The Many Faces of the One - article 21 - the unpublished esoteric writings of an aging yogi.
"I always connect deeply with the love, beauty, peace and plenitude of pure 'Spirit'. I am calm and centered. Everyday and in everyway I am rediscovering the love, beauty, peace and plenitude of pure 'Spirit'. I always act on whatever honors 'Spirit' and all that 'Spirit' has created. Knowing fully that 'Spirit' is present within me in every moment, I know that divine guidance is always available to me. I know my faith and trust in 'Spirit' is real and enduring. 'Spirit' is the one and permanent source of all love, beauty, peace and plenitude. In 'Spirit' I am blessed beyond any desire or need. I am a divine and perfect creation of 'Spirit'. 'Spirit' is the answer and fulfilment of every need. With 'Spirit' I am blessed. I am always one with 'Spirit'. 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."
Sensory experiences come and go. They appear and disappear from our experience of reality. Some are pleasing to us and some are not, and other remain neutral, but the question of Self-inquiry is to who are they pleasing, or not pleasing or neutral? In the Upanishads it is stated, "All is change in the world of the senses but changeless is the supreme Lord of Love. Meditate on him, be absorbed in him, wake up from this dream of separateness." So, who is the one that has sensory experiences whether they be pleasant, unpleasant or neutral? From where do attraction, repulsion and neutrality have their origin and source? Who am I? What is this?
The body changes, but does the 'I' that knows the body change? The body is known through sensory experience, it is an object of the senses, we know it by sight, taste, touch, smell, sound, and mind-consciousness, and yet who is the 'I' that knows it? Feelings change, but does the 'I' change? We know feelings through sensory experience and mind-consciousness; heat, cold, pain, pleasure, comfort, discomfort, and so on; feelings are a sensory phenomena, and yet who is the 'I' that knows feelings? Thoughts change, they come and go, be they considered positive, negative or neutral thoughts, loving, indifferent or hateful thoughts, they are of the nature to change, they are temporary objects of mind-consciousness, and yet who is the 'I' that witnesses the coming and going of mind objects be they thoughts or mental impressions? Moods and mind-states come and go, be they sadness, elation, vigor, restlessness, anger. anxiety, doubt, fear, and so on, and yet who is the 'I' that witnesses and knows them? Who is the 'I', or should I say, 'I-am', that witnesses, knows and experiences all these changing phenomena with the luminosity of mind-consciousness?
We could say that the phenomenal world is only the creation of the mind. It is a mental construct fabricated and constructed from within consciousness, and yet consciousness is not changed by the changes in the the phenomenal world. And yet what is the uncaused origin of consciousness? We are told we are already free. We are told that the idea of bondage is the illusion. We are told we are spirit first, and that oneness is our true nature and identity. And yet, why is this so alien to most of us? If it is our pure natural state then why is it that it requires so much of us to know it or feel it as a living and breathing embodied truth?
Self-realization is the removing of all that is false,; the removal of the illusion of a separate individuality by the identity with the Self, which is all creation and all phenomena. It is the attainment of Self-realization as recognizing that the idea of bondage to the I-am-the-body, I-am-the-doer illusion is false. It is the letting go of the mistaken identity of separateness and individuality. You are the world and the world is you. There is nothing that stands apart from the true Self. This is why even with this knowing of knowing, feelings, thoughts, moods, the body and mind, and the world are still known, but the Self, pure Spirit', remains forever free of them and unchanged and unaltered by them. So, who am I? What is real? What is the truth of reality and identity?
It is stated that the Absolute is beyond the constructs of space, time and form. Beyond the constructs of mind, mind-consciousness and the body. Therefore nothing is beyond 'I-am'. We could say or argue that even 'I-am' is an idea or a concept, and yet who or what is it that states it? What would it be that exists beyond 'I-am'? Again all of this leads us to the Self-inquiry of 'who am I?' It is the need to remove and to be free of the burdens of what life can be; the challenges, the demands, the pain and the disappointments. The limiting and painful conditions of our humanity. An attempt to make sense of what can be seen, for some, as a meaningless, cruel and harsh world of struggle and suffering.
The Self-realized soul is the one who at all times and in all situations abides and dwells in the heart of the Self. They are fully identified with the Deathless Self and not the mind/body experience, even though the mind/body experience is still present, their identity is with the unchanging and unmoving Absolute. The Self-realized soul never sees any difference between themselves and others, as their identity is free of the identity of form, and this awakened soul is completely free from the false notions of distinction that this so-called person is the enlightened or liberated soul, whilst all others appear to be in bondage or ignorance. They are in full possession of the Self and therefore at one with all creation and phenomena. Nothing needs to change, and yet everything can and does change. Noting needs to happen and yet everything can and does happen. Nothing needs to be done, and yet everything can be and is done. This means there is no distinction between forms and appearances. It is all to do with discovering the Self within the Self and the Self within all. When the wrong identification of the self with the I-am-the-body, I-am-the-doer illusion ceases the Self is both awake within and without. Our identity with the Absolute is fully realized, embodied and known. All is as it is.
