IDENTIFICATION: Something, or No thing? Part Fourteen, The Conclusion

[EXCERPTS from the book FROM THE ABSOLUTE TO THE NOTHINGNESS, to be released next week. The pointers in this book are only for the most advanced seekers. The reading of this book should follow a reading and an understanding of the pointers in FROM THE I TO THE ABSOLUTE and CONSCIOUSNESS/AWARENESS.]

FROM A SITE VISITOR: No identity at all? Everybody is SOMETHING, and whatever that SOMETHING is, is our identity.

F.: The Direct Path Method of no-concept, non-dual Reality takes no prisoners; gives short shrift to those who want to fight to defend their ego-states; gives nothing to anyone; encourages de-accumulation rather than more accumulating; takes away all of the mirages that persons have attached to; eliminates the “mind”; and brings to an end the belief in all false personas and roles and phony images in order to put an end to disharmony-causing personality once and for all.

If one completes the entire “journey” to Full Realization, then what manifests afterwards, spontaneously and automatically, is the sweetness of the resulting Void…the peace that manifests when beingness happens from The Sweet Void of zero concepts.

Personas experience a constant state of flux, so happiness and unhappiness will constantly “come and go.” Persons are caught up in a play in consciousness, and it has many characters…some of which they play and others which they take to be real. In that fictional play, there is no stability. Ultimately, of course, there is no stability, period. All is in a constant state of fluctuation.

Persons, taking the relative to be real, feel incomplete; they are trapped in the turmoil and flux. As a result of that constant fluctuation, their “relationships” will be marked by fluctuations as well; thus (in their "minds"), their favorite sinner will become an intolerable saint, or their beloved saint will become a much-despised sinner. They will constantly shift into and out of states of emotional intoxication, whether in traffic, at work, at home…wherever…whenever.

Such is the relative existence for those trapped in any identity and experiencing the fluctuations. In their attachment to the play and the drama and the roles, persons will walk the stage of the Drama of the Lie and will be the histrionic mouthpiece of “the something” and the “someones” and the "somebodies." By contrast, what functions here is the consciousness which speaks as the mouthpiece of the Nothingness and the Void.

Whereas the Consciousness/Awareness is the Final Frontier of the understanding, the Nothingness was prior to the Frontier.

Seekers are only able to move to Stage Four and toward Stage Five when they truly grasp the simplicity of natural functioning. [See The Essence of the Teachings for an explanation of “The Five Stages” discussed by the early Advaitin sages, not to be confused with "the Seven Steps to Reality."] The relative is maddening to persons; abiding as the Absolute, madness cannot happen since there is no “mind.”

Similarly, “something” can always be maddening to persons; the Nothingness, on the other hand, can have no effect at all…“good” or “bad.” The Nothingness is the essence of AS IF living after Stage Five de-accumulation. The nothingness, and even the no-nothingness, are at the core of no-concept non-duality.

The ultimate freedom and independence can only happen if abiding as that Void. In that mode, abiding as that state of Nothingness with zero concepts, the relative existence happens naturally as the consciousness remains manifest but does not attach to any identities or ideas or beliefs or dogma or religious teachings or so-called "spirituality" or any other form of "learned ignorance." Functioning in that void, even the noble (and often ego-supporting) identity of THAT is of no concern.

The alternative to the peace of the Nothingness is that state of innumerable concepts in which most will live out the manifestation, trapped in personas, driven by fears and desires, imprisoned by attachments, never able to relax and take it easy, but convinced in that dream (or nightmare) state that they are free and happy. They will be in such denial that they will really believe, and enthusiastically proclaim, that they are not bored and that they are not depressed.

Yet they are not free, so they cannot possibly be happy. They are so bored that they can eventually develop an addiction to chaos in an effort to try to counteract their world-weariness (rather than seeing that "the world" is just another part of their dream—their Drama of the Lie). They are depressed, often on two levels: organic and situational. Why? They want to be “SOMEBODY” and they want to "be someone" significant or important or relevant or successful. Those aims will always be illusory and will generate desires that cannot be met, so frustration is guaranteed.

Happiness begins when the Stage One and Two search for more goes and when being content with less comes at Stage Five. Happiness becomes fixed when nothing is desired. It reaches a new height during AS IF living when the Void is enjoyed. It reaches the ultimate bliss after it is seen that, paradoxically, the Void is the fullness.

The re-purified consciousness will lead to de-accumulating, to understanding the bliss of the nothingness, to touching the validity of the void, and to being free of the insanity and/or personality disorders that will otherwise dominate their relative existence.

To understand the sweetness of the Void does not prevent the happenings that will happen for the remainder of the manifestation. It will merely allow the arrogance that drives the seeking of significance to dissolve, will allow persons to stop thinking that everything matters so much, and will allow the end of making mountains out of proverbial molehills. That can bring to an end their living in the shadows of the valleys generated as a result of over-reacting and misperceiving.

The Full Understanding can end your attachment to illusions such as “this life”; such as, “my significance”; such as, "the great meaning that my life has"; such as “the need to cling to certain 'valuable' concepts, though they haven’t provided the real answers even after thirty years or more”; ad infinitum. See, and then you can stop screaming for help and just…be.

Understand the Void. Rather than “having it all,” go for “The Grand Prize”: Nothing. When aligned with the nothingness, what needs to be said? Nothing. What needs to be heard? Nothing. In terms of noise, what is required? Nothing. What is there to be concerned about? Nothing. What is desired? Nothing. What is needed? Nothing. What can take away your independence? Nothing. What can take away your peace? Nothing. Via this understanding, what can happen in the relative existence that is not natural and peaceful? Nothing. What can move you from your position of neutrality and non-attachment? Nothing.

