Chapter 15: Karma 251
Chapter 16: The Final Doorway.......: 273
Section IV: The Transcendence 289
Chapter 17: The Inner Path 291
Chapter 18: "No Mind" 305
Chapter 19: The Way of the Heart 325
Section V: The Recontextualization 341
Chapter 20: Perspectives 343
Chapter 21: Spiritual Research 365
Chapter 22: Applications 383
Chapter 23: Homo Spiritus 401
Appendices
Appendix A Calibration of the Truth of the Chapters 423
Appendix B Map of The Scale of Consciousness 424
Appendix C Calibration of the Levels of Consciousness 425
Appendix D Quantum Mechanics 431
Suggested Reading/Viewing 437
About the Author 443
Foreword
The radically subjective state of enlightenment historically has been difficult to convey as well as comprehend. In this trilogy, a means of comprehension has been provided for the linear mind to understand the nonlinear reality of spiritual truth.
Only infrequently has a realized being been able to retain meaningful contact with the world in terms of verbal fluency or explanation that is comprehensible by ordinary human consciousness. At times, all that has been possible has been a description of the overwhelming, existent subjective state that has been revealed. Thus, the verbalizations and descriptions of awareness at that level of consciousness are often obscure or subject to misinterpretation, or they may simply sound unintelligible to the majority of mankind.
What makes this work unique is that the state of enlightenment occurred to a personality that retained fluency and, after many years of endeavor, managed to re-own and remaster the ordinary levels of consciousness in order to be able to return to the world as a teacher and function simultaneously in both the linear and nonlinear domains. This required the creation of a conceptual scheme that allowed for the intellect to bridge the gap between the linear reasoning of the mind and the nonlinear reality of spiritual truth. This work is unique in that it includes not only a full description of the inner subjective state of enlightenment, but it also encompasses the entire progression of the levels of consciousness to reach that state.
In Power versus Force and The Eye of the I, the information necessary for the spiritual aspirant was provided. In this last volume of the trilogy, that final state is described with a clear articulation.
Sedona, Arizona Sonia Martin
lanuary 2003 Editor
Preface
This is the third book of a trilogy that encompasses the evolution of human consciousness as revealed by research as well as by subjective experience.
The first book, Power versus Force^ outlined a verifiable scale of consciousness and revealed, for the first time in human history, a means of discovering truth from falsehood, thus overcoming the most critically important inherent defect of the human mind. Power versus Force addressed itself primarily to the levels of consciousness which include most of humanity. These levels progress up to the high 500s, which are often described as saintly.
The second book, The Eye of the I, addressed itself to the levels of consciousness from 600 to approximately 850. These levels have been considered throughout history to be the realm of the traditional enlightened spiritual teachers.
This third book, simply entitled I, completes the description of the evolution of human consciousness from the level of approximately 800 to its peak experience at 1,000, which historically has been the ultimate possibility in the human domain. This is the realm of the mystic whose truth stems solely from the radical subjectivity of divine revelation.
The text of the material is taken from lectures, dissertations, and dialogues with students, visitors, and spiritual aspirants from around the world who have different spiritual and religious backgrounds and varying levels of consciousness. There are relatively few references to other traditional spiritual treatises or teachers as the material is complete and sufficient in and of itself. This is not a theological text which customarily includes numerous detailed references for academic purposes. It is instead left primarily to the reader to make correlation with the world's existent literature. Thus, there is a bare minimum of Sanskrit, Christian, or Vedic terminology.
Xlll
The term "artifact" is used in its customary but unique medical definition as something that is "foreign, false, or misleading." In medicine, an artifact is a fault which could be mistaken for the real, e.g., a residual.stain or a speck of dust that, under the microscope, could be mistaken for a bacterium. The use of the term is therefore not the more common one that means an archeological object of antiquity; in this case, it means "spurious."
There is a purposeful repetition of certain themes and statements which is a pedagogical technique used as each repetition is in a different context and sequence.
Acknowledgements
The author expresses gratitude to the many participants and students of the classes, lectures, and sessions held around the world but especially to the devoted attendees of the monthly lecture series held at the Sedona Creative Life Center (Arizona) in the year 2002, at which many of the calibrations were publicly demonstrated and confirmed.
Special thanks are due for the dedication and skills of Sonia Martin who worked for over a year to perfect the manuscript.
We are thankful to the many organizations, spiritual groups, and churches that invited the presentation of lectures and workshops.
We are also grateful to the many enthusiasts of this collective work who have supported its promulgation through independent educational efforts via various media and workshop groups.
And, as attendees of the lectures might well surmise, the writing of the book itself was facilitated and energized by the round-the-clock help of the self and the Self of my wife Susan and her indefatigable right arm as well as her spiritual intuition and capacity for innate knowingness.
All credit is due to God whose Radiance shines forth as Creation and who, by the Holy Spirit, inspires and illuminates all understanding and realization of Divine Truth. Amen.
Caveat
The traditional religionist or the spiritually timid are forewarned that the material presented herein may be disturbing and therefore better bypassed. The teachings are presented for the seriously committed spiritual student who is seeking God as Enlightenment.
The pathway to Enlightenment via radical truth is demanding and requires the surrendering of all belief systems. Only then does the Ultimate Reality reveal itself as the sought-after T of the Supreme.
The material presented herein is from the perspective of the Infinite T of the Self.
Introduction
Throughout history, there have been descriptions and reports of advanced states of consciousness, but often they were fragmentary, brief, cryptic, or enigmatic. Their puzzling nature led scholars to spend many years pouring over them, trying to decipher the true meaning of these teachings. Theological argument and disagreement then led to many schisms which often had severe consequences.
Many of the ancient traditions were handed down verbally from generation to generation, and some actually for many centuries or even thousands of years before they were recorded. Much was lost due to difficulties in translation. Perhaps the most difficult problems arose because the listeners to the words of the great teachers were unable to correctly interpret the meanings of the words. The nondualistic, nonlinear domain of spiritual truth does not translate easily into the reason/logic/ sequential itemization of the ego/mind, which is bound by the positionalities and presumptions of duality, such as time, duration, causality, and space.
Consciousness rese arch reveal s that enlightenmen tjs.statistic cally rare, and even when it does occur (level 600), the chances are only twenty percent that the enlightened being will re turn to an active life in the world. When consciousness level reaches
700 to 80CLthe chances are only five percent that the sa^e will again be able to relate to the world. By the time the consciousness level reaches the 900s, only one pe xcent will be able to , return to the world . The reasons for this will be investigated and explained in the chapters to follow.
Enlightenment is best described as a state or a condition that is self-revealing and replaces the previous state of consciousness. This state is complete unto itself and is also commonly termed "Self-realization." In the experience to be described, no mention was made of this occurrence for more than thirty
years for it took that long to be able to recontextualize the phenomenon in such a manner as to be expressible in meaningful language. The capacity to do so was impersonal and the result of inspiration as a gift of Divinity by which means the state could be shared.
To facilitate comprehension and provide orientation and perspective, the calibrated levels of consciousness of various passages will be stated in the chapters. Following such a calibrated passage will be an explanation to clarify the meaning of the words that might otherwise seem obscure. The value of this method is that it obviates having to manipulate the understanding in order for it to be comprehended and instead allows it to be expressed as it is subjectively known.
Historical Precis
(This is an abridgement of the "About the Author" section from Power versus Force and The Eye of the I which provides historical context.)
A lifelong sequence of intense states of awareness that began at a very young age first inspired and then gave direction to the process of subjective realization.
At age three, a sudden, full awareness of the condition and state of existence occurred. The nonverbal but profound and complete understanding of the meaning of 'existence' was immediately followed by the frightening realization that the T might not have come into existence at all. There was an instant awakening from oblivion to a conscious awareness, and in that moment, the personal self was born and the duality of'Is' and 'Is Not' entered subjective awareness.
Throughout childhood and early adolescence, the paradox of existence and the question of the reality of the self was a constant concern. The personal self would sometimes begin to slip back into a greater, impersonal Self, and the initial fear of nonexistence—the fundamental fear of nothingness—would recur.
In 1939, as a paperboy with a seventeen-mile bicycle route in rural Wisconsin, I was caught on a dark winter's night miles from home in a twenty-below-zero blizzard. The bicycle fell over on the ice and the fierce wind ripped the newspapers out
of the handlebar basket, blowing them across the ice-covered, snowy field. There were tears of frustration and exhaustion and my clothes were frozen stiff. To get out of the wind, I broke through the icy crust of a high snow bank, dug out a space, and crawled into it. Soon the shivering stopped and there was a delicious warmth, and then a state of peace beyond all description. This was accompanied by a suffusion of light and a presence of infinite love that had no beginning and no end and was undifferentiated from my own essence. The physical body and surroundings faded as awareness was fused with this all-present, illuminated state. The mind grew silent; all thought stopped. An Infinite Presence was all that was or could be, beyond all time or description.
After that timelessness, there was suddenly an awareness of someone shaking my knee; then my father's anxious face appeared. There was great reluctance to return to the body and all that that entailed, but because of my father's love and anguish, the Spirit nurtured and reactivated the body. There was compassion for his fear of death although, at the same time, the concept of death seemed absurd.
This subjective experience was not discussed with anyone because there was no context available from which it could be described. It was not common to hear of spiritual experiences other than those reported in the lives of the saints. But after this experience, the accepted reality of the world began to seem only provisional. Traditional religious teachings lost significance. Compared to the Light of Divinity that had illuminated all existence, the God of traditional religion shone dully indeed; thus, spirituality replaced religion.
