ANNOUNCEMENTS
[Walter Driscoll asked to interview me in order to preserve on video some of the latest modifications and evolutions in the versions of the message offered here since 1989. He would label the discussion, "Unlearning with Floyd Henderson."
Please note: For those who have a problem hearing what is being shared, the video offers a fairly accurate set of closed captions which some listeners might want to activate.
The interview is available for viewing by clicking on video "NUMBER THIRTEEN" in the column to the right.]
1. [See the offer in gold text following this post for details on how you can watch a retreat on video which includes a detailed discussion of all seven of the steps on the path as used by Maharaj]
2. Here, with those who are still driven to talk about "god," the "Son of god," the "Holy Spirit," "Buddha," "Krishna," etc., etc., etc., the invitation to them is to view those as verbs, not nouns. See the green text after today's post for the full meaning and implications of that.
3. A newer video ("Number Ten: Awakening Together Satsang, March 2018") has now been added in the far right column of this page, offering the opportunity to view a recent 2018 satsang session with Floyd being interviewed by Regina and Jacqueline of "The Awakening Together Group." (See the details in the blue text after this post.)
4. Some prefer paperback books even if they have to wait a day or so to receive it and have to pay more for a printed book and its shipment. Now, 10 paperback books by Henderson are in print and available in two anthologies through Barnes and Noble, Amazon, and over 40,000+ booksellers around the globe including in the Americas, Germany, India, Italy, Poland, Russia, China, Spain, Brazil and South Korea. See the end of this post in red text for details.
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CONSCIOUSNESS vs. AWARENESS
Understand then, that it is this conscious presence that you are, so long as the body is there. Once your body is gone, along with the vital breath, consciousness also will leave. Only that which was prior to the appearance of this body-cum-consciousness, the Absolute, the ever-present, is your true identity. That is what we all really are. That is reality. It is here and now. Where is the question of anyone reaching for it?
-Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
The Bulb, The Light, The Energy
A seeker once said, “Will you please explain consciousness as opposed to
awareness.”
In the no-concept, non-dual Reality, there is nothing “opposed to” anything else, but the terms can be used post-realization to allow seekers to understand the nature of Reality beyond “Self”-realization.
Understand, however, that it is possible to abide as the Absolute Awareness during “the manifestation of consciousness” that is called the relative existence. The explanation will begin with this consideration for the reader:
From the third-floor balcony early one evening as a storm approached, the skies were seen to darken. Walkways cross the green terrace that leads down to the lake, and all along those paths, soccer ball-sized lights are mounted on two-foot posts to illuminate the way. As the remaining daylight was blocked by the heavy clouds, the bulbs inside the fixtures were seen to come on automatically.
As water puddled in the walkways, the lights began to cast diagonal reflections of themselves that appeared to be two to three-feet in length. Those golden lines of reflected light glistened in the water and appeared to become a thousand smaller lights, twinkling as the raindrops began to splatter into the gathered pools.
The invitation to the reader is to pause now, to consider consciousness/awareness, to consider the description, and to try to find a message in that description which might be relevant to understanding consciousness / awareness. [Please pause for consideration.]
Now, do you understand that the reflections were not the real light? Even the appearance of “a thousand smaller lights” was a misperception. If you the reader had been there and looked beyond the reflection, you would have seen the actual light fixtures in the background.
Too, you would have understood that there was something even beyond that which was housing the light, namely, a form of energy. No one had to tell that energy how to behave in order for the light and reflections to appear. It just all happened automatically.
Recall that in the no-concept, non-dual Reality, there is nothing “opposed to” anything else, but the terms “consciousness” and “awareness” are pointers used in explanations of energy manifested, energy not manifested, pure energy, corrupted energy, and energy unmanifested.
Understand first, though, that since Reality is non-dual, consciousness / awareness is not two, just as I Am / I Am That is not two. That said, “attributes” can nevertheless be pointed to for the sake of discussion and understanding.
In that analogy, the bulb temporarily is because of human behavior, just as an act of friction involving two humans made possible the temporary Is-ness of the short-term manifestation of consciousness presently being called “you.”
Because that bulb (consciousness) is, the reflections seem to be. Yet neither the consciousness (bulb) nor the perceived reflections are real; that is, neither are that which is permanent. The bulb (consciousness) will someday not be as the elements combined as the space called “a bulb” will return to the pool of universal elements.
