Ravi talks about the ends of the spectrum - at one end there is pure consciousness with no materiality. At the other end is pure materiality. It appears that materiality is needed to experience consciousness and then less and less of the materiality is needed to experience that consciousness till I assume, consciousness itslef experiences consciousness.
Each time one gets an impression, a conscious impression, I think it gives a glimpse of experiencing the consciousness. But we tend to ascribe the raison d'etre of that experience to the object and repetition of that experience seem to give rise to desire. If we were to however seperate the object that provided a bridge or a vehicle to travel to experience the consciousness from the experience itself, I would think that the nature of the desire could be better explored. I have a feeling that when a man falls in love, or when I fall in love, that woman or the impression she creates, takes me to be in touch with my own consciousness at a deeper level , but I dont seem to see it that way. I am so consumed by it that the process is invisible to me.
Pure awareness without materiality for me, at my level of comprehension seem to be awareness without the imagery of confinment to the body. Yet the complete experience of al pervasiveness of "I" still eludes.
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Saturday, May 12, 2007
memory bank
The memory would be better understood if we could understand what kinds of memory we store. I wonder if we have a separate box in the head for Visual memory. A separate box for Auditory memory. A box for memory of sensations.
And I am sure there is actually a precise order in which these are pulled up based on the associative impressions and even the interconnect between them. The study of these maybe could free one of these associations and only as a conscious act dig into these and pull them out – currently we don’t seem to have any say in the images or the songs or the sensations that the served up.
Friday, May 11, 2007
Pentland
"sensations allow us to discover energy and vibrations before they have taken form "..( i guess in words or images)
more such insightful quotes from Pentland. It appeared as thought Pentland was engaged with the study of the active and passive forces operating simultaneously to trigger the neutralising force..some quotes again..
" I begin to understand what would be meant, if I were able to be present to it, by the idea of two levels of attention: one that reacts to what is going on mechanically and another attention that is in touch with the presence of myself in the moment. Real responsibility begins when I am present to both these levels at the same time—when I have an attention which is able to hear the call at the same time as it feels the movement of the unconscious parts of myself.
Now of course I’m speaking about something you’re all familiar with. It’s the question of real will. And I hope I can say that we’re all together in front of that question, yourself, and myself, and all of us. It’s a question we all share together. Nobody’s giving the answers. And that’s what a real human question is like.
The first step in responsibility, then, is separation—separation of the energies from the forms they take, separation of essence from personality. And for this process to go on calls for a certain quality of attention which I call non-directive skill. It’s only by developing this quality of attentive engagement that I begin to move towards real individuality.
We don’t understand the importance of our attitude. My attitude at any point is like the sunken part of the iceberg. I start out from the conscious affirmative part which is like the tip. I’m quite surprised—and unprepared—to meet resistance from this unconscious part. Yet my attitude is largely governed by this resistance. You have to see the resistance. You have to be more aware of the wish to not work—at the same time as you are holding the wish to work"
more such insightful quotes from Pentland. It appeared as thought Pentland was engaged with the study of the active and passive forces operating simultaneously to trigger the neutralising force..some quotes again..
" I begin to understand what would be meant, if I were able to be present to it, by the idea of two levels of attention: one that reacts to what is going on mechanically and another attention that is in touch with the presence of myself in the moment. Real responsibility begins when I am present to both these levels at the same time—when I have an attention which is able to hear the call at the same time as it feels the movement of the unconscious parts of myself.
Now of course I’m speaking about something you’re all familiar with. It’s the question of real will. And I hope I can say that we’re all together in front of that question, yourself, and myself, and all of us. It’s a question we all share together. Nobody’s giving the answers. And that’s what a real human question is like.
The first step in responsibility, then, is separation—separation of the energies from the forms they take, separation of essence from personality. And for this process to go on calls for a certain quality of attention which I call non-directive skill. It’s only by developing this quality of attentive engagement that I begin to move towards real individuality.
We don’t understand the importance of our attitude. My attitude at any point is like the sunken part of the iceberg. I start out from the conscious affirmative part which is like the tip. I’m quite surprised—and unprepared—to meet resistance from this unconscious part. Yet my attitude is largely governed by this resistance. You have to see the resistance. You have to be more aware of the wish to not work—at the same time as you are holding the wish to work"
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
so i dont exist inside..i dont exist outside...my only connection with myself is this sensation as i breathe..is this the only reality? so where am i located? right now only in the sensation? what is this sensation? a clue about my identity..a surrogate..a proxy for something that my mind cannot fathom yet feelings can to a certain degree?
sensation
Pentland says something amazing - Sensation is where the head and he feelings meet.