Will the elements still always return to the pool of universal elements? Yes. Will the air return to the pool of universal air? Yes. Will the energy return to the universal field of energy? Yes, but now, that which was before the elements, before the air, and before the manifestation of energy and matter, will be understood.

That which is beyond beingness and non-beingness will also be understood. That which was prior to either is understood. When that is understood, no desire for an identity manifests, and no fear of having “no identity” can manifest. What manifests is a position of zero concepts.

Zero concepts guarantees zero identities, zero fears, zero desires, zero unhappiness, zero anxiety, zero restlessness, zero conflict, zero attachments, zero imprisonment, zero…period.

Enjoy the Nothingness and even the No-Nothingness. Peace and Light. Please enter the silence of contemplation.

AN OVERVIEW:
NOTE: If you’ve read some of these books but know that a firm foundation and/or a review is indicated, or if you merely want to engage in some non-duality entertainment, go to http://floydhenderson.com/order.htm, provide your information and in the "Special Message" box, indicate which of the three Advaita packages below you want, and then read the books in proper sequence. Your multi-book discounts will be applied. Here is the order in which the books are to be read and how to get the three packages at the reduced rate:

Consider the Meditation CD, the Meditation Guides, Bullshit, and Spiritual Sobriety to be a “Beginner’s Package,” providing a foundation from which persons can begin to consider realities that are beyond the beliefs which they accept unquestioningly as a result of their enculturation. Used as a group, the works encourage inquiry (which is at the core of the Advaita approach) where questioning has not occurred before. [See MAKE YOUR OWN PACKAGE below.]

Consider Peace of Mind, Liberation, What Happens When I Die? and The Essence of the Teachings to be a “Mid-Level Seekers” Package, freeing seekers of the false identification with body and mind and personality and explaining the basic terminology that must be understood before moving to the advanced teachings. [See MAKE YOUR OWN PACKAGE below.]

Consider From the I to the Absolute, Consciousness/Awareness, and From the Absolute to the Nothingness to be an “Advanced Seekers” Package. From the I to the Absolute can serve as a guide for earnest and capable seekers, putting the teachings into an orderly context that reveals the exact steps that must be taken in an exact order to move through all of the degrees of separation from belief in the false “I” to Realization. Consciousness/Awareness offers the next level of understanding, explaining that which is beyond the beingness and how happiness can manifest each day via the understanding. Finally, From the Absolute to the Nothingness will allow earnest and capable seekers to understand the state that is even prior to beingness and non-beingness, even prior to the Absolute. The seeker who understands the content of this book will realize how it is that—from a state of non-existence or nothingness—everything in this universe (and all universes) came to be. [See MAKE YOUR OWN PACKAGE below.]
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POINTERS ON CONSCIOUSNESS FOR “ADVANCED SEEKERS,” Part Three, The Conclusion

F.: Please see the September 12, 2007 posting for the e-mail being responded to in this posting.

3. Today’s post will focus on…

…the Absolute is my “true identity” prior to the appearance of the body-cum-consciousness.

Understand that, once divested of body-mind-personality identifications, many will take the consciousness to be “their true identity.” At certain points along the “path,” some Advaitin Teachers will leave it at that until more of the seven steps are completed. For you, more can now be shared.

First, expand upon yesterday’s sleeping/not sleeping example in order to move to a deeper understanding. See that “You” are still there in the sleep state even if body awareness is not. Via consciousness, all experiences take place, but as the Absolute, there is no “one” to even “have experiences.” (Talk about “freedom” and “peace”!)

The senses function via consciousness, but no sensations exist as the Absolute. Consider: if you lose an arm, are You still you? Yes. Both arms? Yes, You’re still You. And both legs? Yes, You Are still You. What about after heart replacement? Yes, You Are still You.

WHO (or WHAT) is that which is aware if Your You-ness Which Is, beyond bodily presence? WHO (or WHAT) is that which is answering “Yes”? WHO (or WHAT) is that Real You that is aware of ItSelf even after body identification is abandoned…even after self-ness is exposed as being nothing more than fiction?

After seeing that You Are not the body, see next that You Are also not the manifested consciousness that is dependent upon a three-dimensional space in order to manifest. Is it not obvious how truly infantile the belief is that Reality is limited to that which is three-dimensional?

Is it clear that nothing which takes itself to be three-dimensional can understand that which is beyond three dimensions and beyond five senses? Are you realizing that even the sense of presence, once identified with three dimensions and five senses, will also obstruct the understanding of what is Real?

Not a day went by, while walking along deer trails during the two forest years, that birds weren’t flushed from their perches. They would fly some twenty or thirty yards away and land on another limb, moving away from what they sensed to be a threat to the continuation of their presence. They had no understanding of that which is beyond the three-dimensional but they were aware of a sense of presence. Wanting to continue that sense of presence, they experienced fear and desire.

But the birds did not experience any attachment to the fear, getting over being startled very quickly and then moving on in peace throughout the relative existence. While those bird-bodies-cum-consciousness were aware of self, they were incapable of being aware of Self, and need not be since they have not been burdened with the illusions of a “mind” and “memories.”

Such is not the case with persons who want to “move on in peace throughout the relative existence.” Because of programming and conditioning and the resulting “mind,” persons become attached to the body-cum-consciousness, accepting that as their “true identity” and thereafter being burdened with desires and fears (which they do attach to).

Peace can only happen with persons if false identities and the “mind” are transcended. Only is no longer absorbed in self, and only if free of identification with the manifested consciousness, and only if free of all that is invoked by that sense of presence and that body-cum-consciousness, can persons Realize and thereafter move on in peace.