During World War II, hazardous duty on a minesweeper often brought close brushes with death but there was no fear of it. It was as though death had lost its authenticity. After the war, interest in the complexities of the mind led to the study of psychiatry and contemplation of medical school and residency. My training psychoanalyst, a professor at Columbia University, was an agnostic; we both took a dim view of religion. The psychoanalysis went well, as did the career, and success followed.
The stresses of professional life led to a progressive, fatal illness which did not respond to any available treatments. By
age thirty-eight, I was in extremis and knew that I was about to die. I did not care about the body but my spirit was in a state of extreme anguish and despair. As the final moment approached, the thought flashed through my mind, "What if there is a God?" So I called out in prayer, "If there is a God, I ask him to help me now," and surrendered to whatever God there might be and went into oblivion. When consciousness returned, a transformation of such enormity had taken place that there was only silence and awe.
The 'person' that had been no longer existed. There was no personal T or self or ego, only an Infinite Presence of unlimited power that had replaced what had been 'me'. The body and its actions were controlled solely by the Infinite Will of the Presence. The world was illuminated by the clarity of an Infinite Oneness. All things revealed their infinite beauty and perfection as the expression of Divinity.
As life went on, this stillness persisted. There was no personal will; the physical body functioned solely under the direction of the infinitely powerful but exquisitely gentle Will of the Presence.
In that state, there was no need to think about anything. All truth was self-evident and no conceptualization was necessary or even possible. At the same time, the physical nervous system felt extremely overtaxed as though it was carrying far more energy than its circuits had been designed for.
It was not possible to function effectively in the world. All ordinary motivations had disappeared, along with all fear and anxiety. There was nothing to seek as all was perfect. Fame, success, and money were meaningless. Friends urged the pragmatic return to clinical practice, but there was no motivation to do so.
There was the ability to perceive the reality that underlay personalities and that the origin of emotional sickness lay in people's belief that they were their personalities. And so, as though of its own, a clinical practice resumed and eventually became huge.
The practice had two thousand out-patients, which required more than fifty therapists and other employees, a suite of twenty-five offices, as well as research, clinical, and
electroencephalic laboratories. There were a thousand new patients each year. In addition, there were appearances on radio and network television shows. In 1973, the clinical research was documented in the book, Orthomolecular Psychiatry, with Professor Linus Pauling as coauthor. This work was ten years ahead of its time and created something of a stir.
The overall condition of the nervous system improved slowly, and then another phenomenon commenced: a sweet, delicious band of energy continuously flowed up the spine and into the brain where it created an intense sensation of exquisite pleasure. Everything in life unfolded in synchronicity, evolving in perfect harmony. The miraculous was commonplace. The origin of what the world would call miracles was the Presence, not the personal self. What remained of the personal 'me' was only an awareness of these phenomena. The greater T, deeper than the former self or thoughts, determined all that happened.
The state that was present had been reported by others throughout history; this led to the investigation of spiritual teachings, including those of the Buddha, enlightened sages, Huang Po, and more recent teachers such as Ramana Marharshi and Nisargadatta Maharaj. It was thus confirmed that these experiences were not unique. The Bhagavad-Gita now made complete sense. At times the same spiritual ecstasy reported by Sri Ramakrishna and the Christian saints occurred.
It was necessary to stop the habitual practice of meditating for an hour in the morning and then again before dinner because it would intensify the bliss to such an extent that it was not possible to function. An experience similar to the one that had happened when a boy in the snow bank would recur, and it became increasingly difficult to leave that state and return to the world. The incredible beauty of all things shone forth in all their perfection, and where the world saw ugliness, there was only timeless beauty. This spiritual love suffused all perception and all boundaries between here and there and then and now, and separation disappeared.
During the years spent in inner silence, the strength of the Presence grew. Life was no longer personal; a personal will no longer existed. The personal T had dissolved and become an instrument of the Infinite Presence and went about and did as
it was willed. People felt an extraordinary peace in the aura of that Presence. Seekers sought answers, but as there was no longer any such individual as my former self, they were actually finessing answers from their own Self, which was no different from my Self. The same Self shone forth from each person through their eyes.
The miraculous happened spontaneously, beyond ordinary comprehension. Many chronic maladies from which the body had suffered for years disappeared. The eyesight spontaneously normalized and there was no longer a need for the lifetime of bifocal glasses. Occasionally, an exquisitely blissful energy of Infinite Love would suddenly begin to radiate from the heart toward the scene of some calamity and precipitate some miraculous resolution.
Profound changes of perception would come without warning in improbable circumstances. The Presence would suddenly intensify until everything and every person that had appeared as separate in ordinary perception melted into a timeless universality and oneness.
In the motionless Silence, there are no 'events' or 'things'. Nothing actually 'happens' because past, present, and future are merely artifacts of perception, as was the illusion of a separate T being subject to birth and death.
As the limited, false self dissolved into the universal Self of its true origin, there was an ineffable sense of having returned home to a state of absolute peace and relief from all suffering. There was the awareness that it is only the illusion of individuality that is the origin of all suffering. When one realizes that one is the universe, complete and at one with All That Is, forever without end, no further suffering is possible.
Patients came from every country in the world, and some were the most hopeless of the hopeless. Grotesque, writhing, wrapped in wet sheets for transport from far-away hospitals they came, hoping for treatment for advanced psychoses and grave, incurable mental disorders. Some were catatonic; many had been mute for years. But in each patient, beneath the crippled appearance, there was the shining essence of love and beauty, perhaps so obscured to ordinary vision that they had become totally unloved in this world.
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One day a mute catatonic was brought into the hospital in a strait-jacket. She also had a severe neurological disorder and was unable to stand. Squirming on the floor, she went into spasms and her eyes rolled back in her head. Her hair was matted, her clothes were torn, and she uttered guttural sounds. -Her family was fairly wealthy; as a result, over the years she had been seen by innumerable physicians and famous specialists from all over the world. Every treatment had been tried and she had been given up as hopeless by the medical profession.
A short, nonverbal question arose: "What do you want done with her, God?" Then came the realization that she just needed to be loved—that was all. Her inner self shone through her eyes and the Self connected with that loving Presence. In that moment, she was healed by her own recognition of who she really was; what happened to her mind or body did not matter to her any longer.
This, in essence, occurred with countless patients. Some recovered in the eyes of the world and some did not, but whether a clinical recovery ensued no longer mattered to the patients. Their inner agony was over. As they felt loved and at peace within, their pain stopped. This phenomenon can only be explained by saying that the Compassion of the Presence recontextualized each patient's reality so that they experienced healing on a level that transcended the world and its appearances. The inner peace of the Self encompassed us beyond time and identity.
It was clear that all pain and suffering arise solely from the ego and not from God. This truth was silently communicated to the minds of the patients. This same mental block was in another mute catatonic who had not spoken in many years. The Self said to him through mind, "You're blaming God for what your ego has done to you." He jumped off the floor and began to speak, much to the shock of the nurse who witnessed the incident.
The work became increasingly taxing and eventually overwhelming. Patients were backed up, waiting for beds to open although the hospital had built an extra ward to house them. There was an enormous frustration in that the human suffering could be countered in only one patient at a time. It was like
bailing out the sea. It seemed that there must be some other way to address the causes of the basic common malaise of the endless stream of spiritual distress and human suffering.
This led to the study of kinesiology, which revealed an amazing discovery. It was the 'wormhole' between two universes—the physical world and the world of the mind and spirit—an interface between dimensions. In a world full of sleepers lost from their source, here was a tool to recover and demonstrate for all to see that lost connection with the higher reality. This led to the testing of every substance, thought, and concept that could be brought to mind. The endeavor was aided by students and research assistants.
Then a major discovery was made: Whereas all subjects went weak from negative stimuli, such as fluorescent lights, pesticides, and artificial sweeteners, students of spiritual disciplines who had advanced their levels of awareness did not go weak as did ordinary people. Something important and decisive had shifted in their consciousness. It apparently occurred as they realized that they were not at the mercy of the world but rather affected only by what their minds believed. Perhaps the very process of progress toward enlightenment could be shown to increase man's ability to resist the vicissitudes of existence, including illness.
The Self had the capacity to change things in the world by merely envisioning them. Love changed the world each time it replaced nonlove. The entire scheme of civilization could be profoundly altered by focusing this power of love at a very specific point. Whenever this happened, history bifurcated down new roads.
It now appeared that these crucial insights could not only be communicated to the world but visibly and irrefutably demonstrated to it as well. It seemed that the great tragedy of human life had always been that the psyche is so easily deceived. Discord and strife have been the inevitable consequences of mankind's inability to distinguish the false from the true. But here was an answer to this fundamental dilemma, a way to recontextualize the nature of consciousness and make explicable that which otherwise could only be inferred.
It then became necessary to leave the former life and everything in it, replacing it instead with a reclusive life in a small
town. The next seven years were spent in meditation and study.
Overpowering states of bliss returned unsought, and eventually there was the need to learn how to be in the Divine Presence and still function in the world. The mind had lost track of what was happening in the world at large. In order to do research and writing, it was necessary to stop all spiritual practice and focus on the world of form.
