FROM A SITE VISITOR: Apologies for the length of this e-mail but there are several points I am requesting you clarify. After reading FROM THE I TO THE ABSOLUTE, I thought I “had it”—had a clear understanding of self and Self and “how all functions”. Now, reading CONSCIOUSNESS/AWARENESS, I’m seeing I really didn’t understand as much as I thought. You quote your teacher who seems to contradict himself (and I know that can’t be the case) but in one quote he says that the consciousness is in the juice of the body but he also says that the consciousness never comes or goes but only appears to have come. Then, when the discussion turns to Awareness, he says that the Absolute is my “true identity” prior to the appearance of the body-cum-consciousness. I no longer conclude that your pointers or his are self-contradictory--you’ve made clear the difference in paradoxes and contradictions. I also know the difference in pointers offered for beginners and pointers reserved for the “advanced seeker”. Still, I am requesting further explanation regarding the above, especially after so much talk of “cycles” and “cycling”. Thank you. Steven
F.: Hello again, Steven. First, the term “advanced seeker” can be used in the discussion as long as it is clear that the reference is to seekers who have completed most of the seven steps on the “journey” to Reality and as long as it is clear that there is really no “journey,” no “path,” and nowhere to go since You already Are That which you seek.
1. Today’s post will focus on the consciousness is in the juice of the body. Take “the body” to refer not merely to a human body but to the body of a leafy plant or the body of an acorn or the body of a bird as well. Consider the body of a leafy plant. The following pointer was posted earlier:
A plant will change the direction of its leaves by a micro-degree each day before sunrise in order to maximize the amount of light that it can gather during the daylight hours. It knows—is conscious of the fact—that the sun will rise at a slightly different point on the horizon each morning. At night, the energy moves to the lower regions of the plant and is “at rest,” and as the plant “awakens,” the energy moves back up and throughout the plant and makes its pre-sunrise adjustments.
So the consciousness “in the juices of the body” points to the chemical aspect of the functioning of consciousness. When Awareness that is not aware of itself manifests as consciousness which can be aware of itself (and which, if pure, can be aware of itSelf), nothing more than a natural, chemical process is happening. Compare that to the chemistry involved with photography:
In the 1990’s, a photography business that was owned required the use of film each day. Film is actually just a strip of plastic with a chemical coating applied to its surface. That plastic-cum-chemical was exposed to light and was “developed” with more chemicals. Next, paper that was also coated with chemicals was exposed to light and placed in more chemicals in order to generate a print. The process allowed images to “appear” on paper. Similarly with humans, perceiving—and misperceiving—involve a body-cum-consciousness, chemicals, light, images, and appearances.
The act of a human holding a photograph and supposedly perceiving another person, or even supposedly perceiving an image of another person, is happening because of the juice of the photo chemicals and because of the consciousness in the juice of the body. Yet what is thought to be seen is not what is being seen at all. All of the illusions and delusions addressed by the Advaita Teachings are subsequent to an accidental, spontaneous chemical process involving consciousness and juices.
In the case of the photo, a person is actually viewing a series of tightly-compressed dots. The more dots per square inch, the clearer the image seems to be. Yet it is just a set of dots that are mistakenly taken to be something that they are not. They are not “the real thing” and they are certainly not that which was “behind” the image. (Use a magnifying glass to look closely at a full-page picture in a magazine for evidence: even when people know they are seeing something that is not real, they can still miss what is real “behind” or “beyond” the image.)
The more relevant pointer involving this “consciousness and juice” topic, however, is this: the warped consciousness cannot perceive “the real thing.” Awareness is “the real thing” that is “behind” any perceptions that the warped-by-faulty-programming-consciousness only thinks it is perceiving.
What the warped-by-faulty-programming-consciousness thinks it is seeing is all merely one image after another. To the contrary, the pure or re-purified consciousness can understand That Which Is beyond all the images and misperceptions and delusions that persons mistakenly take to be real. The pure or re-purified consciousness can be aware of itSelf (that is, its presence) as well as That Which Is beyond beingness and non-beingness.
In comparison, when humans-cum-warped-consciousness think that they are seeing something, nothing more than a chemical process is happening as a result of the consciousness manifested via the juices. There is a physical, chemical process under way; additionally, there is also an unnatural cause behind that act by which non-Realized persons think that they are certain of what they are seeing when they are not seeing that at all. Persons only misperceive.
As far as any relationship between “The Consciousness” and “me,” understand that the “me” is a misperception which appears in consciousness after it has been corrupted with misinformation. Understand, too, that--as long as the juices-cum-corrupted-consciousness are flowing through the human body--anything supposedly witnessed by a "third party observer" is a misperception. Meaning?
F.: Hello again, Steven. First, the term “advanced seeker” can be used in the discussion as long as it is clear that the reference is to seekers who have completed most of the seven steps on the “journey” to Reality and as long as it is clear that there is really no “journey,” no “path,” and nowhere to go since You already Are That which you seek.
