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The Ancient Eastern Science of the Nervous System | Book Excerpt from Fasting the Mind

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The Ancient Eastern Science of the Nervous System | Book Excerpt from Fasting the Mind

  The spiritual path of Buddhism came into existence as a result of this yearning to completely slow down our nervous system so we can experience real freedom. In Sanskrit such freedom is called nirvana, meaning extinction, freedom from suffering, and ultimately the unconditioned eternal reality that we experience as enlightenment. In the story of Gautama the Buddha, he sought methods of practice and philosophy that would evoke the state of nirvana. He followed asceticism and strict spiritual practices for six years. It wasn’t until he was exhausted in his efforts that he finally took some milky soup from a young girl herding cattle and sat under the famous Bodhi tree in the small town of Bodh Gaya, India. In doing so, he completely relaxed without the need for striving. His original efforts had been futile because he was approaching enlightenment in the same way that we purchase a cheap suit. In striving for anything, there is still agitation in the mind, and this perception of life comes from the ignorant view of how we supposedly achieve things in this world.

 

  Whether knowingly or unknowingly, Gautama the Buddha accessed a part of our nervous system that remains dormant when we are always in physical and mental motion. This part of our nervous system is known as the parasympathetic nervous system (PSNS).

 

  To gain a better understanding of this we need to know what makes up the nervous system. The nervous system is the part of an animal’s body that coordinates its voluntary and involuntary actions and also transmits signals to and from different parts of its body. In vertebrate species, such as human beings, the nervous system contains two parts, the central nervous system (CNS) and the peripheral nervous system (PNS). The central nervous system contains the brain and spinal cord, while the peripheral nervous system consists of mainly nerves, which are enclosed bundles of long fibers, and axons, which are long, slender projections of nerve cells that conduct electrical impulses away from the neuron’s cell body. These nerves and axons connect the central nervous system to every other part of the body. The peripheral nervous system is divided into the somatic nervous system (SoNS) and the autonomic nervous system (ANS).

 

  The autonomic nervous system is our central focus when related to psychological or spiritual inner work and transformation. The autonomic nervous system is a control system that largely acts unconsciously and regulates our bodily functions such as heart rate, respiratory rate, digestion, pupillary response, urination, and sexual arousal. The autonomic nervous system has two branches: the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) and the parasympathetic nervous system (PSNS). The sympathetic nervous system is sometimes considered the “fight or flight” system because it is activated in cases of emergencies to mobilize energy. It is what we activate when we are in motion and being stimulated through our senses. Without it we could not do anything. The parasympathetic nervous system, on the other hand, is often considered the “rest and digest” or “feed and breed” system because it is activated when we are in a relaxed state. We activate the parasympathetic nervous system when we essentially do nothing. It is also responsible for stimulation of “rest and digest” and “feed and breed” activities that occur when the body is at rest, especially after eating, including sexual arousal, lacrimation (tears), salivation, urination, digestion, and defecation. The parasympathetic nervous system is what makes us drift off to sleep every night. It is stimulated most when we relax deeply.

 

  The war on our nervous system is essentially the overstimulation of our sympathetic nervous system along with an understimulation of the parasympathetic nervous system. When we stimulate only the sympathetic nervous system without activating the parasympathetic nervous system, we increase the probability of chemical imbalances in our brain from not having a healthy balanced lifestyle. Because of this, the vast majority of us are teetering on the edge of psychological suicide.

 

  People may say in response to this statement that they have time to relax every day. But are our methods for relaxation really relaxing? Our perception of relaxing is sitting in front of the television or computer, playing with our phones, chatting with friends, and so on. This is not true relaxation. Actually, when we engage in such activities we are still stimulating the sympathetic nervous system and not the parasympathetic nervous system. Accessing the parasympathetic nervous system requires a complete shutdown and withdrawal of the senses and mental activity, known as pratyahara in Sanskrit. This shutdown is important to Hinduism, Taoism, and especially Buddhism with its methods of practicing meditation.

 

  No matter whether it is Theravada, Mahayana, Vajrayana, or Zen, the various strands of the Buddha’s teachings have at their core the necessity of starving or fasting the mind. This is done to allow the parasympathetic nervous system to play its role within our psychosomatic organism. One of the more effective methods that the Buddha supposedly taught was vipassana. Vipassana is a Pali word (vipasyana in Sanskrit) used in the Buddhist tradition that means “insight into the true nature of reality.” The meditation practice of vipassana is an ancient method that is believed to have come from Gautama the Buddha himself and which survived through other Buddhas throughout history. Vipassana meditation is thought of not only as a meditation practice in all life but also a disciplined technique that is supposed to evoke vipassana in all life. This technique was reintroduced by Burmese Theravada Buddhist teachers Ledi Sayadaw and Mogok Sayadaw. It was then popularized by Mahasi Sayadaw (a Burmese Theravada Buddhist monk and meditation master), Saya Gi U Ba Khin (the Burmese vipassana meditation teacher and an influential leader of the vipassana movement), and his student, Satya Narayan Goenka (better known as S. N. Goenka), who is well known for spreading the vipassana movement worldwide with more than a hundred centers located in various countries around the world.

 

  The vipassana meditation technique is like shock therapy for your nervous system, consisting of a ten-day course in seclusion away from worldly distractions, where you meditate for hours each day, eat small portions of vegetarian food, and sleep, with no talking at all for the whole duration. The effect this has on us is immense. During the ten days people are finally giving themselves the chance to allow the parasympathetic nervous system to function without the interference of the sympathetic nervous system habitually seeking stimulation. The result is that a lot of the subconscious content lying dormant within our nervous system—content that drives our unconscious reactions and responses to the world—rises to the surface of our conscious mind, giving us the opportunity to finally reveal and heal our deep-seated conditioning.

 

  Vipassana meditation practitioner William Hart explains how we can use “right awareness” and the awareness of respiration (anapanasati in Pali and anapanasmrti in Sanskrit) to bring us back into the ultimate reality of the here and now. He shows how, through the awareness of respiration we can start observing the normally unconscious autonomic functioning of the psychosomatic organism. In Hart’s book The Art of Living: Vipassana Meditation he states:

 

Focusing on breathing can help us explore whatever is unknown about ourselves, to bring into consciousness whatever has been unconscious. It acts as a bridge between the conscious and unconscious mind, because the breath functions both consciously and unconsciously. We can decide to breathe in a particular way, to control the respiration. We can even stop breathing for a time. And yet when we cease trying to control respiration, it continues without any prompting.

 

For example, we may begin by breathing intentionally, slightly hard, in order to fix the attention more easily. As soon as the awareness of respiration becomes clear and steady, we allow the breath to proceed naturally, either hard or soft, deep or shallow, long or short, fast or slow. We make no effort to regulate the breath; the effort is only to be aware of it.

 

  Observing our conscious, intentional breath leads us to awareness of the normally unconscious, autonomic function of our natural breath. This meditation on the breath guides us beyond superficial reality toward an awareness of a subtle reality, while the illusion of past and future eclipses this awareness of a subtle reality. Human suffering stems from the looming anxiety of the future and the stress from our past experiences. This temperament has us obsessing about ourselves in an unconscious “me, me, me”–centered attitude. As a result our mind is often lost in the fantasies and illusions of the past and future, where we hold on to pleasant experiences while trying to erase unpleasant experiences of the past, without realizing that both will stay dormant within the subconscious if they are not brought to the surface of consciousness.

 

  When we are mindlessly out of sync with the here and now we are unaware of the cravings and aversions that our subconscious continues to fuel and that drive our unconscious reactions toward the world. Anapanasati is an advanced method that will deliver us from this dilemma of suffering and the perpetual subconscious obsession we have about ourselves. The awareness of respiration, especially if practiced earnestly throughout our life, will allow us to be ever present in the here and now effortlessly, without the need for trying. But this might not be the case in the beginning because we have become accustomed to distraction over the course of our lives. Some effort, then, is necessary at the start of disciplining our attention to be focused in the present moment.

 

  Vipassana is a flawless method for digging into the unconscious material within our mind to give us a glimpse of our true nature. The only problem with this method of fasting the mind is what to do with it when we come out of seclusion and return to the world. American mythologist Joseph Campbell called this “bringing back the boon,” referring to anybody who chooses to break away from fear to embark on the “hero’s journey” and then return to the world to share what they have learned. Campbell explains:

 

The whole idea is that you’ve got to bring out again that which you went to recover, the unrealized, unutilized potential in yourself. The whole point of this journey is the reintroduction of this potential into the world; that is to say, to you living in the world. You are to bring this treasure of understanding back and integrate it in a rational life. It goes without saying, this is very difficult. Bringing the boon back can be even more difficult than going down into your own depths in the first place.

 

  Many people who come out of a vipassana course often fall straight back into familiar habits when they return to their usual surroundings. The constant practice of fasting the mind hasn’t taken root yet because people fall back into the habit of excessive stimulation. When we get back into that habit we begin to overuse the sympathetic nervous system again. Few people, no matter whether they have done a vipassana meditation course, are conscious of how they consume and transform energy taken in through the nervous system.