When the consciousness (bulb) is manifested no more, then the reflections that only appear to be real will no longer be perceived at all. What remains?
The energy that made possible the temporarily manifested consciousness (the lit bulb), which had made it possible for false reflections to seem real and which made it possible for the false “smaller lights” to seem real.
That which is behind and beyond the bulb - the Awareness - allowed the consciousness to be temporarily manifested. The temporary manifestation of consciousness generated the temporary misperceptions.
Thus: “Those alone who understand that I, the Absolute, am beyond the states of being and non-being realize my true nature, and all others are fools.”
Glue, Sticky and Stickiness
Understand that consciousness is just a particular “form” of awareness, made impure via programming and conditioning and enculturation. Awareness is the no-knower knowingness. Consciousness can be either (a) the not knowing, as with persons, or (b) the knowing which is assumed to be known by a “knower.”
Another analogy might provide clarify for some seekers regarding the nature of Reality beyond “Self”-realization. Take glue to represent consciousness and “stickiness” to be awareness.
Consider glue sticks. Happenings by humans can result in elements being combined and temporarily manifesting as glue sticks. Glue can be described as “sticky” but, ultimately, “stickiness” is why it can be sticky.
Similarly, consciousness is what allows consciousness of to happen, but awareness is why the consciousness can happen. Glue is sticky - stickiness is why. Similarly, consciousness is what facilitates knowing (understanding), but awareness is why the known / the understood can be known / understood.
(To extend the metaphor and the understanding, Awareness is the “stickiness” that allows the sticky glue of Consciousness to happen. The sticky glue is temporary; “stickiness” is the nature of the glue that is eternal.)
Consider these analogies:
sticky glue : stickiness as
the known : the potential for knowingness as
consciousness : awareness
Realize that glue, while a temporary combination of physical elements, has no independent and eternal existence apart from that fundamental background of “stickiness.” Similarly, consciousness, while manifested via a temporary combination of physical elements, has no independent existence apart from its fundamental background of awareness.
Glue, even if not being used to adhere one thing to another, still retains its essence of stickiness. Even glue that is not gluing is still sticky.
Like that, awareness is the Fundamental Essence of Reality and the actual identity of That which temporarily manifests on occasion.
Stickiness is the fundamental essence of glue and is its actual identity when elements come together in a way that results in glue being manifest. Stickiness is the backdrop against which all individual forms of glue come about and adhere . . . by which adherence happens.
You might get all caught up in a gluing process, get glue on your hands, stick all sorts of things together accidentally, and experience all sorts of chaos and anxiety and misery that might ensue, but the nature of the glue - the stickiness - remains undisturbed.
That Which “You Are” is the “stickiness,” not the glue which can lead to such a mess when manifested. Only if abidance happens in that fashion can an undisturbed relative existence happen.
To continue with the analogy, the capacity for glue to be sticky existed prior to any elements coming together and “making” glue. As the conditions and elements came together and glue took a physical form, its essence of stickiness manifested. The possibility for stickiness to manifest predated the glue.
Consider glue sticks and Scotch tape and Post-It Notes. While manifested, they can each exhibit the “attribute” of being sticky; but the Laws of Thermodynamics are constantly activated, so at some point those elements will return to the universal pool of elements. Then, what remains? Not glue sticks nor Scotch tape nor Post-It Notes but only . . . certain elements and “stickiness.”
Now, please understand what can and what cannot happen with the Post-It Notes in order to understand what cycles and what does not.
If you understand this, then you can be free of the belief in such nonsense as the Dalai Lama’s claim that “New Orleans was struck by Hurricane Katrina because of the bad (dualistic) karma of the people.” You can be free of belief in such dualistic nonsense as “You are going to cycle and cycle and cycle again, until you get it right.”
To be continued.
Please enter into the silence of contemplation.
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THE EXPLANATION
Yeshu'a (Jesus) and Pope John Paul II and Pope Francis were spot on:
"No one shall ever see 'the kingdom of heaven.' It is within"
and
"Heaven and earth shall fade away."
and
"Heaven and hell are not geographic places
"There is no hell."
teachings which become a part of the Papal Magisterium.