Exceptional subjective experiences of truth, which are the province of the mystic, affect all mankind by sending forth spiritual energy into the collective consciousness. Such states are not understandable by the majority of mankind and are therefore of limited meaning except to spiritual seekers. This led to an effort to be ordinary, because just being ordinary is in itself an expression of Divinity. The truth of one's real self can be discovered through the pathway of everyday life. To live with care and kindness is all that is necessary; the rest reveals itself in due time. The commonplace and God are not distinct.
And so, after a long circular journey of the spirit, there was a return to the most important work which was to try to bring the Presence at least a little closer to the grasp of as many fellow beings as possible.
1?
The Presence is silent and conveys a state of peace that is the space in which and by which All Is and has its existence and unfolds. It is infinitely gentle and yet like a rock. With it, all fear disappears. Spiritual joy occurs on a quiet level of inexplicable ecstasy. The experience of time stops; there is no apprehension or regret, no pain or anticipation. The source of joy is unending and ever present. With no beginning or ending, there is no loss or grief or desire. Nothing needs to be done as everything is already perfect and complete.
When time stops, all problems disappear; they are merely artifacts of a point of perception. As the Presence prevails, there is no further identification with the body or mind. When the mind grows silent, the thought "I Am" also disappears, and Pure Awareness shines forth to illuminate what one is, was, and always will be, beyond all worlds and all universes, beyond time, and therefore without beginning or end.
People wonder "How does one reach this state of awareness," but few follow the steps because they are so simple. First, the desire to reach that state was intense. Then began the discipline to act with constant and universal forgiveness and gentleness, without exception. One has to be compassionate towards everything, including one's own self and thoughts. Next came a willingness to hold desires in abeyance and surrender personal will at every moment. As each thought, feeling, desire, or deed was surrendered to God, the mind became increasingly silent. At first, it released whole stories and paragraphs, then ideas and concepts. As one lets go of wanting to own these thoughts, they no longer reach such elaboration and begin to fragment while only half formed. Finally, it was possible to surrender the energy behind the very process of thinking itself before it even became thought.
The task of constant and unrelenting fixity of focus, allowing not even a moment of distraction from meditation, continued while doing ordinary activities. At first, this seemed to take effort, but as time went on, it became habitual and automatic, requiring less and less effort, and finally, it was effortless. The process is like a rocket's leaving the earth. Initially, it requires enormous energy, but then less and less as it leaves the earth's gravitational field, and eventually, it moves through space under its own momentum.
Suddenly, without warning, a shift in awareness occurred and the Presence totally prevailed, unmistakable and all encompassing. There were a few moments of intense apprehension as the self died, and then the absoluteness of the Presence inspired a flash of awe. This breakthrough was spectacular and more intense than anything before. It had no counterpart in ordinary experience. The profound shock was cushioned by the love that is the Presence. Without the support and protection of that love, it seems that one would be annihilated.
There followed a moment of terror as the ego clung to its existence, fearing it would become nothingness. Instead, as it died, it was replaced by the Self as Everythingness, the All in which everything was known and obvious in its perfect expression of its own essence. With nonlocality came the awareness that one is all that ever was or can be. One is total and com-
plete, beyond all identities, beyond gender, beyond even humanness itself. One need never again fear suffering and death.
What happens to the body from this point is immaterial. At certain levels of spiritual awareness, ailments of the body heal or spontaneously disappear, but in the Absolute state, such considerations are irrelevant. The body will run its predicted course and then return from whence it came. It is a matter of no importance; Reality is unaffected. The body is an 'it' rather than a 'me'; it is just another object, like the furniture in a room. It may seem comical that people still address the body as though it were the individual 'y° u > but there is no way to explain this state of awareness to the unaware. It is best to just go on about one's business and allow Providence to handle the social adjustment. However, as one reaches bliss, it is very difficult to conceal that state of intense ecstasy.
In this final apocalypse of the self, the dissolution of the sole remaining duality of existence versus nonexistence dissolves in Universal Divinity and no individual consciousness is left to choose. The last step, then, is taken by God.
David R. Hawkins, 1995
Prologue
For convenience, a summary of the information presented previously in Power versus Force and The Eye of the I is provided.
The source of the universe and all existence is an infinite potentiality that is formless and innately Infinite Power. Out of the supreme Unmanifest arises the manifest universe as linear and nonlinear realms. Form has locality and duration; that which is formless is nonlocal and outside time.
The human mind is self-aware because of that general principle and existent reality generally termed "consciousness." It is the subjective condition that accounts for awareness of one's existence as well as the experiential content of that existence which we call life.
While the events that one presumes to be a personal life are recorded in personal memory, all events in the universe, no matter how minute, such as even a fleeting thought, are recorded in the infinite, impersonal field of consciousness beyond time, locality, and the recall of memory. It is as though space invisibly records all that happens within it for all time. This record is then discernible and retrievable forever by a simple physiologic phenomenon called the kinesiologic test. This is possible because the kinesiologic response is mediated by nonlocal consciousness.
Consciousness is an invisible quality of life which has the unique property of reacting to a stimulus that is real because it has or has had actual existence and is therefore "true." If a true statement is presented to human consciousness or silently held in mind, the muscles of the body go strong automatically with the recognition of truth. In contrast, they go weak in response to falsehood, which has no actual existence. Consciousness is therefore much like a light bulb that goes on with electricity
(truth) but fails to light if there is no electricity (falsehood).
The major discovery was that, with kinesiologic testing, one could, for the first time in history, tell truth from falsehood about anything anywhere in time or space. The test itself proved to be independent of personal opinion or belief and, in fact, the innocent child was just as reliable as the sophisticated, informed adult. The response is also the same whether a statement is vocalized or made silently.
The capacity of consciousness to tell truth from falsehood meant that the invisible, nonlinear domain of spiritual truth could be researched and the reality of enlightened states could be validated. By the use of kinesiologic testing, it was possible to construct a scale of consciousness which encompassed all of humanity in all its expressions throughout history. This scale was displayed numerically. If all human possibility were displayed on a scale beginning with mere physical existence and progressing to the highest levels of consciousness that could possibly exist, the numbers would prove to be progressively huge. Therefore, a scale of 1 to 1,000 was constructed. It was logarithmic in order to make such large numbers useful in practice.
It was found that anything that calibrated over 200 proved to be true, and that anything below 200 was false. That which was over 200 was constructive, integrous, and supportive of life; that which was below 200 was negative and detrimental to humanity. Therefore, 200 proved to be the critical level that differentiated truth from falsehood and was perhaps the most important of all the discoveries.
The capacity to tell truth from falsehood was of profound importance because that is precisely what the human mind lacks. Thus, the discovery was an 'open sesame' to the mysteries of the universe and was the key that unlocked that which has been hidden from human awareness throughout history. It was the "E = mc 2 " of the nonlinear domain. Like the discovery of the telescope, it opened whole universes for investigation that had never before been accessible.
The results of this research were presented first to the academic community as a Ph.D. dissertation entitled "Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis and Calibration of the Levels of
Human Consciousness." This was a formal presentation of the data subject to the traditional requirements of scientific proof (e.g., "P < .01," "Null Hypothesis," "Statistical Analysis," graphs, tables, documentation, and detailed references). The treatise passed academic review and, in fact, attracted considerable attention and created much excitement due to the startling discoveries that were presented.
Power versus Force described the discoveries and the implications for the various strata of society, including aspects of spiritual realities not previously considered 'real' by the limited, linear Newtonian paradigm of traditional science. This new tool for investigation allowed a rational, comprehensive exploration of the nonlinear domain of meaning and context. Initially, it differentiated that b elow 200 were the levels of force andabove 200 were those of power. It was discovered that the qualities o f force are intrinsi cally weak, lo cal des tructive, gX^fe; and consume energy, whereas power ba sed on truth is perm anent, nonl ocal^and projucesjenergy r ather than^ onsumingjt.
The technique of kinesiologic testing proved to be of great value in that (1) it allowed the differentiation of truth from falsehood, (2) it allowed for the calibration of the levels of human consciousness, and (3) it enabled investigation of any and every subject anywhere in time or space. What developed as a result was a means of contextualizing the evolution of human consciousness throughout time and on into its destiny, even beyond an individual physical lifetime.
The Scale of Consciousness thus allowed for a comprehensive recontextualization of mankind in all its expressions. It was observed that the lower levels of consciousness numerically eniami£aj>S£o^^
rarely (one jn ten milHon^people) did it reach thecpnscious_-ness level of 60CL Therefore, Power versus Force was focused on the levels of consciousness up to the level of 600.
The Eye of the I then went on to investigate the spiritual truths historically revered as states of enlightenment. It was discovered that within the states of enlightenment there are progressive strata or levels of comprehension. These advanced states represent ever higher levels of awareness. Each level represents a limitation of consciousness by an even more
advanced spiritual duality that has to be resolved before the next level can be reached.
The Eye of the I described the subjective reality of the advanced mystic in such a way so as to make those states comprehensible. This resulted in a clarification of historical spiritual teachings and the resolution of ages-old mystifications and misconceptions. The Eye of the I, which calibrates in the high 900s, was therefore focused on very advanced spiritual truth.