 

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The Mysterious Mind of the East

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From a Western perspective the mind of the East has always appeared peculiar. The Eastern way of thinking, their philosophy and spiritual beliefs, run counter to Western thought. Today, in the modern world, the Western view of life has become the norm, even in the East. The Western approach of radical individualism has spread all around the world, while the Eastern view of holism and collectivism is taking a backseat while each and every individual tries to reach the top of the social heap by tramping over others. A result of this striving for ‘success’ is that we have become excessively busy, and …

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Enlightenment in the East: Misunderstood & Misinterpreted

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Enlightenment in the East: Misunderstood & Misinterpreted

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  Enlightenment in the East is often misunderstood and misinterpreted. It is completely different from the philosophical movement known as “the Enlightenment” in Europe during the 18th century. Eastern enlightenment is often studied but never experienced. It is usually viewed through our Western and modern linear view of life. Yet the Eastern view of life is built on the natural world’s foundation of a nonlinear view, inclusivity rather than exclusivity, collectivism over individualism, which all contribute to a perception of reality attuned to holism rather than an analytical perspective. Instead of analytically dissecting reality into separate parts to try and understand the whole, the East focused on how the apparent separateness of life is integral and essentially one.

 

  Both the holistic and analytical mind were environmentally determined by life’s circumstances thousands of years ago which influenced the way an Easterner and Westerner perceive the world until present day. The analytical mind is attributed to the West. It results from smaller communities during the first two millennia BCE in Greece which were naturally more individualistic because they had to fend for themselves and live off the individual labor of hunting, herding, and fishing for obtaining food.

 

  During the same period in the East the environment determined that it was best to live in large communities due to the arduous labor required for rice cultivation. This was especially the case in China and India. For example, the birth of Chinese civilization evolved from the Yellow River Valley area of northern China where rice was the essential food source. Living in large communities in the East people were dependent on each other and the health and well-being of every person. Your own individual self-interest and self-importance was surrendered to what was important for the collective good. This attitude geared people’s mind towards being holistic. As a result they attained a natural nonlinear view of reality.

 

  The analytical mind and linear view is the result of individualism, while the holistic mind and nonlinear view is the result of the collective perspective. This doesn’t mean one view is better or more real than the other. But the problem we encounter today is the holistic mind and nonlinear view of reality is disappearing in favor of a world driven by individual pursuits at the expense of our collective well-being, even in the modern East.

 

  The holistic mind and nonlinear view is the way of nature and is expressed through our intuition. The analytical mind and linear view is expressed through our intellect. Both are somewhat necessary but we overcompensate for the latter, which ultimately leads to the decline of nature and our own enlightenment as an individual. A mind primarily driven by the linear analytical view of reality contributes to the slow destruction of nature and also the mind itself. We see this with the alarming abundance of mental health issues and ecological problems today.

 

  The natural mind is rooted in the holistic nonlinear view which is the fundamental framework of nature, and human beings are an aspect of nature. This doesn’t mean the analytical mind and linear view cease to exist. But instead they should only be employed in those brief moments that require our attention to detail. Yet if your mind is rooted in its holistic nature then any attention to detail will be done without the sense of a separate person doing it, in the same fashion as Krishna was imploring Arjuna to do in battle against his family and friends within the Hindu epic Bhagavad Gita.

 

  The nonlinear world of nature and individual enlightenment are intimately related. But our sense of an identity separate from everything else has to disappear before we can realize enlightenment. Patanjali, the founder of yoga, explains this using the Sanskrit purusha (absolute pure awareness and the identical source of the universe within each of us, similar to the concept of Atman in Vedic scripture) and prakrti (all the form and energy of the manifest universe, including thoughts). He explains that the fundamental purpose of nature (prakrti) is for the human being to bring purusha forth into the world. Purusha, then, according to Patanjali, is the ultimate fulfilment of nature and why we essentially exist.

 

  Yet this could only happen if the idea of an isolated separate personality has disappeared because when our mind is pulled here and there by the movement of mental activity and life we lose our sense of purusha within. It is eclipsed by a haze of overstimulated mental activity. As a result we begin to firmly believe in the notion of past and future without an appreciation or recognition of the present moment.

 

  This is a disaster according to the Eastern wisdom traditions. In the East eternity and our connection to it is not some far off destination or someplace we go after death. It is right now where time and thinking are completely cut off. The eternal now aspect within our mind is experienced when we constantly ground ourselves in pure awareness (purusha). The more we bring our mind back to pure awareness the more we will experience the eternal aspect of the universe because pure awareness is beyond time, form, and mental activity. Our personality, on the other hand, is built and sustained by the linear view of the world. It is an accumulation of experiences from the past that we believe determines our future. Actually we tend to project our desires into the future based on our past. As a result our personality becomes entangled with suffering which is the result of linear time.

 

  When we realize we are the charioteer and begin to reign in the wild horses, to use Plato’s analogy of the mind, we become free from the entanglement of a time-bound personality that is causing all the trouble in the world. The real you, the true Self/Atman (Atman is a Sanskrit word for the Self with a capital S in reference to the pure undifferentiated consciousness deep within us that is eternal and a pure state of awareness that is identical to the Absolute Ultimate Reality of existence known in Sanskrit as Brahman) is the unstained pure awareness beyond time. That is who we truly are but it becomes background noise to the foreground of our isolated personality.

 

  Your real nature, the true Self, is what some people of the East realized thousands of years ago. When they individually surrendered their own selfish desires upon the altar of life as it is, they realized they are part of something much greater than their personality. Call it Brahman, Tao, or the Godhead, but we don’t need to give it a name as it is eternally nameless. True liberation burst through their hearts as they finally understood that they are no more special than anyone else or anything else. When their personality disappeared, the splendour of enlightenment dawned on their consciousness.

 

  The great sages of the East experienced this splendour. They lived a life fully enlightened which is the fulfilment of nature. Nature is nonlinear and a sage’s mind becomes a reflection of nature. Having no beginning or end, enlightenment is a state of consciousness firmly rooted in the eternal now where the illusion of past and future evaporate like dew drops on a summer’s day.

 

  When we break free of our time-bound personality we realize that liberation is our true nature. We are already enlightened but fail to recognize it because our mind is constantly overstimulated and as a result we have accumulated psychic rubbish throughout our life without any attempt to clean it in the same way people treat an Indian train station when passing by. Our mental impressions/subliminal psychological imprints (samskaras in Sanskrit), latent habits and tendencies (vasanas in Sanskrit), and action (karma in Sanskrit) cannot be purified if we don’t make the effort to bring our wandering mind back to the eternal now of purusha. Only then when we attune to That which is beyond name and form can we truly experience the fact that liberation is your true nature.

Enlightenment now in this eternal moment is the ultimate liberation and you are That!

 

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Humility: A Sage’s Ultimate Reality

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Humility: A Sage's Ultimate Reality

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  The effortless universal virtue of humility is what evokes enlightenment in life. The big problem with this mystical virtue is generally we only have fleeting moments of its power, as we constantly get sucked back into the subjective dramas of the world in our mind. As a result, we revere the sage for their sustained absorption in the lowest and paradoxically most powerful state of humility. A master absorbed in the humble and most refined state of consciousness has truly accepted life as it is. They have no desire to promote their own agenda, as from this state all agendas have evaporated like dewdrops on a hot sunny day.

 

  We seek to attain this level of perception through our spiritual practice but we get lost in social and cultural habits of thinking linearly, as we strive to succeed by gaining “spiritual powers.” This has more to do with showmanship than mysticism. We shed our old persona for a new and improved “spiritual persona.” Still driven by the ego we are attempting to define ourselves as someone “special” in relation to the world. Our spiritual practice becomes more about how to stick our head above the rest of the crowd.

 

  But enlightenment has no relationship to such an approach. Enlightenment is evoked by resting in the lowest place of humility. Water corresponds to this low place of humility. Water is the lowest force of nature, yet paradoxically it is the most powerful. Humility, like water, is the low and receptive virtue of nature within our psychology and linked to the unconscious, which paradoxically is the most powerful state of being that transforms the world without any intention to do so.

 

Chuang-tzu

  Enlightenment is not something we can strive to attain. It is as natural as water moving down a mountain stream undisturbed, where the destination and journey are one. Humility is the state of consciousness when destination and journey, self and other, individual and universe, samsara and nirvana, reveal their intrinsic unity disguised as mutual opposites. Humility evokes this perception of enlightenment, which is actually the fruit of all spiritual practice and also life.

 

We don’t perceive this in our life or practice because we are indoctrinated by culture to focus on the foreground of life instead of the background. We only perceive and are attracted to chaos in the world which is a reflection of the attraction to chaos within our mind. This eventuates because we have not refined our consciousness into the pure jewel of transparent and reflective awareness. When we are caught in the detail/drama of life we are trying to control the universe to suit our egotistical desires and cravings. We are still playing a game of one-upmanship with the world because we appall the low road of humility that unites us with the source of the universe.

 

  Humility evokes enlightenment when we give up trying to control life and instead trust the universal flow in the same way that water trusts the contours of a river without resisting its own clear nature of transparency and reflectivity. We are out of sync with the universe because we have lost this innate trust. Our trust continues to sleep dormant because we are trying to change the world to suit our conditioning according to sensory pleasures with the absurd exclusion of pain.

 

  Changing the world is the primary focus of most people. We feel as though we are saving the world but we don’t know who or what from. We believe we are a prisoner in this beautiful garden. We seek to save ourselves from its claustrophobic steel bars that develop in our mind so we can someday enjoy the aroma of the flowers. But we were never enslaved, nor is there anything to free ourselves from. We have invested too much time and energy on the chaos of the world within our mind without realizing it is only the detailed foreground of an orderly background.

 

Ramana Maharshi 2

  Intrinsic to chaos is order. This is the evolved perception of a sage. If our perception is too contracted we lose sight of reality as it is. We perceive chaos within and without, and believe it is stagnant and not undergoing any fundamental change. We become frustrated as a result and seek to force change with an intention that is solely our own. Trying to change or save the world implies that reality is not already perfect and that somehow we are isolated from it as a stranger in this cosmos. Contrary to this common feeling, when we let go and trust the universe, as a sage does, we realize deep within a “sense of unity” that is the goal of all spiritual practice and life.