So that covers the false identities which must be abandoned before You can find Your “true identity.” Now, consider: (1) What is that You which is neither the body nor the accidental, spontaneous manifestation of consciousness? (2) Where were You during the days prior to conception? That is, where were You prior to the manifestation of consciousness?

As noted on several occasions, Szent-Gyorgyi said, “What drives life is … a little electric current, set up by the sunshine.” If persons do not understand the simple, basis scientific facts concerning fornication, impregnation, and the grouping and un-grouping of elements, then they will be foolish enough to believe anything.

That foolishness can include belief in concepts such as “an everlasting body,” such as “being a gift from God,” such as “pre-existence and sacred contracts,” and such as any of the other dreamed-up nonsense that charlatans have used for millenia in order to control the masses, to gain access to their money, to have sex with virgins and then kill/”sacrifice” them, as well as all of the rest of the nonsense that fools accept as fact.

Do you understand? If you would find the answers to questions “1” and “2” above, you must find your “True Identity” which is “Your Permanent Identity”…not some temporary identity assumed or assigned during a phenomenal experience that involves the appearance of an elemental plant food body-cum-consciousness, chemicals, light, images, and a plethora of other misperceived appearances as well.

Identification with the Absolute rather than with the manifest consciousness is a shift toward Reality. Yet post-manifestation, Awareness is not even aware of awareness. Remember the pointer that "the only reason that things appear to be different is the variance in vibrational rates"? Temporary identification with The Absolute allows bliss to happen. Why?

As the Absolute, all vibrations are undisturbed. That is peace. That is freedom from disturbance. Such freedom and peace can only happen during the relative existence if the relative existence happens while abiding as the Absolute. That is the ultimate mode of AS IF living...abiding as the Absolute.

Understand that and then You will also understand that, ultimately, there's no identity to be concerned with at all. You can function as Awareness without conscious of-ness and even without aware of-ness, right now, if you Realize Fully. What would be worth being aware of if all involved with the relative existence is nothing more than one misperceived appearance after another anyway...if all of the sturm und drang of persons is really much ado about nothing anyway?

The egotistical will hate the emotions which that pointer invokes; the reasonable will enjoy the relief it evokes. So it is. Please enter the silence of contemplation.
READINGS RELATED TO TODAY’S TOPIC:

Click THE ESSENCE OF THE TEACHINGS

and

Click FROM THE I TO THE ABSOLUTE (A Seven-Step Journey to Reality)

and

Click CONSCIOUSNESS/AWARENESS (The Nature of Reality Beyond SELF-Realization)

MAKE YOUR OWN PACKAGE (FOR A LIMITED TIME): 10% OFF if two books are ordered at the same time; 15% OFF if three books are ordered at the same time; 20% OFF if four or more books are ordered at the same time.

POINTERS ON CONSCIOUSNESS FOR “ADVANCED SEEKERS,” Part One

FROM A SITE VISITOR: Apologies for the length of this e-mail but there are several points I am requesting you clarify. After reading FROM THE I TO THE ABSOLUTE, I thought I “had it”—had a clear understanding of self and Self and “how all functions”. Now, reading CONSCIOUSNESS/AWARENESS, I’m seeing I really didn’t understand as much as I thought. You quote your teacher who seems to contradict himself (and I know that can’t be the case) but in one quote he says that the consciousness is in the juice of the body but he also says that the consciousness never comes or goes but only appears to have come. Then, when the discussion turns to Awareness, he says that the Absolute is my “true identity” prior to the appearance of the body-cum-consciousness. I no longer conclude that your pointers or his are self-contradictory--you’ve made clear the difference in paradoxes and contradictions. I also know the difference in pointers offered for beginners and pointers reserved for the “advanced seeker”. Still, I am requesting further explanation regarding the above, especially after so much talk of “cycles” and “cycling”. Thank you. Steven

F.: Hello again, Steven. First, the term “advanced seeker” can be used in the discussion as long as it is clear that the reference is to seekers who have completed most of the seven steps on the “journey” to Reality and as long as it is clear that there is really no “journey,” no “path,” and nowhere to go since You already Are That which you seek.

1. Today’s post will focus on the consciousness is in the juice of the body. Take “the body” to refer not merely to a human body but to the body of a leafy plant or the body of an acorn or the body of a bird as well. Consider the body of a leafy plant. The following pointer was posted earlier:

A plant will change the direction of its leaves by a micro-degree each day before sunrise in order to maximize the amount of light that it can gather during the daylight hours. It knows—is conscious of the fact—that the sun will rise at a slightly different point on the horizon each morning. At night, the energy moves to the lower regions of the plant and is “at rest,” and as the plant “awakens,” the energy moves back up and throughout the plant and makes its pre-sunrise adjustments.

So the consciousness “in the juices of the body” points to the chemical aspect of the functioning of consciousness. When Awareness that is not aware of itself manifests as consciousness which can be aware of itself (and which, if pure, can be aware of itSelf), nothing more than a natural, chemical process is happening. Compare that to the chemistry involved with photography:

In the 1990’s, a photography business that was owned required the use of film each day. Film is actually just a strip of plastic with a chemical coating applied to its surface. That plastic-cum-chemical was exposed to light and was “developed” with more chemicals. Next, paper that was also coated with chemicals was exposed to light and placed in more chemicals in order to generate a print. The process allowed images to “appear” on paper. Similarly with humans, perceiving—and misperceiving—involve a body-cum-consciousness, chemicals, light, images, and appearances.