In the human domain, historically, the maximum spiritua l energy that could beJ pWatpH hy tV>p h uman body andjiery ous systems cali brated at 1^00^ which is the calibrated level of the founders of the world's great religions, those great teachers (avatars) of history, such as Christ, Buddha, and Krishna^ The subject matter of this book is focused on the most advanced levels of human consciousness and therefore addresses the levels of approximately 850 to 1.000 . No 'person' or 'personality' can write of such levels from either subjective experience or comprehension and, therefore, / is actually written by consciousness itself. Such levels of consciousness arise from a radical subjectivity that transcends personal identity. Consciousness at that level merely utilizes the convenience of the human mind and body to enable communication in form and language. The power of the Truth, however, exists independently of the languaging but accompanies the languaging like a carrier wave that empowers and facilitates comprehension.
Enlightenment is a state or condition that is formless but radiates its own powerful energy via a survivor of the onset and progression of that condition whose occurrence is relatively uncommon and which also, paradoxically, extracts a certain toll. These statements will be further explained and elucidated in the text that follows.
Preliminary Informational Note
In previous work, a useful Calibrated Scale of Consciousness was described which was corroborated by thousands of independent investigators and which can be replicated, starting anywhere on the scale. This verification has been conducted
over a period of more than twenty-five years by innumerable individuals and research groups. At the time of this writing, this has involved more than 310,000 calibrations. If a seeming discrepancy occurred, it appeared, upon further investigation, that the supposed error was the result of a faulty technique or, more often, an imperfection in the wording of the statement to be verified.
Paradoxically, however, there were occasional complaints that the technique "doesn't work" or "gives wrong answers." A few of these complaints were worded in an erudite intellectual style and, although the reasoning sounded logical, the results were erroneous. This seemed like a puzzling paradox. Only very recently did it resolve itself by the sudden discovery that the kinesiologic response i s_only va Udjm d reliablei f used far. people who themsel ves calibrate at over 200 and whos e ~^~
questions are in integrity. that_is^ ^^librciteaboye 200. This discovery also demonstrates the principle that power and s piritual purity go hand in hand.
During the initial research, when it was discovered that the kinesiologic method was capable of discerning truth from falsehood about anything anywhere in the universe, there were initial misgivings that it might be misused if it fell into selfish hands. As it turned out, such a consideration was unnecessary as the technique had an unknown, built-in safeguard. Thus, the intention of the investigator plays a significant part in the reliability of the results, and the technique itself appears to be limited in usefulness to only that which is beneficial to mankind.
To restate the facts of the kinesiologic method of telling truth from falsehood:
1. Both partners (or the questioner, if a solitary method is used) must calibrate at over 200.
2. The motive or intention of the question must be integrous, i.e., calibrate over 200.
3. The question must be presented in the form of a declarative statement.
4. Calibration numbers are in reference to the published scale, i.e., "On a scale of 1 to 1,000, X calibrates at over 200,300," etc. (See Appendix B.)
XXXlll
An accurate response is obtainable without having to verbalize the statement merely by holding it (or an image) in mind. Therefore, the response is not influenced by the subject's personal beliefs or opinions. For instance, one can state "What I am holding in mind is true."
Explanation
The kinesiologic response has been confirmed by thousands of clinicians worldwide for decades. It is a replicable experiential phenomenon which is not explicable by ordinary logic or Newtonian physics. It is made comprehensible by the advanced physics of Quantum Mechanics in which the intention of the observer/questioner facilitates or does not facilitate a collapse of the wave function (the von Neumann Process I). Thus, the state of the universe (Schroedinger's equations) via the Heisenberg principle is often reduced or not (Dirac process), and therefore, the quantum response is limited to "yes" or "not yes." (See Appendix D, "Quantum Mechanics.")
SECTION ONE
THE PROCESS
CHAPTER ONE
TEACHERS AND STUDENTS
Q: How do I know if Pm going in the right direction?
A: Direction is a linear concept. What you probably mean is whether the pathway you are following is suitable and valid. This is an important question to ask and reflects a humility in the acknowledgement of the ego/mind's incapacity to tell truth from falsehood. One can verify the level of consciousness of any teaching or teacher, past or present. One can also cross-check with the kinesiologic test to determine if this is a suitable pathway at this time for oneself.
Q: Why are there so many different depictions of God?
A: These reflect the vagaries of the ego's anthropomorphic projections. Because of its inherent limitations, the ego itself cannot know God experientially. God is the absolute subjectivity that underlies existence and the capacity for awareness. God is beyond all time, place, or human characteristics. All the descriptions of the Ultimate Reality by enlightened beings throughout history have been identical. There is only one Supreme Reality.
The mythical gods of ancient cultures, as well as the demigods and deities, had limited realms or functions, such as the gods of fertility, nature, or the harvest. In the place of Divine Reality are manufactured pseudodeities with very obvious limitations that, by definition, would preclude their being the ultimate God of Creation.
Inasmuch as the Godhead, or God Unmanifest, is beyond all depiction, the Ultimate Realization is radically and purely subjective and absent of all content. To acknowledge the absolute divinity of the Infinite Supreme would be unacceptable to entities that are deluded into claiming godship. We can then say that a false deity is an entity that has declined truth for power, pride, and control over others, and has succumbed to the luciferic error which proclaims that the ego is God (i.e., megalomania). The basis for the error is the unwillingness to surrender sovereignty from the T of the ego to the Allness of God.
That which is the Absolute Reality has no needs as it already is All That Is. There is no need for power when one is power itself. Infinite Power has no need to control anything. By analogy, the sky does not need the clouds nor does it create or destroy them. They arise within its all-encompassing, boundless space. The sky does not kill, retaliate, or punish clouds. The sky provides equality to all clouds as well as the context for their formation of perceptual appearance and disappearance.
Q: The description of God as Supreme Being sounds almost impersonal.
A: The ego thinks in terms of relationships and therefore contextualizes a relationship between two separate beings. The child in the ego's structure hopes that God will be like the idealized superparent. With this depiction, however, arises the downside, which is the fear of the parent's displeasure.
In contrast to the ego's perceptions of God, the Absolute Reality of the Self is the manifestation of God as the very core of one's existence. The Love of the Presence is ultrapersonal and experienced as infinite peace, infinite security, and the safety of foreverness so that there is no imaginary 'end' to fear. The God of the Presence imbues the joy of completion. Love is not a 'quality' of God but
TEACHERS AND STUDENTS
is God's very essence. There is no sense of'otherness' to the Presence. God is the all-encompassing Reality of the never-ending present. There is no 'other' to fear or please.
By analogy, the sun does not play hide-and-seek when the clouds of the ego's beliefs are swept away. It is discovered that the sun has been shining all along. Its light and warmth radiate because that is the sun's innate, intrinsic essence and quality. Unlike the Earth's sun, the Sunship of God is permanent. To the Infinite, the comings and goings of universes have no meaning. That which is the Source of life and the universe is not subject to it. The glory of God has no requirements.
Q: What is the antidote to doubt?
A: The awareness of God is obscured by cynicism, skepticism, rational caution, negativism, or even ignorance. The underlying motive often reveals the answer. The ego does not like to have its world view challenged or brought into question. It protects its paradigm of reality from fear. It may feel threatened by contrary information and become defensive because it is being made to look 'wrong'. It also dislikes taking responsibility for its views because that imputes that they are held by choice.
Conflict may arise because of religious or group loyalties, or ethnic or family traditions, but the loyalty of the committed spiritual seeker is only to God. Doubt may also be a healthy signal that one is in the wrong place, spiritually speaking. As naivete merges into spiritual maturity, discernment may flash a warning signal. If in doubt, always take 'stop'. One may also outgrow the current group or teaching; then it is time to move on.
Doubt may be motivated by the fear that there may be a loss of customary self-identity or cherished beliefs. To clear doubt, it is only necessary to identify one's motives and use kinesiologic testing as a means of verification.
The kinesiologic test is so fast and accurate with its simple "yes" and "no" responses that its reliability is limited only by the questioner's adherence to the basic rules, including careful wording of the statement. Changing even one word because it seems irrelevant can bring about a different answer. It is advisable, therefore, to ask a series of questions and cross-check them. If a seeming discrepancy appears, further questioning will reveal the source of the error. Careless statements can result in misleading responses.
For instance, Carl Jung's level of consciousness had been calibrated many times at 520 or so over the years. A questioner stated "Carl Jung is over 500," but the answer obtained was "No." When rephrased as "Carl Jung did calibrate over 500," the answer was "Yes." The answer to "Jung is over 500" was "No" simply because he is deceased.
To verify the value of a teacher or a spiritual pathway, the primary and most crucial determination is that they calibrate over level 200. Valid teachers and teachings are available for every level. A teaching in the 300s supports willingness and using one's personal power with enthusiasm. An enthusiastic and committed group may be more helpful at times than reading more advanced texts. If there is too much disparity between one's own level and that of the teacher, a great deal of useful information may be lost or not absorbed.
An enlightened sage may be at a very high level of consciousness and yet not really be capable of teaching, just as being a great pianist does not make one a great piano teacher. Teaching requires skills other than virtuosity.
The perfect teacher would have the patience to explain the truths of the various levels by contextualizing them in such a way that they become self-evident. This capacity means that the teacher is familiar with all the consciousness levels and the problems that arise in each.
TEACHERS AND STUDENTS
In addition, the teacher is supportive of the resolution of the inherent dualities and positionalities, with resultant pairs of opposites, that stand at the gates of each level.