He says " The point is, the head, which takes in ideas, and the feeling, which takes in scale, can never meet. Sensation is the relating element. How to feel what you think or to think what you feel is through sensation. We practice sensation in a way unrelated; for the head and feeling to meet is . . . only in the body. My head feels all over my body. With the sensation of the body, the head and feeling can come together, and that is the basis for so-called inner life. How to call feeling back. How to call the head back to meet with the feeling is only through sensation, where feeling and thought can come together."
it makes so complete sense.
Feelings takes in scale...its so true..things that the mind cannot contain..large scales..can only be a feeling...
Sunday, May 06, 2007
Best before
So what is my use. How do I know the purpose of my incarnation. How do I then do. Without self deception. So I know Im employing my self into this action because this is what I was meant to do. How do I know? I don’t have a label at the back of my head to know my purpose. Im here on an errand. I didn’t ask to come to the world. And I know death is close at hand to call me back. And I need to complete what I was sent for. Only I don’t know what. So my search is to find my purpose. The purpose of my coming to this world. Where do I begin?
Soul sculpture
So life can also be seen as though we are a particle of consciousness, still in the process of being perfected. And we get this body as a tool..and told..hey take this body and perfect the consciousness. Its interesting to see the body like that. As though the whole process of the spiritual success is to use the body that will purify this consciousness. And then the very act of purification changes the body itself and create the chalice into which finer energies can fill up and the action of the body then gets close and closer to sacred action or the will of the divine.
IN New York
In New York. Sipping Chai Tea Latte in Barnes and Nobles. yesterday, a whirlwind discussion with Linda. On packaging experience. a balance between spontaniety and order. new york.sipping tea. smell of the books. in the middle of a packaged experience of all the writers. New york. really makes me want to write a book. its flowing with an artsy energy which is waiting to gurgle into everyone and flush out a book..a film..art..any art..or an invention..anything that the aching heart can deliver without a C section.
smell the coffee
So begins another day. A few didn’t make it till morning. Of course, waking up is a curious phenomena. I seem to feel that we are always awake – but what we call waking up is really filling that awake space with our specific hard drive – with its pre set programs, memories, and virus. Instantly we have personalized this Universe when we wake up.
I wake up. I see the bright light, greens, a thought enters leading to a million others. Reality around me is quickly replaced. My eyes see but my mind does not. So it’s a strange seeing. Even what my eyes see is not fresh. Im not even sure if Im seeing the tree in front of me. Or is this an image that has been loaded into my brain – the image of a tree and I don’t see the tree in front of me. Is this the magic that the Impressionist painters discovered. Found a way in which they could fight back the inner images and capture a true seeing?
So what is reality – if everything is a personal interpretation? And who is experiencing the reality? Or is the experiencer the only reality? How do we go back to the experiencer? Where is the experiencer? Where did he come from ? When did he ( or I?) start experiencing? And what is experiencing for me? A sensation ? A feeling? An image? And why is there such an ache to find all this?
Is this the crushing pain that comes from realising that the reality on the basis of which we built a whole life is unreal? It’s a movie set l? Is it about freedom. Freedom from unreal? Freedom to know oneself and thereby live in dignity.
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Interface with the illusion
There are moments when there is a clear sense of the separation from the "reality". Visual impressions seem to appear like projections in the inside of the head. Increaingly it appears that sensation is the key. Sensation without imagery. Imagery, it appears is the biggest villian and the biggest barrier to the understanding and "seeing". Consistent sensation seem to help to keep the images away - but it is so fascinating to see that without imagery the brain seem to have difficulty experiencing. Even in a massage, I see that the sensation of one's feet being massaged cannot be separated the image of the feet being massaged. Just experiencing the pure sensation of the massage seem so difficult. But once that barrier is crossed, sensation then opens up a new relationship to the reality around. The relationship with the body then becomes the sensation. I sometimes sense that this relationship with the body is really a small spot in the brain and the rest is made up of imagery.
