Jim Carrey, speaking at an Eckhart Tolle event. He speaks about intention, why we’re here, how everything is happening inside you, and that I am everything and it’s so much fun…
Jim shares an experience of “getting it”. I was the universe. Then loosing it and wanting it back and wanting to take as many there as he can.
My early understandings of higher states of consciousness and enlightenment came from various sources but the one clearest to me was the one in Campbell’s 7 States of Consciousness.
In that model, the experience of transcendental consciousness in meditation is gradually infused into the daily experience of life. When it is strong enough, we begin to “witness” or experience ourself as the observer, separate from the body, mind and emotions. The body continues to act without our apparent input. Some people also have such experiences spontaneously.
As the experience deepens further, such episodes occur even in dreams – like a fuller version of lucid dreaming – and deep sleep.
The common understanding then was that full-time witnessing meant you were awake, in Cosmic Consciousness. You were Self-Realized.
However, it has since become clear that this is a misunderstanding. Many people witness for years before awakening. It is an excellent indication the Self has become lively within. One is Self aware. But as long as the ego holds sway, Self has not awoken fully to Itself within. One has not become Self. The switch has not happened.
Another misunderstanding is around awakeness in deep sleep. People I’ve discussed this with often experience an awakeness in deep sleep that fades off into a simple sense of continuity. The inner sense of awakeness or Self is unbroken, whatever the state of consciousness. But we are no longer experiencing the dead-asleep body during deep sleep. I assumed this change just meant some fatigue had crept in as this awakeness for me faded after I left a long meditation course.
Recently, I heard a different explanation that makes more sense. The sense of experience during deep sleep indicates some value of mind is still awake. Due to the awakeness of awareness, some value of mind is able to be held into even deep sleep.
Eventually, we relax this and allow the mind to fully sleep as normal. This is similar to dream state. When that new value of alertness dawns, we may find ourselves getting involved in dreams, changing them and so forth. When we just relax into the dreams, we let them continue as normal.
As consciousness continues to evolve, the sense of separate witness gradually dissolves into a deeper wholeness, a unity with all. We wake up to the oneness we are.
Davidya
Occasionally, I have written about Deep Memory, the subtle structure of being itself. At it’s most fundamental, it is Veda, pure knowledge.
In prior posts, I’ve mentioned the value of spiritual study. In essence this is stirring the memory within us. Or more precisely, the memory in which we exist. We embody memory, Smriti.
The potency of the stirring of memory depends on darshan, the degree of transmission. The resonance we have with the teacher and teaching. Like finding a mate, just because a teacher is good, doesn’t mean they’ll speak to our true selves.
The most potent of course comes from in-person talks or satsang. A simulcast (streaming) audio or video show would be next most potent. Then a recording – video may be slightly more potent than audio. And finally books. But if the resonance is strong and the transmission deep, even a few words is enough.
A classic example of this is known as the Mahavakyas. The great realizations. A short phrase that enlightens. To understand this, it’s important to recognize the switch into unity consciousness is an intellectual realization. It is described as correcting the mistake of the intellect. Correcting the intellects division of self and world, of seer and seen.
I recently saw this in action. A teacher was using a simple perception exercise along with simple phrases in a group where the alertness was deeply alive. One person experienced a unity switch. When she later described her experience in similar terms, another switched. The right phrase at the right time with the alertness fully enlivened. Memory is stirred.
The Mahavakyas
There are a number of such statements and it would depend on the person which would be key in a unity switch. Shankara named 4 key ones from each of the 4 primary vedas. If you’ve read any eastern literature, you’ll find some of the phrases familiar.
1. Prajnanam Brahma – “Consciousness is Brahman”
(Aitareya Upanishad 3.3 of the Rig Veda)
2. Ayam Atma Brahma – “This Self (Atman) is Brahman”
(Mandukya Upanishad 1.2 of the Atharva Veda)
3. Tat Tvam Asi – “Thou art That”, the equality of jiva and Brahman
(Chandogya Upanishad 6.8.7 of the Sama Veda)
4. Aham Brahmasmi - “I am Brahman”
(Brhadaranyaka Upanishad 1.4.10 of the Yajur Veda)
There are also other realizations that happen before and after unity.