The teacher's knowledge must stem solely from the inner revelation of truth that accompanies and is the hallmark of enlightenment. This results in an unmistakable certainty and innate authority which only the absolute truth can convey. The true teacher clarifies that which is known by means of the Presence (classically termed Purusha). The teacher's source of understanding does not stem from external sources; therefore, quotes from famous teachers of history are only used for purposes of clarification for the sake of familiarity to the listener. The enlightened teacher needs no external confirmation.
The ideal teacher identifies the level of truth that is being spoken. In today's spiritual community, that level can now be precisely identified with an exact calibration that is subject to consensual validation. The source of the understanding of the teacher is inviolate and therefore needs no defense. Spiritual truth is complete within itself as it stands on its own merit. It is self-evident and requires no external agreement or props of any kind. The absolute subjectivity of revealed truth precludes all considerations or uncertainties which stem only from the ego. When the ego collapses, all argument ceases and is replaced by silence. Doubt is the ego. One could say that the ego is primarily a complex doubt structure that keeps itself rolling on by manufacturing endless, unsolv-able problems, questions, and distractions. When confronted by the overwhelming certainty of Absolute Truth as it is reflected from the Self, the ego collapses and literally dies. That is actually the only real death possible, and only the illusory self is vulnerable to it.
Q: Even after the state called enlightenment replaces what is commonly called the ego, does not the evolution of consciousness continue?
A: It may do so but of its own accord. It is not the result of seeking or spiritual striving. In most cases the calibrated level of an enlightened sage remains the same for the remainder of that lifetime. In rare cases, consciousness spontaneously continues its evolution. It is as though the spirit within now becomes aware of a paradox at a higher level that calls for resolution. Spiritual inspiration now seeks for the resolution of the block. Like a foreign body in the skin, it draws attention to itself. It may also do this by the signal of an anguishing type of pain throughout the whole body and nervous system. Experi-entially, after intense prayer and meditation, this would result in a spontaneous revelation that resolved the apparent paradox, and then the pain would stop.
These painful sensations may come from a belief system that it is necessary to suffer in order to reach or serve God. With the resolution of this unconscious belief system, the pain diminishes in intensity. Through kinesiologic investigation, it may be found that the spiritual belief systems of many lifetimes are no longer acceptable to spiritual consciousness and are therefore suppressed into the unconscious, which may be harsh and strict regarding spiritual error or defect. This may result in painful sensations that feel as though the nerves are connected to high-voltage electricity. After that discovery, the burning sensation may decrease but any limitation in spiritual awareness may still make itself known by an inner spiritual discomfort that persists until the limitation becomes conscious and is resolved by intense prayer and understanding.
TEACHERS AND STUDENTS
Q: Cults are traps for the unwary. How can they be differentiated from legitimate, spiritual splinter groups?
A: First, cults calibrate below 200. This may be due to the error of their teachings, or the teachings may have merit but the organization itself is not in integrity. Sometimes it is the leader who is the source of the error. Cults appeal to the innocent, the gullible, and the spiritually naive or ignorant.
With discernment and spiritual maturity, the characteristics of cults become obvious. Primarily, they are exploitive. The leader is typically controlling; money is important; allegiance to the group is emphasized; and the cult insists on proselytizing and eliminating relationships with spouses, family or friends. There are secrets, a hierarchy, and the use of psychological pressure and persuasion that border on brainwashing. Leaving the group brings negative pressures to bear, along with psychological or even physical consequences. There may be initiations, oaths, and swearing of allegiances. The leader is charismatic, persuasive, and surrounded by a personality cult. Sex is forbidden to members, but the leader is exempt from the rule.
The leader, rather than the teachings, becomes the focus of energy, gifts, money, favors, and adulation, and the mere mention of their name brings "oh's" and "ah's" rather than simple respect. The leader often claims a special relationship with some invisible entity on the other side' that has a special name. This 'higher' spirit or entity gives orders and direction regarding ordinary or bizarre affairs or future predictions of great disasters. These impress vulnerable and naive potential followers who also get caught up by cult proselytizers and enthusiasts.
Followers of cults become so brainwashed that they sometimes have to be rescued and deprogrammed by specialized professionals. Even when the pretenses of a
charismatic leader are exposed, many duped followers merely resort to denial in the face of the obvious. Such examples are now commonly documented on the Internet by research groups. (For example, a cult leader recommends risky investments; another channels' a teacher/guide "from the other side" who, for a hefty fee, gives a spurious reading about a person who does not even exist, etc.)
To ascend in a group's hierarchy costs sizable sums of money for each step, sometimes amounting to thousands of dollars. With each step goes a title, such as first degree, Adept; second degree, Teacher; third degree, Master, and so on. Some of these organizations are structured like multilevel marketing schemes with profits going to the topmost leaders.
The teachings and activities of the group violate basic spiritual precepts by claiming exclusivity and justifying actions based on gross misinterpretations, obscure teachings, or reliance on negative scriptures such as the Book of Revelations. The teachings themselves are often bizarre. Followers are coerced into beliefs and actions that are extreme to the point of lunacy, such as waiting out in the desert to be rescued by UFOs; mass suicide; releasing poisonous gas in a subway system; mutilation of self and others, such as drilling a hole in one's skull; amputation of genitals; bizarre blood sacrifices; reliance on imaginary extraterrestrials; killing nonbelievers (infidels); suicide bombings; sacrificing children and animals; calling upon astral entities; invoking demons; dabbling in the occult; committing unnatural acts; and turning over one's earnings to the organization (as differentiated from tithing or voluntary vows of poverty).
Devotees are exploited and controlled by abuse of their naive trust and misplaced faith. "By their fruits one can know them." In contrast, that which is of God brings
TEACHERS AND STUDENTS 11
beauty, love, joy, forgiveness, compassion, peace, and freedom.
Q: Some religions or branches of traditional religions sound almost like cults.
A: That is an astute observation. Derivatives of religions play off of the glamour, stature, and name of the original founder but then splinter into cults and even become corrupt. To recognize this is easy because there is segmentation, hostile rivalry, and overt attempts at control (e.g., Islamic terrorism calibrates at 70). They are often described as "militant" or "fundamentalist."
The nonintegrous exploitation and perversion of spiritual truth is as old as religion itself as revealed by the following important but often overlooked quotation: "But Israel had false prophets as well as true; and you
likewise will have false teachers among you They will
gain many adherents to their dissolute practices, through whom the true way will be brought into disrepute. In their greed for money, they will trade on your credulity with sheer fabrications." (2 Peter 2:1, 2.)
Q: What does it mean to be a "Christian" or a "Buddhist"?
A: Simply one who follows the original teachings of the founding master. Truth is always the same throughout history. No group has an exclusive or inside track. By analogy, who has an inside track with the sun or the sky? A Christian follows the teachings of lesus Christ, which are revealed in the New Testament (Jesus did not create the Book of Revelations). There is no conflict among the world's highest teachers, only among their latter-day exploiters over the centuries, such as the current cult-like usurpers of the label "Christian."
Throughout history, there have been all kinds of prophets with strange and unlikely messages that attract the gullible. There has been and still is a multitude of messiahs and prophets; however, they simply do not
stand up to a simple test which reveals the error. Baptism is of the spirit; the water is just symbolic. Of what use are claims to exclusivity? There is not a single organization that has an exclusive possession of the truth.
In recent events, for instance, one can study the visit of Pope John II to meet with the representative of the Russian Orthodox Church. The purpose was to promote benign and peaceful tolerance of co-existing religious faiths. With research, we can find that the Pope's position at the time calibrates at 590; in other words, at the level of extremely high Unconditional Love. In classical spiritual language, then, the Pope was representing the heart. In other church matters, however, various political and authoritarian positions may calibrate well below 500 and represent the downside of institutionalism.
The spiritual seeker learns to observe and become aware without judgment. One position is not better than another but merely represents a different contextuali-zation. (The position of the Catholic Church on clerical pedophilia calibrates at 165, whereas current Catholicism itself calibrates at 510.) Thus we cannot condemn a whole organization for the acts of its weakest or worst moments. Institutions are run by fallible humans.
Much reveals itself to those who have spiritual dedication and are committed to following the road to the highest truth. Discernment is often learned through sometimes painful lessons. In classical spiritual language, this is referred to as the opening of the "third eye." It could be said that the gray hairs of wisdom have been earned.
Q: What is the fate of the honestly deceived, naive spiritual seeker?
A: Krishna said that those who are pure in their devotion and intention are equally loved by God. God has no given name; Divinity is not deceived. Those who truly long for God are embraced by that Infinite Presence which is beyond all religions.
TEACHERS AND STUDENTS 13
Q: What about the personal appeal of a specific pathway?
A: That is an important factor. Although, at the very
highest level, they are one and the same, some pathways emphasize devotion, worship, surrender, and good works (e.g., Mother Theresa). For many, the pathway of the heart is therefore the most natural, and the way of the mind seems to be too cold or abstract. The way of the mind harnesses love into devotion to the truth and its realization. With the relinquishment of positional -ities, the way is opened for the followers of the path of mind to love that which before was seen as unlovable. The way of the heart transforms dualistic perception into spiritual vision, which again transcends the oppo-sites. There is a dedicated and interesting spiritual group that combines both paths and calls itself, with tongue in cheek, "Zen Catholicism" (which calibrates at 550).
Q: What teachers of the various religions represent their highest teachings?