Nisargadatta talks about a practice that we just have to belive that we are not the body. Gurdjieff says that we must use the imagination to intially practice that the reality is that I am. Stephen Jourdain says "The Central rivet of the hallucination is nothing other than the absolute belief in myself in the act of producing a thought of dreaming this or that. ….if people corrected the way they situate themselves they would eliminate 98% of their problems. Then they would be in the zenith of their dream and close to bursting it".
Then Dzogchen texts mentions - "But then, one might ask, how does samsara arise? How does one enter the dualistic vision that is the cause of transmigrations? If, at the moment the energy of the base manifests, one does not consider it something other oneself and one recognizes one's own state as the indivisibility of essence, nature and potentiallity of energy, the movement of energy self-liberates...understanding the essence that is the very nature of primordial enlightenment".
So it appears that the practice is to constantly plug into being in this space of sensation in the heart where one is constantly reiterating to oneself the "unreality" of things around us - visual, thoughts, emotions.
Sunday, April 08, 2007
Sexual Desire
Sexual desire. This looks like a very fast centre. The sight of a woman, a pretty woman moves the “read-write” head of the brain to the sexual centre in the head and immediately releases a chemical that gives a sensation that is “agreeable”. I see sometimes that the stimuli is iconic. The shape of the woman, hair, even the voice automatically leads to this movement in the brain. Images from the brain stored from past memories, movies, and pictures are instantly fitted and the movement to the “happy centre of the brain” is made. This is so damn quick. It seems the hardwire is so strong.
Sometimes this is without stimuli. You wake up in the morning feeling this ache, this sensation. This appears to me as the ache of the soul wanting to know itself. When it is temporarily freed from the bedlam of noises or from the hammering of the self calming mechanisms we employ like smoking, drinking, movies, plays and so on that down its voice. So I wake up. And the ache is felt. The brain I have experienced immediately goes to the imagination centre and picks up a story, a face, a person to whom the attention is directed to and then a fantasy happens. Sometimes it leads to spent itself in sex or masturbation. Again this is so hard wired. I watch the brain quickly do this. It seems like a quick fix to get the ache to stop. I think each time there is an ache – do watch a movie, to have sex, to fall in love, it is the call. For me to respond to it as a responsible human being, I need to teach the brain to take the “read- write” head to the source of the ache. To put my ear close to that source and hear it. I cant be downing that noise with something louder. I need to be there. Stay with the ache. Not with commentary. Not with judgment. Just listen to it with my heart. Feel it. And try to understand its language. With complete attention.
Journey back to oneself - an actor remembers !
And so one embarks into this long journey. To find oneself. It’s a pretty hopeless start in the beginning. Especially when one begins at a point when one realizes that things one knew about oneself were not entirely true. Most of this was things people told us or what we believed without entirely verifying facts for ourselves. It sounds pretty strange. But I have a name. I have my parents. I have my memories. So what is this facts that I keep looking for? The startling realization that hits one that gets the journey started is the sense that one existed before one was born. Its bizarre. But it seems to be true. Its almost as though one discovers that one’s parents are not real ones. We have been adopted and we didn’t know it. And then one day someone tells us. And then the search begins for one’s origin. It’s a sense of completeness that one seeks for. Not that it negates the current “adopted parents” – they are as real. Yet one wants to know and meet one’s true parents. Same with identity. My identity as far as I remember comprises of my name, my parentage, then my memories, thoughts. Everything that I call and has a face, a visual reality. So when I realize that I existed even before all this, it means that my current face, this name, this parentage is only an external layer that covers something more real.
But it seems so difficult to comprehend this. So I try to understand this first with analogies. So the play analogy – Im an actor and I get so involved in my role that I forget who I was before I got on to the stage. Im in the stage. Now. I have another name, a character – into whose role I as an actor is performing with great élan on the stage. I have a family, a job, a wife, kids and I have ambitions, emotions, dreams and even memories. I have forgotten. Forgotten who I was before I got on to the stage. Mid-way through my performance I can remember something. Fleeting. That something’s not quite right here. Some faint memories. There is something uncomfortable. The scenario in the play does not give the sense of what I am or where I truly belong. I can sense that Im acting. There is something artificial here. But I don’t know what.
