The Immediacy of Infinite Being - Where it all begins and ends
The birth of ego
At the very moment a thought occurs, the brain´s first reaction is to allow that thought to capture its attention, and with this movement of attention, awareness is drawn externally, giving the world of form a sense of reality. At that very moment the mind´s vibrational frequency is diminished and consciousness shifts to the gross material dimension of ego. The mind is now found to be identifying with ego, which is nothing but a solidified illusory thought form-based structure – a structure that also maintains an inter-connectedness with other thought forms which have accumulated within the mind as latent tendencies. As long as these latent tendencies are sustained in the mind, the ego will persist. This is the condition that underlies the necessity to incarnate into a physical body.
These latent tendencies present the primary obstacle to self-realization, as they create a world of form identities, which in turn bind the spirit to this plane of physicality. These latent tendencies need to be removed from consciousness in order for the realization of self to prevail; this is achieved through the illuminating power of awareness.
Awareness itself exhibits the same luminous quality throughout the ascending stages of spiritual practice. What varies from stage to stage is the duration of this state of awareness. Therefore the process of freeing oneself from these latent tendencies is simply a matter of remaining awake and aware in the moment; there should not be any concern about the ultimate achievement of a state of permanent awareness, as awareness can only be experienced moment by moment.
Notions of a completely refined consciousness are mere concepts, projections into a future that does not exist. So as long as one remains alert, the latent tendencies do not represent any issues. From a totally awakened perspective, the latent tendencies do not exist, nor does the idea of getting to a place of permanent realization of self.
The Absolute - Knowing our True Nature as Infinite Being
Beyond and now
It is the nature of the mind to question what lies after death and to inquire about the past and future. The ego is not satisfied with what it is, so it needs to play with theories and find answers to imaginary questions.
The ego does not want to hear the simple truth of existence, which is always present and constitutes the ultimate experience. This truth is the one of the Self. The ego cannot hear such truth, for it is contradictory to its nature. The fact is that the ego cannot conceive of its own death. This is why it would rather inquire about abstract things of the past and future instead of the present.
The answers that the ego seeks about the world imply that it is the spectator. The ignorant mind confuses the Self with perceived objects and remains confused by the unreality of its identification with phenomena. In reality, there is neither subject nor perceived object; the subject and object are one and the same. Likewise, there is no ego, only an entity that expresses itself in many forms: the absolute. Therefore, only the absolute is real.
It is through the "I" that the world arises. The "I" perceives through the objects with which it identifies and sees as real. But only ignorance can come from this. The mind is merely asleep at this moment, and the truth of one´s true nature veiled.
From true being comes the "I" and from the "I" comes the world of objects, without which the "I" couldn´t succeed in finding any purpose to its existence. The "I" achieves a sense of tangibility in its world by identifying with its mental projections. Being in the world that it has created, it believes it is real and seeks to organize it in the most perfect way, but in vain since neither the world nor the observer really exists.
When the objects of the mind are no longer, the mind also disappears. The "I" appears at the same time as space and time. Inevitably, there is the necessity for the "I" to have things to do, to experiment with, to know and accomplish and to create an illusion of a world in which it most realize itself.
The "I" establishes the goal of finding the Self, since it is the natural course of all life; what the "I" looks for is the fullness of life. In order for us to identify with the objects of consciousness, we mistake the truth for time and space. But this is erroneous, since only the unity of consciousness has always existed. If consciousness were something to be found, it would be something external to oneself.
All that has a beginning has an end. From ignorance we seek knowledge, but what we find is the endless need to do so. Knowledge starts with the illusion of the ego. What reality can be found from unreality? The mind, in its search for fullness, goes in circles. Ignorance is its shadow. Ignorance must be dissolved in order to allow the depths to come up to the surface. With this comes true knowledge and experience.
There is no knowledge or experience that is infinite; they all come about with the emergence of the "I-thought". There is only one knowledge as there is only one experience, the absolute Self that is the origin of all that exists. In order to perceive this, it is useless to look left or right, into the past or future, up or down. These directions do not exist. There is no beginning or ending.
If there is a goal to reach, it must already exist before we are born and after our death in order to be true. In truth, we were not born and will never die. Only the "I" keeps alive the idea of being born and of dying. The body comes into being and then dies, but what is the body? If we are the body, then what is it that is born and will die?
There is only the void and this is what we should be attached to. The mind mixes up reality with its identification with objects. What it believes to exist is what it projects as forms. But without verbal and sensory projections, what becomes of the body and what difference does it make?
If we perceive the Self as being the ego, we become this ego. If we perceive the mind as being the mind, we become the mind. It is likewise with the "I" and the body. It is our ideas that create our world. The shadows on the water appear to move. Can the shadows stop moving without us knowing what their source is? In the same way, we cannot stop the ego with its activities and goals without looking at what is behind it. Birth, death and indeed the entire universe have no significance. In truth, when the mind awakens, there is the realization that neither the universe nor the mind has ever existed.