The act of a human holding a photograph and supposedly perceiving another person, or even supposedly perceiving an image of another person, is happening because of the juice of the photo chemicals and because of the consciousness in the juice of the body. Yet what is thought to be seen is not what is being seen at all. All of the illusions and delusions addressed by the Advaita Teachings are subsequent to an accidental, spontaneous chemical process involving consciousness and juices.

In the case of the photo, a person is actually viewing a series of tightly-compressed dots. The more dots per square inch, the clearer the image seems to be. Yet it is just a set of dots that are mistakenly taken to be something that they are not. They are not “the real thing” and they are certainly not that which was “behind” the image. (Use a magnifying glass to look closely at a full-page picture in a magazine for evidence: even when people know they are seeing something that is not real, they can still miss what is real “behind” or “beyond” the image.)

The more relevant pointer involving this “consciousness and juice” topic, however, is this: the warped consciousness cannot perceive “the real thing.” Awareness is “the real thing” that is “behind” any perceptions that the warped-by-faulty-programming-consciousness only thinks it is perceiving.

What the warped-by-faulty-programming-consciousness thinks it is seeing is all merely one image after another. To the contrary, the pure or re-purified consciousness can understand That Which Is beyond all the images and misperceptions and delusions that persons mistakenly take to be real. The pure or re-purified consciousness can be aware of itSelf (that is, its presence) as well as That Which Is beyond beingness and non-beingness.

In comparison, when humans-cum-warped-consciousness think that they are seeing something, nothing more than a chemical process is happening as a result of the consciousness manifested via the juices. There is a physical, chemical process under way; additionally, there is also an unnatural cause behind that act by which non-Realized persons think that they are certain of what they are seeing when they are not seeing that at all. Persons only misperceive.

As far as any relationship between “The Consciousness” and “me,” understand that the “me” is a misperception which appears in consciousness after it has been corrupted with misinformation. Understand, too, that--as long as the juices-cum-corrupted-consciousness are flowing through the human body--anything supposedly witnessed by a "third party observer" is a misperception. Meaning?

Meaning that no subject-object witnessing is truly Pure Witnessing. The pure conscious presence can be aware of its presence…that’s all. The pure, non-dual consciousness is not aware of “this” or “that.” Among the Realized, there is no belief that (1) a subject is viewing an object or (2) that a third party can view a subject as it views an object. Such would be an act in duality, and all supposed dualities are illusion. Knower-known-knowing is a triad appearing to be real but that is also just a faulty misperception. Why?

Because the recognition of presence that can happen via the pure consciousness becomes misdirected when exposed to faulty programming and conditioning. Programming and conditioning can lead the warped consciousness to assume a sense of separation, can lead the warped consciousness to assume the role of a subject witnessing an object, or can led the warped consciousness to assume the role of a third party observer and take subjects and objects to be real when they are not "The Real" at all.

Subject-object witnessing is only one of two levels of witnessing. The pure consciousness merely witnesses its own presence. There is nothing else to witness, Really. Please enter the silence of contemplation. (To be continued)
READINGS RELATED TO TODAY’S TOPIC:

Click THE ESSENCE OF THE TEACHINGS

and

Click FROM THE I TO THE ABSOLUTE (A Seven-Step Journey to Reality)

and

Click CONSCIOUSNESS/AWARENESS (The Nature of Reality Beyond SELF-Realization)

MAKE YOUR OWN PACKAGE (FOR A LIMITED TIME): 10% OFF if two books are ordered at the same time; 15% OFF if three books are ordered at the same time; 20% OFF if four or more books are ordered at the same time.

AWARENESS/CONSCIOUSNESS, Follow-Up

FROM A SITE VISITOR: I’ll grant that the explanation of consciousness/awareness over the last few days was clearer than any I’ve read, but I’m more inclined to seek the scientific view, always. I read an article on your other website and it said that Maharaj said that science would some day affirm the content of the teachings he offered. How about a bottomline explanation from that viewpoint. Alfred

F.: OK:

In the expanse of space, energy can move via wave and/or particle form. Subatomic particles of specialized energy exist and are moving through that expanse freely. Because the expanse is so vast (limitless in fact), the particles are not forced together into large-quantity clusters or groupings of energy within that space. Consciousness only happens when large-quantity clusters or groupings of energy occur in compact spaces with nervous systems. Otherwise, the background of Awareness IS and energy is moving without confinement in that vast space labeled "the Absolute"; however, by definition at least, "consciousness" capable of being conscious of (as a result of manifestation) is not. Awareness is, even when there is no "one" to be conscious of.

[Another visitor also wrote yesterday to ask, "Isn't consciousness all there is?" Yes, if you want to accept that there are levels of consciousness ranging from "pure and unadulterated" to "totally corrupted" and modalities of consciousness ranging from "manifested" or "not manifested." Then you would consider some levels of consciousness to be "pure and unmanifested" and some levels of consciousness to be "manifest and soon-to-be corrupted." Next, you would likely speak of "the THAT state" as opposed to "the I AM state." If you take that stance, then you have to conclude that "sticky" and "stickiness" are the same. In the no-concept, non-dual Reality, the conclusion above can be valid. The discussion of Awareness/Consciousness is only mentioned in the last book in the Advaita series of books that are offered on this site because an understanding of Awareness/Consciousness is only "relevant" if it guides seekers to the total freedom, during the relative existence, which manifests if abidance happens not as the consciousness but as the unadulterated Awareness or the Absolute.]

Now, back to Alfred's request. As the energy particles move, some enter the atmosphere of earth and strike plants and begin to gather there. In that limited space, the particles of specialized energy (energy able to be conscious of if manifested in something with a nervous system) gather into “tighter” groupings as a result of manifesting in a limited, confined space. Advaitins point to that happening as “the manifestation of consciousness.”