 

  The fundamental paradox of life is we can never know true and authentic unity if we do not trust the universe. You cannot strive for unity because unity is evoked by the trust you live. Though, this unity is not the same unity that we dream about in images of world peace. It is the unity which dawns on an individual consciousness when opposites merge and chaos becomes perfect order from a state of perception so pure that the nature of the universe is finally seen as it truly is. Only then is world peace possible because our perception of order instead of chaos has given us the humility to receive the world with open arms and an agenda-less mind. Our struggles in life are born from not perceiving perfection in what others erroneously believe is imperfect. Our fundamental notion of duality between self and the universe continues to eclipse this beautiful perfection from our eyes. Living the science of humility is the sage’s medicine for our blindness.

 

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Common Ground Magazine

http://onlinedigitaleditions.com/commonground/archive/web-09-2015/

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The Trap of Devotion to God and Guru

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The Trap of Devotion to God and Guru

Sankaracharya

  We fear nothing more than being truly independent. True independence does not mean in the social context in regards to individual job titles, nor does it mean in the collective sphere of nationalistic independence, though both may be derivatives. Real independence is spiritual sovereignty, meaning the individual truly lives psychologically from the Heart with no agenda and is free from the attachment to social, cultural, and religious programs which imprison our mind. Some may argue that we all need a philosophical framework psychologically to navigate our way through this life to give us a sense of meaning.

 

And others may say that we need to eliminate all philosophical frameworks from our mind, whether it is social, cultural, or religious, because then we can move freely in the world and have a mind that Zen Buddhism would say “is a mind of no deliberation,” meaning that it doesn’t stick to any type of formula to understand life.

 

From the opposing perspective this still may be thought of as a type of framework as Canadian philosopher Charles Taylor points out in his work by explaining that formulating and taking on frameworks may be inescapable for the mind. But this could also be viewed as just being extremely clever in an attempt to be victorious in this ongoing game of spiritual and philosophical one-upmanship, while also not taking into account the actual experience of the individual which is hard for anyone to judge from an external point of reference.

 

  No matter how you view both perspectives on an individual level is not the point. The real emphasis is about how we depend on philosophical frameworks that we were once naturally drawn to but have over time become a crutch that obscures our ability to perceive reality without names, labels, or a prior agenda. This conditioned habit is carried over into the spiritual and religious philosophies we turn to when we yearn for liberation. Paradoxically the spiritual and religious philosophies we convert to originate from different environments than our own. Essentially they are built on an archetype diametrically opposed to the one embedded within our psychosomatic organism.

 

  This is evident more visibly when we find Western people interested in Eastern philosophy and other esoteric wisdom traditions. In our search for enlightenment, or real independence in other words, from social, cultural, and religious mental concepts we discover the eternal depth of the East and its ability to reveal our underlying true nature beyond the claustrophobic walls of our ego. Yet the dependence we seek to transcend is projected onto the spiritual temperaments of the East.

Footprint

  For example, the Eastern character and temperament of devotion and surrender to God or guru/master becomes a crutch for both Eastern and Western seeker if their dependence on either eclipses their real faith and union with the irreducible essence of the universe. Again this is more visible when we observe a Westerner trying to embrace and mimic the Eastern archetypal structure.

 

None more so than when we witness Western spiritually inclined people diving at the feet of a guru to kiss their feet or put their forehead on the guru’s feet in a so-called gesture of respect through the action of wiping the dust from the guru’s feet with the forehead. Deep down in the sacred intelligence of the gut, which is not connected to the ego, we know this is not genuine and is basically spiritual materialism because it is based on how we should appear to look towards others in the outside world and also to fulfill an image of ourselves that we have in our head. Though some may argue that this external behavior has an internal effect, and it does to some degree considering we have to completely humble our ego to kiss someone else’s feet who we acknowledge has more wisdom than us, but the problem is the attitude of devotion and surrender to either God or guru is based on the imitation of the archetypal temperaments of the East. (Note that in Oriental iconography a common image is the two footprints that symbolize divinity. They represent the feet of the divine that we kiss and touch with our hands as this action symbolizes that we are reaching in and kissing God in our heart).

 

The Westerner will take on Eastern philosophical thinking and dress sense, for example, to hide and suppress the psychological habits and latent tendencies that cause us suffering. We imitate in the hope that these habits and tendencies will be transcended. The Easterner in turn does the same form of imitation when they try to take on the Western archetypal framework of social and materialistic success, but that topic is not of importance here.

 

  A sincere spiritually inclined individual has no need to imitate nor do they to the contrary have to uphold their social, cultural, and religious programming. We can appreciate that kissing the feet of a guru is primarily an Indian archetype and is a sacredly beautiful aspect of India when we observe the people of India in their childlike innocence practicing such devotion and humility to God and guru. But this is not practiced anywhere else in the Far East, whether that be China, Korea, Japan, or even South East Asia. And astonishingly the Far East and South East Asian spiritual and cultural traditions are heavily influenced by India where Hinduism gave birth to aspects of Buddhism and Buddhism traveled over the Himalayas to Tibet then China to mix with Taoism which eventually became Zen Buddhism in Japan.

 

Confucius meets Lao-tzu

  All along the way the environment especially in the Far East never deviated unnecessarily from their archetypal temperament to show honor and respect to a master and each other with a humble bow instead of the Indian version of kissing the guru’s feet.

 

We would think it is extremely strange if a disciple of Japanese or Korean Zen Buddhism kissed their masters feet because it is not a spontaneously genuine response of the unconscious which is the archaic part of the mind before the later developing ego within our prefrontal cortex. It is this later developing part of the brain that we are intellectually making a decision as Westerners to kiss the feet of the guru or master, it is not naturally spontaneous. This is not an authentic sign of humility, surrender, or devotion, as the Western equivalent for showing gratitude and reverence to a teacher and each other is a hug of loving embrace.

 

  Westerners, and also Easterners for a matter of a fact, make the critical mistake of intellectually associating devotion to an image of God or with kissing the feet of the guru or staring at an image of who one believes is the supreme intelligence of the universe. This is an error because the habit and tendency to follow and depend on an external structural framework is the same egotistic conditioning we learn from our society, culture, and religion.

 

Westerners who imitate Eastern temperaments, especially those who submit to the guru’s will, parade their so-called freedom or enlightenment around as authentic surrender and devotion. In doing so, people believe they have destroyed the ego, yet they still follow. Those who seek to follow a guru/master and kiss their feet become blind to the fact that one of the primary characteristics of the illusory ego is to follow. We need to keep in mind that the ego is a social and cultural product. The society and culture is what builds our personality (ego) and separates our consciousness from the real unified consciousness that we are.

 

Our absurd belief that we need to depend on a society and culture puts us in a double-bind that we are free but we must conform to what is socially acceptable, thus not truly free. As a result we develop this following tendency which cuts us off from being and feeling one with the universe and so ultimately it is a trait of the ego. To truly have that sense of unity within means that the dualism of following, whether guru or society, is to not attach or conform to any external limitation because this separates us from the awareness that the universe is the real you deep down.

 

Brahman 2

  Blindly following cuts this awareness off. To follow and submit is what our society, culture, and religion teach us from birth which builds the foundation of our isolated ego and coincidently the last spiritual flaw we need to transmute. Even in India, following in the form of devotion to a physical or mental image of God or guru without understanding the real you as the undifferentiated Self (Atman in Sanskrit) as identical to the irreducible essence of the universe (Brahman in Sanskrit) is thought of as the lowest temperament of yoga (bhakti yoga in Sanskrit), because of the social and cultural habit of depending on a separate “higher” power, either in family, society, or religion.

 

This usually makes the individual think of themselves in terms of a low subject to the higher king and this builds our hypnosis that God is a monarchical being lording it over “his” humanly subjects. To perceive reality in this way is purely dualistic and not related at all to the mystery of the universe that is the source of all being.

 

(Real bhakti yoga can only be sincerely lived when we know and understand “what” we love, otherwise it is purely idolatry. We can only have devotional love to God, or whatever name you choose, when we know God through the light of knowledge that breaks through our ignorance that the individual and the universe are separate. This known as jnana yoga in Sanskrit and is thought to be the highest temperament of yoga. From the jnana yoga perspective, how can we love anything without knowing it and understanding it first?)

 

  Westerners interested in the Hindu philosophy of Vedanta become lost in believing the numerous gods are actual monarchical and hierarchical entities without realizing that they are in reality mythological images that are supposed to ignite our imagination about the universe and our place in it. Not our place in it as an isolated ego, but as “it” doing and being “it.” Even Ishvara, the highest of the Hindu gods, is purely a mental concept that people gave anthropomorphic form, which suits the narrow understanding of those individuals with a materialistic or extroverted view of the world.

 

Ishvara is thought of completely different when we consider the deeper understanding that the Hindu gods represent mythological images of the archetypal unconscious. (Keep in mind that the former representation of Ishvara is the highest Hindu personal god from the medieval era texts and is to not be confused at all with Brahman the Ultimate Reality).

 

  All genuine masters should have realized that for people to follow them unquestionably as a servant to king is still dualism and not the non-duality they profess. A genuine master realizes that we are all ultimately one through their evolved perception, and the only thing that differs between them and the common man or woman is they have realized this underlying unity as the nature of reality and act accordingly. They have completely surrendered to the mystery of life that we all sense within when we have the spiritual courage to not move to the gravitational pull of our conditioning in the mental plane which keeps us following the beat of somebody else’s drum that our ego hypnotically dances to.