Only the absolute – which has no name, cannot be found anywhere, neither comes nor goes – exists and has always existed. Thus there is no knowledge to be found or any experience to seek. Only the eternal reality of the Self exists. The true existence is the absolute and this is what we are.
We have always tried to know or experiment with what is already in us. We must cease to pursue the play of shadows and realize the light within all existence. The freedom from all projections is a unique state.
There is no other goal than to reach the ultimate existence as there is no spirit that can not realize the Self. It is the only reality that can bring true consciousness into existence. It is only the mind with its identifications with ideas and form that shades our consciousness from the sublime and that makes us prisoners of time.
The mind´s existence is destabilized with the question "Who am I?" Since all objects are set aside, the mind also vanishes and leaves a place for what has been there all along. Once the real nature of the mind has been found, we realize that there is neither a mind nor any goals. When the pure being has been found, the mind cannot be found. Residing in the unique existence, we do not have to worry about it.
Why disperse energy into the objects of the mind only to find that neither the mind nor the universe really exists? When the ultimate reality is perceived, the world appears as being part of the absolute. All knowledge, all experience starts and ends in this absolute. It would be more simple to ask the question "Who am I?" than to get lost in worldly knowledge.
When this interrogation of "Who am I?" begins, we realize the transitory nature of the mind and the futility of searching for knowledge and experience. The Self alone includes all knowledge and experiences. It is the origin and the end, the alpha and omega. That is the true answer to the question "Who am I"? It is the reality of the Self behind the endless movement of the manifested consciousness.
It is not necessary to experiment with all paths and forms in order to find the unique reality behind all manifestation. Let the mind begin with the question "Who am I?"; then our true nature can emerge. If, however, that does not occur, we must observe how the mind is still attached to its need to question and find answers. In order to find answers to the ultimate question, the mind cannot rely on time and space. It must come into contact with the reality of the Self.
If we do not know ourselves, how can we know the world? What is the value of knowledge and experience that gives way so easily to other knowledge and experience? Who can find light in the world without self-knowledge? Can the world be divided from oneself? It is ignorance that pushes the mind to seek outwardly what exists within. Once the nature of the mind is realized through the examination of the "I-thought", there are no more directions to follow, since all that remains is the unique existence, from which all things come.
The Destiny of Spirit - A Return to the Reality of Being
Harmony
When the mind is perfectly silent, without any single movement, all aspects of being merge in perfect harmony. The body itself is relaxed and the vital force flows naturally and freely; the mind participates in a process of renewal.
As the body and the mind are intimately connected, it is important to be aware of every single movement of the body, just as it is essential to be aware of any movement of thought in the mind. One influences the other. If the mind is tense and agitated, so it will be for the body, as life´s flow is kept from freely circulating throughout all subtle centers of energy and consciousness. This energy is in fact one energy that embraces all bodies. When this energy is more concentrated in one part of the being than another, it creates stress and imbalance, which also manifests as a fixation of ideas and emotions that serve to intoxicate both body and mind. This state of internal imbalance also leads to disharmony in interpersonal relations.
The unbalanced concentration of energy in particular centers of consciousness not only disturbs the natural order of the mind and body, but also has a negative impact on the environment, for the vibrations we emanate when we are unbalanced move in opposition to the harmonious movement of the vital current of life.
When attention is brought to the source of thinking which is the central thought of the "I", blocked energy is released, and a natural flow of energy is activated, which leads to both internal and external expansion. This fundamental movement is the essence of our being, just as it is for everything that exists.
In paying attention to what exists from moment to moment, the mind forgets itself and space is created for all things to be embraced in the totality. Then peace prevails in this immensity of total emptiness.
This peace is simply everywhere. It is behind the wind that gently bends the branches of the trees, it surrounds children at play. The starting point is in the silence of being and nowhere else. If we can listen, with all our intensity, without verbalizing anything and without thinking anything in particular, then we can discern the presence of this absolute peace.
The mind is always stimulated by that which it observes, always reacting, cherishing its opinions, holding tightly to concepts, and rare are the moments when it is satisfied with seeing things as they are. Maybe we think that it is difficult to remain neutral in relation to all things, and to be detached about our own existence? In undertaking the practice of self-observation, we find that we are caught up in excessive thinking and it seems impossible to simply be quiet.
We would like to gain access to this extraordinary state of inner peace, and yet at the same time, we want to extract something more than just peace from this state of peace. As such, we would like to access true peace while using the circumstance in a selfish way. Those who would attempt to expropriate peace don´t understand what peace really is. And these are the ones who tend to impose their confused thoughts on others.