So Im in the middle of the play. And Im here on the stage. No clue as to where I can begin. I cant see the audience or the separation from me to the audience. If I could, then I would remember and take that leap from the stage to the audience. But right now im stuck in this situation where Im in the play and I not sure that Im this character in the play. But I don’t know where the audience is sitting. I don’t even know where to begin but I know if I find where the audience is then Ill remember by association. Ill remember how I reached here. Now that I remember that Im not quite the actor, my acting has been affected. When I remember Im someone else, Im “acting”. Othertimes, when I don’t remember Im a natural.
Now the play analogy is fine. But how do I know if this is for real. That Im not in play and that this is for real. My own sense is that it just happens. Like an old song that you suddenly remember. From nowhere.
So from where does the journey to remember begin? It appears to me that the first thing to do is to separate myself from the actor. Say physically first – do I walk, talk, behave like the actor? Suppose I suddenly stop doing this and act differently ? Say I smile when I have to cry or remain serious when there is something funny? Or the opposite of what the “actor” in me naturally does out of the conditioning of the role. Let me try that. When I try that, I am sure there is something that will happen. Don’t know what. Because when I stop acting as the actor, I will probably be able to experience what is it not being an actor. But I have to be cunning. And first find out what my “natural” reaction is to the situation and then act the opposite. I have to be fast or the actor will deceive me. My warning signal will be pain or discomfort. If Im acting in opposition to the “actors” reactions, then I will feel the discomfort, embarrassment, self consciousness even fear sometimes. So that becomes the first leg of the journey. That is the external layer of the journey. The biggest pitfall that would come in the way of smooth execution of this leg of the journey will be the constant internal commentary saying why this is such a stupid thing to do.
So what is the success criteria of this strategy of “stopping being the actor”? I think the success criteria would be the ability to remember to do this often enough and then experience fully in those moments what is it not to be the “actor”. It is possible that the audience may throw tomatoes – but that will only help more and maybe even point me to the direction from where they are throwing.
What are the other directions to the journey? Like the physical habits of the actor, the actor will have thinking habits and emotional habits. I think unlike the plan above where one acts different or opposite from the habitual physical reaction, it maybe difficult to do so with thoughts or emotions – say thinking opposite of what thought comes or feeling opposite of what comes. These come too fast and in the case of emotions I cant seem to “create” an opposite emotion inside. Cant create anger or happiness or sadness. So, in this leg of the journey, I will observe and register. Register what is the automatic thought reaction to a stimuli from the senses. Or in a situation. Similarly watch what emotions run inside the “actor”. As I observe, I hope to have a list of the actor’s emotions and thoughts. Im hoping that when I have the full data about the actor – his physical reactions, his thoughts and his emotions, I will truly remember who I was before I became the actor. Then maybe Ill go back to acting again – but then this time will always remember myself.
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Active attention
Active attention. A constant awareness of what is happening inside and outside. Then desire comes. There is just a watching of the desire. with curiosity even. And watch. The desire comes and goes. Our awareness is like watching trains come and go in a railway station. Im not going into any of the trains. I just watch them as they come in and then watch as they go. This "watching" is more a sensation, a tugging. What is this sensation I wonder. And where is it happening? Inside the body or outside?
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Durkhiem on Meditation
All genuine meditation consists of two stages. It begins with concentration,
by means of which we collect ourselves with the help of our will and direct
the power of the ego onto whatever may be the theme and purpose of the
practice of transformation. Concentration is achieved through the powers
of the ego which is able to grasp thoughts objectively, differentiate between
them and activate the will. Thus in concentration we come to a closer
understanding o the theme of the meditation. By means of this effort
we are able to recognize the faults in our physical posture and the disturbing
factors that are at work within us. In addition it can bring comprehension
and a clear perception of the object chosen for mediation, no matter
whether this be a picture, a work the following of the breath or
some other theme. The whole process takes place within the tension
of the subject and object. Without such concentrated preliminary
tension. Without the attention that collects the whole person – at the
same time focused within the self and turned towards the object – no
meditation is possible. None of the foregoing, however, is as yet
meditation.