 

The real egoless state has no need to depend upon a philosophy, God or guru because their psychological independence (enlightenment) is a mirror of the enduring quality of change in the universe as one is not drowning in regression but instead moving freely with it in the same way water moves freely down a mountain stream eventually to the greater ocean.

 

Wassertropfen

  The difference between water and us is water follows no one else’s nature because its nature is pure when it moves with the contours of the path that has been laid out before it and only becomes stagnant and toxic when it resists this path and its own nature. This relates to our spirituality as we become stagnant and toxic when we cling and depend on external agencies because our internal nature is independently free and devoid of psychological conditions.

 

We are scared to move and surrender in unison with our own path that spontaneously reveals itself every day without conceptual response, spiritual or otherwise, because all concepts, including the one of God, will be destroyed as we truly surrender and devote our life to that unnamable mystery which we are. Surrender your life to life and devotion will be the life you live in correspondence to the entire universe which you are.

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The Evolution of Perception

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The Evolution of Perception

Evolution of Perception

  In any attempt to save the world we are in one sense an immense help in changing the world, and in another sense paradoxically we are a hindrance and destructive burden upon the world. The world which most people seek is invariably based upon their own sense of pleasure with the exclusion of pain. The socially accepted freedom that we value and associate with liberation, the one that drives most us to change the world, is a separatist effort to impose our own individual agenda upon others and the world. German psychologist Erich Fromm would suggest that this is “freedom from” or “freedom to,” but not real freedom because it is based on the differing points of view that each and every one of us believes to be physical and psychological comfortability.

 

  This social and cultural motif that humanity perpetuates is only one dimensional for the sheer fact that we have excluded the reality of pain from our existence. We are suffering from an illness within the psychological and spiritual sphere as a result. An individual will do anything no matter how absurd to avoid their latent psychological and spiritual pain. We dissect and edit out of our life what is not in accord with our hypnotic conditioning, as we continue to try and bypass the inevitables in our life. Pain is experienced when we begin to break our psychological limitations. The very nature of our perception is contaminated as a result of spiritually bypassing our psychological pain, to the point that the root of our awareness is continually veiled from the excessive stimulation of pleasure within the physical and mental planes of consciousness.

  

  The arcane wisdom of the sages expounds to humanity that consciousness is composed of three planes of growth which is an evolutionary process our perception undergoes through sincere self-work. The wisdom traditions, the esoteric mystery schools of antiquity, the perennial philosophers both ancient and contemporary, and the metaphysicians all refer to these three planes as the physical, mental and spiritual. Majority of humanity only perceive the temporal plane of the physical world, and are somehow under the delusion that this sphere is a permanent realm without ever undergoing vibratory and rhythmic transformations of change from the spiritual sphere. In John Holman’s The Return of the Perennial Philosophy he writes about this evolutionary process of perception through the three planes in relation to Christian Theosophy,

 

There are actually three births. The first is the natural or ‘outward’ birth, the second is the birth of the soul in the human consciousness, and the third is the birth of the spirit or the highest divinity in the soul. In Christian Theosophy man – every man – is body, soul, and spirit, and the three births relate to each of these. At the end of the road, man sees through his highest spiritual eye. This ‘eye in the heart’ (a phrase also popular with Frithjof Schuon) was/is the eye ‘with which God sees himself through us’, says Versluis. The Fall of Man (or Adam) is a moving away from this higher (Aevertinal) consciousness to a lower (Character or earthly man) consciousness, so that instead of seeing transcendent reality, we see only the temporophysical world.

 

  The sincere spiritual seeker and esoteric student travel through these three planes of growth, where one’s perception begins to evolve from the physical and mental planes of material and intellectual orientated consciousness, onto the higher plane of spiritual consciousness. If one is sincere in their own introspected self-work, our perception of reality will embark upon a journey from matter to spirit where consciousness is perceived in all forms of life. British author and philosopher Philip Sherrard explains this journey from matter to spirit,

 

I see the universe as a hierarchy of levels descending from the formless spiritual level down to the most dense material form.

 

  In Sanskrit the liberation of perception is known as moksha, and in The Science and Practice of Humility this is known as the “evolution of perception” where I thoroughly explore the philosophical, psychological, metaphysical, and spiritual knowledge behind this evolved perception and its relation to the three planes of consciousness.

 

  The spiritual plane of consciousness is a level of perception so reflective and transparent that one who dwells in this enlightened state can perceive eternity in the manifest and understand that matter and spirit could not be separate. The Taoist sage Chuang-tzu said,

 

When there is no more separation between “this” and “that,” it is called the still-point of the Tao. At the still-point in the center of the circle one can see the infinite in all things.

 

Confucius_Lao-tzu_and_Buddhist_Arhat_by_Ding_Yunpeng

  Residing in that unpolluted state of consciousness, the spiritual plane, Chuang-tzu could perceive the infinite irreducible essence of the universe, known in Chinese as Tao and Sanskrit as Brahman, in all forms of nature. This is a way of perception so subtle that one can perceive the formless reality within the world of form. This level of perception that Chuang-tzu attained cleared his mind and vision of what he once thought was a concrete reality built on separation and chaos. In this purification of one’s mind and awareness, an evolution of perception takes place naturally that leads one to the ultimate “sense of unity” revealed within. This evolved perception and sense of unity should not be misconstrued with the informational awareness one attains from alternative research of conspiracy theories or new-age misconceptions of oneness. The awareness and oneness that a sage imbibes is in the authentic wisdom of a sense of unity within consciousness that an individual has latent within and can experience as it is our original nature. The result of this mystical experience is a pure state of awareness not attracted or caught in the apparent drama of life.

 

  As a result of being lost in our daily dramas and general semantics of life, the most misunderstood and peculiar state of consciousness in this world remains that of a sage. In general, people often think a sage’s life is useless and de-humanist because a sage is not at all concerned with the issues of the world in the same way that most people are. The thinking in the western developed world, which is the primary way of thinking all over the world, is that the moral and noble individual is built upon the agendas we uphold according to our indoctrinated belief systems. This indoctrination leads to a righteousness and benevolence that in the eyes of the general public is thought to be virtuous and beneficial for humanity. To act in this manner is what most people believe “being human” is about. The more we are actively engaged in life, the better we are for life is the social and cultural meme.

 

  Yet, as a sage would point out, this perspective is fundamentally flawed because the way in which we are trying to change the world is based on our own personal conditioning that in the end is a separatist view of life. How can we ever heal our differences as a species through our separatist notions and agendas? In realizing this predicament, a sage seeks to uproot all of their own personal agendas in the hope to reach a place within of complete equanimity. When we are not distracted by our conditional responses to the external world, our attention begins to look inward bringing the agendas that we believe to be intrinsic to our nature to the light of consciousness. The realization one has in this process is that it is the completely “agenda-less Being” who is free in this life. And in this complete freedom they are the only one who can deal with any issue, no matter how large or small, because their perception is not caught in the detail of worldly affairs. This elevated perception is what distinguishes an authentic sage from the common state of perception in the world.

 

  In my new book The Science and Practice of Humility this elevated state of perception is a central theme because it links evolution to the enlightenment of the individual when explored deeply. To equate our perception to evolution is foreign knowledge to those who are distracted by the gravitational pull of the external world. But for those who are in sincere introspection this is an experience of reality that is reflective and transparent.

 

  The origins of the knowledge of evolution are in the way we perceive the world. In Hermeticism, Hinduism, and other occult traditions, they all explain this through the relationship between the expansion and contraction of consciousness, as its function corresponds to the in and out action of breathing but in relation to the sense of perception. Hinduism refers to this as the “breath of Brahma.” This is in direct correlation with the Hermetic doctrine that explains this using the terms “involution” and “evolution.” Meaning, involution is the contracted state of perception that is “involved” in the detail of life and worldly affairs, and diametrically opposed to this is evolution which is the expanded state of perception that is a way out of the gravitational pull and distraction of involution. For example, when we observe an ant colony, we discover from our elevated level of perception a civilization and system of ants that are harmonious and intrinsic to Earth. But a paradox exists here, because even though from our level we perceive harmony, from the ant’s perspective life is chaotic. In Chip Hartranft’s commentary of The Yoga-Sutras of Patanjali he articulates this evolution of perception beautifully,

 

As the senses spontaneously cease to react to external stimuli, a phenomenon Patanjali calls pratyahara, consciousness begins to grow calmer and more refined in its perceptions, and capable of noticing the ordinarily invisible movements of consciousness itself. The experience is something like viewing a realistic image in a painting at the far end of a gallery. As one comes closer, the brushstrokes and the texture of the canvas become visible – eventually to the point where the image has completely deconstructed and can no longer be seen unless one elects to step back.

 

  When we look into the nature of all life on this planet and the universe this understanding of harmony in correspondence to chaos can be applied to anything, even the human race.

Evolution of Perception 3

 

  When we observe humanity, we discover that on one level of existence there is war and discord, and yet from a higher level of perception life is actually healthy and harmonious. An example of this is a city. For those who live in the city, life is busy and fast paced, and one’s mind is caught in the detail of social and cultural life, and as a result they impose their Will upon others by perpetuating their own personal agendas. Though this may be life on the level within a city, if we are to hover above a city we discover that from a different level of magnification a city is in perfect harmony and moving in a rhythm that replicates a biological organism. It really depends on how you look at it.

