TODAY'S CONSIDERATIONS
[You will be given access into the consciousness "in real time" in order to see exactly how the understanding unfolded, step-by-step, as every part of the vision - and The Understanding - eventually became clear. What is being quoted (in green) are the revelations that were emanating from the inner resource - that is, via the pure consciousness ... the inner guru - as the final blockages were falling away and allowing access to that which had always been known, within.] Now . . .
THE REST OF THE STORY:
An earlier series that introduced the fact that "the journey" actually has three "legs" or parts was an understanding that came after a dream which continued where the vision left off. In that dream, the way that Awareness manifests was seen as Awareness exited into the crystal cave via the door of the dome of light, crossed the cave, exited through the veil into the tunnel, was shot out of the tunnel in the form of the eagle, transformed into a gull and then a raven, entered into manifestation, and moved through the arch and into a human body.
The difference after coming back a second time after Realization? The body left the forest, walked across a field, returned to the same situation it was in prior to the journey to the cave and the dome and beyond, and then continued with the relative existence. But in a totally different way.
That's what happens when the understanding of Reality is overlaid on "reality" . . . on the relative existence. That is the third leg of "the journey":
On the first leg, there is the process of moving from Your Original Nature to identification with the body. That "journey" separates persons by seven degrees from an awareness of Awareness and their Original Nature.
On the second leg, the seeker completes the entire "journey" as described in the vision and Realizes.
Many seekers stop there, never completing the third leg but living in a kind of "foo-foo world, out there" . . . dissociated . . . detached from "reality" (from things relative) and forsaking the Am-ness rather than allowing "Applied Advaita" to allow for joy and / or peace to happen spontaneously throughout the remainder of the manifestation.
The third leg is like the first except it happens with full awareness - fully aware of the way that programming, conditioning, domestication, acculturation, brainwashing and indoctrination led to a relative existence that was marked and marred by what Maharaj called "ignorance, stupidity, and insanity."
Happening with full awareness, the original "traps" (which persons are subjected to during the initial manifestation) are avoided this time around, allowing the remainder of the manifestation to unfold spontaneously under the auspices of understanding, reason, logic and sanity.
So, revealed through the vision are the three parts of "the journey" (the three legs, if you will), all of which are required for Realization and natural abidance.
There are also, however, several other groups of three in the vision that can reveal more about non-duality if their meaning and symbolism are understood:
there are three birds;
there are three types of "bodies" that represent three stages of shifting beyond the influence of programming, conditioning, domestication, acculturation, brainwashing and indoctrination;
there are three states in which the energy functions: prior to consciousness, during the manifestation of consciousness, and then once again unmanifested / not manifested; and
there are three levels that must be transcended to complete the "going back, the reversing" including the unblocking of the consciousness, reaching "the borderline" that Maharaj spoke of, and then "crossing over."
So, to begin, let's look at what the three birds can reveal about the non-dual understanding.
After awakening fully following the vision, a rough overview of the vision's content was written quickly and sketchily so that it would not be lost as happened with Coleridge and his vision that would be laid out only partially in "Kubla Khan."
[According to Coleridge's Preface to "Kubla Khan," the poem was composed one night after he experienced a drug-induced dream that came following the reading of a work describing Xanadu, the summer palace of the Mongol ruler and Emperor of China Kublai Khan.
Upon waking, Coleridge set about writing the lines of poetry that came to him from the dream until he was interrupted by a person visiting from Porlock.
The poem could not be completed according to its original 200–300 line plan as the interruption caused Coleridge to forget the lines.
Knowing that, I determined that it would not happen. A knock at my door (later determined to have been by the condominium's jack-of-all-trades, Manuel) was ignored, and the overview of the vision was on paper.
Then, I moved to the computer and began fleshing out more of the details that were still fresh, then immediately adding more details that came with a second and third and fourth reading of the script containing the vision.
At that point, the focus was on recalling and recording concrete details only, reproducing as many specific elements of the vision as possible.
There was no clue at all at that point about what the vision meant. There was only a sense that the content had the potential to reveal something significant that I had been trying to understand for years.
When clarity via the vision began to come, it came not at once but over a period of days and weeks as more and more of the messages contained therein were considered in the silence.
Even more understanding came with the dream referenced above that provided clarity around the "third leg" of "the journey" that is required. Additional research gave more clarity first to the message of the three birds and then much, much more later on.]
As with many people, there was already a general understanding of some of the symbolism of the three birds. The raven was known to be associated with the concept of "death" (from Poe's "Raven" and the bird's haunting repetition of "nevermore"); from the term "being gulled," there was a sense that the gull symbolized ignorance . . . not knowing; and the eagle was known for being a sharp and keen and clear observer that could see far more than any average human and that had a sharper focus and more accurate perception than any human or animal on the planet. It was known that, when on a quest, the eagle can dive at speeds of 125–200 miles per hour.
But even after the research, the entire message behind the three birds was not clear. The "seven-step path" had most certainly not been revealed at that point. So questioning began: "Why did a body stay outside the arch?"
This from the vision was reconsidered:
Stepping inside, you look over your shoulder to see that your physical body has remained outside the arch. You sense some degree of separation from the material.
Then this was asked: "What was the body that was walking through trees and across water? Certainly that could not be a physical body."
So these three parts of the vision were reconsidered: When you turn to see where the arch has led, you notice that the spring waters have suddenly multiplied into a slow-moving stream
and
Trees line either side of the stream, and you begin walking through them toward the sounds of the water crashing below. Astonished, you noticed that you are literally walking through the trees
and
As you near the edge of the cliff, you walk across the top of the water, not becoming wet at all.
Then there was the query: "What's the deal with the raven, and what is transferred from the body by the fire, and what is the deal with the raven ending and manifesting as a gull; and then what is the significance of the gull crashing into an eagle and becoming . . . that?"
Now, a pause for you to consider. Are You understanding something about the message being revealed through the symbolism of the three birds?
To be continued.
Please enter into the silence of contemplation.
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