Guest guest Posted August 1, 2002 Report Share Posted August 1, 2002 A good way to understand the world of humans is to understand yourself, not in an intellectual way, or even in an emotional or so- called spiritual way, but just drilling down into the heart of the prime motivation, the core "story" that returns us again and again to the fixated expression of consciousness we call "our life". It may be discovered there that there is, at the root, something like an innocent misunderstanding. What is being pointed at here is the actual evolution of consciousness itself. This human drama is not a mistake. Most of the cherished Eastern teachings infer that this human life is some kind of error or unfortunate occurrence - something to transcend. But if we really inquire into this, we can see that consciousness has taken form for a reason. It has come into form so that it can be conscious as form. That's the beauty of this amazing human birth. Consciousness can become self-aware through this human form. It can not only become self-aware, but can finally manifest that liberation through form, through human-ness, in the way that we act in the field of space and time. To be "liberated" from being a human being is not enough. The consciousness itself has an impulse to manifest itself in the world of space and time. This where some confusion enters in. To be able to have this realization function in the world seems to be the true call of evolution. Ultimately, the manifestation is a creation. It's a birthing from an act of indescribable Love. It's certainly not some terrible mistake that we need to escape from into some transcendental realm. That's the goof of dualism. So many teachers confuse people here, but if it's all One, it is truly ALL ONE! There is no reason why that Oneness can't express Itself in the world of space and time just as much as in the Infinite. Such distinctions can be seen as mere notional indulgence, when all this messiness of our humanity is allowed to be liberated from such judgements of belief and comceptual filtration by the Power of Awakeness. Nevertheless, there is some real confusion when consciousness takes form and tries to become self-aware. It seems to be a risk that consciousness takes in its maturation process, or its evolving into becoming truly self-aware through form. It is simply a matter of getting confused about its ultimate identity. It comes into form, and then it thinks that it is that form. The purpose is to discover its True Nature, and then to manifest it in the world. Full incarnation is the moment to moment demand that all excuses be abandoned for acting anything less than from the complete awakening in this daily life. If this inquiry takes one into the head it will feel very dry, very intellectual. If it stays grounded in one's actual heart "experience", it won't feel in the least bit abstract. In fact, it is actually quite marvellously joyously drenched in the juicy Happiness of Being and Life! In the place where consciousness is really unified, where it sees the true nature of both formlessness and form, such phrases as "I am That" are actually true. It becomes perceivable. One's sense of self expands to include everything. Here nothing is really outside of oneself. This view of unity consciousness is much vaster than the view of formless consciousness. One needs to go beyond mind into one's own direct experience to really hear this. It would initially appear that this experience of unity consciousness is complete, once there is the realization that "I am That", "I am everything". It may seem that there is nothing more to see. And yet if inquire proceeds further, there is something very simple to recognize. Even in this unity consciousness there is an awareness of this unity consciousness. There is a very simple wakefulness of it, in which this unity consciousness is arising. This awakeness has no qualities whatsoever. No bliss, no peace, no presence - not even consciousness. Any effort to define or even experience it is fruitless, any more than one can experience that which one is - one can only BE that which one IS. Sometimes this "Original Face" is called Emptiness. Yet it is even empty of any qualities of emptiness. Here there is no self or Self. It is not a state of consciousness, and yet it does not cancel what it transcends. Separate self-consciousness, Formless consciousness, Unity consciousness are all arising within this, are all birthed within It. They are actually illuminated, or seen through, and thus become Liberated from any identification within this, with any fixation at any level of consciousness. Since everything arises from this wakefulness, there is nothing that needs to be eliminated. The only "problem" that ever arose was the fixation on any level. From this wakefulness, all states are gathered in one vast embrace of Love, and are seen to exist simultaneously, non-exclusively. When this is truly and deeply Seen, and all fixation has been undermined by the Embrace, then one comes to realize that this wakefulness, which one IS, is in Love with all states of consciousness. It does not need to hide in egoic consciousness, in formless consciousness, in unity consciousness, in peace or bliss - it loves them all. It functions through them all. Then they all begin to dance! This dancing of all states of consciousness together is really the end, and the beginning, of incarnation, or conscious embodiment. To take in the whole of experience in one embrace - to swallow the Ocean in one gulp -- This is the Mystery! This Is what Love wants to do as It swims in this sea of form and wonder of Itself! This is the Yearning and the Satisfaction of all Yearning! This IS Beloved, and Beloved Is Infinite Revelation. What becomes realized is this simple awakeness that every human being has, at every moment of their lives. One may have many mystical, transcendental experiences, and perhaps, through Grace, come eventually to the Mystical experience of being human. Stabilizing in such "experience", one may eventually become ordinary. Could this actually be the "ultimate ground", the full flowering of the transcendent Mystery - that the most liberating turns out to be the most ordinary? And yet, how could it be otherwise? LoveAlways, b Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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