Thus, the term “the manifestation of consciousness” really points to nothing more than a spontaneously-occurring gathering of atomic and subatomic particles of specialized energy into a compact grouping. Consciousness happens only when larger groupings of particles of this specialized energy come together in a “tighter” cluster and in a more confined space than occurs in the vast space of unmanifested energy-awareness. Here's another analogy which can illustrate the "different while not being different" aspect of the Awareness/Consciousness discussion.

Consider an ice cube "versus" water vapor. Really, the ice cube/water vapor is "not two," just as "I AM THAT"/"I AM" is "not two" and as "consciousness/awareness" is "not two." Yet "aspects" exist. When H20 atoms are compacted and close together in a smaller space, water can take on the appearance of "a cube." When quantities of H20 are subjected to intense heat, water can take on the appearance of "vapor." The cube takes on an aspect of being fixed, confined, restricted. The vapors, on the other hand, are free to move about over a far broader area. The "cube" seems confined in a small space; the "vapors" seem free.

Consider the manifested consciousness to be "the cube" (confined and compacted) and the awareness to be "the vapor" (free and not compacted). The discussion of consciousness/awareness then becomes nothing more than a discussion about location and density. The same is true of the discussion of "THAT"/"AM-ness." Located "here" with an aspect of density? Consciousness. Located "there" with no aspect of density? Awareness.

As a side note to this cycling of energy, do you see, therefore, why the concept of “death” is given no credibility by the Realized, much less any “concern”? It is understood by the Realized that what persons call “death” is merely the unmanifesting of consciousness, is merely the releasing of compact groupings of energy that are just “ungrouping” and being “freed up” to move about in a wider, less-limited (actually infinite) space, exactly as prior to manifestation. That "ungrouping" and "releasing" of energy from a confined space (called "death" by persons) is a totally meaningless happening except to the corrupted consciousness that believes in the distorted, dualistic concepts of "good vs. bad" and "right vs." wrong" and some subsequent "punishment vs. reward" of a body-mind-personality triad with eternal continuity. In fact, only the energy is infinite and eternal; the body and "mind" and personality are illusory phenomena that are finite and temporary.

So that which persons refer to as “the moment of death” is really just the unmanifestation process whereby those larger groupings of energy particles in a confined space are freed from that space and enter into an expansive, unlimited energy field or space (called “The Absolute” in order to emphasize the pure and unadulterated state of the energy while in that space). By “relocating” from a confined space called “the human body,” for example, those elementary particles can group together in that vast and expansive ocean of energy; however, they will group into smaller gatherings and into fewer configurations since they are not being compacted into a small space.

During the process whereby consciousness unmanifests, therefore, particles of energy are merely “spreading out” or "being freed from ‘confinement’ in a compact space." After being freed from the confines of a relatively small space with a nervous system—such as a plant or a plant food body (which persons dualistically call "a human" or "an animal" or "a bird")—the energy moves into the limitless expanse of The Absolute and the particles “move apart.” In that freed-up space, the essence of Reality (Awareness) IS.

Now, are you also seeing that though the cycles are natural happenings, the manifesting of consciousness is actually, on one level, a very unnatural event? Why? That which is normally and naturally free to move about in an unrestrained environment and in an unrestricted manner is temporarily not free to function in that manner. Manifested consciousness, as the physicist will understand, is actually "restricted" and "restrained" when compared to the "normal" state of particles of energy which move about in a limitless field or space. Compare (a) the unrestricted movement of light waves moving instantly from the sun to the moon and reflecting off that surface with (b) the restricted movement of conscious-energy striking one synapse after another within the limited space of a human brain.

Here is another side note for the advanced seeker: the essence (awareness) is always in the background, even as consciousness is manifested. That awareness in the background can account for the disconcerting notion generated by the "trapped" and "confined" manifest consciousness that results in persons sensing that "I am not free" and "I need to be free" and "I long for more freedom," all of which mark the relative existence and that happen as long as consciousness is manifested and as long as abidance is happening as that consciousness rather than as the Absolute. Are you understanding why the corrupted consciousness, and even abidance as the Self-Realized consciousness, can never produce a sense of true freedom? The "journey" to true freedom does not end at the point of Self-Realization, and to transmit that fact is the only reason this discussion is warranted.

Awareness is beyond both consciousness being manifested and consciousness not being manifested. Thus Consciousness is what allows consciousness of to happen, but Awareness is why the Consciousness can happen. Consciousness, while manifested via a temporary combination of physical elements, has no independent existence apart from its fundamental background of Awareness. (Does that ultimately mean that "sticky" = "stickiness"? Or, is "stickiness" the essence of something that is "sticky"? "Sticky" can only happen when physical elements temporarily combine. "Stickiness," though, is permanent and forever. Ultimately, it's all definition, all thorns that can be used to remove thorns, and you know that the thorns are all to be tossed eventually. All else should fall into the realm of "entertainment." So only for the sake of entertainment, Alfred, will the response to your request continue.)

When the previously pure energy manifests in humans, it is soon subjected to programming, conditioning, and enculturation. “Minds” form and the endless chatter of “thoughts” soon follows, all because specialized energy gathered into a limited space. The more that electrons accumulate into a natural coherence within a confined space and the more that conscious-energy takes itself to be “a human”, the more frequently will abstract "thoughts" occur and the more frequently they will continue on a large-scale basis once personas are accepted as true identities.

