REFLECTIONS on ADVAITA: PART 4– GUEST WRITER: LOUISE STERLING

Dissolving the Cloud Cover of the Seven Degrees of Separation From Reality

“As self-identification with the body-mind is the poison that brings bondage, seek liberation by seeing that oneself is not any thing personal or perceivable.” – Nisargadatta Maharaj

Walking this planet, the majority of people are misidentified with the first three layers of cloud cover – the body, mind and personality. They are unaware of their already existing Real Nature, hypnotized by the web of beliefs, ideas or concepts that keep them functioning as separate individuals in a world of duality. Not only are most people hypnotized by this false understanding, they will argue vehemently that they are happy and fulfilled. It is this level of denial that prompts so few to search for a way out. It is like a shoal of fish caught inside a net – many of the fish will simply continue to swim inside the confines of the net, unaware that they are trapped and separated from the ocean.

When identified as a separate individual in the world, bound by mind, body, personality and the network of lies that keep this imaginary structure intact, even if the Advaitan teachings are discovered, they may seem inexplicable. The mind may be unable to grasp any intellectual meaning or understanding. Yet, there is likely to be an instant recognition of Truth. Here, there was more than an instant recognition, but a deep sense of relief and relaxation, often accompanied by spontaneous tears. This was the relief of recognizing the warm, calm, safe water of True understanding – after years of enculturated nonsense.

So, how to be free of these dense layers of conditioned beliefs and concepts? The Advaitan teachings invite You to de-accumulate and unlearn – in other words to see the beliefs and concepts as false and allow them to dissolve. Can You see that the object is to DISSOLVE the layers of cloud cover and replace them with NOTHING – no new clouds, no new ideas, no new concepts? Can you see that acquiring any new ideas will simply be creating another layer of cloud cover, replacing one set of concepts with another set of concepts?

(Note: this is a typical “blind spot” for the seeker at the third step, as concepts about materialism or childhood / tribal religious beliefs are replaced with concepts about oneness, spirituality or enlightenment. Later, even the teaching concepts of Advaita offered here must be relinquished – they are teaching devices; thorns used to remove thorns; pointers to Truth that are no longer needed when the no-concept Reality is directly known. )

When the miasma of body/mind/personality identification has dissolved, the seeker’s vision begins to clear. Still there are layers of cloud, but the cloud is less dense. The knowledge of Self-understanding begins to shine unobstructed. From this vantage point, the seeker is able to see what is being pointed to by the teacher, even if this is not yet known directly. The seeker intuitively knows “he” or “she” is not the separate individual – and identifies with the stability and permanence of the sky rather than the fleeting, temporary and shifting clouds. The seeker turns away from the false and identification with the relative world, and turns towards the Real -- through contemplation in silence and stillness. The teacher and the Inner Guru assist the seeker to clear the view by dissolving the remaining layers of separation, until the final dissolution.

Or, as Maharaj says: “It is like washing printed cloth. First the design fades, then the background, and in the end the cloth is plain white. The personality gives place to the witness, then the witness goes and pure awareness remains. The cloth was white in the beginning and is white in the end; the patterns and colors just happened - for a time.”

Remember then these pointers: You are nothing personal. You are nothing perceivable. You are not the concepts and beliefs. You are not the personal narratives and the spiritual experiences. You are not the colours or the patterns. De-accumulate. Go beyond. Find Yourself in what is not personal and not perceivable. Invite the dissolution that returns You to Your Original State.

(For further teaching on the seven degrees of separation, see the ebook available on this site entitled: From the I to the Absolute).

Please enter into the silence of contemplation. (To be continued)

Comments / clarifications may be sent to louise.advaita@gmail.com – a temporary email address available for the duration of these guest postings.