The Many Faces of the One

  What is this?

Who am I?

The Many Faces of the One: article 9  - the unpublished esoteric writings and works of an aging yogi.

WHO AM I BEYOND 'I'?

"I am Spirit. I am free. This is the ultimate truth of who and what I am. Always have been and always will be. What does it really matter if I exist and have form as worlds come and go, all phenomena appear, change and eventually disappear. This includes the body and mind, objects of mind and mind-consciousness. This includes the false individualized impression of doer-ship, and the mental and physical faculties of the mind and body. This also includes the duality of subject and object, and the appearance, change and disappearance of all creation and its myriad of forms and creations.

All sensory realms of experience, phenomena and experiencing are impermanent, impersonal, unreal, impure, ever-changing and imperfect. They are here for a limited time only. I am not the false and temporary individualized impression of doer-ship. I am not the mental and physical faculties of the mind and body. I am not the duality of subject and object. I am not the worldly criteria of the mind and body, or mind-consciousness. I am not the appearance, change and disappearance of all creation, and its myriad of forms, creations and phenomena. These things do not limit me, threaten me or imprison me. They can not hurt me or destroy me. They do not define me.

I am always free as my true enduring essence - pure 'Spirit'. And so I offer this affirmation of the complete and unsurpassable perfect esoteric Self-realization that pure 'Spirit' partakes in all these things and yet is always free of all these things. That its essence is all these things but is not altered, change, threatened, limited, improved or affected by these things. I offer this affirmation of perfect esoteric Self-realization that states:

                  I am Spirit. I am free. All is Spirit. All is free. Spirit alone is as the eternal 'I-am'.

I am the 'I-am' of I am.

 

       continuing from the collected esoteric writings and works of article 8 

As we have experience it would appear that it changes and disappears into the next experience and so on and on. What appears to us as sensory phenomena and forms eventually changes and disappears. What we attempt to hold on to is only held on to in the mind. Its ever-changing existence is impermanent, empty, selfless and impersonal by nature. It really has no reality separate from the mind and mind-consciousness. We could say it is all mind, but I would say simply, 'essence', 'spirit' 'light' or 'emptiness'. We could say that both the impersonal and personal are mind. We could say that the phenomenal world and all its creations as we individually and separately experience them are a mind-made world illuminated by sensory perception and mind-consciousness.

 

We clearly see as a result of esoteric self-inquiry into the true nature of reality, experience and identity that what can be physically or materially acquired and owned in this conceptual life can be easily taken away, and what is created and made can be easily broken and destroyed. What is made and put together can as easily be pulled apart. And this is also includes the mind/body experience and the notion, concept and idea of an individualized embodied self and our worldly identity and persona. The notion of self and our individualized self-made identity when inwardly examined and investigated for what it is, is seen as a mind-made construct; a temporary bundle of thoughts, sensory impressions and feelings, and self-awareness, and yet we so easily buy into it and attach permanence and individuality to it all. And yet from where does this notion, concept and idea of 'self' come. From where does it show up and to where does it disappear? What is left that is truly us if we do not become or be anything that is mind-made or conditioned and constructed? Who am I really beyond the notion of 'I'?

Taking on an individualized identity can at times be a burden to us. It can bring with it so many demands, ideas, expectations, opinions and limitations of how we must present ourselves to the world, even when that identity is a spiritual or meaningful one. For me, the Truth and real essence of all appearances shines unhindered, unlimited, untouched, immaculate and unthreatened. It has no fixed individualized emboided identity that is mind-made, conditioned or constructed. It needs no fixed self-made embodied identity in order to exist and be. It is as it is. It alone is. It is completely self-reliant, self-fulfilling and self-sufficient. It is not limited, threatened, improved or defined by forms, behavior, phenomena and appearances. We can all take a moment now to contemplate the spiritual self-inquiry of: 'from where does the feeling and thought of 'I' arise and to where does it disappear?' We can all in the chosen and intentional moments and spaces of deep silent meditation and contemplation look for its source, its real source and the true essence of 'I'. Who am I? What is this?

