepts as "having a mate" and "sharing a meal" as well as with intangible concepts such as “homecomings” and "cohabitating" and "caring for" and "being cared for." Human would soon begin to form thousands of images with connotations of either “good” or “not good,” all associated with an ever-increasing number of human experiences.
Over the last several million years as the brain evolved from an organ the size of 400 mls to one that is over 1400 mls, two "new" sections developed that made possible the storage and retrieval of "memories" and the sensing of "impressions." The intent was for those sections of the brain to facilitate the survival of the species. Thus, if one man saw another walk off the edge of a cliff and shatter on the rocks below, the brain of the witness would record the incident in memory. Later, if that witness happened upon the edge of a cliff, his brain would retrieve the earlier memory from a section of the brain and make the man aware of a threat. Soon, the threat would be given a connotation and a sense of “not good” would be felt every time a similar happening occurred.
On different occasions, after returning home from extended hunting trips that had ended in success, the same man might approach his mate. Each time he did so, he would raise their next meal into the air for her viewing. They both would develop from those instances a sense of “good,” and that would be associated with such tangible concepts as "having a mate" and "sharing a meal" as well as with intangible concepts such as “homecomings” and "cohabitating" and "caring for" and "being cared for." Human would soon begin to form thousands of images with connotations of either “good” or “not good,” all associated with an ever-increasing number of human experiences.
Over millions of years, those images and connotations would be stored in the brain’s “newer” section for storage, would be retrieved repeatedly by triggering mechanisms, would be discussed and reinforced once languages developed, and would eventually be passed on as part of the genetic coding. And all of that was based in what would develop into a series of images in "the mind" that classify everything as “good” or “bad.” Those images, and that duality, gave rise to what would be called "archetypes."
The terms "good" and "bad" would eventually be used by humans to appraise and evaluate and classify and divide and separate all happenings and persons and things and places.
The terms "good" and "bad" would eventually be used by humans to appraise and evaluate and classify and divide and separate all happenings and persons and things and places.
The concept of duality was born.
After that, the sense of “separate from” would eventually become what seemed “natural.” From that point to this, not only would the Original Understanding of non-duality be lost (along with the innate and natural awareness of the unicity) but also the Teachings of non-duality would be taken by most to be the “unnatural” perspective because it became the least common.
The evolution of the brain that generated samskaras and archetypal images (both of which help perpetuate a belief in duality) also laid the roots from which duality would grow. From the belief that duality is the real, all conceptualized illusions of “separate” and “different from” and “better than” would grow. Ultimately, it would be from the conceptualized illusions of “separate” and “different from” and “better than” that all ego would grow, and from ego has come all relative existence arrogance. And from ego and arrogance and a sense of separation have come the desires and fears that generate the perceived need for power; the desire to control; the assumed right to judge and moralize and be “the one who is right”; the assumption of the right to dictate and punish or reward; the need to argue, fight, separate, and engage in wars; and the willingness (and often, indeed, the propensity) to destroy on personal, state, national and international levels. The trillions, and the trillions of trillions, of persons who have died on this planet from anything other than a "natural cause" were actually sacrifices made on the altar of ego.
The evolution of the brain that generated samskaras and archetypal images (both of which help perpetuate a belief in duality) also laid the roots from which duality would grow. From the belief that duality is the real, all conceptualized illusions of “separate” and “different from” and “better than” would grow. Ultimately, it would be from the conceptualized illusions of “separate” and “different from” and “better than” that all ego would grow, and from ego has come all relative existence arrogance. And from ego and arrogance and a sense of separation have come the desires and fears that generate the perceived need for power; the desire to control; the assumed right to judge and moralize and be “the one who is right”; the assumption of the right to dictate and punish or reward; the need to argue, fight, separate, and engage in wars; and the willingness (and often, indeed, the propensity) to destroy on personal, state, national and international levels. The trillions, and the trillions of trillions, of persons who have died on this planet from anything other than a "natural cause" were actually sacrifices made on the altar of ego.
The roots of the widespread, insane-like behavior among persons, all embroiled in the relative existence and driven by their concepts, can be traced back to evolutionary events that set the stage for the widespread belief in duality. It can be seen, therefore, that to be free of the effects of all of that programming, conditioning, genetic influence, and enculturation is an awesome and challenging undertaking. Understanding the scope of those obstacles explains why so few will ever Realize, yet for the dedicated seeker who finds a capable and willing teacher, it can happen. Please enter the silence of contemplation. (To be continued)
