Embedded Files
sculpture - Antony Gormley
You are the aware field in
which your experience of the body,
the mind and the world appears.
The mind-body is continuously appearing and disappearing in this field but what about the field itself.
What is its nature, that is what is your nature. What is the nature of I.
Of your being?
You are the open, empty, allowing presence of awareness, in which the objects of the body, mind and world appear and disappear, with which they are known and, ultimately, out of which they are made.
Just notice that and be that, knowingly.
sculpture - Antony Gormley
Our essential nature of inherently peaceful unconditionally fulfilled consciousness shines in each of our minds as the simple experience
of being aware, or the
knowledge ‘I AM’.
Simply let go of your conditioning and recognise your true nature of absolute splendour, potentiality
and intelligence.
sculpture: Quantum cloud - Antony Gormley
Paramādvaya — a lived-realisation of our shared being where dualism and non-dualism coalesce as one coherent whole.
When you recognise the sacredness and beauty of a flower or a tree, you add something to the flower or the tree. Through your recognition and awareness, nature too comes to know itself. It comes to know its own beauty and sacredness through you.
”The only useful purpose of the present birth is to turn within and realise the Self. It is the greatest service you can render the world" ― RAMANA MAHARSHI
SELF-ENQUIRY – investigate the singular source from which our conscious human experience arises.
Our self is the most important element of our experience and therefor there can be no more important question than to know the nature of ourself - the One that we all refer to as I. What is the nature of this I. What is my reality?
Ask yourself the question, who or what is it that knows or is aware of my experience? All objective experience of the body-mind in thinking, feeling, sensing and perceiving comes and goes, therefor it is not essential to me. I am not made out of a thought, a sensation or a perception. I never appear or disappear. I am the one ever-present unchanging substance that's been with me throughout my life. Who or what is that?
We recognise I AM that which is prior to the arising of any experiences of thoughts, feelings, memories, sensations, perceptions, activities, relationships. Normally we become so lost or fully engaged in the role of the person we play, that we seem to have become it as our exclusive identity.
Hence most people's sense or knowledge of their self is so thoroughly mixed up with the content of their experience that they do not see or know their self clearly. We are usually so captivated by our experiences that we forget or overlook our true self, the aware or knowing element in all objective experiences, namely pure consciousness. Our aware being.
The non-dual understanding is the essence of all the world's great religious, spiritual and philosophical traditions. It is the central tenet of Advaita Vedanta, Cha’an Zen Buddhism, Taoism and Sufism, asserting that reality is a singular unified whole, not a collection of separate things of a subject and an object, of a “me” and a world.
This infinite, indivisible whole is made of pure consciousness and the universe is its activity. They is one, there is no separation. It is what I AM. The person is what I do. The activity of thinking, feeling, sensing and perceiving is added to me. It is my activity, but not myself.
* When infinite consciousness localises itself in the form of each of our finite minds, it knows or experiences itself as the world. In the human context, it is eight billion expressions or viewpoints of the one universal consciousness. There is no separate personal consciousness.
It is the experiential recognition that underlying the multiplicity and diversity of all experience there is a single, infinite and indivisible reality from which all objects and selves derive their apparent independent existence. But itself does not take on or become entangled with any of their qualities or characteristics; of having an age, a shape, a colour, a location or a duration.
It is that which we all recognise within ourselves as our still imperturbable aware being, or consciousness — the very substance within which all experience arises, out of which it is made and with which it is known. It is their underlying reality, the pure a priori I AM before it becomes mixed with the qualities of the body-mind.
This simple but perspective-shifting self-enquiry leads to the recognition of our true I. A singular and utterly intimate universal consciousness which shines in each one of us as I AM.
Its realisation inspires a spiritual redefinition of identity; — a single indivisible reality is revealed knowing itself inwardly as ‘I am’ and appearing outwardly as the world.
The recognition that our true self does not share the limits or destiny of the body-mind, liberates us from the habitual conditioned identity with a separate self, and believe in a personal consciousness. We simply drop all attachments and identification with the story and the weight it carries.