1. Today’s post will focus on the consciousness is in the juice of the body. Take “the body” to refer not merely to a human body but to the body of a leafy plant or the body of an acorn or the body of a bird as well. Consider the body of a leafy plant. The following pointer was posted earlier:
A plant will change the direction of its leaves by a micro-degree each day before sunrise in order to maximize the amount of light that it can gather during the daylight hours. It knows—is conscious of the fact—that the sun will rise at a slightly different point on the horizon each morning. At night, the energy moves to the lower regions of the plant and is “at rest,” and as the plant “awakens,” the energy moves back up and throughout the plant and makes its pre-sunrise adjustments.
So the consciousness “in the juices of the body” points to the chemical aspect of the functioning of consciousness. When Awareness that is not aware of itself manifests as consciousness which can be aware of itself (and which, if pure, can be aware of itSelf), nothing more than a natural, chemical process is happening. Compare that to the chemistry involved with photography:
In the 1990’s, a photography business that was owned required the use of film each day. Film is actually just a strip of plastic with a chemical coating applied to its surface. That plastic-cum-chemical was exposed to light and was “developed” with more chemicals. Next, paper that was also coated with chemicals was exposed to light and placed in more chemicals in order to generate a print. The process allowed images to “appear” on paper. Similarly with humans, perceiving—and misperceiving—involve a body-cum-consciousness, chemicals, light, images, and appearances.
The act of a human holding a photograph and supposedly perceiving another person, or even supposedly perceiving an image of another person, is happening because of the juice of the photo chemicals and because of the consciousness in the juice of the body. Yet what is thought to be seen is not what is being seen at all. All of the illusions and delusions addressed by the Advaita Teachings are subsequent to an accidental, spontaneous chemical process involving consciousness and juices.
In the case of the photo, a person is actually viewing a series of tightly-compressed dots. The more dots per square inch, the clearer the image seems to be. Yet it is just a set of dots that are mistakenly taken to be something that they are not. They are not “the real thing” and they are certainly not that which was “behind” the image. (Use a magnifying glass to look closely at a full-page picture in a magazine for evidence: even when people know they are seeing something that is not real, they can still miss what is real “behind” or “beyond” the image.)
The more relevant pointer involving this “consciousness and juice” topic, however, is this: the warped consciousness cannot perceive “the real thing.” Awareness is “the real thing” that is “behind” any perceptions that the warped-by-faulty-programming-consciousness only thinks it is perceiving.
What the warped-by-faulty-programming-consciousness thinks it is seeing is all merely one image after another. To the contrary, the pure or re-purified consciousness can understand That Which Is beyond all the images and misperceptions and delusions that persons mistakenly take to be real. The pure or re-purified consciousness can be aware of itSelf (that is, its presence) as well as That Which Is beyond beingness and non-beingness.
In comparison, when humans-cum-warped-consciousness think that they are seeing something, nothing more than a chemical process is happening as a result of the consciousness manifested via the juices. There is a physical, chemical process under way; additionally, there is also an unnatural cause behind that act by which non-Realized persons think that they are certain of what they are seeing when they are not seeing that at all. Persons only misperceive.
As far as any relationship between “The Consciousness” and “me,” understand that the “me” is a misperception which appears in consciousness after it has been corrupted with misinformation. Understand, too, that--as long as the juices-cum-corrupted-consciousness are flowing through the human body--anything supposedly witnessed by a "third party observer" is a misperception. Meaning?
Meaning that no subject-object witnessing is truly Pure Witnessing. The pure conscious presence can be aware of its presence…that’s all. The pure, non-dual consciousness is not aware of “this” or “that.” Among the Realized, there is no belief that (1) a subject is viewing an object or (2) that a third party can view a subject as it views an object. Such would be an act in duality, and all supposed dualities are illusion. Knower-known-knowing is a triad appearing to be real but that is also just a faulty misperception. Why?
Because the recognition of presence that can happen via the pure consciousness becomes misdirected when exposed to faulty programming and conditioning. Programming and conditioning can lead the warped consciousness to assume a sense of separation, can lead the warped consciousness to assume the role of a subject witnessing an object, or can led the warped consciousness to assume the role of a third party observer and take subjects and objects to be real when they are not "The Real" at all.
Subject-object witnessing is only one of two levels of witnessing. The pure consciousness merely witnesses its own presence. There is nothing else to witness, Really. Please enter the silence of contemplation. (To be continued)
READINGS RELATED TO TODAY’S TOPIC:
Click THE ESSENCE OF THE TEACHINGS
and
Click FROM THE I TO THE ABSOLUTE (A Seven-Step Journey to Reality)
and
Click CONSCIOUSNESS/AWARENESS (The Nature of Reality Beyond SELF-Realization)
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READINGS RELATED TO TODAY’S TOPIC:
and
and
MAKE YOUR OWN PACKAGE (FOR A LIMITED TIME): 10% OFF if two books are ordered at the same time; 15% OFF if three books are ordered at the same time; 20% OFF if four or more books are ordered at the same time.