Mediation does not truly begin until that which the ego had
seized upon in turn seizes the ego and by this movements changes
rational analysis into synthesis. By this means the quality of
consciousness is transformed from the masculine, active state
which is, as it were, a chalice that is capable of being filled, as
from an inner well-spring, without the active help of the ego. Thus
action is transformed into passion, and doing into being,
The word meditation comes from meditari which is a passive
form of the verb meaning ‘ “being moved to the center”,
rather than the active which is “moving to the center”. But this
centre is not a fixed point on which we concentrate as would on
an object. Rather, the contrary can be said – that is itself concentrate
s us by drawing us inwards and collecting us there. This centre is,
after all, our own essence – our transcendent core. Eventually,
with practice, the centre is experienced as a particular state in
which the antithesis of the subject and object is gradually dissolved.
When this occurs the meditator has the sensation of being centered.
And so, step by step, essential being awakes and becomes an inward
knowing that experiences itself as a personal life center anchored
in Great Life. This forms the basis of a new consciousness of the
world in which we sense ourselves as being reborn.
Sunday, February 04, 2007
The hundreth Monkey.
The Japanese monkey, Macaca fuscata, had been observed
in the wild for a period of over 30 years.
In 1952, on the island of Koshima, scientists were providing
monkeys with sweet potatoes dropped in the sand.
The monkeys liked the taste of the raw sweet potatoes,
but they found the dirt unpleasant.
An 18-month-old female named Imo found she could
solve the problem by washing the potatoes in a nearby
stream. She taught this trick to her mother. Her
playmates also learned this new way and they taught
their mothers too.
This cultural innovation was gradually picked up by
various monkeys before the eyes of the scientists.
Between 1952 and 1958 all the young monkeys
learned to wash the sandy sweet potatoes to
make them more palatable.
Only the adults who imitated their children
learned this social improvement. Other adults
kept eating the dirty sweet potatoes.
Then something startling took place.
In the autumn of 1958, a certain number of
Koshima monkeys were washing sweet potatoes -
- the exact number is not known.
Let us suppose that when the sun rose one morning
there were 99 monkeys on Koshima Island who had
learned to wash their sweet potatoes.
Let's further suppose that later that morning,
the hundredth monkey learned to wash potatoes.
THEN IT HAPPENED!
By that evening almost everyone in the
tribe was washing sweet potatoes before
eating them.
The added energy of this hundredth monkey
somehow created an ideological breakthrough!
But notice.
A most surprising thing observed by
these scientists was that the habit of
washing sweet potatoes then jumped over the sea --
Colonies of monkeys on other islands and the
mainland troop of monkeys at Takasakiyama
began washing their sweet potatoes.
Thus, when a certain critical number
achieves an awareness, this new awareness
may be communicated from mind to mind.
Although the exact number may vary,
this Hundredth Monkey Phenomenon
means that when only a limited number
of people know of a new way, it may
remain the conscious property of these people.
But there is a point at which if only one more
person tunes-in to a new awareness, a field
is strengthened so that this awareness
is picked up by almost everyone!
in the wild for a period of over 30 years.
In 1952, on the island of Koshima, scientists were providing
monkeys with sweet potatoes dropped in the sand.
The monkeys liked the taste of the raw sweet potatoes,
but they found the dirt unpleasant.
An 18-month-old female named Imo found she could
solve the problem by washing the potatoes in a nearby
stream. She taught this trick to her mother. Her
playmates also learned this new way and they taught
their mothers too.
This cultural innovation was gradually picked up by
various monkeys before the eyes of the scientists.
Between 1952 and 1958 all the young monkeys
learned to wash the sandy sweet potatoes to
make them more palatable.
Only the adults who imitated their children
learned this social improvement. Other adults
kept eating the dirty sweet potatoes.
Then something startling took place.
In the autumn of 1958, a certain number of
Koshima monkeys were washing sweet potatoes -
- the exact number is not known.
Let us suppose that when the sun rose one morning
there were 99 monkeys on Koshima Island who had
learned to wash their sweet potatoes.
Let's further suppose that later that morning,
the hundredth monkey learned to wash potatoes.
THEN IT HAPPENED!
By that evening almost everyone in the
tribe was washing sweet potatoes before
eating them.
The added energy of this hundredth monkey
somehow created an ideological breakthrough!
But notice.
A most surprising thing observed by
these scientists was that the habit of
washing sweet potatoes then jumped over the sea --
Colonies of monkeys on other islands and the
mainland troop of monkeys at Takasakiyama
began washing their sweet potatoes.
Thus, when a certain critical number
achieves an awareness, this new awareness
may be communicated from mind to mind.