Aham Vishvam I am the Universe
(Taittiriya Upanishad 3.10)
Devo Hum I am the Devata
Aham Shrivhir (sp?) I am the Cosmic Body
Veda Hum I am the Veda
And of course, the perennial Upanishad quote that also suggests the 3 stages of unfoldment:
I am That, Thou art That, all This is That.
During the unfoldment of unity, the process is typically one of experiencing, then becoming. Thus, any of the above phrases may serve as a reminder in becoming.
The becoming of what we already are.
Davidya
There is a rather distinctive experience that happens on the journey of awakening. A blinding white flash that obliterates all experience for a short time.
I’ve seen it described with waking, with the unity switch, shortly before waking or even long before it. In one case, twice during the leadup to awakening. Or not at all.
While we might write it off as just another bit of flash (flash is trash), it has the distinctive marker of being the opening to experiences of higher levels of reality.
I’ve only once ever heard it explained, in that case as a joining of the upper 2 chakras. Given it’s effect on experiences, this made sense.
However, I can now offer a more complete explanation. It may not make sense, but it is the actual mechanism. (laughs)
There is we could say a layer or value of existence called things like the cosmic body, Purusha, ParamAtma, the body of God or the son of God. It is the body that contains all bodies, the one body we all share, that which contains everything. The body we are “made in the image of.”
That body exists in a field of what some have described as an ocean of milk. A fluid sea of divinity called the divine mother. It is the flowing soma, amrit, the nectar of immortality, the fountain of youth.
One drop of that “milk” is the experience of the all-absorbing white flash that opens the door to divinity and takes our path into whole new dimensions. A moment of pure grace. This has the effect of conjoining the upper chakras as well.
When our journey later brings us to the cosmic body, we are able to support full immersion in that milk all the time.
As I have observed in prior posts, our body contains a subtle organ in the upper back of the throat that is enlivened by transcendence. It produces dribbles of soma, often experienced as golden or with a sweet taste. These small dribbles refine the nervous system to support more subtle experiences and draw the support of nature as soma is the “nectar of the gods.”
Imagine what is possible with an ocean.
Davidya
From a discussion in another forum on the value of talking about a coming new age:
I agree that a focus on the future or on the past is missing the point. However a lot of people avoid the present as it’s so unpleasant. They don’t share your experience of it.
I agree there is a big new age theme going on around the subject. It’s probably almost an infection in some spiritual groups. But what I’m speaking of is not that. It is a message coming from both east and west. It is from direct observation.
And we’re not talking about perfection. Just the end of fear. Thus, the rising of peace and happiness. Simple things that will bring beauty and contentment to everyone, like you describe for yourself.
A few years ago, it was all just talk to me too. But since then, a great deal has happened. There is a greatly accelerated rate of awakenings going on and it’s speeding up. And now unity switches are becoming less rare. That is astonishing in itself, considering how many become realized and don’t get much further during their lives.
At first for me, it was some nebulous future, but it’s becoming increasingly clear it’s closer than I dreamed possible. Not next year, but in the near term. For example, some of those unity switchers are due for Vedic enlivenments within a couple of decades. The kind of thing that’s profoundly evolutionary and happens when the “air is clear” enough.
We can understand what is going on by looking at the contraction we’re coming out of. In that case, there was a rising of vague fear and paranoia in group consciousness. This was an unfamiliar experience in those times and made many very uncomfortable. The sense of separation arose and they began to blame. The first war in a very long time happened. Two civilizations of legend fell, a little like in the Bhagavad Gita. Only more so.