    - What is it that precedes it? What is the original source and essence of this so-called reflective  'I'?

 

WHAT IS MY TRUE ENDURING ESSENCE?

 

In the esoteric message of Atman-Yoga, the original and undying pure 'Spirit' is recognized and known as the one true source and originator of all worldly phenomena, creations and things; both objective and subjective. In fact, all phenomena, both worldly and unworldly, are seen to be temporary appearances, impressions and projections of the one true original, enduring and undying source - pure 'Spirit'. What we ordinarily experience as conceptual and conditioned reality is really 'Spirit' expressed as the many, and the many are the on-going expression of one reality- pure 'Spirit'. It is the Unchanging and Unmoving 'Spirit' hidden from us by all that is changing and moving, and yet it is always present in and as all forms and creations. All forms and creations are temporarily made of its own immaculate and boundless essence and nature. Any confusion about this is due to ignorance of this absolute and unsurpassable Truth of reality, experience and identity.

           This is the sole message of Atman-Yoga. The Deathless Self alone is. It alone is all things.

It is this esoteric Self-realization of Atman-Yoga that brings us to the complete recognition, ownership and knowledge of our true undying and eternal nature, source, origin and essence. It delivers and releases us from the mental clutches and attachments of a limited and confined mind-made self-image and brings us to the complete and abiding freedom, beauty, love, plenitude, bliss and peace of the unmade and absolute Self, which is eternal, formless, perfect, plentiful, enduring and deathless. Our material confusion and ignorance concerning who and what we really are, and what the world is, is finally extinguished and put to rest. We now know the immaculate light of the transcendental Self.

 

We, the individualized embodied self, due to our earthly and material confusion and ignorance about what reality is and what is real, try to continuously change, control and fix conceptual and conditioned reality as an on-going consequence of being identified and attached with all that is appearing, changing and disappearing, and yet by always approaching reality in this mistaken and confused way we are still left dissatisfied and confused by what is the true source and essence of permanent happiness, peace, wholeness, love, plenitude, beauty, grace and fulfilment. We primarily continue to invest the feeling and need for love, peace, happiness, reward, assurance, beauty, satisfaction and wholeness in all that is appearing, changing and disappearing, rather than firmly establishing and abiding in the unmade and unchanging Deathless Self, as the one true source and essence of our true selfless reality and identity. 

The 'I-am' of I am.

 

KNOWING THE SELFLESS SELF

Due to the error of strongly identifying with a mistaken view and idea of reality and experience, and not knowing the real transcendental source of permanent happiness, love, peace, wholeness, assurance, beauty, abundance, reliance and fulfilment we are continuously left dissatisfied and confused by what the mind/body experience is and the worldly burdens, needs and demands it can impose on us. The vulnerability and imperfection of our temporary and transitory humanity is always burdening and troubling us. Our misdirected and reinforced mental tendency is to live experience from a mind-made constructed and conditioned identity and persona with the mind/body experience as who and what we are rather than from the true spiritual essence of the original and undying source and origin of all experience and experiencing, which, for me, is the true undying, unmade and unchanging Deathless Self and this alone is all things and creations including experience, experiencing and knowing.

For me, ignorance is the real root of all our worldly confusion and dissatisfaction with all that life is. It is what makes us feel burdened, lacking and frustrated with the world. We mistake the unreal for the real and rely on it to permanently satisfy, reward, complete and fulfil us rather than taking refuge and abiding in that which is permanent, ever-lasting and real. We continuously invest our need for permanent mental and emotional happiness, peace, love, wholeness, beauty, assurance, abundance and fulfilment in that which is appearing, changing and disappearing only to be left dissatisfied, let down and confused when things change and do not happen in our lives the way we would like or want.