Although the exact number may vary,
this Hundredth Monkey Phenomenon
means that when only a limited number
of people know of a new way, it may
remain the conscious property of these people.
But there is a point at which if only one more
person tunes-in to a new awareness, a field
is strengthened so that this awareness
is picked up by almost everyone!
Now lets marry this thought with the concept by Rupert
Sheldrake who mentions that the seat of thought
IS OUTSIDE THE BODY.
Does this mean that each of the hundred monkeys
added to this "pool of thought" and after a critical
mass, the pool of thought linked to the
common pool of thought of all the species of monkey?
As though the control centre of the monkeys really
not each indidivual monkey brain but out
somewhere.
What does that mean to us humans? Question of
where does a thought come from ? Is it from
inside the brain or somewhere outside?
What is the intelligence of that thought pool.
How does it decide which thought to send.
SOmetimes its easy, thoughts come from associations.
But some come completely from the blue.
Even the first thought when we wake up.
Since thought leads to action, and action to destiny,
is getting to the source of this thought pool
the end of destiny ?
Or that is the beginning of a new destiny,
this time driven by Right action.
Saturday, February 03, 2007
Right Action
What is right action ? In a manner of speaking what is the right action
that the Universe wanted
to be done through me ? Is this inquiry about therefore finding out
the motivates behind my action?
It appears so because Ravi-ji says that an action externally can be
the same yet its the motive
behind those action that
truly determines if the action was SACRED ACTION.
In the Gita, the setting is even more dramatic - what can be a
bigger question to be answered
when you are facing your teachers and your cousins in a
battlefield - what is the right action ?
Raviji mentions the distinction between force and violence.
So Arjuns action can externally be
killing - yet what can be the motive that can make this a
sacred act? Is this the dharma of a
warrior who does not sit on judgement ?
How does one then know what the right action is ?
How do we know if the motivation is coming
from the small source of the ego - from its fears
or self importance?
Ravi ji says We are all a mixed bag. So it is possible that
we NOT ALWAYS will do the
right action
but by doing a actions and then watching our motivations
maybe immediately afterwards or
maybe even later. And then as we watch we slowly get
a sense of the right actions..
This is a great breakthrough because then we get a little
freedom and little space to manoeuvre.
My own feeling is that for most actions we take, we kinda
know what the true motive is
and what the right action is. This i guess is what they mean
by purification of our motives.
Ravi uses this amazing phrase "I wishes" as though this
wish is coming from a level that
is higher not " I wish" from my smaller self.
The walk with Ravi at the Theosophy
Feb 2nd was magical. Here I was, walking with Ravi ji on the shores of the ocean outside the
theosphical society at Adyar. And Ravi-ji mentions to me that 20 years ago, Krishnamurthy and he walked the same route. It was an overwhelming moment and that short walk across the beach, over the bridge and to the end of the bridge. Raviji points to a section of the bridge, just ahead, a section that is just widened and says " the last time I was with him, just a year before his death, he stopped that spot and then bowed in all four directions." that I thot was a poignant moment.
Saturday, January 27, 2007
Tales stranger that fiction
Durckheim. What can I say. So many subtle insights. magnificient when he talks about
search not being finding a place where phew! finally ! there is eternal rest. He talks about
search not being something that you use to "calm" yourself.
So the search is to find an inner space using which we can dive into life. Experience the pain and the joys in a manner that is free from fear, anxiety and all the other emotions that we want to avoid. This means freedom from the grasp of the artificial personality, that's grasping hard to maintain itself intact by making you avoid all the unpleasantness. And as you have the courage to experience that by opening to all the things we have been trying to avoid all the time, its not as disastrous as we thought..in fact the very opposite of having a sense of freedom..from one more shakle that limited us. its the courage to then use the experience of this freedom to take more steps till one realises the "fictionality" of the ego. THis then allows us to truly align to what the Universe got us into the universe in the first place. Our job as human beings actually only begins then. It must be a great moment to experience in a true sense the discovery of the fictionality of the ego. And it amazes me that as i write this, I still cannot see the fictionality of the ego. There is an image
and a personality that is writing this. Still caught in the personality. While knowing that true action is that which is aligned to the will of the universe, continues action that comes from a small source like the ego. Still knowing that the voice from inside can be heard if one listens quietly and without movement, continues to hear bedlam from the personality and acts on it. Such is the human tragedy. We continue operating this body and in the universe, without knowing a thing about this machine or about ourselves. Like idiots. Maybe this is what they should have taught us in school?