By contrast, when single or elementary particles or coherent groups of energy-capable-of-being-conscious-of come together, smaller-scale abstract "thoughts" in consciousness happen. When the energy is totally “free” and is not gathered into large groups that are confined within relatively small spaces with nervous systems and is not bastardized with programming, then no thoughts occur...but awareness remains. (That is the way that AS IF Living happens: You Are Aware, but there are no "thoughts," no "mind," no separation, no sense of confinement, no fighting with others who are not as "good" as your ego-states and egotism convince you that you are, and no chatter of a thousand monkeys inside your head.)

The manifested particles of energy can be freed of close confinement and compacting via the unmanifesting of consciousness. Prior to that, it is possible that particles of energy can be freed of the distorting effects of programming and conditioning and enculturation via the Full Realization process. Then, the energy can function in the pure and free and uncorrupted manner in which it functioned prior to consciousness, prior to manifestation, and prior to being corrupted.

Awareness Is, without consciousness of subject and objects and without consciousness of any "thing" and without consciousness of some "thing." After "The Nothingness" is understood, You Are the same as the "Awareness Is": just being and just aware. The effects of compacted, manifested consciousness can be transcended and the manifested energy can function as pure, free, unconfined, unlimited awareness instead. So there it is in its scientific cloak, Alfred. Now the invitation is to please enter the silence of contemplation.

TOMORROW: More on de-accumulation.

CONSCIOUSNESS/AWARENESS, Part Four, The Conclusion

FROM A SITE VISITOR: Please explain consciousness as opposed to awareness. Thank you. Harish

[The discussion continues by referencing the picture posted on 3 May 2007. Please review the picture before continuing.]

F.: But all of the happenings in the picture's background of unicity, as well as all of the supposed happenings that are occurring via the manifested, dualistic consciousness in the foreground, are only possible because of the energy of the sunlight breaking through the clouds in the background. Without that background energy which is manifesting in the plants, nothing in the foreground could be happening. (As Szent-Gyorgyi said: “What drives life is…a little electric current, set up by the sunshine.”) Consciousness could not happen except for the background of Awareness, but Awareness IS, whether consciousness is manifested or not and whether consciousness of “this” or “that” is happening or not. Similarly, “stickiness” exists, even after the elements that form the glue stick return to the original pool of elements.

At the atomic and sub-atomic levels of matter/energy as “clouds” and “mountains” and “trees” in the background, Awareness IS. Yet there is no “one” that is conscious of anything. So it is when the temporarily manifested conscious-energy unmanifests and is subsequently “re-absorbed” into that unmanifested field of The Absolute.

Note too that in the foreground, many things seem significant: a delivery must be made on time; people must be at work on time; and food must be purchased in the mercato and consumed in order for the consciousness to remain manifested in the physical space. In the background, however, everything is merely cycling and nothing matters at all: clouds come and go; mountains that had formed will someday crumble; and trees that are rising will one day fall. So it is when abidance happens as the Absolute: what happens will happen, yet “the insignificant” is never misperceived as “significant.” That faulty perception that results in the insignificant being considered significant only happens via warped consciousness, via assumption of personas, and via the emotional intoxication that personas generate.

Revisiting the second analogy (the glue stick), take “sticky” to be a relative existence attribute of the elements combining as "glue" but take “stickiness” to be the underlying essence of glue; similarly, take Awareness to be the underlying essence of Reality that is beyond the relative and beyond attributes. Take “stickiness” to be the actual “identity” of the temporarily manifested elements called “glue,” and take Awareness to be the actual “identity” of that which is temporarily manifested and called Consciousness. Just as scientists discuss the various “forms of energy,” take Consciousness to be a form of the originally pure, unadulterated energy which manifests and which then becomes impure and adulterated as the consciousness is programmed and conditioned and enculturated.

If that is understood, and if it is understood how consciousness is corrupted, then it also becomes understood why seekers need a guide (or a guidebook with clear-cut directions, or both). As explained earlier…

…here is why the seeker must transition seven steps in order to realize: In the limitless expanse of energy called “The Absolute,” that energy which has the ability to be aware of, if manifested, is uncontaminated, unconditional, unconditioned, unqualified, unlimited, pure, unadulterated, and unambiguous. When the consiousness manifests in the space called “a human,” programming and conditioning and enculturation soon result in it being contaminated, conditioned, impure, adulterated, and ambiguous. That contaminating process results in seven degrees of separation from Reality, in seven degrees of separation from awareness of What the consciousness Truly Is, and from awareness of its original, unadulterated nature. Seven steps were involved in the-graduated-bastardization-of-consciousness process, so seven steps of re-purification must happen if the consciousness is to be restored to its natural, non-dual, no-concept, unadulterated state.

Only after Self-Realization can the movement to the next level happen, which is abidance not merely as the (re-purified) Consciousness but as the Absolute. This is often missed: even Self-Realization is not the end of the “journey.” That is why protégés have been encouraged to understand the post-Realization Teachings as presented in CONSCIOUSNESS/AWARENESS: The Nature of Reality Beyond Self-Realization (Peace Every Day When Abiding as The Absolute). Even after having read From the I to the Absolute, even after completing the seven-step journey to reality, and even after Self-Realization, there is no guarantee of unwavering peace unless the Consciousness/Awareness is understood in order to abide as The Absolute for the remainder of the manifestation.

Even the Self-Realized, abiding as the re-purified consciousness, will experience instability since all consciousness must necessarily involve some element of duality, conscious of-ness being inescapable in that abidance. Absolute stabilization can only happen via abidance as the Absolute whereby Awareness happens without any "one" thinking there is someone or something that is present and able to be “aware of”: Realization is four steps beyond “The Religious One” and “The Spiritual One,” and awareness is even beyond that One which knows the unicity and which knows the beingness and the non-beingness. Abidance as the consciousness guarantees that duality will never be forfeited completely. Only the Awareness is “One” without any “one.” Consciousness can know the "not two." Awareness is the absolute "not two." If you stay alert to the reality of "not two-ness," then for the sake of discussion you might take consciousness to be the essence of beingness, the re-purified consciousness to be the essence of non-beingness, and awareness to be the essence of the Reality beyond both beingness and non-beingness.