A: The so-called mystics of each of the world's great
religions calibrate higher than the religions themselves and are generally in accord with each other. A mystic is merely one who has bypassed the mind in order to realize the pure truth. All the great avatars calibrate at or very near 1,000. At these levels, there are no arguments. Each teacher, however, had a different style and taught in a different period of history to a different culture and geographic group.
The Great Spirit of Chief Detroit (who calibrates at 720) reflects that Native American spirituality recognizes God Manifest, with Nature (i.e., Creation) as the demonstration of the Unmanifest becoming Manifest. This is reflected in the Native American reverence for Nature and all life (an understanding which is intellectually somewhat criticized theologically as "Pantheism").
The impact of Native American spirituality, as exhibited by Chief Detroit, had a profound effect on the
founding fathers of the Constitution of the United States in that the Congress is almost an exact replica of the political structure of the Iroquois Nation.
In more recent times, that Native American spirituality has been weakened by politicians and resultant exploitation. In reality, the American Indian is greatly honored everywhere. Whole states, cities, rivers, mountains, and great lakes are named after them. The greatest sports teams, noted for courage and bravery, proudly carry their name; yet, the political distortion is to declare that such honors are really defamations and politically incorrect. How such glory could be misconstrued as an indignity is beyond comprehension, but it demonstrates how truth gets distorted into its opposite for political gain. If such a demagogue were successful, imagine that the name of every region, territory, mountain range, state, city, town, road, river, sport team, as well as American product names would have to be removed and replaced by some puny substitute.
Spirituality and truth unite; falsity begets factionalism and conflict. Like the demagogue, cultism actually denigrates the religious or spiritual tradition whose name it has plagiarized and exploited.
Q: What is a true messiah?
A: The term "messiah" is used in modern parlance to
signify delusions of grandeur. The modern meaning of the term plays on an ambiguity. On one hand, the term gives recognition to the validity of a true messiah and, simultaneously, to its great rarity, the term then signifies that inasmuch as the high level of enlightenment of the messiah occurs so extremely rarely, its claims to that title are false and signify an imposter unless proven otherwise.
Over the centuries, society has seen an endless procession of many self-styled seers, prophets, and messiahs. In this century, a great majority of self-proclaimed messi-
TEACHERS AND STUDENTS 15
ahs are in institutions. Messianic delusions were common when the cerebral syphilis was prevalent and untreatable. Since the discovery of penicillin, the number of messiahs has greatly decreased, with the exception of aficionados of mind-altering drugs.
Most self-proclaimed messiahs are suffering from the manic phase of a bipolar (manic-depressive) mental disorder. Political leaders are the best known messianic personalities, and they can be mesmerizing with their grandiose egomania. The world is relatively sophisticated in determining spiritual delusions but still extremely blind to political ones.
A true messiah would calibrate at a very high level, at least over 700, and most likely in the high 800s or 900s. The true bringer of light is humble, sincere, and in no need of adulation. The only gift of the true seer is the exposition of truth. The avatar reflects that truth. Religion, however, tends to adulation of the messenger rather than the message. In fact, in the name of the messenger, the truth is often trampled into the dust or the blood of the battlefield.
The true messiah brings joy, hope, liberation, and salvation to all of mankind who follow the message and the power of the message. The messiah brings a new vision of truth and uplifts the consciousness level of all mankind by restating the context of Divinity as the Source of life everlasting. The avatar, the messiah, the enlightened sage, the savior, the Christ, or the Buddha are all reflections of Divinity. These windows of God radiate the power and compassion of God to encompass all mankind to reenergize its spiritual aliveness and bring new hope and joy. Thus, the true messiah, avatar, or great teacher brings forth a renewal of faith and peace for the future of all.
Q: The various spiritual patriarchs (sages, buddhas,
avatars) then become identified with a specific culture and become 'special > leading to factionalism and sectarian exclusivity. How can this be overcome?
A: This factionalism is transcended as spiritual evolution progresses. The collective ego of mankind quite naturally tends to form exclusive organizations and focus on the irrelevant, thereby missing the core of the teaching. At certain levels, that is probably beneficial as it gives group support and authenticity. Whether one linguistically considers God to be called Rama, Brahma, or Allah is really irrelevant. God is not limited by any positionality or ascribable qualities and is not subject to the duality of either/or, which would have to be the basis of any favoritism.
Q: All this is obvious to an advanced teacher but it is not a common teaching in Western religions of recent times.
A: The primary reason for religious conflict and rivalry is that religion, which is linear, tends to emphasize God as transcendent rather than immanent. This has been the traditional source of conflict for the mystic whose nonlinear experience is the reality of God as Self. It is to be remembered, however, that this is an extremely rare phenomenon, and it is understandable that it is not familiar to the churches or great religions. The average person, including religionists, feels so separated from God that the possibility that God can be experientially known seems unbelievable.
There was a time when the Church viewed the realization of God Immanent as Self as heretical. Even today, there are religious sects that view the great avatars as 'possessed by demons'. Some even deny the divinity of the Christ-consciousness of Jesus. This is based on the ego's adherence to the duality of separation, that is, man is 'here' and God is 'up there'. The limited, false gods of
TEACHERS AND STUDENTS 17
these fanatical sects, however, make one go weak with kinesiology, which instantly reveals their falsity.
The cults that deify these non-gods also tend to be intense proselytizers with an aggressive sectarian agenda and a strong proclivity for separation and claims to exclusivity. Such zealous aggressiveness and fervor, therefore, are signs of spiritual irrationality and may surface as political factions in some societies. Because of politicalization, some tend to become militant religious zealots, which is not a sign of spirituality but of its subversion to egotism.
Q: How do these strange belief systems arise and promulgate?
A: Each person's ego can be calibrated as to its level of consciousness. Each level represents a strata or level analogous to the light spectrum. To people in the yellow range, everything looks yellow; in the blue range, everything seems blue. The human mind tends to dissociate from levels that are too unlike its own. This tends to fragment society into classes. Each class has its characteristic language, style, vernacular, customs, occupational standards, acceptable behaviors, and norms. There is a tendency to disparage the other classes or their styles or modes of behavior. There is also denial of the reality of other ways of thinking or proceeding. For instance, science views spirituality as irrational, wishful thinking. There are people, for example, who have never emotionally experienced depression or anxiety so they cannot empathize with such emotions as being real. Although class distinction is supposedly un-American and politically incorrect, it is actually one of the first things that people notice about each other. Thus, choice of religion often results in people with very similar world views who look at their level as the only reality.
Q: With all the information that has been supplied, would a spiritual seeker be safe?
A: If it is followed, that would be true. It is not a person who is the teacher but the Self of the teacher. By analogy, it is not the lighthouse which guides the ships but the light shining from the lighthouse. One is free to pursue the light, or not. Neither the light nor the lighthouse has any stake in the matter. Religions tend to deify the lighthouse at the price of the light.
Mankind's consciousness evolves. The mariner of old had a precarious life and did the best he could by the reckoning of the stars. The compass, sextant, and now satellite positioning have made the way certain for the saving of innumerable lives. Similarly, the spiritual seeker of old had only hearsay to go by. The seeker of current times now has the equivalent of a compass or a sextant. The kinesiologic test of truth versus falsehood is the first discovery of its kind to guide the seeker toward the light. It is inherently capable of saving many spiritual lives.
Q: What is due to the teacher?
A: Nothing at all. The listener's interest is more than
sufficient. The only obligation one should accept is the obligation to one's own self to institute the wisdoms that were learned and to practice them in order to transcend the ego. Respect the teacher but save reverence only for God.
Q: How would one characterize or term the teaching and pathway that you represent?
A: It is the way of the mystic, and represents "devotional nonduality."
Q: May we use that term to denote these teachings?
A: Yes, that would be correct. It is the way of radical truth.
CHAPTER TWO
SPIRITUAL INFORMATION AND PRACTICE
Q: Is all the information that has been provided necessary to know?
A: On a certain level, yes, it is—all of it and perhaps more. Paradoxically, if one sticks to basic essentials, none of it is needed. This information is intended for the traditional spiritual seeker who, throughout the centuries, becomes inspired and then proceeds to investigate, search, and put into practice the information obtained.
There is also the path of sudden enlightenment, which may occur in a seemingly spontaneous manner or as the result of meditation or some spiritual practice, or merely by being in the presence of an enlightened teacher.
Great leaps in consciousness result from surrendering oneself to God at great depth. This is seen in our society in people who have 'hit bottom'. Willfulness/pride surrenders and transformation occurs. From the pits of hell, paradoxically, heaven is close by. We see this in so-called conversions where a former 'sinner', such as a convict, is transformed into a peaceful, loving, and almost saintly person. Prisoners frequently go through major realizations and become transformed into the opposite of their former selves. These sudden revelations also occur concomitant with near-death experiences.
Thus, many levels of consciousness can be suddenly transcended. These are often preceded by long periods of inner agony. A true conversion is corroborated by a 19
major jump in the calibrated level of consciousness.
When spiritually oriented people are exposed to the information that has been provided, they show a measurable elevation of consciousness. Before and after each lecture, the consciousness level of the audience is calibrated, and it generally shows an increase, on the average, of between ten and forty points for the audience as a whole. This may vary individually from a low of four points to as high as hundreds of points. Within the group, however, there is great variation due to 'karmic ripeness'.
The majority of spiritual seekers goes through a variety of stages that may range from despair to high joy or even ecstasy. There are also long periods where nothing seems to be happening and the person feels they are not getting anywhere. These are interspersed with periods of what seem like stagnation, frustration, self-blame, and even hopelessness.