What we’re now seeing is the reverse of that trend. The roots of our separation are becoming conscious and being cleared. But in both cases, the process happens from the inside out.
This is why, while someone like Maharishi Mahesh Yogi may have announced the Age of Enlightenment is here, we see little outward evidence yet.
We can understand this best with local awakening. First, the Self awakens to Itself, then to the devata (the doers), then to the seen – the world. It is only in the flowering of this later stage that the world itself is fully enlivened with the light of love. When soma spills over at source, not just dribbles in the throat.
Same thing on the group scale. Self is stirred, memory awakened, and the drive to spirit increases. Awakening begins, and so forth.
I saw this exemplified on a recent retreat. There was a hard surface crust of resistance. But under that was a wide open clarity. In a short time, a deep intensity of alertness was built and profound experiences and development occurred. On much longer courses not so long ago, this would have been unheard of.
The New Age meme is that it will all happen on a certain day or very quickly. I disagree. It will take some time. But it is already well underway. Yogananda suggested it takes 12 years to fully integrate and “to rid the bodily kingdom of the usurpers.” It will take more for the group. But it will accelerate. And groups are growing all over to help the process along. Core groups enlivening the Veda together, for example.
Another aspect I’ve seen & heard from several quarters – enough clearing has taken place that young more awake souls are showing up. The so-called Indigos. A couple of jotish charts I’ve seen are astonishing. This will also speed it up.
But still, it will take generations for a complete shift, where children are born without fear.
I think it’s an important message, even if it is just a projection for most. It brings hope. A confidence to continue during what may be a bumpy transition. This may not speak to you. It won’t for many. But the soldiers of light are assembling. The bridge to Sri Lanka is being built*.
Davidya
* from the story of the Ramayana
Apologies for the lag in posts. I spent a week on retreat and it’s taking a little time to get caught up.
The retreat with LornLucia (a name symbolic of their unity) was quite distinct from earlier ones. For one, they’ve moved from the prairies to the coast. The retreat was located on an island not far from my home. An area named one of the most pure in the world.
They also offered a part-time extension for the full week. While there was a surface crust of resistance there we began to dissolve, the clarity beneath that was remarkable. It was wonderful to spend the time more deeply intensifying the inner alertness. It was quite profound for me and for a number of others there.
Some of the offshoots of that I’ll be sharing in posts shortly – I have over a dozen subjects lined up.
Isn’t life amazing??
Davidya
In The Dawning Age, I touched on various time models and how they point to our current time. While there was some general alignment, it is certainly rough. Part of this is because the models are different.
However, after listening to an unusual interview, I realized that I was thinking about this incorrectly. I was trying to apply a linear time model to something that’s not linear. As the interviewee observes, our cultural habits run deep.
Amongst a gamut of things, Chris LaDue touches on how the Mayan calendar is not about linear time but rather a more circular, feminine process. This reminds me of Nassim Haramein when he describes a particle wave. It’s actually a spiral – we’re just applying a 2D model to it to see a wave. It’s more like a spiral telephone cord.
A related example is how we were all taught about how the earth circles in an orbit around the sun. But the sun is moving at high speed through space. So we’re actually spiraling through space at a much higher speed than we’re orbiting.
The interview with Chris LaDue is wide ranging and just touches on a huge range of subjects. But unlike many big thinkers, he is very practical. He has been bringing applications of his perceptions and understanding of the underlying mechanics of the world into the market. In fact, you’ve likely already used his technology.
http://www.consciousmedianetwork.com/members/cladue.htm
He describes energy as 3 dimensional and alive, with personality. By tapping into that, we can produce natural technology that uses far less power to accomplish far more. Very cool.
Davidya
Quite a few people have been speaking of a dawning new age, an Age of Enlightenment or Golden Age.
We find the world in a curious place right now. On the one hand, unprecedented numbers of people awakening. On the other, problems of global proportions that could be disastrous.