The spiritual message and council of Atman-Yoga is that we can only find complete release and permanent fulfilment from the demands, conditions, challenges and needs of life by genuinely returning to the original source, essence and origin of all that is. To know our true identity in and with the Absolute. Everything else we endeavor to do is temporary and can only satisfy and hold us us for a limited time because what we can acquire physically or materially in this life can so easily be taken away from us. What we make or build, including our self-made persona, can also be broken and even destroyed. What appears to be personal is impersonal, and nothing really truly belongs to us in the end. Be it time, form or space; be it mind, body or mind-consciousness. Even our so-called worldly mind-made individualized identity and persona and all our worldly experiences, stories and possessions do not really belong to us in the end. They just have the appearance of being that way for a limited and finite time. This does not make it bad or wrong. It is simply what it is.

What I say to you now is, look, find and know that which has no form and therefore does not change. Look, find and know deeply and intimately that which is not born, created, made or acquired. Look, find and know that selfless and impersonal Self which is beyond the ever-changing conditions, concepts and constructs of time, space and form. Discover and know for yourself by self-inquiry into the very nature and essence or reality, experience and identity and looking within this referenced untouched, unthreatened, ever-present, enduring and immaculate selfless Self. What I call the Deathless Self. For me, this is the one and true essence of 'I-am'. The 'I-am' of I am.

      This is the sole message of Atman-Yoga. The Deathless Self alone is. All is this Deathless Self.

I am the 'I-am' of I am.

Atman-Yoga Daily Mantra: "I am. Life is. I am one with all life and all life is one with me. Oneness in body. Oneness in mind. Oneness in all things."

 

Atman-Yoga Daily Meditation: 'Only God is Real' as the eternal 'I-am'.

 

 

Song of the Deathless Yogi:

                                        I am 'emptiness'. All is 'emptiness'. 'Emptiness' is all. 

                                    Form is 'emptiness'. Only 'emptiness'. 'Emptiness' is form'.

 

This esoteric blog is dedicated to my earthly mother 'Rita' who transitioned on the 12th December 2021. A truly selfless, kind, beautiful and loving embodied soul, friend and mother. 

A post-article reflective note 2023: It is interesting and revealing to reread and review these articles. They have a noticeable repetition in what is continuously written and communicated here. Very much like breathing. 

On the surface a breath is a breath and yet when examined closely there are slight differences and changes in length, depth, volume and weight as well as the spaces in-between. Here too in these collection of esoteric articles there are slight differences and changes and yet I feel it all contributes and plays a valid part to the whole overall message of what is being communicated throughout despite its noticeable repetition. I know it could all as easily be written in a few lines but this would leave little room or opportunity for any potential publication of this material.

I openly admit here I am a closet lover of God. Very few people know of my love for God. Certainly not in a religious or conventional  sense, but I've always felt that there is something bigger than my own self-importance and existence even as a young boy. It is easy now to fully recognize that I have always been an individual who has always questioned what it is and means to exists and be. Always looking to something bigger than what life actually is and what it presents itself to be to us. I admit even now I still find a certain kind of strangeness and weirdness to it all and what it all asks of us. I find it even more baffling and puzzling, and at times sad, that so many of us still can not find a common ground of kindness and tolerance despite claiming that we as a species have evolved and potentially bettered ourselves. Even now today strong divisions are still continuously being created, made, stood by and in some instances wrongly enforced on others. Even more so with the use of social media platforms.

You would think with all we have come to explore, learn and understand about the universe, reality, consciousness and humanity that the world we now live in would look very much different to what it is today and yet here we all are. Power, corruption, greed, hate, war, violence and self-importance are as present and alive as always. Dark and light and all the shades in-between continuously making up this ever-changing conceptual and conditioned world of creations, forms, change and things. 

I'd like to think that what is written and communicated here will in some way help others make peace with the messiness, fleetingness and beauty of it all. You don't have to be a closet lover of God like me, but like me you will potentially recognize and see the enduring beauty and spirit that is always available and present in all things, forms and dramas. There will be a noticeable and palpable silence and stillness that quietly meets, greets and holds all the changes, challenges, creations and dramas of the world. A genuine and indestructible enduring and untainted presence of freedom and dare I say it, love for all things and creations, whatever their form, appearance and behavior.

You will know that the true enduring Self is not altered, touched, improved, hindered, lessened or limited buy all that the world is or is not. Your true identity will be with God. The one changeless Reality which is all things, forms, creations and dramas.