THE LOVE WHISPERINGS OF ADVAITA. PART 5 – SITE CO-HOST: LOUISE STERLING

Imagine a person in a pool of water and mud, stirred up so there is the appearance of muddy water. Bound at the level of the body and the mind, the person will churn about in the water, constantly making it muddy. The person will perceive the muddy water as “natural” and “normal” and live comfortably within it, despite its muddy appearance. Perhaps the person will experience feelings of “happiness” when he stops churning for a while and the water clears a little; although this will always a temporary reprieve, followed by more churning, and the feelings of “unhappiness” that are associated with the very muddy water. Bound at the level of the spiritual ego, there will likely be attempts to stabilize the clear water in the pool, by keeping the muddy particles at bay. Since personas are always in motion, “blowing their trumpets” in one way or another, these attempts never succeed, although they may give the appearance of succeeding for brief moments. So for periods, the person bound at the third step may experience feeling “at one with”, “spiritual”, “connected with their higher self”, “living their spiritual vision”, etc. However, these experiences will inevitably be followed by feeling “out of connection with”, “ego-bound”, and “unspiritual." In other words, the spiritually-bound persona is still churning about in the water, even if the churning thoughts and actions are believed to be "spiritual". By contrast, what happens when the so-called "person" in the pool simply stops moving and churning about? Eventually, all the muddy particles sink to the bottom of the pool, and the already present pristine, clear water is revealed.

The LOVE whisperings of Advaita are simple, yet few (less than one in a million) will truly understand, since few will have the wisdom to let go of the churning of mind-based activity; few will be prepared to drop this predilection with constantly stirring up the water in the pool; and even fewer will have the inclination to drop what is personality-driven, and rest in the still silence, the deep blue shade without words and thought.

A fundamental tenet of Advaita is that in the non-volitional state, the essence of pure consciousness is activated, and the intuitive understanding dissolves the filters of misidentification so the truth can be directly known. This “process” occurs in silence, and even during the temporary appearance of the subject-object, Teacher-seeker “relationship”, the seeker will be provided with pointers to take into silent consideration. [Notice how often persons fool themselves into thinking that they spend substantial amounts of time in silent contemplation, when in reality this so-called “silence” is characterized by: talking, preaching, listening to music, singing, chanting prayers, singing hymns, thinking; in other words , churning up the water in the pool through self-directed activity.]

The non-dual state is that in which what APPEARS to be differentiated is directly perceived as a Unicity; where the constant movement or flow between Noumenon and Phenomenon is directly perceived as ONE, as described accurately in the statement I AM THAT; I AM. The dark blue shade, the silence of contemplation, is a state without “eyes”, without differentiating borders. Here, it is possible for that false sense of the flavoring of individuality to dissolve. Language and thought (which arises from language) differentiate and divide this relative world into a multiplicity. While still in the bondage of identification, the seeker will perceive himself as a separate subject in a world of objects. The structures of language and thought reinforce this false view.

The unconditioned and undifferentiated silence of non-volitional action is what dissolves this false sense of separation. The fears, for example, of “becoming a robot” are ungrounded and absurd. The Teachings point to the total, radical elimination of self-identity. In the absence of self-identity, there is no one: no volitional person, no robot, no spiritual being. Instead, post-Realization, there is simply spontaneous functioning. As Maharaj explains:

The Absolute nounemality manifests itself through millions of forms which are created and destroyed every moment, and in this spontaneous functioning there is no place at all for the notion of any entity. Therefore, any action taken based on the notion that you are an autonomous, independent entity seeking 'liberation' will only lock you further into 'bondage'. When you analyze the situation you will discover that it is but consciousness seeking the unmanifested source of manifestation, and not finding it, because this consciousness, ever-moving, ever-active, is actually just seeking itself, in its serene, inactive, potential state. It is the seeker that is being sought. When this is deeply, intuitively perceived then the seeker will disappear and the Source will remain.

Ask Yourself:

• Are You churning about in the pool, acting out your various desires and fears, and constantly stirring up muddy water …or are You resting in the silence of non-volition where the already pure, clear water of awareness is revealed?

• Do You ACTUALLY enter the deep, blue, unconditioned silence of contemplation … or are you fooling yourself and calling your busy spiritual activities “silence”?

• Do You realize that identifying Yourself with what is differentiated, separate and bound up with language and thought is a barrier to true understanding?

• Have You directly understood that the multiplicity is perceived via false perception; that in reality there is simply the Unicity (ONE appearing as many), and your attachment to yourself as subject (separate individual in the work) keeps you in bondage?

The “serene, inactive, potential state” can never be experienced. THAT can never be named, described or labeled. “The absolute principle cannot know itself.” However, the direct intuitive understanding (which comes through consideration of these pointers in silence) dissolves the false barriers, the false sense of self-identity, and reveals Your true nature; Post-Realization what is intuitively known can be overlaid on the relative, and the Amness enjoyed, for the rest of the manifestion.

Let us end this post, with another of Maharaj’s whispers of LOVE:

You are the timeless, spaceless, imperceptible being, and not what appears as a separate object... time-bound, finite and perceptible to the senses. 'Bondage' arises because you have forgotten your real being, the noumenon, and you identify yourself with the body, the phenomenon. But 'bondage' is not caused merely by identification with the body, which as an instrument is necessary for consciousness to remain in manifestation. Body and consciousness are naturally bound together and remain inextricably linked until the life-breath leaves the body at death, and the consciousness is released from its phenomenal form. What causes 'bondage' is not the association of the body with consciousness, but the imagined conception of an independent, autonomous entity which assumes doership, and takes responsibility for actions and their consequences.

To be continued.

Please enter the silence of contemplation.

(For extending teaching on the Advaitan Understanding – that guide You from the temporary fluctuating relative stance to abidance as Your Real Nature, see the links on the right hand side of this blog.)

Comments / clarifications may be sent to louise.advaita@gmail.com