The Many Faces of the One

What is this?

Who am I?

The Many Faces of the One - article 14  - the unpublished esoteric writings of an aging yogi.

"I am eternal 'Spirit'. Eternal 'Spirit' is all, and all is eternal 'Spirit'. Nothing to gain. Nothing to lose. Nothing to become. Nothing to be. Nothing to create. Nothing to destroy. Nothing to realize. Nothing to be realized. Nothing need happen, and yet everything can and will happen. Nothing need change and yet everything can and will change. All is free and eternal 'Spirit'. Simply this.

"I fully recognize the true existence of an infinite, divine and perfect intelligence which gives life and order to the universe and all things. This perfect divine intelligence is the one and permanent source of all power and plenitude. This intelligence can help me overcome and remove any and all obstacles. I stand firm in my faith and trust in this perfect intelligence as the answer and fulfilment of every need in all areas and facets of my life. I fully honor and share in the vision and truth of this perfect intelligence and divine order. This divine intelligence is the sole provider and fulfiller of every need. With this intelligence I am fully blessed and fulfilled in all things. I radiate pure 'Spirit' at all times, in all places and in all my thoughts and actions. I am always deeply connected and at one with pure 'Spirit'. OM, shanti, shanti, shanti. 'I-am', peace, peace peace.

       continuing from article 13

PURE INTELLIGENCE

Self-realization is to fully seek and know that which is not acquired therefore it can not be taken away. In spiritual Self-realization it is only our investment in the experience and knowing of the source that is of the most importance, and therefore all other experiences are secondary, transitory and fleeting. For most of us our identity comes from what is formed, changing and temporary. We are fooled or should I say the individualized mind is fooled by what is not real as being real. We have simply forgotten our true identity with the Absolute because our identity is strongly attached to the conditioned and phenomenal world of things and constructs. 

        'I-am'. Life is. Where do I begin and where do I end?

If the mistaken and false feeling of 'I-am-the-doer' or 'I-am-the-body' that is not real and yet the 'I' though of 'I-am' appears to be real to us, and gives the temporary and false impression that 'I' exist in relationship to the conditioned and conceptual sensory realms of experience and experiencing then what really is the true reality, identity or essence of  'me' or 'I'? Is reality and identity really all one reality and identity? Should I not ask myself, where does suffering begin and where does it end? How do 'I' transcend the limits and fears of this conditioned and conceptual world?

For me, the spiritual endeavor of Self-realization is realizing and returning to the recognition and knowing of our identity with the Deathless Self. This being the selfless and impersonal origin and source of all experience. This truth transcends suffering and the end of suffering. It is beyond the confines of good and bad, right and wrong, pure and impure and all dualistic experience. This Self-realization and Spiritual-awakening is the returning and knowing of the true original undying and unchanging Deathless Self, pure 'Spirit'. It is the one true and infinite source, identity and reality of all creation and its myriad of forms, constructs and phenomena. However much we might acquire in life, be it worldly possessions, success, fame, status, money, power, or authority we can still be left dissatisfied and unhappy with all that life is or is not. 

In our humanity, people love, people hate, people build, people destroy, people give, people take away, people lead, people follow, people rise and people fall. This is the ever-changing way of things. Due to the unsatisfactory nature of the dramas and challenges of life we in our humanity seek something that transcends and frees us from the the trappings and miseries of this phenomenal world of things and phenomena. It can pose the question, "why should we exist when existence itself can be an unwelcomed burden of suffering and hardship to so many? Yes, this burden is the illusion of our false identity, and yet we are mostly ignorant of this in the hustle and bustle of our day-to-day lives. So I say again and again, the essential aim of Atman-Yoga is fully realizing and knowing our true identity with the Absolute; that which transcends and is free of the mind/body experience and all their associated mental and physical activities and impressions. It is to take full possession and ownership of that which is beyond the confines and trappings of the mind/body experience. This is the greatest possession, or should I say treasure, we could ever possess and have. The truth and knowing of our true nature, identity and essence. Completely identifying and taking ownership of that which is Pure Being underlying all that is and all that will ever be. Again presenting the question of, 'Who am I?' Who am I that resides in and has experience? What is this?

                                                           THE KNOWING OF SELF

What follows are some of the questions I have faced in the challenge of revealing and recognizing who we truly are: - "Where do I begin and where do I end?" Who or what am I in relationship to experience? Who is it that suffers and seeks the end of suffering? Who is this that can feel so burden and troubled by the what the world is and all its demands? Why is experience not more permanently fulfilling in and off itself? Why is it that existence and existing are so flawed and burdening to the mind/body experience? What is the pursuit and fulfilling of spiritual Self-realization really going to do for us when so much of the world is built on consumerism, self-gratification, self-centeredness and self-importance? What is the true purpose of existing when existence itself can burden so many? It is a harsh awakening that the self-importance placed on sensory objects and our need to have permanent pleasure, reward and gratification in them is really of our own making and therefore flawed. It is not imposed by the things or situations themselves. It is us who expect it. 