 

  We discover this rhythm in all levels of life, from the subatomic vibrations of electrons, to the movement and orbits of galaxies in the vast eternal expanse of space. In every facet of life there is an order to the apparent chaos, the only problem is most of us are not witness to the order that gives chaos its latent harmony. Our agendas based on our conditioning bind us to worldly affairs in the external world, rather than sincere introspection within. Human perception is primarily focused on the physical and mental planes of consciousness, which are those levels of perception we use to focus on the detail of reality. But both of these planes are only an extension from the spiritual sphere. When we focus a microscope on the cellular world we perceive chaos with seemingly no pattern, but when we retract our attention we discover a human organism in a complete harmonious order and pattern. The physical and mental plane equate to the chaotic perception of the cellular world, while the higher perception of those cells making up a part of a harmonious human body is the elevated perception of the spiritual plane of consciousness.

 

  We all know this to be true because when we are lost in the detail of life and the stories within our mind, we lose sight of our center and the perception of reality as it “is,” not as “we” think it should be. Peace in this world, both individually and collectively, will never be a reality if we continually impose our Will over others, no matter how subtle or gross our agenda is. If our conditioning is not exposed, we cannot complain about how the world is or our plight in life.

 

  The answer to this riddle is in perceiving reality as it “is,” and not in how we want it to be according to what we perceive as a pleasurable experience. The answer is not in attempting to change the world to suit yourself, but instead, it is in liberating your mind from the hypnosis of the detail that magnetically attracts and draws your perception out of the center of the spiritual plane. A sage dwells on this plane, as they have refined their awareness into the oceanic consciousness of the spiritual plane, where their perception is not attracted to the drama of conditioned beliefs. Thus they perceive the pattern of reality that unites us all. This perception not only evolves the individual, but also the collective, because the individual is the seed of the collective. If our perception is not caught in the detail, how could any conflict or violence eventuate? Both conflict and violence would be impossible because all modes of division, whether that is religious, nationalistic, race, sex, and other subtle forms of separation, have dissolved into a mind of no deliberation through an evolved perception. This proves the temporal nature of such belief systems.

 

  The virtues of compassion and forgiveness arise naturally in one whose perception has evolved, as they have ceased taking any part in life’s so called “game” that cannot and will not ever be won. If we are to seriously contemplate upon this, how could we ever seek to change the world without ever understanding where the world comes from?

 

  The world comes from the individual; everything the world “is” comes from the mind of the individual. To change the way of the collective world is an abstraction, as the world is a multitude of individuals. So if we are seeking to change the world, all you need to do is be sincere in changing yourself and then the world has changed. This real change, though, cannot be understood clearly if we are ignoring any aspect of ourselves, either physically, mentally or spiritually. We need to be sincere in liberation through self-work, because if we are just trying to dwell on the spiritual plane without working on the physical and mental planes, then this is a form of ignorance, which is discussed at length within The Science and Practice of Humility.

 

  Misconceptions are generated by the status quo in how a sage’s consciousness is perceived. The empty flowery interpretations of new-age teachers, who invariably only push positivity (masculine/yang/active/heaven) without acknowledging the negative (feminine/yin/receptive/earth) aspect of the psyche, and the herd-like imitation of followers have not helped the matter. As a result of such deep seeded monarchical perspectives of the universe, either consciously or unconsciously, most people view a sage’s way of perceiving as blank and devoid of emotion that is above all life. This comes from a lack of understanding and depth which is usually from the average individual who knows nothing about sincere self-work or by one whose spirituality has become narrow and rigid. A sage’s evolution of perception, on the other hand, is analogous to the space of the universe, meaning it is not simply blank, empty nothingness. But instead, space contains the whole universe which is that sense of unity most have never come in contact with.

Evolution of Perception 2

 

  The sage’s softened glare, refined consciousness and evolved perception, allows them to be receptive to life in authentic humility, rather than meeting the world head on with resistance and force. This receptivity, which humanity has forgotten, is an openness so radical that change begins to take place without the intention to do so. Receptivity is the feminine principle of nature that we have all suppressed because we are under the hypnosis from our intellectual world that this is weakness to show such openness to life. But if we can see clearly in this moment, what has projecting our conditioning upon the world achieved other than the perpetual destruction and suffering of the planet and human race? To assume that being receptive is weak is to ignore the obvious power of humility.

 

  When we observe the most receptive aspect of nature, water, we discover that though it may be perceived as weak, it is in fact the most powerful aspect of nature because of its receptive quality. Water is the lowest lying force of nature replicating the human quality of humility, and yet water’s humble nature has the power within it to end civilization as we know it. This analogy does not mean that humility is a tyrannical power used to take over the world through control; on the contrary, this power that one acquires in revealing the “science of humility” is a state of receptivity that transforms the world from the foundation of life up onto the superficial layer of form. Bringing authentic humility into our consciousness depends on how we perceive the world both within and without, and is actually a bridge between both worlds. Our level of magnification holds the key to individual liberation in this life, as to see reality as it actually “is,” frees us from the limitations within our mind so we can finally perceive the one underlying reality moving through the many in its infinite uniqueness. Perceiving reality from the spiritual plane allows for the science of humility to emanate its light into the world.

 

  The Science and Practice of Humility is a book that explores the spiritual, scientific, esoteric, philosophical, psychological, and metaphysical principles and wisdom of the universe. But first and foremost, it emphasizes that if we want authentic freedom then we need to be sincere in all facets of our life and truly understand that we do belong to this world. Real freedom, both individually and collectively, depends on how you see the world and how willing you are to experience That essence within you that is of the eternal realm (known as the connection between Atman and Brahman in Sanskrit) which cannot be given a name as it is the nameless within you. Evolution rests upon that nameless experience of enlightenment that can only become a reality through the perception you attain from sincere introspection and self-work.

 

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The Artificial Human

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The Artificial Human

Artificial Human 4

  The destruction of an organism depends upon an element of that organism becoming neurotic to its place within the natural order of organic life. If a species builds their perspective of life only within a linear conception, that very species would naturally have a propensity to fall into an artificial disposition. Could we say that the human race has fallen into this artificial disposition?

 

  Humanity surely must admit that they have lost contact with the nonlinear circuitry of our minds which is the aspect of our mind that connects us to the natural rhythms of the planet. Remarkably, animals never lose contact with the natural order of life, and they all play their part in the constant unfoldment of organic life. Yet contrary to this, the human race has become totally dependent upon external influences which hypnotize the individual into a linear perception of growth through external means and pleasurable experiences. Our dependency upon acquiring a pleasurable experience or stimuli is enhancing a schism within the psyche which expresses itself as a constant pursuit of control that in reality leads to an artificiality within the human-being. Our use of technology is a testament to that fact.

 

  The excessive use of technology depends on the artificial aspect of the psyche. Evidence of this artificiality is rife within the current technological age. The average individual uses technology not in the essence of attempting to grow both naturally and spiritually, but instead majority are only concerned with using technology as a device for entertainment which keeps one in a perpetual state of hypnosis. Most individuals cannot go one day without turning on the television, or checking their emails and social media networks. People are constantly clinging to a smartphone, laptop, tablet, etc., which is detaching one from what really “is.”

 

  The artificial human is always striving for fame and fortune through a glowing monitor which fills that empty void in their lives. Nobody is truly that popular that we need to be checking our smartphone every five seconds. An individual does this because most people long to be accepted by others which proves that the majority of humanity has self-worth issues deep within. Even the spiritual charlatans who appear on numerous television programs are addicted to their smartphone, yet they arrogantly parade around like a guru telling people to go beyond the limitations of the mind but they themselves fail to understand that to be incessantly on a smartphone is over stimulating mental activity and thus is an act of the mind. Our belief that we do not belong to each other and the planet is the very reason we seek acceptance from others. Seeking acceptance from others is again to depend on external influences, as if we were a machine rather than human. The predominant use of technology then is to desensitize and dehumanize the individual into an artificial machine. Machine in this case, is the artificial robotic function of an individual’s psychology and physical welfare.

 

  Our entire world is built on the premise that society and culture is what helps the individual grow rather than the individual growing of their own volition. Culture and society themselves and all of their apparatuses, such as government and politics, are all built on the maintenance of the linear concept of the world. So culture, society and everything that holds them together are artificial because nature’s constituents abide by the nonlinear realm of the cosmos. Culture and society in this sense are what is being mythologized through many artistic outlets, such as film, because culture and society is depicted as the artificial machine which dictates its influence over the natural human.

 

The external influence of culture and society is what creates an artificial robotic human, as all machines are controlled from the outside. We all feel this either consciously or unconsciously, and this is what drives most into the comforting arms of a cyber-world which is not tangible. The social and cultural machine teaches the individual that they can never be like the celebrities that the culture promotes and so to be “successful” one ought to mimic those celebrities to gain acceptance from others who are under the same hypnosis. This kind of parroting lasts a very short time as most figure out that they will never attain the fame and fortune of those so called celebrities they are mimicking. So one variably retreats into an online world where they can build another artificial persona to hide behind.

Artificial Human 2

 

  The online cyber world that most are drawn into is transforming the way we interact and express ourselves to others. Increasingly, people are finding it hard to communicate to others face to face without the assistance of a social media chat box. This form of cyber communication tends to develop false habits and tendencies on the part of those who are engrossed by that world. People develop habits and tendencies of being rude, arrogant, a sense of always being right, machoism, etc., which are all attributes that most would not express to another face to face. In the field of psychology, this sort of behavior would be deemed schizophrenic, yet humanity parade around as if this sort of behavior is perfectly sane.