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Mix n Match
The mix. That's what this looks like. Apparently we are only pure awareness. Somewhere along the way the pure awareness gets mixed up with the body. Now the awareness cannot un-engtangle itself from the body. And then lives the life of the body- with its pain and its limitation. Builds an innner image based on the body and converts its, as is said infinite existence, to a finite existence. For me personally, the biggest issue with this mix-up is death. The finite self, the body and the mind which is the product of the body is made of food and of the planetary elements and have to die. The pure awareness does not die - so, we, the pure awareness supposedly immortal, losing sleep over death! So how do we un-entangle ?
The Masters talk about going back from where we came. Nisarga talks about "birth" - what is being born mean? is it the day we got identified with the body ..somewhere in our childhood? were we pure awareness before that? say when we were born..just existing ? so how can we exist ..now ? Maybe witnessing ..because witnessing allows for separation. It seems witnessing is the key - but remembering to witness and having the strength to witness and not react is a challenge. This would mean buidling an energy pool - so that whole sadhana is about building that energy pool that allows witnessing and then slowly the un-enganglement.
There is still the question of who is doing all this...and therefore is there need for effort or will it happen all by itself..when the time is right..now, I wonder if that is a real question. If one is not satisfied with life and its see saw of joy and sorrow..or even the concept of death..then it doesnt matter ..a way has to be found out of this.
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Stephen Jourdain
Some incredible exerpts of Stephen Jourdain's conversation with Gilles Farcet
SJ
All that is a dream! Every instant, everything we designate outside our consciousness that appears real to us, endowed with a reality that’s autonomous and exteriour to our own consciousness, everything we perceive outside outside though the window of our thought all that is hallucinatory. This hasn’t one atom of reality. It’s a purely imaginary phenomenon. They’re subjective effects that your sleeping consciousness surreptiously turns into a reality that’s autonomous and separate reality from you. That’s the nature of the hallucination. To sense your past, the past in general or the future or Paris or the cosmos as something real as realities separate from you is to hallucinate like a madman who walks down the street talking to a phantom interlocutor. This fellow has lost his marbles because he has turned a purely subjective and unreal effect into objective reality. All this should show you the extent of what must be eradicated. All this also shows you the immensity of what must be put back into the heart of consciousness to be dissolved there.
Once this enormous conversion takes place theres nothing wrong with jiggling a marionette and playing. But one must absolutely perceive that my future, my death, me producing the thoughts im in the process of producing etc are nothing but marionettes jiggled by the mind by virtue of a horrible spiritual sickness that pounced on me a billion years ago; my soul no longer feels its own fingers jiggle the marionette and treats it like a stranger.Thus, you must deny the undeniability everywhere it rages that is to say, the totality of your preceeptions.
SJ
The destruction to be accomplished is phenomenal. One cannot attack the dream in fragments. When one wakes in the morning the dream disappears all at once. Thus it is necessary to annihilate everything to pierce all eyes of thought in discovering at the same time that one has never seen with any other eye than the eye of the thought. That, therefore, is the work I would demand you do and its imperative you do well. For either this work is accomplished and you become who you are – your own truth, the infinite value in the heart that was once called God.
SJ
The universe is nothing but a bubble that my soul is blowing. Thus its necessary to blow the bubble. The life of the person caught up in the state of ordinary consciousness unravels at the centre of the subjective bubble he never ceases to blow above his head, a forgery of the universe that includes the thinking subject. He evolves in the interior of the thought of the self. When things click, this bubble bursts like a soap bubble. In reality the uusual state of consciousness has no solidity and can burst any moment.
SJ
In order to reabsorb the hallucination, bringing back what is only thought to the source of thought in such a way that it appears in its true mental nature, that is to say as nothingness, a first method would consist of making an attack at the very heart of the dream. The Central rivet of the hallucination is nothing other than the absolute belief in myself in the act of producing a thought of dreaming this or that. ….if people corrected the way they situate themselves they would eliminate 98% of their problems. Then they would be in the zenith of their dream and close to bursting it.