If we can take the analogy of a screen; - the person in the movie does not acquires its own existence, independent and separate from the screen. It's a temporary modulation, or the activity of that from which it stands out, the screen. And just as the content of the movie doesn’t affect the screen, likewise what we are aware of doesn’t affect our essential self. In this analogy, we now become attentive of the screen and softens our exclusive focus on the drama of the movie.
The I AM of our true nature is the only experience we have that does not take place in subject/object relationship.
Enquiry into the true nature of consciousness.
We discover this inherently peaceful ever present awareness is always in the same pristine condition, and that this peace is not dependent upon the state of the body, mind or world, just as a screen is not dependent on the movie that appears on it.
This transparent quiet nature of our self is the same imperturbable aware presence we experienced as a two month infant, as a two year child, at age twenty or sixty.
It does not gain or loose anything by the appearance or disappearance of any objective experience of thinking and perceiving. No experience can ever stain, hurt or modify it in any way.
We recognise this singular self-aware consciousness that we now know ourself to be, is the reality of everyone and everything. There is no separation.
* The process of manifestation in accordance with the consciousness-only model.
This one infinite whole or pure consciousness cannot perceive itself directly. In order for it to know something other than itself, other than its own formless infinite being, it must be perceived from a localised perspective; that is each of our minds. When infinite consciousness assumes the form of thought it localises itself as the finite mind through which it is able to realise a segment of its infinite potential, and to know itself as the world. It is Source filtered through humanity. What is whole and ever-present is refracted through the mind’s lens and become the unfolding drama of time and space.
This subject/object mechanism is the means by which consciousness draws existence out of infinite being, - draws creation or manifestation out of the realm of infinite potential. So the infinite is the realm of potential where all things possible are contained in potential, but they cannot be realised or manifest except from the point of view of a finite mind.
Thus all objective experiences of the body, the mind and the world are the movement or activity of the one consciousness. In other words what we perceive as the world is the conjunction or interface between the infinite and the finite. Infinite consciousness is the reality of the universe. The finite mind gives the universe its appearance through thought and perception. Thus the world only appears as matter from the localised perspective of the finite mind. It is not its reality. What is in reality one infinite formless and indivisible, now appears as numerous finite things and selves. But nothing real other than infinite consciousness is actually created. Likewise in a movie there are no real objects with their own independent existence. It is just the screen taking the shape of a landscape. Ultimately, it is the screen appearing as a movie - consciousness and experience are one.
Consciousness exists independently of the brain as a fundamental property of the universe, with the brain acting as a filter or modulator of this larger field. Like in a cubist painting, from a human perspective it is eight billion viewpoints of the one reality, pure consciousness. In other words each of our finite minds are temporary individual localisations or perspectives of the only mind there is, which is infinite consciousness.
Nāmarūpa – "name and form".
Thought and perception fragments reality. It's what William Wordsworth described so beautifully; - 'we half-create, half-perceive the world'. We create the world in the sense that we project the characteristics of our perceiving faculties (seeing, hearing, touching, tasting and smelling) onto the world, onto reality. And then thought superimpose its own conceptual knowledge onto that experience. Hence the world appears to us in the form of sights, sounds, textures, tastes and smells in accordance with the limiting faculties of the body/mind. We now understand that our sense-perception distorts the true nature of reality. Therefor what we see is not reality. It's a way of seeing.
We come to realise duality is created by superimposing a division onto the experience of perceiving, which is non-existent in the neutral quality of the perceiving experience itself, prior to the arising of name and form. We realise the boundary between ourselves and others, all animals and all things is a boundary made purely out of thought. It does not exist. There is no real separation in our direct experience. Duality is never an experiential experience. It is a construct of the mind. That's why it is not possible to know reality by observing the world.
Thus the isness of the object is the same as the amness of our self. Just is the recognition the amness in me and the amness in another is the same indivisible one consciousness, or the Self of infinite awareness. From a human perspective, what we call you is simply an experience arising within this vast interconnected field of awareness. And at some point the personal thoughts and feelings tend to soften because there is no longer a clearly defined personal self or separate ego for them to hold on to.