 

No one can be sure where we are heading as a species, but if we lose our sense of communication, we will continue to deteriorate as our faculty to sympathize and understand another will be completely lost to our own individual agenda for the world. The miscommunication has already begun between society and the individual, as for thousands of years we have had a cultural and social machine that only imposes its Will over the individual rather than listening to their needs of the time. In the perpetual tyranny of society and culture over the individual, we discover that humanity is only attracted to the artificiality of the hand that supposedly feeds them. The artificial world imposed on the individual discombobulates them into believing that a plastic world is a natural world. This perception of plasticity is not only bound to the way we abuse our relationship with technology, but it has also infiltrated the way we consume food and beverage.

 

  Essentially, all people crave pure natural food and clean drinking water, yet astonishingly, most people in the world are attracted to lifeless food, dead water and needless material objects. People absurdly spend most of their money on needless objects such as a car or a mortgage for a home, but they will not part with their money when it comes to organically grown food. The artificial human ignorantly abuses their health so they can appear “successful” to others within the society.

 

Surely a perfectly sane individual would spend majority of their earnings on the foundation of life which is healthy food and clean drinking water. Yet, the artificial human is only drawn into the growing plasticity of the world and this not only includes wasting our precious time through vain entertainment found on numerous technological devices and needless material objects, but it also includes the way in which we bombard our senses with so called tasty food and beverage that in most cases are devoid of nutrition and vitality. The majority of people on this planet have substituted their health for a corporate health which comes predominately in a plastic covering. Our supermarkets are filled with food, yet 90% of that food is presented in a nicely packaged plastic container of numerous varieties.

 

  In the artificial world an individual salivates when they visualize the shiny plastic covering with the popular brand logo that people have identified with from the countless advertisements which have infiltrated their subconscious mind. One hypnotically believes that this artificial presentation of food is the surefire way to good health and longevity. In the modern trend of plasticity, we would rather buy a box of soft drink and a bag of crisps for the family, which both are devoid of nutrition, instead of a basket full of organic raw fruit and vegetables full of nutrition and vitality.

 

The question we need to ask ourselves sincerely is, why would we choose the former over the latter? In answering this question we reveal a psychosis that has developed within the mind from the social and cultural indoctrination of artificiality. For example, when most people choose to purchase a delicious lettuce, they invariably have two options, the first option is a bright and super clean bunch of green lettuce leaves sealed in a plastic container with no indication that it came out of soil. The second option is usually a full lettuce with all leaves intact. This lettuce is in most cases not as bright and clean as the first because soil is found still clinging to the plant which validates its short time in being separated from the Earth. Yet, the second option is the healthy and natural option, but remarkably nine out of ten people would choose the first option which points vaguely to our answer. This example answers the question of why humanity would rather a clean and presentable product over a natural and nutritious one. But the answer is not in the physical attraction, as it is a psychological disease that most are infected with.

 

  The reason why most choose the clean artificial product over the natural product is because the physical act symbolizes an outward purity which is demonstrated to veil the psychological impurity gained from external influences. This is a typical psychological reaction. The fashion game expresses this psychological impurity the best, where individuals demean themselves into following group trends which annihilates our unique individuality.

 

The artificial human believes they need to poison their body with chemical makeup and dress like everybody else to look the part according to what is acceptable to the culture and society. In not understanding that we are innately beautiful, we seek beauty in relation to other people’s opinions. One believes that the artificial or in other words conditioned side of the psyche is pure, yet in deep introspection one will discover that any form of plasticity exists to suppress the real purity which is found beneath those illusionary sheaths. All of this hypnosis is achieved through the pacification of the senses. We seek only pleasure in life according to what over stimulates the senses.

 

  The pacification of the senses suppresses our true nature which is found beyond the senses. A common motif within most mystical traditions is that of the “nine gates,” and how one needs to guard the nine gates. The nine gates are those parts of the human body that are susceptible to excessive stimulation from the external world. The nine gates are made up of two eyes, two nostrils, two ears, mouth, penis/vagina and the anus. The spiritual implications of guarding or being protective of these nine gates is that the more conscious you are of what you take into your physical organism, the more you will become aware of the indwelling spirit or atman in Sanskrit which is your true nature and Being. When the spirit or atman is revealed to your awareness, the creative power of the universe begins to emanate from your entire Being. This creative power can only be found once one has stopped the incessant pursuit of bodily pleasures that continue to exhaust one’s vital energy. Austrian philosopher, social reformer, architect and esotericist Rudolf Steiner once stated,

 

“We see that the moment the senses cease their activity, creative power asserts itself in man. It is the same creative power which is present in absolutely dreamless sleep, and then recuperates man’s exhausted forces.”

 

  The compulsion to acquire excess through the senses exhausts the creative forces latent within us. The pleasure we tirelessly seek and the pain we try to ignore becomes an endless journey of suffering, like a dog chasing its own tail. Obesity and drug abuse are the result of this endless search for pleasure. Caffeine, nicotine, alcohol and many other drug pollutants are what most individuals identify with as a pleasurable experience, but unbeknown to them, these toxins are detrimental to the harmonious function of the heart and mind. And on top of this we have the fast food industry who pretend to be a friend of the consumer with tantalizing commercials that try and showcase their food with a pleasurable experience. But astonishingly the fast food industry offers no help for the victim of their toxic food when one is dying of heart disease.

 

To be conscious of what one takes in through the senses is for one to begin the process of discarding that artificial aspect of themselves which they have acquired. We are not only speaking about what we take in through our mouth or our animalistic sex life, but we are also referring to what we take in through our eyes and ears. Most forms of entertainment do not enhance your creative potential but instead they distract you from it. A physically and mentally toxic individual is usually attracted to vain entertainment because their thoughts have become impure from what one eats and drinks. Thought itself is the sixth sense which the modern world do not acknowledge. In the ancient Hindu philosophy of Vedanta found in India, thought is the sixth sense of a human-being that corresponds to all other senses and is stimulated by what we consume through the other five sense organs. Encoded within the ancient Egyptian symbolism of the “Eye of Horus” (see Figure 1) we discover the same six sense system as that of the Indian Vedanta.

Six Senses - Eye of Horus 5

(Figure 1)

 

  Both ancient systems understand that the vibration of thought can become artificial if the other five senses are poorly treated. This demonstrates one interpretation of the age old saying “you are what you eat.” But it is through the eyes and ears that a large portion of thought vibrations can be distorted. We become so busy within our thoughts that we end up identifying with the thoughts rather than the one who is the witness of the thoughts. We pacify the sense of thought through the artificiality of external influences that hypnotize us with a belief that we are what is coming through the senses.

 

Most people describe themselves to others from what they like and dislike or what they do as either a hobby or profession, yet these descriptions are only acquired from the sense perceptible world and are in fact an inaccurate assessment of who you truly are. The artificial human is mainly constructed on the premise that what you like and dislike or what you do is actually you. If the sense of thought is not made conscious within oneself, then the sense of thought begins to identify with the artificial illusions of the world which destroys the health of a Being on the physical, mental and spiritual planes of consciousness. Thought begins to terrorize the human body as the sense of thought only identifies with pleasure rather than knowing what the body “needs.” As a result of this both the body and the mind begin to fragment into separate parts and not work in unison. Progressive rock and intelligent metal band Tool refers to this separation within their translucent song Lateralus,

 

“Over thinking, over analyzing separates the body from the mind.”

 

  All of this unnecessary thinking is keeping humanity in an artificial state of consciousness. The average individual has a multitude of personalities but no center of gravity. The artificial human has built a rock solid persona on pleasure, but as soon as pain comes, this rock solid persona is blown over like a house of cards. In this sense humanity is still in a state of infancy, as when the natural experience of pain comes, we whine and cry like a baby and hurriedly seek to bypass that pain with an artificial pleasure.

 

If you are bound to pleasure, then this sense perceptible world will always veil the “real” you which is at your spiritual core. This pursuit of pleasure has infiltrated many ideologies that most people adore, such as religion, but as a result of this our religions like everything else has become artificial because they are built on a linear conception. In this wrong perception, God exists somehow “out there,” which is an illusion built on the identification with the six senses. This is the artificial God that most religions speak of and ignorantly kill each other over in the modern era.

 

An individual’s God is identified with pleasure, so the individual like the religion give anthropomorphic form to God and anything else that is mysterious to the intellect. The artificial world will always try and steer the individual away from a sincere self-observation of themselves because the illusion of the identity that we have built according to our senses will crumble if the mystical reality of what we interpret as God is known. And that natural essence which we call God is found beyond the senses. The meaning and purpose of life is not in the sense perceptible world, one has to transcend those parameters to bring forth the natural human in a world dying of an identity crisis. In a world that is dying at the hand of an artificial linear system of limitations, we are in dire need of a natural nonlinear spontaneity that will reveal a world beyond the confines of our sense pleasures.

 

Published by

OM Times Magazine & Website

http://editions.omtimes.com/magazine/2013-07-d/files/85.html

http://omtimes.com/2013/07/the-artificial-human/

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Cosmic Dance

Cosmic Dance

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Cosmic Dance

Cosmic Dance

  The way we perceive power and strength in this world is beginning to change. For thousands of years we have viewed strength and power in the physical sense which is one of the reasons why our world has been constantly dominated by men, but this view of reality is seen with blurry vision. If strength and power is truly in the physical presence then why is our world in a state of fragility? If this was true then wouldn’t we be on an upscale of evolution instead of a process of going in circles? Explanations for this are many but one big part of this cosmic puzzle is that most beings on this Earth are only embracing the masculine side of their consciousness which is an active principle and if not counterbalanced by the feminine which is a passive principle, then destruction will eventuate.