To die before you die is to give up all that is false and unreal, and to abide fully as the Real. With this awakening we see an end to clinging and grasping and the body identity. No story. No history. No drama, and yet the mind/body experience continues to play itself out, free of attachment and ignorance. In the search and discovery for the Self, we realize our true identity with the Absolute, which is eternal, timeless and formless. Self-inquiry into 'who am I' is seen as a direct way and path to realizing our true identity with the unconditioned, formless and unborn Self that we really are. This is what is means to die before you die. You are That. All is that, despite the illusory divine and dualistic dance of separateness and individuality. This Self-inquiry into our true essence, nature and identity is what enables us to overcome and conquer the I-am-the-body illusion as well as the I-am-the-doer illusion; this being the ego or mind. In this endeavor we are ask to quiet the mind into the stillness and silence of Pure Being; to bring it to its source; the true origin and essence of Pure Being.
It is that which is beyond space, time and form. It is beyond body, mind and intellect, and yet all these things exist and have their existence with and within the source and essence of Pure Being. No thing can stand apart from this. As Pure Being is the true and only source and essence of all that is, and therefore all is one with with it and all is of it, and as it. Pure Being is the originator, origin and source of space, time and form, and yet their existence does not change, shape or alter what it is. Despite the temporary and changing appearance of things, constructs and phenomena it remains unmoved, unchanged, unthreatened and eternal. This is what it is to abide in and as the unchanging and unmoving 'Spirit'; to die before you die; to give up and relinquish all that is false and transitory as the object of our identity and sense of who we are, and what the world is. This is what it is to realize and know our identity with pure 'Spirit' and to no longer place any lasting importance or identity on that which changes. In this recognition and awakening on the nature and essence of reality and identity, both what is seen as personal and impersonal, as seen and known as one. The personal being the wave and the impersonal being the ocean, and yet their essence is one and the same, water. This is what is meant by the statement that separateness and individuality are illusory. Both the wave and the ocean are one. There is the appearance of separateness but their essence is one and the same.
It is said that a thought is one thing and realization is another. Some would say that there is no real answer to 'who am I?' Self-inquiry is the dissolving of the 'I' thought. The 'I' thought is considered to be the root thought of all other thoughts. Others say that when the Self is realized the world ceases to exists as an objective reality. I guess this makes sense in that it follows that those who see the Self, see the Self alone in the world and as the world also. I would say that 'Only God is Real' or 'the Deathless Self alone is'. Admittedly you might not be in a position to grasp this truth of reality and identity with the individualized mind; as the mind itself is potentially an obstacle to Self-realization.
The mind can only takes us so far, to a point where this too is given up and transcended, and recognized as a construct that inhibits the knowing of our true identity, nature and essence. The conceptual world and all its myriad of things, constructs and phenomena are seen as temporary manifestations of the Self whilst the Self remains untouched and perfect as it is. Some would say that it is like this to show that we are That. That it is all a spontaneous and impersonal arising of objective and subjective reality with no need, meaning or purpose on the part from that which created and gave life to it. It simply happens because it can. The Self is not some lifeless and dormant entity. It is life itself. It is Pure Intelligence that can give birth to a myriad, complexity and diversity of world and things. Not for any reasoned reason, but as an impersonal and spontaneous act of its own transcendental existence.
For the enlightened mind, the world is not seen as outside of us, but it is seen as within us, and one with us. No things can stand or be seen to stand apart from oneself. All experience and existence itself is one with the Self. It is with the Self, in the Self, and as the Self, and existence and its myriad of worlds and phenomena do not alter or change what the Self is. So in the act of Self-inquiry we can ask of reality and identity, 'what is there outside of the self?' We can ask in the act of Self-inquiry, 'what stands apart from the sense and knowing of 'I-am'?'
What we are told is that if you can know the Absolute, pure 'Spirit', within which all ideas exists, not excluding the idea of 'I', and of others like you and the world and all creation you will now see the Self of all selves; the one Absolute as distinct from the idea and concept of ego and individual being, which is impermanent and impersonal. It is all the Self within and with the Self, and as the Self. No thing is ever separate form the Self, and therefore everyone is in fact already Self-realized, even though they are ignorant of it. Self-realization only really consists in getting rid of the false idea and illusion that one is not realized. This is why we have to transcend the body/mind identity, and awaken from our sleep of ignorance into the truth of reality and identity, therefore overcoming and ending suffering and the cause of suffering. It is not anything new to be acquired. It already is. It is not really something that needs to be realized as it is already realized in all that is, and yet we endeavor to realize it as an act of our humanity. This I would consider to be the highest endeavor and reward of life. Only the false and mistaken identity with the mind/body experience as a result of the mind clouds the truth of our already realized Self. This is the light of Self.
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."
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.
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