The knowledge I-AM or being-awareness is absolute knowledge. The only way to know reality is to go to that single experience that is available to us that is not mediated through the limitations of the finite mind of thought and perception.
Quantum physics reminds us that our description of the world is always our description from the point of view of the observer. So we are forced to take the observer seriously into account, and that means recognising that pure consciousness is the primary substance the world is made of.
The seer and the seen are an abstraction that thought superimposes upon perception. An object is the name thought gives to reality when viewed from the point of view of a subject. In the absence of that point of view, experience is no longer divided into these two elements – a subject and an object – and all seeming things are experienced as they truly are, eternal and infinite.
Identification with a separate self.
When infinite consciousness rises in the form of the finite mind it simultaneously creates the body. Nāmarūpa – "name and form". In doing so it seemingly forgets or overlooks its true nature, infinite being. This mixture of pure consciousness with the body creates a separate sense of self, a personal consciousness that we come to believe and feel is limited to, contained within and generated by the body/mind. It's on behalf of this imaginary self that most of us think, feel, act, perceive and relate. But it's merely a belief, a thought construct. It is not grounded in our experiential understanding of reality. And direct experience is our only criteria to discover the nature of reality.
Most of our lives we have been serving a phantom self that is imagined and felt to live inside the body but when we look there we don’t find any such self. We just find a flow of passing thoughts and feelings, sensing and perceiving. Investigate it for yourself to truly come to this experiential understanding. In realising this, it is not necessary to let go of a separate self but rather to see that there is no separate self.
The recognition of our true self of being-awareness brings this imaginary inside self to an end, if not immediately in due course. As a result, the mind and the body return to their natural state of ease, balance and harmony. Subsequently, the love, peace and happiness that are inherent in our true nature are shared and communicated according to the unique expression of each body-mind.
The integrated ego or self is the agency of creativity.
Ego comes from the latin word which means "I". In ignorance it is seen as an object, the human body-mind. In wisdom the true I or true ego is the reality of that what we are, pure consciousness. We do not exist as cut-off agencies that inhabit a seemingly meaningless world, we ARE that world in a particular form or manifestation.
As such the body-mind is the agency, not an entity, - there are no separate independent entities, objects or selves. The body-mind is simply the agency, the activity through which consciousness realises its infinite potential in form, appearing to itself as ten thousand things but itself is never divided or fragmented into the multiplicity and diversity of objects and selves. Thus our true identity is the I of infinite consciousness and the body-mind experiences is my activity. The body-mind agency gives consciousness a temporary name and form but nothing other than consciousness ever comes into existence.
This realisation is consistent with quantum physics; - that things appear to exist but when we explore what their existence consists of we only find the background of infinite potential or pure consciousness. It relates to the Bhagavad-gita which reads; - 'That what is, never ceases to be. That which is not, never comes into existence'.
This is the elemental concept of Advaita; in the words of sage Ramakrishna, 'God did not create the world. He became the world'.
Also expressed in the Hindu teachings;
'the world is an illusion - only Brahman is real - Brahman is the world'.
In the Buddhist tradition;
'river are rivers mountains are mountains - then there's no longer rivers and no longer mountains - and then there's rivers and mountains again'.
And in the Christian tradition;
'the crucifixion, resurrection, transfiguration'.
Nāmarūpa –– Sat-chit-ananda
Thus ultimately it is the perspective of paramādvaya, or 'supreme nondualism.' This is the view that simultaneously encompasses and subsumes both dualism and nondualism, the view that goes completely beyond the notion of 'levels of understanding'. It is the inexpressible experience of the totality of reality in which no perspective is excluded, for each is seen as fitting into the pattern of a greater whole.
Integrating the 'dual' and non-dual
We are universal consciousness having a human experience. Awareness, or consciousness is the illuminating factor that enables us to know experience. Just as the sun renders the earth visible, so awareness renders experience knowable.