Only the Deathless Self is real, and all phenomena that we ordinarily identify with and emotionally invest in as real is mostly unreal. This includes the mind/body experience and their associated mental and physical activities and impressions. Only the one undying and original source is real, and when fully recognized and known as the Deathless Self all other phenomena are seen as a temporary expression of the Real in a myriad, diversity and multitude of forms. So what reality really is, is nothing and everything. It is called the Real because it is unchanging and eternal. It is not limited or confined by space, time and form. This is what is meant by the statement and conclusion that only the Deathless Self is real. What we ordinarily identify with and attach to are only temporary and empty projections and constructs of our true undying essence and identity. When we purposely and intensely investigate things for what they truly are we soon begin to realize the impersonal and empty nature of these temporary appearances that have no independent or intrinsic nature or essence of their own. 

This is the removal of the ignorance of the unmade and unchanging Self as the essence, identity and source of all experience, experiencing and phenomena. It is all the Absolute seen and experienced in a multiple and myriad of changing forms, constructs and phenomena. Worldly phenomena in and off themselves lack the genuine capacity and power to permanently make us feel whole, fulfilled and complete. By their very transient nature we are continuously left dissatisfied and therefore compelled to follow blindly our impulses, urges and cravings to desire and have more to attempt to remove this feeling of dissatisfaction. This is the never-ending dualistic cycle of wanting more and never being completely satisfied. It is what is traditionally and spiritually known as samsara.

                                              ESCAPING THE WHEEL OF SAMSARA

Atman-Yoga suggests to us that we are already whole, fulfilled, worthy and complete despite the worldly appearance of lack, unworthiness, fear and neediness. We are already free and unburdened by all that is. It is only the false identification and attachment to the phenomenal world that burdens the 'soul'. Realizing and knowing the Real from the unreal in an intimate and liberating way fully presents us with the recognition and knowing that only the Absolute, pure 'Spirit', is real and eternal. This is the truth and reality of pure 'Spirit'. The unmade and unchanging Self is the real, and the universe and all its myriad of creations, constructs and phenomena are the unreal. In the Self-realization and Spiritual knowledge of the Absolute the awakened mind realizes its true identity with pure 'Spirit'. Like a wave that becomes one with the ocean having always been one with the ocean. Despite its appearance as a wave it is and always was one with the ocean. It never truly left the ocean. The wave and the ocean are in fact one. The wave is the ocean and the ocean is the wave. Separateness is the illusion, as is the individuality of the wave. So the wave is never really lost as it was always one with the ocean. No longer does the awakened individualized self mistakenly identify itself with the mind/body experience as who and what we are. It recognizes and knows it true identity with the Absolute. The awakened and individualized mind realizes and knows with unshakable certainty the impersonal and unreal nature of the mind/body experience. What is know as non-doer-ship, or ego-lessness. I prefer 'emptiness'. Like the wave that was always the ocean, there is the realization that there is no intrinsic and separate permanent self who does things and gets things done. It is all the playing out of the senses as the mind/body experience. Nothing more. 

The awakened individualized mind knows the one true origin, identity and source of all creation and phenomena as the Absolute. It no longer relates to experience and experiencing in a personal and needy way. It is all the impersonal and selfless act of the one reality. This one reality and identity being the act, the actor and its play. Whether this be in ignorance or knowing of the Absolute. Both the sinner and the saint belong to the real. Both the tyrant and the savior are waves in the ocean of supreme consciousness. This complete and unsurpassable spiritual Self-realization and esoteric awakening is in a fully conscious and unbroken way, whilst continuing to be outwardly active and engaged in the temporary and impersonal activities of the mind/body experience, fully expressed and embodied in all things. It is all the unmade and unchanging Self, and this pure 'Spirit' is you and all that is. It is all creation and its myriad and complexity of changing forms, creations and phenomena. 

For those minds who are not fully established in the knowledge of pure consciousness (awakened consciousness) it might be a genuine momentary glimpse into the truth and essence of the Absolute as being the one true reality and source of all creation and its myriad of forms, creations and phenomena. It is seen as something realized rather than something that I am. This is why despite realizing the transitory and empty nature of all appearances and phenomena as unreal we can still continue to engage with the things and creations of the world as they too are essentially 'Spirit' first. The Awakened Mind transcends the false impression and limited constructs of individuality, doer-ship and separateness. It sees and relates to all phenomena and experience as temporary manifestations of 'Spirit'. Ideas of lack, confrontation and limitation are all seen as part of the illusion. All is seen and know as a temporary expression of the one true essence of 'Spirit'. The formless as forms. Forms as being 'emptiness'. The unchanging as that which changes, and yet, it remains unchanged. No color. No form. No shape. No being. No non-being. No sides. No beginning. No end. No stance. No position. No race. No agenda. No demands. No other. All alone is this. 'I-am' that which alone is, and all alone is 'I-am' that.

       This is the essential and core message of Atman-Yoga. The Deathless Self, alone is.


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.'

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

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.