Some teachers speak of the issues arising now as a way for consciousness to clear. A larger scale purification. Also for us to be more conscious of how our attitudes and actions have been affecting the earth.
But why now?
There are a number of models of the movement of time and consciousness out there. The Mayan calendar speaks of cycles building to a climax. The actual climax date is open for debate. But all point to sometime in the next couple of years. It’s already well underway.
The Vedas describe a long cycle of 4 yugas, rising and falling periods of consciousness. In that model, we’re about 5,000 years into a much longer dark age.
There is also the Great Year, the cycle of the precession of the equinoxes. What gives us our ages – The Age of Aquarius, for example. But that’s not technically due for a number of years yet. And the actual start points are widely debated. The time cycle of the Great Year does align with Yukteswar’s sub-Yuga cycle. Some suggest we’re approaching a key position in the zodiac relative to the galaxy.
There turns out to be some other interesting alignments as well.
The start point of the dark age, Kali Yuga, is said to be in 3102 B.C. The start point of the 5th or National cycle of the Mayan Calendar began in the similar 3115 B.C. The Jewish calendar starts a little before this in 3761 BC. This period is historically described as the end of the Goddess. And it is a period described experientially as the time of a precipitous fall in consciousness.
It should be noted that old calendars have a different system than our own and historical time measurement does not exactly match actual earth years. Thus, calculating the exact dates is tricky. As well, all of these see time in a different way. But the correspondences are interesting.
Now
What is next interesting is how this relates to now. Krishna is a well known Avatar whose life story is described in the Mahabharata. He said a number of interesting things, especially for spiritual aspirants. But there are also some predictions.
In the fourth part of the Brahma-vaivarta Purana called Krsna-janma-khanda, Krishna has a conversation with Ganga Devi (the river goddess) where he describes a golden age of 10,000 years that will take place within Kali Yuga. He said it will start 5,000 years after the start of Kali Yuga.
5,000 years after is at about 1898. So we’re now into the period he predicted. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi announced the dawn of the Age of Enlightenment in 1978, then welcomed Sat Yuga in July of 2005. It was right after that that people I knew started waking up.
Here is a link to the translated section of the Brahma-vaivarta Purana where this golden age period is described.
http://kunjbiharikrishna.blogspot.com/2009/07/kali-yuga-10000-years-of-golden-age.html
You may find the description of Kali Yuga under the translations notable when considering a recent daily newspaper.
This web site discusses the Vedic – Mayan correspondences.
http://hinduism.about.com/od/basics/a/goldenage.htm
The alignments are still rough. But in the end, it all comes down to what is happening now. What are people experiencing? The rest is just pointers, markers on the curious field of time.
Davidya
The direct experience of God is one of the most significant events in anyones life. Even more profound to live it, to become what has been experienced. At it’s crown, this is God Realization. And yet our culture often suggests this is an illusion, an effect of blind faith, or a mere question of philosophy. Even within religious orders and spiritual groups, direct experience can horrify some leaders. The story of Bernadette Roberts, for example.
We are also challenged by many examples of God and gods, the dominant one in these parts being a grumpy old man in the sky who should be feared. Hardly an image inviting an intimate relationship.
Priests and spiritual leaders have often positioned themselves as arbiters of our relationship with the divine. If that supports our connection, fine. But they should never stand in the way or tell you what is a wrong experience. A teacher should be one of feedback and support, never condemnation. If it doesn’t match the teaching, it does not mean it’s false. If we meet evil, it doesn’t mean we are evil, it means we’re seeing what’s there.
The journey to God is the journey to the truth of our existence. The fundamentals of reality. A process that can give a deep understanding beyond anything concepts and teaching can offer. God Realization is something that takes place after Self Realization, somethimes after Unity as well. Thus, much of what I describe here is post awakening. But how it unfolds is unique to each person. Believe it or not, unfold it will. It is the natural course of human evolution.
There are 2 primary paths through which one might experience God – the impersonal and the personal. The personal has 2 branches: through the object side of perception and through perception of the form of the subject. Through the world or through yourself.