Now, Harish, all that having been said, return to the original pointer: in the no-concept, non-dual Reality, there is no "one thing as opposed to some other thing." Therefore, the Advaitin understands that "I AM THAT; I AM" can be stated and understood without any sense of duality at all. So can "Consciousness/Awareness." Please enter the silence of contemplation.

CONSCIOUSNESS/AWARENESS, Part Three

FROM A SITE VISITOR: Please explain consciousness as opposed to awareness. Thank you. Harish

F.: The excerpt from the book, CONSCIOUSNESS/AWARENESS: The Nature of Reality Beyond Self-Realization (Peace Every Day When Abiding as The Absolute), continues and the picture referred to is in the 3 May 2007 post:

Please review the picture posted yesterday. Next, for purposes of illustration, take the foreground in the picture to represent the I-Amness and the background to be the I AM THAT-ness. Take the foreground to represent Consciousness and the background to represent Awareness. Note that consciousness involves being conscious of (something) so consciousness is always, ultimately, about duality: “this” is conscious of “that.” (Thus, the seeker who thinks he/she is Fully Realized and is the unicity because he/she knows the True Self is mistaken. That seeker might be Self-Realized, but That Which Truly Is is beyond self-ness, Self-ness, beingness, non-beingness, and realizing. It is even beyond “conscious of-ness.”)

PLEASE NOTE: The (Peace Every Day When Abiding as The Absolute) referred to in the aforementioned title manifests when abidance “beyond conscious of-ness” happens. The relative existence comparison offered by Advaitins is "the deep sleep metaphor" wherein peace happens beyond relative consciousness. (Compare the “beyond conscious of-ness” to the awareness of the body’s need that automatically, spontaneously keeps the heart and the lungs functioning even as there is no “one” present to consciously “do” that. Also, understand the automatic, spontaneous functioning in order to understand how your relative existence can happen with no illusion of a “do-er” being present and with abidance happening even beyond conscious of-ness. That happens when abidance as the Absolute happens.)

To continue with the discussion of the picture from yesterday, the doingness in the foreground is marked by consciousness and a sense of duality. Persons unaware of the unicity believe that they are conscious of some vast multiplicity of things: houses, roads, crops, intersections, buses, mercatos, etc. In the background of the picture, which includes trees and clouds and mountains and sky and sunlight, there is no sense of duality. Why? There is no “one” to be conscious of anything, yet there is awareness. In what way is “Awareness without Conscious of-ness” present in the background?

Observe that there appears to be a variety of “cloud” formations, but see that “the clouds” are not the real. What is “real,” for the sake of this example, is H20. As for awareness, a series of two hydrogen atoms are aware of an oxygen atom, but there is no “one” that is present to be conscious of anything. Awareness is just happening, so Awareness is not dualistic in its nature. (Yes, this explanation is beyond what has been offered on the site to some seekers who were not ready for this level of discussion. By virtue of the fact that Harish asked, there is evidence that he might be.)

The H20 can manifest in various "forms" or "spaces" which persons try to separate with labeling into “rain, rivers, lakes, clouds, vapor, water, snow, snowmen, snowballs, snow cones, snow flurries, snow flakes, snow piles, slush, ice, steam, lakes, pools, waterfalls, streams, fog, ponds, hail, drizzle, floods, mist, swamps, oceans, seas,” ad infinitum, but it’s really all one thing, all H20, merely appearing to be different. (See why persons live in the delusion of duality? See why persons are not "in the world" and why "the world" is in them...in their wrongly-perceiving "minds" that take what they think they see to be real and that try to support "differentiation" through labeling?)

Similarly, consciousness can manifest via the spaces labeled as "plants, animals, humans, birds," etc., and though it’s really all consciousness manifested, it appears to the non-Realized to be multiple and different things. For any perception of rain, rivers, plants, or animals to happen, conscious of-ness must also happen, and as a result of inaccurate suppositions rooted in distorted perception, the illusion of duality manifests.

(Again, it should be seen why it is frequently repeated on this site that, ultimately, there is no “goal” of abiding as Consciousness. For full freedom to happen during the manifestation of consciousness, abidance must happen as the Absolute.)

As with the “atoms as clouds,” whereby awareness can happen without any “one” being conscious of, so it is as the Absolute. Awareness is, even as there is no “one” to be aware of. Thus Awareness involves no duality. To use the second analogy, the glue is considered “sticky” as it adheres one thing to another (so it is dualistic in its very nature) but that which is independent and eternal is the glue's fundamental essence of “stickiness” (which is non-dual in its nature).

In both the foreground and the background of the picture from yesterday, everything is merely happening; however, in the foreground where consciousness has been corrupted, consciousness takes itself to be something it is not and leads persons to believe that they are making things happen and that they are seeing separate things. Persons are taking themselves to be “do-ers,” are lacking an understanding of the unicity, and are, therefore, strapped with delusional thinking generated by an illusory "mind."