 

  We are not just talking about the physical characteristics when we speak of masculine and feminine principles, because we are actually speaking of energetic principles that are inherent within all sentient life on all levels of consciousness from physical, mental and spiritual. When both energetic principles are in union with each other, we have a creative force that not only evolves the individual but also the race. At this point in time we see the domination of the active principle, but what a lot of people are seeing and feeling is that the feminine energy in this universe is rising and changing the way we perceive strength and power.

 

  The greatest knowledge of these principles is in the esoteric teachings of the ancients. In fact a lot of these teachings can be traced back to Thoth of Egypt and Hermes Trismegistus of Greece who are hypothesized to be one and the same God. Hermes/Thoth expounded to their disciples the seven Hermetic principles or laws which govern the universe. We are not going to discuss the seven laws but we are going to concentrate on the seventh law which is the Law of Gender.

 

  In Hermes teachings or what is better known as “Hermetic Philosophy” it states the following regarding the Law of Gender, “Gender is in everything; everything has its Masculine and Feminine principles; Gender manifests on all planes.” This axiom needs to be understood before we can move on. The Law of Gender illustrates that within all humans there are both masculine and feminine elements and when both are in union it manifests as a creative force. So on the physical plane this creative force is sex, but as the law stated, this force manifests on all planes which includes the mental and spiritual planes.

 

  Two simple examples within these planes is first a thought which is a masculine principle and a feeling that is a feminine principle in perfect harmony give birth to a true thought form. Second example is free/cosmic will which is the masculine and the desire and imagination which is feminine arouses the free/cosmic will. So once again if both are in harmony with one another then we have true action. These are just a few examples to demonstrate how important it is to understand how these two principles create on all planes of existence. Now some may say that there are more than three planes of consciousness, but we are just using the Hermetic teachings as a reference point. With all this said we can see now that yes our world is dominated by the masculine principle but we can also see that the feminine is making a return.

 

  We come back now to strength and power. As we said in our world strength and power is usually acknowledged in the physical realm, but is this truly strength and power? The answer is no because all that is happening is the men and women of today are sublimating all their energy into the physical appearance which is analogous to an animalistic instinctual mind. This implies not strength and power but weakness and insecurity. This is a reflection of the masculine principle, without the existence of the feminine.

 

  The pendulum of life is beginning its backswing though, and the feminine principle is being realized which is evident in the world today. We see both men and women undergoing amazing changes not in the physical world, but the world within. The feminine is slowly but surely being born within both sexes. As the feminine is becoming more apparent our perception of strength and power is being altered. Instead of seeing strength and power in being macho and winning fights and arguments, we see that true strength and power is in the ability to surrender in a fight or argument because those who can surrender know they are not their beliefs, so they have no concept to violently defend. They are sovereign over their mind.

 

  Those who still only embrace the masculine find it quite perplexing how someone could just surrender in a confrontation. The reason being because for those who have only the masculine switched on view the world through the eyes of their own individual ego. In this case of only being the active principle, majority of the population take what they want from the world to further perpetuate their individual belief systems. This directly corresponds with the way we treat our Earth like a drinks stop in a marathon, which is the result of an unconscious population.

 

  Our Earth is a direct reflection of the current state of mind because in its hyper activity we are like the worker bees but instead of building our hive we are destroying it. This is the extreme polarity of the masculine energy. Yet not only are we destroying our hive, we are also killing each other. We only have to look at the useless wars, violent sports, movies and television programs where we see the audience baying for blood like an animal. Once again this is the result of the extreme polarity of the masculine. It is the dominate energy of the age and in being the dominate energy for those who have not felt the elegant touch of the feminine cannot comprehend one who has felt her grace.

 

  The beauty of her divine touch is beginning to resurface within the consciousness of today. The feminine is pulling the masculine into line. Like we mentioned earlier, many beings out there are finding it increasingly easy to sacrifice their own ego which confuses another bound by their own dogma. As this universal energy continues to rise within sentient beings, the grace of her presence is bringing about an equilibrium into the psyche which manifests as surrender. From here the essence of surrender is compassion and forgiveness. Two passive qualities which are erroneously perceived as weak to the masculine dominated people. We have gone full circle and now we are back to how we view strength and power. For those who have been humbled by the elegance of the feminine energy and live from that balanced union can see that in truth compassion and forgiveness which are emanations of love are the real strength and power.

 

  The illusion of strength and power is in our society where we believe physical dominance is strength and power, yet it cannot be because this comes from the animalistic mode of self-preservation which is an aspect of fear. Thus our current mode of perception is not one of strength and power, but one of weakness and mental slavery. Ask yourself this, when you are in disagreement with another, what is more difficult to do, try and continue to win the argument? Or surrender and offer them only forgiveness? We all know the answer to this and power lies in its truth. From a balanced consciousness love is strength, power and our natural state beyond our mental conditioning.

 

  We always hear people say love is light, so let’s look at it this way. Let us examine a light bulb, a light bulb has both positive and negative charges and if both do not fire then we have a state of darkness, but if both fire in unison then we have light which illuminates the beauty and wonder of our world. There is power and strength in light when both energies of the universe are in unity, and this is becoming apparent in both the male and female humans, especially men. We are seeing men in this world slowly becoming more placid and understanding of others instead of trying to be superior. Females on the other end of the spectrum are rediscovering that nurturing motherly principle which men lack, but with the resurrection of the feminine, it will bring a more harmonious relationship between the physical properties of these two energies and much more.

 

  The rebirth of the universal feminine is upon us. For those who feel it, welcome it and become that balance point and walk the middle path in a world of apparent opposites. And to those who do not feel it as yet, don’t be afraid because you will feel it in time for this is a natural ebb and flow of universal energy which manifests on all planes. We are all students in the Absolute’s school of the universe and we are about to attend our cosmic prom night where we are beginning to understand that a dance is not complete without the opposite. So as we enter the universe’s dance floor and the awareness of the feminine welcome’s our consciousness we need to step away from fear and gain the courage to ask her divine grace politely, “Can I have this dance Madame?”

 

Published 2011 by

Insight Magazine Australia

http://www.insightmagazine.com.au/

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Businessman with the World on his Shoulders

Weight of the World

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Weight of the World

Businessman with the World on his Shoulders

   When most people feel under stress they often say, “It feels like the weight of the world is on my shoulders.” It is a very common phrase used amongst English speaking nations. But behind this one phrase is a quintessential truth, because when one is on a path to self-transformation they realize that the weight of the world is truly on their shoulders, so it is up to them to change it. Yet this whole phenomenon of being the change has become confusing to many and in some cases a smell of pollution surrounds this so called change.

 

At this moment and throughout time we have seen large groups of people around the world in rebellion against external forces. The problem with a lot of these rebellions is that most of them are based on an “us against them” mentality, which implies a lack of wisdom as to what the nature of reality “is.” On the other side of the spectrum we have a large internal awakening occurring around the planet, where major portions of this energetic change have been hijacked and are shrouded in ego to line the pockets of a few with plenty of money. Thus both external and internal are in chaos with one another. We need to find common ground because the weight of this world is becoming unbearable. Somehow we need to find the balance to this weight.

 

  In our present day the weight of the world is not a physical disability, but instead it is psychic in nature. Almost everything we visualize in our external world stems from our collective psychic illness. Buddha once said,

 

“We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts we make the world.” 

 

This piece of wisdom rings true when one understands the total functions of the mind. One of the innermost fundamental principles of consciousness is that everything in our world either on a personal or collective level is a deep mental projection. So what we create in our reality is either from conscious concentration or it is from a darker emotion suppressed within the human psyche.

 

This is very important to understand especially at this moment in time, because even though some people out there are consciously manifesting reality, most of these people still haven’t addressed the darker content in their own lives, and hence we all contribute to a collective disease. All of this comes back to the psychic dance between the ego and the self. This dance can truly seduce the most ardent believer.

 

A lot of people on Earth at the moment believe they are in true rebellion against the banking cartel, corporate structure and corrupt governments, with the belief they are creating a better world. The seduction here is that this rebellion is only a projection of our ego. The ego does this to keep anyone from having true eternal rebellion. Since the ego is the totality of the mind at present, it will do whatever it has to do from letting you go inwardly and finally dealing with those darker emotions suppressed within the shadow-self. So because of this, what is happening now is the ego is disguising itself under a false projection of a better world to further its own existence and to keep us from the true journey.

 

Revolution

  In our present day many activists, movements and rebellious groups are rising to the surface, but none of this is new. We have always had opposition to the status quo, but never any lasting change. For thousands of years we have been in external conflict with no true results. This is because we choose not to shine the light within where true freedom resides, so we persist with rearranging the chess pieces in the world we see. So it is with our illusory belief that we can change the external chess pieces that our illness is sustained. Herein lays the problem behind all movements and revolutions, because we believe to heal this world we need to rearrange the external world.

 

If this is the basis then all movements and revolutions are fundamentally flawed. Sure a new movement may look more pleasant to the eye, but if the same collective and individual psychological state is going into the new world then our sickness will still plague us. In the end it should not be a debate about what certain benefits or external relief we will have from any particular movement, because the only issue that should be of our concern is what truly drives any of these movements or revolutions deep within us?

 

  Built into the public’s state of consciousness is an unnatural desire for material comforts. Everybody is seeking some form of comforting relief in the external world. This is because within the majorities current state of consciousness there is an inbuilt function of escape which is mixed with our natural desire for freedom. So what we get is, we have a constant search for freedom based on material comfortability. In our modern age every movement and revolutions ideologies are grounded in external welfare through comforts and not internal well-being.