Impersonal
Roberts journey sounds like the impersonal, what she described as the contemplative path. This is the path of being, of direct experience of the underlying reality. It is called impersonal as it is an experiential journey into the formless, without qualities. It is a stepping deeper and deeper into beingness. Isness. That.
Broadly, we step into an internal unity of Self, then a deep connection with formless God, then all duality ends and Self and God become one. Unity.
The challenge of the impersonal is the clarity it requires in seeing who one is, beyond any ideas of it. Not being distracted by the many concepts, feelings, and experiences that take us away from that.
Personal by Object
The Personal is similar in “distance” but has more apparent steps. It is the path of experiences and revelation. For some this will be a feeling journey, for others more sensory – it is heard and seen. Beginning such a journey, our first experiences will tend to be of an energetic nature. That is to say, energy beings like spirit guides or angels. We literally see laws of nature. I talk a little of the mechanism over on Seeing with the Heart.
The challenge of the personal is we can come to believe too much in the experiences and not become, not go deeper. They can be very powerful and informative. But revelation is just the opening. Experiences open the door but we must then step through the door and let them go. Then we can move forwards and become, just as in the impersonal journey. A deep connection with our inner being can help reduce the “stickiness” of revelation.
Stepping deeper into the celestial, we meet the messengers and organizers of ‘Gods works’ we could say. The angels, archangels and gods of yor. How we experience this varies widely, depending on expectations, our cultural background and so forth. These experiences are probably the ones most affected by what we bring to them.
Beyond the celestial we come to meet God in form. This has been described as our highest ideal but I’ve found it’s a 2 way street. Both bring something to the experience table. Shankara describes 6 forms of God, the formless (impersonal) and the Pancha Devata, the 5 primary forms. Thus, you may experience more than one, each reflecting a fundamental principle of God like Love or Power. This is the abode of the avatars of Vishnu, Christ, Shiva, and so forth. Ways we can experience God directly.
When we step to the source of creation, we come to experience the Divine Mother, the fully embodied creative feminine. There is profound love and intimacy possible here that transcends anything you may have experienced prior.
Somewhere along here, we begin to see ourselves as children of God, that all beings are the sons and daughters of God. Everything is relative to the One.
Beyond Mother Divine is one of the impersonal values. We transcend creation and it rolls up into nothingness. This is the field of the ‘Word with God’, where the unmanifest qualities of liveliness and alertness stir in the flow of awareness.
Beyond that is Godhead, what we might call Father God. The observer of all things.
Stepping back from Godhead, we discover all of God embodied. A body of God with Godhead, the Word, Mother in the heart, then all of creation. All within the body of God.
And the body stands within the Unformed inclusive Totality. This is the meeting of the impersonal and personal paths.
Personal by Subject
There is another personal series one might follow to return home. Rather than climbing the objects of creation, we climb the subject side. We go deeper into our own form and find it is none other than God.
First stage here is in the recognition that our body is rich with life. Everything happening is being done. The beating of the heart, the flow of blood, cell processes, and so on. This finally explains the independent witness where we experience everything happens without our doing.
As our inner experience deepens, we discover our cosmic nature, then our role in the cosmic body. All of us are found to have roles and places in the cosmic body, just as the devata got things done in the personal body. We are a part of the whole.
At some point, the cosmic body is found to be none other than the body of God. And thus the 2 chains of subject and object come together.
Of course, this process has no hard and fast rules. Language varies widely as dos the details of perception. It’s not necessarily at all sequential. Each of us has our own journey, our own role in the cosmic, our own experience to add to the whole. Some will experience one path, others all of them.
The point here is to offer a general outline so we can place our unfolding experience in context and get an idea of where it’s going. This simple clarity can greatly ease the journey home.
As we fulfill our role we fulfill our reason for being. And that has a richness to it, beyond belief.
Davidya