SJ
The sun of awakening that rose for the adolescent Jourdain has since continued its course and modified its glow. After forty years, I no longer have a body. By that I mean I am no longer situated in the body. Evidently, if someone mentions my foot, Im not going to confuse it with the table! But my body, as an experience no longer exists; the fundamental modification has taken place. Its accompanied moreover by a modification of spatial perception. In the same manner, I no longer have a spirit. It has been a good thirty years since “my spirit” in the usual sense of the term totally disappeared. And about a year ago, I said to myself, “ Shit, I no longer have a spirit, no longer have a body. How in the hell will I be able toe explain all that to someone who has a spirit and a body and who to boot snoozes? Ive got to remember what its like to have a spirit and a body. Thus, I made a great effort, all alone in the kitchen, and suddenly remembered – once again I found myself incorporated, I became once again a spirit in a body. That only lasted a few seconds but I almost croaked !
SJ
All that is a dream! Every instant, everything we designate outside our consciousness that appears real to us, endowed with a reality that’s autonomous and exteriour to our own consciousness, everything we perceive outside outside though the window of our thought all that is hallucinatory. This hasn’t one atom of reality. It’s a purely imaginary phenomenon. They’re subjective effects that your sleeping consciousness surreptiously turns into a reality that’s autonomous and separate reality from you. That’s the nature of the hallucination. To sense your past, the past in general or the future or Paris or the cosmos as something real as realities separate from you is to hallucinate like a madman who walks down the street talking to a phantom interlocutor. This fellow has lost his marbles because he has turned a purely subjective and unreal effect into objective reality. All this should show you the extent of what must be eradicated. All this also shows you the immensity of what must be put back into the heart of consciousness to be dissolved there.
Once this enormous conversion takes place theres nothing wrong with jiggling a marionette and playing. But one must absolutely perceive that my future, my death, me producing the thoughts im in the process of producing etc are nothing but marionettes jiggled by the mind by virtue of a horrible spiritual sickness that pounced on me a billion years ago; my soul no longer feels its own fingers jiggle the marionette and treats it like a stranger.Thus, you must deny the undeniability everywhere it rages that is to say, the totality of your preceeptions.
SJ
The destruction to be accomplished is phenomenal. One cannot attack the dream in fragments. When one wakes in the morning the dream disappears all at once. Thus it is necessary to annihilate everything to pierce all eyes of thought in discovering at the same time that one has never seen with any other eye than the eye of the thought. That, therefore, is the work I would demand you do and its imperative you do well. For either this work is accomplished and you become who you are – your own truth, the infinite value in the heart that was once called God.
SJ
The universe is nothing but a bubble that my soul is blowing. Thus its necessary to blow the bubble. The life of the person caught up in the state of ordinary consciousness unravels at the centre of the subjective bubble he never ceases to blow above his head, a forgery of the universe that includes the thinking subject. He evolves in the interior of the thought of the self. When things click, this bubble bursts like a soap bubble. In reality the uusual state of consciousness has no solidity and can burst any moment.
SJ
In order to reabsorb the hallucination, bringing back what is only thought to the source of thought in such a way that it appears in its true mental nature, that is to say as nothingness, a first method would consist of making an attack at the very heart of the dream. The Central rivet of the hallucination is nothing other than the absolute belief in myself in the act of producing a thought of dreaming this or that. ….if people corrected the way they situate themselves they would eliminate 98% of their problems. Then they would be in the zenith of their dream and close to bursting it.
SJ
The sun of awakening that rose for the adolescent Jourdain has since continued its course and modified its glow. After forty years, I no longer have a body. By that I mean I am no longer situated in the body. Evidently, if someone mentions my foot, Im not going to confuse it with the table! But my body, as an experience no longer exists; the fundamental modification has taken place. Its accompanied moreover by a modification of spatial perception. In the same manner, I no longer have a spirit. It has been a good thirty years since “my spirit” in the usual sense of the term totally disappeared. And about a year ago, I said to myself, “ Shit, I no longer have a spirit, no longer have a body. How in the hell will I be able toe explain all that to someone who has a spirit and a body and who to boot snoozes? Ive got to remember what its like to have a spirit and a body. Thus, I made a great effort, all alone in the kitchen, and suddenly remembered – once again I found myself incorporated, I became once again a spirit in a body. That only lasted a few seconds but I almost croaked !
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