All these periods within the overall process are normal. Perseverance and dedication carry one through. The way is easier if a true teacher or a dedicated group is available. The pathway of nonduality, which depends primarily on meditation and devotional dedication, takes perseverance and self-discipline to achieve the necessary 'one-pointedness of mind'. If a spiritual aspirant is devotional and aspires to God through selfless surrender, much can be bypassed without necessarily understanding its structure at all.
Unknown to the aspirant is the past karma which is also an influential factor. Therefore, one cannot compare oneself to others or expect some fortuitous suddenness such as that which occurred to the well-known teacher, Ramana Marharshi. While just an ordinary teenager, he suddenly fell down and felt himself dying. He then went into a state of oneness and silent bliss that calibrated at over 700. As a consequence, he was not able to speak for
SPIRITUAL INFORMATION AND PRACTICE 21
two years. If we research this story with kinesiologic testing, we learn that he had spent many previous lifetimes in spiritual endeavor, and his seemingly sudden enlightenment was actually the fruition in this lifetime of that effort and dedication.
Q: So, it is not necessary to know all this information?
A: If the core is adhered to, the answer is no. Primarily, what has been provided is explanation that makes the dissolution of thought and belief much easier. To simply know that pairs of opposites are merely artifacts of positionality with no inherent reality is really only one of the tools that are needed. To make that statement comprehensible, however, it is aided by explanation. Once the explanation is comprehended, it can be discarded. Likewise, through simple meditation, one can discover and know that the Self is the substratum and source of consciousness and awareness.
The amount of information required to facilitate one's spiritual evolution also depends on the level of consciousness of the seeker. Those in the 200s, 300s, and 500s frequently request little explanation. They have a profound faith in the truths revealed and proceed to apply them directly.
The average literate seeker, however, is in the 400s and usually requires a much more detailed explanation. The level of the 400s is a difficult one to transcend because logic, intellect, and reason have been heavily energized and now have a tenacious hold.
As was said previously, only approximately four percent of the population calibrates in the 500s or above. This is the level of transcending the world of form as reality to the nonlinear reality represented by the levels of 500 (Love) and above. At those levels, Love is a way of being in the world and with oneself and one's approach to God.
Q: What is an 'advanced' seeker?
A: The more advanced seeker has heard that there is no out there' or 'in here' and thus takes responsibility for all that happens. There is the dawning awareness that all which seems to occur really represents what is being held in what was previously considered as 'within'. Thus, the proclivity to project is undone. The 'innocent victim' positionality, with all its spurious 'innocence', is unmasked.
Adversity is thus seen to be the result of what had been previously denied and repressed into the unconscious. By looking within, one finds the source of adversity where it can be addressed and corrected.
Beliefs are the determinant of what one experiences. There are no external 'causes'. One discovers the secret payoffs that are obtained from unconscious secret projections. One's underlying programs can be discovered by simply writing down one's litany of grievances and woes and then merely turning them around into their opposites.
"People hate me" stems from one's own inner hatreds. "People don't care about me" stems from one's narcissistic absorption with one's happiness and gain instead of that of others. "I don't get enough love" stems from not giving love to others. "People are rude to me" stems from lack of cordiality to others. "People are jealous of me" arises from inner jealousy of others. Thus, if we take responsibility for being the author of our world, we come close to its source where we can correct it. By being loving towards others, we discover that we are surrounded by love and lovingness. When we unreservedly support life without expecting gain, life supports us in return. When we abandon gain as a motive, life responds with unexpected generosity. When we perceive in this way, the miraculous begins to appear in the life of every dedicated spiritual aspirant. Harmony manifests as the unexpected discovery, the fortuitous coincidence, and the lucky break, and finally the realization occurs that
SPIRITUAL INFORMATION AND PRACTICE 23
these are the ripples coming back to oneself from the seat of consciousness.
Q: What then of simplicity?
A: To have faith in a proven teacher or pathway and to be devoted to God allows for simplicity to be sufficient. To unquestioningly follow any simple, basic spiritual truth will unravel the obstacles.
To sincerely dedicate oneself to be a servant of the Lord and ask what is His will is sufficient. The answers reveal themselves without necessarily even having to be formulated. To be 'spiritual' simply means an intention. If one is unclear about a decision or direction, one can always use kinesiologic testing for clarification. When seen for what it is, kinesiology testing is really a great gift.
Q: What if I am not adept at kinesiology or have no partner?
A: Kinesiology is in widespread use, especially among holistic practitioners of many disciplines and helping professions. There are also many organizations that keep rosters of practitioners and their diverse backgrounds. Additionally, there are numerous books on the subject and a mass of information on the Internet under "kinesiology." (See Suggested Reading/Viewing.)
Some people are able to test by themselves using the "O" of the thumb and finger of one hand and then testing the strength of resistance to opening the ring by pulling against it with the forefinger of the other hand while resisting. Holding a true statement in mind makes the "O" ring difficult to pull apart. "Not true" makes the ring weak and easily separated.
On the Map of the Scale of Consciousness, one can identify the approximate level of any attitude or emotion since they are described rather verbatim. The purpose of the levels is to provide some direction and context for understanding the nature of consciousness.
One can, by inner honesty, pretty well estimate one's own level of consciousness by identifying one's prevailing attitudes and positionalities. Thus, if we are always angry or seeing injustices, then anger/pride would be a fair level to identify with at this time. This level is easily undone by a willingness to abandon judgmentalism and see that it is merely a positionality of the mind. A quip that represents this level is "It's not fair that God loves everybody." It would seem to judgmentalism that good people were more deserving.
Q: Is there such a thing as Spiritually deserving'?
A: Justice is inherent in the universe as a quality of its essence. Nothing escapes detection within the all-encompassing, timeless, infinite field of consciousness. Consequences are automatic, spontaneous, and guaranteed by the very structure of Creation. Everyone is at some point along the learning curve of the evolution of consciousness, and each level has its inherent characteristics. These characteristics are innate to the field of consciousness and not actually personal or arbitrary. They are not 'given' or 'taken away'.
The soul is the author of its own fate by the exercise of its own choice and selection. Each gravitates to its own concordant dimension. Spiritual paradoxes may appear in response to spiritual choice; for example, the spiritual seeker wants love and joy but that intention triggers the surfacing of all that obstructs it and prevents its appearance. Those who dedicate themselves to peace and love automatically pull up from the unconscious all that is cruel, unloving, and hateful to be healed. This may bring about consternation until judgmentalism about it is replaced with compassion, and forgiveness take its place. These were, after all, what had obstructed the love and joy, so one can be thankful that these deterrents have been brought up to be resolved by the spiritual tools available.
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This process of spirituality, in which one works through the obstacles, may seem painful at times but it is only transitional. The mistakes now reappear but are resolvable and recontextualized from a higher understanding. This process is shortened and less painful if it is realized that habitual responses are not truly personal but are part and parcel of the inheritance of being human. All that we condemn within ourselves reveals itself in almost any television documentary about animal life. We see its origin, we see the lovability of the animals in their naivete, and then we realize that these same motives arise in us from the same level of naivete. When one accepts the structure and content of thought patterns along with their origins, one can see that it is predictable.
In reality, nothing thoughts say about oneself or others have any reality. All statements are fallacious and represent programming and positionalities. There are also positive statements about one's worth, merit, or value that are equally based on fiction. The true Self is invisible and has no characteristics by which it can be judged. It has no describable qualities nor can it be the subject of any adjectives at all. The Self merely'is' and is beyond verbs, adverbs, and adjectives. It does not even 'do' anything.
Q: But does not the calibrated Scale of Consciousness imply value judgment or merit? Thus, is not the level of 500 better than 400?
A: The Scale does not denote 'better than', which is a
program of the ego. The Scale merely denotes position or location which in turn denotes associated characteristics. A large tree is not 'better than' a small tree. Thus, the consciousness level denotes a locus on a learning curve and a stage of the evolution of consciousness. The joy of life comes from filling one potentiality at any given level. Each level has its rewards, and they actually feel the same to each person.
Goal fulfillment is self-rewarding if the goal of the aspirant is one of direction. Then a life dedicated to God is endlessly self-fulfilling, whereas, in contrast, a life devoted to gain is full of pitfalls and suffering.
Human consciousness has advanced very slowly through history. It will now probably speed up and spirituality will prevail more commonly. Even the world of business will discover that the inclusion of spiritual values is very profitable as reflected by a healthier bottom line.
Prosperity is measured not only in dollars but also in the joy of participation. Spiritual values are nondenomi-national and merely an affirmation of the obvious; for example, we should protect our workers because we care for them, not because the failure to do so would be a violation and bring a fine from OSHA.
It is noted that many businesses and government bureaucracies tend to calibrate at 202. From this calibration, one might suspect that they have integrity primarily because they are forced to by law. Our institutions are not noted for their mercy and forgiveness, nor for graciousness. Many seem to run on the level of a grim functionality; they are characteristically humorless and tend to be overbearing in their attitudes toward their employees and the public. Impersonality seems to be the current style; for example, an automated voice machine responds to a call to an 800 number, not with a warm "hello," but with a flat, disappointing, letdown message. The world of business needs human warmth, human presence, cordiality, and caring. It seems strange that multimillion-dollar businesses cannot afford a ten-dollar-per-hour telephone receptionist.