It is not I-the-body-mind that knows the world. It is I-awareness that knows the body, mind and world. Each of our minds are precipitated within, informed by and made of the same infinite field of consciousness modulating itself in all forms of experiences, of thinking, sensing and perceiving. So we see they are one and the same thing.
The role of mind and the human condition.
Thus the human body-mind is a tool of celebration, a divine manifestation of source in motion. It becomes a vehicle, an instrument of truth. It is from this universal state of being that we're able to contribute most profoundly in the way we experience the world because it changes our view of the world, and the way we look. As the witnessing background of all experience I am inherently free from all things. As the substance of all experience I am intimately one with all things. With this new understanding we can now experience a different way of being in the world.
Meditation is to remain as being-awareness, whatever the condition of our mind and body experiences.
From the human perspective the person is in relationship to the divine or the absolute, just like the wave is to the ocean. It is where the infinite and the finite meets. And when we see everything is a divine play of manifestation, it changes our relationship with ourselves, with everyone and everything.
Return to Self — being-aware of our true nature, not our conditioning.
In the scholastic Vedantic tradition, to access the inherent peace of our true nature we first turn away from the objective contents of our experience that we became identified with and disentangle ourselves from it. We know ourselves as the knower of the known, the experiencer of the experienced, the witness of the witnessed; - the subject of all objective knowledge and experience. I know my thoughts but I'm not myself a thought. I'm aware of feelings and sensations but I'm not myself a feeling or a sensation. I perceive the world but I'm not myself a perception. We switch the movie off in order to see the screen. It is not I, the body/mind that is aware of all these experiences. It is I awareness that is aware of them through the faculties of the body/mind. I look through these eyes but I am not these eyes.
But then in the Tantric tradition of Kashmir Shaivism, we start with our objective experiences of thinking, feeling, sensing and perceiving and we ask, who is the one who knows them. We notice that the experience of being aware pervades all these experiences. So now we look through the movie without turning it off, and see its reality, the screen, the divine play of our being.
In both cases, we know ourselves as the presence of awareness. In the Vedantic approach you-awareness give attention to yourself alone and in the Tantric approach you-awareness turn your attention to the content of your experience and face it, allow it, embrace it.
This Self-realisation process ends in the experience of our natural state which is the absence of any illusion as to what we truly are in it's total freedom and autonomy. As boundaries between subject and object dissolve, the phenomenon of presence becomes amplified, this indivisible unnameable intimacy of experience. A revelation of absolute splendour, of absolute love and intelligence.
This discovery signifies the ending of the story of separation and seeking that is the source of all human suffering, conflict and fragmentation and the beginning of a deepening recognition of our true nature. To release and liberate ourself of the habitual residue of the separate self which is no longer serving us. To stop all thoughts and actions born out of fear or control on behalf of that non-existent one.
It is a necessary and ongoing process of realigning our lives in the way we think, feel, act, perceive and relate that is consistent with the implications of this new perspective. To allow for this body-mind to be an alchemical process through which the symphony of life shines.
Living Taoism.
The experience of our shared being, our shared oneness, that we are all made of the same reality is not only the source of lasting happiness within all people. It is the foundation of peace between individuals, communities and nations and it must be the basis for any sustainable relationship with the environment. To live life in a renewed relationship with our authentic self rooted in truth, purpose and meaning.
“Wisdom tells me I am no-thing. Love tells me I am everything. And between the two my life flows.” ― NISARGADATTA MAHARAJ
CONTINUE Former perspectives
ARTIST Installation - Anish Kapoor
A Course in Consciousness or Self-awareness
A deconstructing intellectual exploration of the nature of reality - dissecting, questioning and analysing it systematically. It is not the intention to comprise a new belief system, either to be adopted or
rejected. Because reality cannot be described in words, the words are meant to be
used as pointers to reality rather than as descriptors of reality.
Hence this is a course in seeing, not in believing.
MEDITATIONS & DIALOGUE ON OUR TRUE SELF and NON-DUALITYerna.blumer@gmail.com
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