So Harish, are you beginning to understand why you were advised that “in the no-concept, non-dual reality, there is nothing ‘opposed to’ anything else” but that your question could be addressed by discussing the supposed “attributes” of Awareness and Consciousness? Glue sticks and Scotch tape and Post-It Notes can be discussed; while manifested, they can each exhibit the "attribute" of being sticky; but someday the atrophy process will happen and those elements will return to the universal pool of elements. Then, what remains? Not glue sticks and Scotch tape and Post-It Notes but only “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 nonsensical beliefs such as the Dalai Lama's “New Orleans was struck by Hurricane Katrina because of the bad (dualistic) karma of the people” or such nonsense as “Harish is going to cycle and cycle and cycle again, until he gets it right (duality)”:

it could be that millions of old Post-It Notes might be processed through a pulper that chops the paper into small bits and then heats them in a mixture that breaks them down into fibrous strands of cullulose (which is merely organic plant material). Then, the pulp can be screened and, if necessary, de-inked and color-stripped. After bleaching, that can be processed in a manner that results in it again taking the form of paper which can, in turn, take the form of Post-It Notes again. But what cycled? The organic elements. Are these the same Post-It Notes that existed before? Of course not. Will all Post-It Notes be recycled? No. Can their “form” end permanently? Yes. Can the organic material used to make paper be destroyed? No.

If recycled, it is the same organic material which can cycle into a form that appears to be the same, but that material could as easily take the form and appearance of a legal pad, a magazine, or a book. (That is how trillions upon trillions of "humans and animals and birds" have cycled into and out of manifested form on the planet while the planet has experienced zero-gain and zero-loss: organic material is merely being cycled, and it all happens with a speck of energy manifesting via plants. In the relative, you are what you eat and nothing more. It happens spontaneously with no master-control or Master-control involved. With condolences to those who take themselves or their offspring to be "gifts from God," what is really going on, and on-going, is a simple and natural organic happening, not a supernatural happening.)

Conscious-energy cycles (or not) in the same manner as the Post-It Notes. In the case of the legal pad, the magazine or the book, the attribute of "being sticky" would not happen, yet “stickiness” still remains though the original "sticky note paper" does not remain in its previous form. (Dennis Waite makes this clear by noting that those who are inpeccable with their words will talk of "tably wood," not of a "wooden table.") Do you grasp fully the functioning of the totality? Do you understand completely what cycles, how it cycles, what does not cycle, what remains forever, and what is only temporarily manifested? Please enter the silence of contemplation. (Tomorrow: The Conclusion)

CONSCIOUSNESS/AWARENESS, Part Two

FROM A SITE VISITOR: Please explain consciousness as opposed to awareness. Thank you. Harish

F.: Hello, again, Harish. Now the discussion begun in Tuesday’s post will continue. In the no-concept, non-dual reality, there is nothing “opposed to” anything else, but the terms are pointers used in explanations of energy manifested, energy not manifested, pure energy, corrupted energy, and energy unmanifested. Know 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 the consideration offered in the 1 May 2007 post, did you find an understanding in the “light analogy”? Those who missed the analogy can review this summary:

A storm approached; skies darken. Along a walkway, lights on posts came on automatically. Water puddled and the lights cast diagonal reflections that appeared to become a thousand smaller lights. The reflections were not the real light, were they? The appearance of a thousand different lights was also a misperception. The actual light fixtures in the background were the source of the perceived perceptions, but they are only a temporary combination of elements that happened as a result of human conduct. Ultimately, behind/beyond the light bulb and the supposed reflections and the supposed smaller lights was a form of energy that actually allowed the entire scene to happen.

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 “Harish.” 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.”

Here's another analogy that might provide more clarify for some seekers regarding the nature of reality beyond Self-Realization:

Consider glue sticks. Happenings by humans result in elements being combined and result in the temporary manifestation of 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. (To extend the metaphor, and possibly 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.)

NOTE: The full treatment of this subject matter is book-length. All aspects of Consciousness/Awareness are explained completely in the soon-to-be-released book, CONSCIOUSNESS/AWARENESS: The Nature of Reality Beyond Self-Realization (Peace Every Day When Abiding as The Absolute). For now, here’s an excerpt from the book, which is only for those who have already Self-Realized. The “glue stick” passages might provide some clarity for you:

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.

To illustrate, look at this picture taken from a window of the apartment used during stays in Tuscany:

In the foreground, preparation is being made to harvest crops; a new house is being built; some people are driving to work; down the road to the right, people are waiting to catch the local bus to the mercato in nearby Villafranca; someone is making a delivery in the white van approaching from the right. In the foreground part of the picture, drivers are conscious of obstacles and intersections and traffic signs and lane markers. It appears that there are do-ers and it seems that they are doing. Take the background to include the portion illustrating trees, mountains, clouds and sky. Beingness, rather than doingness, appears to be happening there.

Now, you’re invited to study the picture and (a) determine the ways in which the foreground might represent Consciousness manifest and (b) determine what the background might reveal about Awareness. Please enter the silence of contemplation. (To be continued)

CONSCIOUSNESS/AWARENESS, Part One

FROM A SITE VISITOR: Please explain consciousness as opposed to awareness. Thank you. Harish

F.: Hello, Harish. In the no-concept, non-dual reality, there is nothing “opposed to” anything else, but the terms you mention can be used post-Realization to allow seekers to understand the nature of reality beyond Self-Realization.

An out-of-town group of some 40 seekers has asked for a discussion of “The Illusions of Mind and Personality,” so it will be Thursday before your question can be addressed. In preparation, please consider the following:

From the third-floor balcony early last 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 their path, 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.

As you consider consciousness/awareness, find a message in that happening. The reflections were not the real light, were they? The appearance of a thousand different things was also a misperception. If you 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. In preparation for the discussion later this week, consider what that analogy might reveal to you about consciousness/awareness. Please enter the silence of contemplation. (To be continued Thursday)