FROM A SITE VISITOR: If I understand aright, then isn't the entire physical universe an appearance in consciousness? I can be comfortable with that as to the sense of sight.. but what of other sensations, some of great intensity.. of hardness/touch heat/cold How can sensations be not of external matter but of just consciousness? Ron
F.: Hello, Ron. Thx for the question. See if these pointers might clarify:
For the period of manifestation, the elemental, plant-food body can be an experiencer, but You (the Consciousness) are not the experiencer. The Consciousness can witness all that happens and, since it is manifested, the sensing of the touch, the heat, the cold, the pain or the pleasure can happen.
Asleep, even though the body is not sensing that the heart is beating or that the lungs are expanding and contracting at the behest of the manifested Consciousness, the Consciousness is aware and “overseeing” that beating and expanding and contracting. But “you” (meaning the body that most take Ron to be) are not aware of any of that, though “You,” the Consciousness, are.
When asked, “What do you do when asleep?” my teacher explained, “I am aware of being asleep.” The “I” which You Are is not the body that is sleeping.
It is the Consciousness that witnesses the heat, cold, etc., but it is the temporary, elemental body that experiences the heat and cold. (And ultimately, Ron, though the two witnessing stages are steps along the “path” to Realization, it can be understood that you are not even the witness. Prior to manifestation, You were that potentiality which could, and so happened to, manifest. In fact, You have never had any experience, a pointer that is relevant to the final discussion in today’s post regarding the terms Greg asked about.)
Also, see if this clarifies: a trip from
FROM A SITE VISITOR: You mention “Realization,” “awakening,” “liberation,” “Full Realization,” “Awareness,” “Enlightenment,” all sorts of terms that I thought meant the same. Do they or not? And what about self knowledge, self realization and self actualization? I’ve seen those too. Thank you. Greg
F.: Earlier, the pointer was offered to Ron that “You have never had any experience….” If you come to know (1) the sense of presence that the manifest consciousness is, (2) the potentiality that You Were prior to manifestation, and (3) the nothingness that preceded that (in “this universe”) then where is the awakening?
WHO is supposedly awakening? WHO is supposedly Realizing? WHO is supposedly being liberated? WHO is supposedly enlightened? WHO is supposedly actualized? When the “journey” ends with a state of zero concepts, WHO remains to do or be anything? I Am beyond beingness and non-beingness. So Are You.
The only difference between ME and anyone who believes he/she is “Realized” or “Awakened” or “Enlightened” is that I know My true nature. To know “Self” is merely to understand the Absolute. To know that which You Were before the first second that this universe manifested in a Void of Nothingness is to understand that which was prior to this universe.
That which I Am and that You Are, ultimately, is beyond all of that…beyond all that “changes” or is fleeting. It is that which is eternal and unchanging. It is not that which appears but that which precedes all appearance. (See the additional relevance of Ron’s question above to this discussion?)
All of the terms that were asked about are merely markers along the “path” on a “journey” which is not a journey at all. The “journey” is in quote marks because it is really just a process, and the terms being discussed in this series are merely thorns used to remove thorns, not some goal to be attained at the end of the process. Ultimately, these words revered by so many seekers do not even define a “state.” They are not words which describe “their current status,” a belief held by persons with only a part of the total understanding.
Another visitor asked about the phrase “SELF-Transformation” that appears in one of the titles of a book offered on a related site. Is there any such thing as “SELF-Transformation?” Of course not, but all teachers use words along the way that can be relevant to seekers at various levels.
That term is used with those who are at the wet charcoal stage and who are seeking something but haven’t a clue what that “something” is. Those so identified with the “false self” cannot even imagine, at the wet charcoal stage, what the True Self might be. Instead, they want to “change”—their habits, their lives, their conduct, their relations; thus, the term is used to allow them to begin the “journey” which they believe, in the early stages, is about changing themselves.
(It is made clear in that book that the ultimate goal is not to settle for physical sobriety but to attain as well mental, emotional, and spiritual sobriety via abandonment of “The Great Delusion” and via getting in touch with “The Great Reality” and the “True Self”.)
In the end, all of the terms discussed in this series are just concepts that can be used to remove concepts. After that happens, the terms are meaningless because the WHO dis-appears. The re-purification of the consciousness is a process, and the terms are used to discuss the various levels of the shift in the temporarily manifested consciousness from a corrupted circumstance to a re-purified circumstance. Please enter the silence of contemplation.