 

Most movements and revolutions believe that if we have the access to the necessities of life served up on a platter, then internal peace will be born. Can this be true? The sad answer is no, inner peace will never be found in this way for two reasons. First reason being that most of these modern day movements and revolutions are in pursuit of a high technological civilization with the aid of material comforts to keep us solidly grounded in the external world, with the chance of no internal inquiry into the nature of our existence. So these sorts of movements will only benefit the ego which brings us to our second reason. The other reason being that the nature of our existence is not found out in the external world, because the true nature of our existence is consciousness. So the external world is the out-breath of our true nature which is within us.

 

Instead of creating a revolution in the external world to point the blame at external forces, we need to have the only true revolution which is within us all. This needs to be understood now before we get too lost on our journey through life, because when we come back to the question of what truly drives any of these movements or revolutions deep within us, the answer we cannot shy away from is the ego. Why?

 

  Everything that drives these movements and revolutions is the ego because the ego is like a spoiled child wanting external relief through momentary satisfaction while never dealing with the problem at hand. So they go from new toy to new toy with no true and lasting satisfaction. It is in the nature of the ego to escape from any situation no matter how absurd. This constant escape through life keeps one looking without instead of within. Through this escape all external movements and revolutions are born. I call this “Mental Systemic Escape” because they cannot deal with a system which in truth is actually a mental projection of our individual darker emotions.

 

This is the physical evidence that the ego has once again duped us into believing that any new movement or revolution is our salvation. The corrupt system which we all live under is not something to escape from, instead it is there to be dealt with and then dissolved, but this will only happen if we look within to see where this world comes from. When we look within we see it is the mirror reflecting our darkest emotions held within our shadow psyche and which is guarded by the ever evasive ego.

 

  We can see now that no movement or revolution rooted in the external world can ever bear the weight of this world. Some may say that what if we live in a world without money, surely that must be a big step? And I’m sure it couldn’t hurt and it would be a big step for a while, but once again it would only be momentary. The reason for this comes back to the individual, because if the individual’s consciousness has not evolved past the dark content in their own lives, then the ego’s view of personal gain and separation will corrupt any utopia no matter how pure it may appear.

 

No movement or revolution we join could ever bear the weight of this world, because literally the true weight of the world is on your shoulders. When we truly feel this weight, we know we can never escape a system which is nothing but a suppressed projection of the mind. We need to go beyond the mind/ego to find out what is eternal and not momentary and then and only then will the mind be purified. After this purification a truthful movement will reflect our inner peace and well-being. When this is finally realized the weight upon your shoulders will not feel so heavy because the true revolution has been born within you.

 

Published 2011 by

Graham Hancock’s Author of the Month

http://www.grahamhancock.com/forum/GregoryJ1.php

New Dawn Magazine

http://www.newdawnmagazine.com/

Veritas Magazine

http://www.theveritasmagazine.com/weight-of-the-world.html

Waking Times

http://www.wakingtimes.com/2011/11/15/weight-of-the-world/

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The Space Between 3

The Space Between

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The Space Between

The Space Between 3

  How do we close the gap? The gap that we believe exists between you and I. What would it take for humanity to acknowledge space in a higher sense? We have all learned from birth that the space between you and me, the planets and throughout the universe is just emptiness, nothing. But is all this space truly empty, or is there a deeper understanding? What is the space between?

 

  When we see external objects, animals, people, etc., we just perceive the forms and not the formless. We will look into the eyes of another and only recognize the person, but could you ever look into the eyes of another without the formless, the space? These ways of thinking should be fundamental in our educational system, yet it is foreign to especially the western mindset. The reason why is because the western model of education is only interested in boosting and perpetuating ones ego.

 

If we are from childhood blindly educated to believe we are separate from everything else, then we uphold this false system of thought until the day we die. This is why we cannot truly contemplate what the space between is. We are all raised into a Darwinian mode of consciousness, where we are made to believe that this is a dog eat dog world, where only the strong survive. So the Darwin model which society is built on today only develops the false-ego. It enforces a false belief of separation, so we continue to see ourselves as isolated human beings. Understanding the gap between you and I is not even a relevant question in the Darwinian world, because if we look into the space between, we will shatter the world of limitations and separateness which binds us to our false-ego.

 

  When one looks into the space between, we come to a phrase which is thrown around a lot these days. The phrase of “We are one.” When most people hear this, they do not truly understand what is meant by “We are one.” Some try to comprehend this unity in a logical sense and others begin to go deeper. The mundane view of being all one is that we are one with each other on Earth. We see the same sky and we breathe the same air. Then on a deeper level people begin to understand that we all came from an energetic charge that created the universe, which we now know as “the big bang.” Knowledge of this gives us the understanding that we are all energetically connected as one, thus we are energy. Usually when this is taken onboard it will reveal the true nature of this phrase, “We are one.”

 

The true meaning of “We are one” is that we are actually one. You are me and I am you, there is no separation between you and I. The reason we are each other is because what drives this energetic connection between all things that create the physical universe is consciousness. Consciousness is the fundamental principle of the universe. This foundation of all life is what truly connects us as one. A lot of ancient sages, shamans, yogis, philosophers and psychologists have always known we are one mind. That is the truth; we are one consciousness living a dualistic experience. The evidence of this conscious connection is everywhere for those with open eyes to see.

 

  Most of the time people discount events in their everyday life which are synchronistic. People usually believe such events are just a coincidence, but there is actually no such thing as a coincidence because everything is a synchronicity through our one consciousness. These are basic understandings for a clairvoyant, mystic and psychic, and it also explains telepathy, because for those who are telepathic never ignore the feelings they get inside.

 

Majority of us ignore these feelings and pass them off as erroneous thoughts. But these feelings are the language which resonates within all sentient life. This is why when we see an animal or person being harmed we feel that pain but it is also the joy we feel from everything in all life. These feelings cannot be described by the eyes that see, because it is a feeling within, not a visual experience. As we further the understanding of our unity, we see that it is not the distance between our physical world where we feel such pain or pleasure, but it is in the space between.

 

  If we are one then how can we describe the space between physical matter? When the intellectual mind/ego minded person hears such a statement, they begin to over analyze and rationalize the simplicity that is there before them. This is because their perception of life is conditioned with the western model of science. With their intellect getting in the way, they will say, “Well the space between you and I is air which is a mixture of nitrogen, oxygen and minute amounts of other gases that surrounds the Earth and form its atmosphere.” So once again we over simplify anything to try and justify our separate individual ego. Our false separate view of reality is why the world is in a state of unrest. Our molded educated mind only sees a world apart, so it attacks. By not giving any deeper meaning to the space between, we see it as air, as nothing, so we blindly believe that we are a stranger to our environment.

 

  The separate stranger who believes they walk alone in this world will consciously perpetuate a world divided. All nations, religions, races and sexes who believe they are separate will continue to exist, because the gap between all things is judged as nothing. Yet how could we exist without the space between?

 

  The gap you see between people and all life is an illusion. This space has fooled us into believing that we are on our own in this world, so we remain frightened of everything else. In the west we choose hate and judgment instead of understanding. But in the eastern traditions, the space is understood more intuitively. A lot of eastern thought explains how our world is like a net which is interconnected with everything having a cause and effect and not only on Earth but throughout the entire universe. This simple explanation shows that everything in nature is interdependent. One cannot live without the other, just like a spider cannot survive without the fly. We also cannot survive without each other and the nature the Earth provides. These are very exoteric understandings of eastern wisdom, yet they are very simple for anyone to comprehend.

 

  The deeper esoteric understanding of eastern wisdom is directed at the space between. British philosopher Alan Watts most eloquently described space by reversing the age old phrase of, “You can’t get something from nothing”, when he stated, “You can’t have something without nothing.” So everything exists within the world from nothing, not the other way around. For those who do not follow, there is a more profound way to explain this. Just ask yourself this very simple question, “Where would I be without the space between?” Think about it, where would you be? Whose eyes would you see through? Could you comb your hair in the mirror?

 

You would be me and I would be you, and we would be everything. These deep understandings reveal two revelations, the first being we would all be one being without the space, and secondly the space between all things is not nothing at all, it is actually the powerful essence behind everything we see, feel and touch. Its power is what connects all things.

 

  We are connected through this space and we are also space. The space that we see between all life exists within us. When we go into meditation or when we have immense clarity of mind through self-enquiry and self-reflection, a profound indescribable space opens up from within. Our consciousness expands and syncs in with the space between. This space found within gives us a feeling so pure that only joy resides there. So the truth within this space is joy, pure loving bliss. This is not only the truth found in the space within, but it is also the truth of the gap between you and I. Herein lays the essence of the space between.

 

  As we know consciousness is the foundation of the universe, so what is within consciousness is manifested into the physical world we see. The space then that exists within must be the same that is viewed without. The joy we feel from the space within should reflect into the space between all life. This is truly what the space between is, it is pure joy, pure love and unity. If we understand this then the illusion of separation will cease to exist. We would realign with the space which will crush all illusions. If we can all close this gap, then the joy we experience from the space within us will be expressed into the external world.

 

  But sometimes the truth can be cruel, because we need to realize that all of these ideas and concepts we believe who we are, are in fact not us at all. They are only illusions learned from a society and system that cannot comprehend the space between. We are not a solid being separate from each other through space. How could we be if the space of joy is found within? If this joy within is expressed between all life then we have been fooled into believing we are these labels and beliefs we attach to ourselves. Joy is not found in separation like space is not found in separation. We are joy and we are space, not separate but as one. Everything that you do to strengthen this false separation you are not. You are not your country, you are not your religion, you are not your race, you are not your sex and you are not your status within society. You are infinite space and you are also the space between.

 

Published by

Our Future Planet

The Hanged Man Project

New Dawn Magazine http://www.newdawnmagazine.com/

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