Deluded states of mind must be observed in the same way that we would listen to the flow of a river. Whatever may we be thinking about this river will not change its course. The river is pursuing its course independently of all that we may be thinking. So it is with life. Life is neutral and it is for this reason that all things find the occasion, the space, and freedom to exist. If we must be preoccupied with images, let us fix our attention on the image of life as all love, which gives itself freely, unconditionally.
Into Vastness - The Purpose of Existence
Walking freely
In all of us there exists the capacity to transform energy to the highest level of vibration where everything in daily living can be not threatening and stress-free. It is difficult for us to understand that and to believe it because we are not accustomed to moving from one state of mind to another, and even when that does happen, we are not aware of it. Nevertheless, we know that when we are happy, things become clear and precise. Life and its difficulties disappear and leave room for a softer, more harmonious reality. If, however, we allow ourselves to be crushed under the weight of events, it is as if the entire world is collapsing.
Our vision of the world corresponds with our state of mind. If the later is heavy, we will have heavy thoughts about life. If we have a light mind, life becomes simple and beautiful. It is always possible to raise or to lower our level of vibration. This is determined by oneself alone.
We can always live in this world without being affected by the unpredictable changes. After all, the final goal of our existence entails the absolute liberation of consciousness. It is when the unpredictable events of our lives occur that we can truly determine whether or not we are the prisoners of the mind.
It is usually the case that when life subverts our little habits, our little comfort and security, we feel depressed and drained of vitality. We should rather acknowledge that life is offering us the opportunity to properly get on our feet and retrieve our responsibility to the righteous path. We should always have in mind the highest goal, the only goal worthy of our full attention.
In daily lives there are often circumstances that make us feel as if everything is divided. These problems, these mere material difficulties are only serving the big picture. Unpredictable events arise as a remedy to the mind´s tendency to dull its awareness, to escape reality by putting itself to sleep.
When we seriously consider the possibility of changing the vibrational level of our consciousness we take a step forward. Life is a school where we constantly receive lessons, the most important of which are lessons about ourselves.
In order to advance on the path of self-knowledge and elevate consciousness to its highest vibrational level, it is necessary to discard all those negative thoughts that keep us trapped in the bleak dungeon of ignorance.
We must insure that absolutely nothing in this world is permitted to impede the aspiration to higher consciousness. The transformational energy of higher consciousness is always moving forward because life is always moving forward on its evolutionary course, and it is precisely because life is so constructed that we are not given the opportunity to sleep for too long. Nevertheless, as long as we remain incapable of fully realizing the ultimate goal of our existence, we will be bouncing around from one extreme to another. These opposing movements manifest in such a way that we are often compelled to look for the opposite element.
There is no spirit that wants to remain in sorrows. We are all looking to free ourselves from pain in order to find happiness. This is the way of life and we cannot avoid it, unless we become masters of our minds.
There is no greater occupation than the practice of elevating our level of vibration, for this elevation not only affects our own freedom, but the freedom of everyone around us. The joy we experience is the joy of the universe. This is happiness, to know that we are functioning according to life´s purpose and that we are contributing to it. To acknowledge that we must devote all our energy to the highest ideal, this is the absolute benediction. Whatever we do becomes a means to ascension. When negative energy comes our way, no resistance is offered; when attention springs from a complete state of awareness, negativity is transformed into positivism.
The experience of complete vastness is given to the mind that has learned to be aware and to serve life´s higher purpose. Everything is given to the mind that does what it needs to be doing, and so we should always ask ourselves about who or what we are serving.
In awareness, we are necessarily serving the highest, whereas when we are listening to the ego, we serve the lowest. Whether we find ourselves happy or under the weight of difficulties and thus unhappy, we should always ask ourselves, who are we really serving. With this sort of self-examination, the mind finds clarity and because of that, the path to follow is shown with total clarity.
The path is all about liberation. Everything else is life’s concern. The spirit takes precedence over the material. Material phenomena are mere reflections of the movements of spirit. When the mind is in its place, the material world will be in its place as well.
To speculate on what we should do on a mere material level is a waste of time, because the material world doesn´t really exist. To attempt to establish control over it is a big mistake. Also, to think that we must deny the material life in order to awaken spiritually is to entertain a delusion, for to lead a true spiritual life, no such distinction is made between the so-called spiritual life and the ordinary life.
The distinction between all things is made merely for clarity in communication on a conceptual level. The idea is to move away from the realm of concepts and to see what really needs to happen in order to free oneself.
A true spiritual life means leading a holistic life, to acknowledge the unification of all things and to go beyond. We must be conscious of that unity in everything we do. This is the task. As much as we are nothing, we are everything. Though we appear to be very small, we encompass the totality of life.
We are using words to communicate, but realization belongs to the mind alone. Ultimately, the mind must come face to face with its loneliness in order to proceed on the path to self-realization.