Historically, mankind has become painfully wary of theocracy and the invoking of the gods of religion in either the government or the marketplace. The United States Constitution, however, is quite sophisticated in that it clearly discerns between spirituality which, in
SPIRITUAL INFORMATION AND PRACTICE 27
simple language, merely constitutes all the known human virtues, and religion, which is sectarian and therefore undemocratic. Paradoxically, freedom 'from' religion allows for freedom of religion.
If spiritual virtues are not labeled as such, they can be welcomed into all levels of society without fear and with obvious benefit. So long as Divinity remains anonymous, God can quietly sneak in the back door of societal life, its institutions, and great corporations. When this occurs, it brings about a recontextualization, with a depolarization and decrease in enmity between these polarized factions. Thus, it can be seen that despite their being demonized, the great corporations provide the very basis for our daily living as well as occupations for multitudes and incomes that support the entire social structure. Kindheartedness and concern for others and their welfare is the best business practice there is.
Q: What aspect of consciousness should be drained' to take the pathway of mind?
A: Intentionality perfected as one-pointedness of mind. This is the capacity for concentration and an unwavering fixity of focus. This capacity is volitional and the result of a decision and is therefore quite different from religious obsession or scrupulosity.
To effect this quality requires intense motivation and devotion which then become focused. It represents a total commitment to a task and its relentless pursuit. This acquired faculty can then be used in both the practice of formal meditation as well as in daily life.
To focus on a specific subject while attending to daily life is generally called contemplation. This can be done in two different ways, depending on circumstances or current life situations. An accomplished aspirant can switch back and forth as the life situation requires. The two methods differ primarily in their focus, with one being focused on context and the other on content.
The first practice is an unfocused, contemplative style in which the shift of focus is from central vision to peripheral vision. In this practice, one remains consistently aware of the totality of one's surroundings, with no focus, interest, or selection on anything in particular. This method is not suitable, at least in the beginning, for situations that require one's presence and participation, such as driving. Later it can be used almost constantly. By staying fixedly in the peripheral field of vision with no favoritism or rejection of what is seen or heard, detachment evolves. Suddenly, one is aware of the totality and the oneness of all that exists, and that each element is the perfect expression of its own essence. It emerges that everything proceeds with perfect serenity and total harmony.
In this exercise, the intention and focus are on the peripheral vision only and not on any thoughts or judgments about what is seen. After a period of time, one suddenly becomes the witness and then becomes awareness itself, which is functioning spontaneously and impersonally, with no 'you' even involved. Witnessing removes the personal' illusion of awareness. One then transcends perception, which is replaced by spiritual vision. The exercise is effortless and reveals the unity of All That Exists as an integrated, harmonious perfection and beauty of grace. Everything moves spontaneously and nothing is causing anything else. It is the harmonious dance of the Universe.
There is another exercise which is equally rewarding but begins in the opposite direction, yet it is suitable for functioning in the demanding, everyday world. In this case, the practice is to unreservedly fixate on the central focus of vision so as to be one-hundred-percent focused on the current intended action. Thus, it is comparable to target practice. During this exercise, all thought begins to stop and intentionality is allowed full focus on detail. Although the focus may shift from one object to another
SPIRITUAL INFORMATION AND PRACTICE 29
as required by the activity involved, the quality of absolute attention and focus remains the same, (i.e., content). There can be no selection of'this' or 'that' as being more important than the other. It is all the same, whether one is making a ten-thousand-dollar sale or merely peeling a potato. All activities are equally important.
There is to be no holding back with thought programs. As one digs a ditch, every single shovelful is equally important, and the commitment to the activity has to be absolute and total. In due time, the faculty of awareness takes over and, again, it is found to be impersonal. There is no 'you' doing anything. One is the witness of intentionality's focusing on its own, and everything is observed to be happening of itself. All action becomes spontaneous and eventually effortless.
Either method reveals the Reality that stands behind form. The body stops being thought of as 'me' and becomes just another object in the picture. This awareness also frequently occurs spontaneously in sports or with such efforts as jogging. When one breaks through the barrier of limiting belief, the activity suddenly becomes effortless and occurs on its own. It can also happen with manual labor. When one lets go of the resistance, one can go on effortlessly, even while other workers drop out due to exhaustion. Once this barrier and how to overcome it have been discovered, it can be applied to any situation.
In this lifetime, this discovery was made while still a teenager working in a 110-degree warehouse, stacking very heavy cartons. After about twelve hours, the "I can't" barrier came up, but then a sudden inspiration flowed in, and with an absolute, unreserved resolve, there was the gritting of teeth and the absolute refusal of the barrier which was then broken. Almost instantly and amazingly, the boxes became nearly as light as a feather, and the activity was joyful and devoid of effort.
In another situation, the core of the Zen of martial arts revealed itself in a henhouse. Karate classes with a very
able teacher had been attended for some time, and although the exercises were learned, the essential core, which was to be discovered, was still missing. The whole discipline of the martial arts really seemed to be a meditation, but the essential realization had not revealed itself. It became obvious that this pathway could take many years of practice, so the lessons were abandoned and karate practice was stopped.
Several years later, there was the necessity to enter a crowded henhouse and capture a specific ailing chicken that needed medical help. Upon entry, the chickens panicked and flew all around in wild hysteria. The air was full of flying chickens, dust, and loud squawking. The target chicken was cleverly elusive and almost impossible to catch or isolate from the flock. Suddenly, absolute intention arose as focus. The personal T disappeared and, like a target in a telescopic gun sight, vision itself saw only the target of the chicken. All resistance disappeared and into the clear space, action exploded with absolute precision and the chicken was powerfully seized.
The secret of the martial arts had revealed itself spontaneously and with great clarity. The time delay of mentation was absent, and the intention was instantaneous in its delivery. This discovery might be called the Zen of daily life, and this one-pointedness of mind becomes perfected.
A number of such techniques are well known and constitute an important aspect of many spiritual schools. When the breakthrough occurs, it is sometimes called "satori," which can be either transient or prevail as a permanent, enlightened state. In either case, the experience is never forgotten.
Anyone can successfully meditate without the need to join a spiritual organization, with its formalities. The same two techniques are applicable to meditative practice.
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The first is like the practice of peripheral vision. There is no central focus, and instead, attention is given to the prevailing state and overall conditions, with no selectivity. There is no goal to be achieved. All programs, such as 'reaching satori', are abandoned. There is, in essence, an abandonment to the mere 'is-ness' of All That Is, without mentation. The revelation that eventually occurs reveals the Allness of God, which unfolds as the awareness of consciousness as an innate aspect of the Self.
In contrast, there is a practice which is analogous to central or macular vision focus. Instead of trying to avoid mentation and the content of mental functioning, paradoxically, one maintains an absolute, intense, focused concentration on the content and the specificity of its form. This is more like the Zen of catching chickens. There is the absolute exclusion of everything except the very pinpoint of focus. Whereas, in traditional meditation practice thoughts are ignored, in this practice they are chosen to be concentrated upon and not resisted. A separation between awareness/observer and that which is observed eventually dissolves. It is discovered that there is no you' that is absorbed in the formal concentration; therefore, the witness is that which is witnessing; both are the same. Both practices result in transcending duality and dissolving the illusory separation between subject and object. Thus the Oneness of Reality stands revealed.
The practice of either focused or peripheral awareness in daily life or informal meditation bypasses the mental content and belief systems. There are meditation centers that refuse any descriptive labels, such as Buddhist or Christian. One merely attends and meditates. The truth that reveals itself is universal and beyond all labels. All naming sets up expectations which then become limitations, barriers, and illusory goals to be achieved or gained. To set a goal for meditation is like setting up a goal to 'be what you are' or 'try harder to relax'. (One can then see the value of the traditional Zen koan.)
Q: Is spiritual advancement then possible by bypassing all information and merely doing the spiritual practices described?
A: That is so. Blind faith, the truth of a teaching, and the integrity of the teacher, plus dedication and adherence to a simple practice, are all that are required. While some students have this capacity for faith and trust and proceed rapidly, more commonly, a spiritual seeker has already read widely and has had experience with a variety of spiritual groups and seminars. As a result, they have many questions and requirements for information to resolve issues. Many spiritual seekers are quite erudite and have accumulated a vast amount of spiritual education from a great variety of sources and are hoping for a reconciliation of all the diverse data. What they are really looking for is the inner experience of the reality of that which they have learned which has thus far been elusive.
Some seekers have 'been everywhere, heard everything, and visited everybody' but are still dissatisfied as the hoped-for spiritual realization has not as yet occurred. Some lament this and feel dejected, thinking they are hopeless. These seekers need their diverse information recontextualized so that it serves them rather than becoming an overwhelming morass of interesting but, so far, ineffective data. This usually means that the seeker has accumulated the data within the intellect but it has not yet ripened into subjective experience.
The basic structure of the ego still remains intact, although its content has become refined. The dismay of this group of unfulfilled seekers is based upon the training in our society that to achieve a goal, one merely has to study harder. With the realization that the intellect is no longer a useful tool but now the barrier, the seeker arrives at the ripeness which is necessary for the more focused paths to God by transcending the mind, either via the heart or via the pathway of consciousness.
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A frequent problem of the relentless spiritual seeker is that they have not had the personal presence of a teacher with a high enough level of consciousness, that is, one whose aura has the power to catalyze the transformation of information into subjective awareness/experience. A truly enlightened teacher provides, via the aura, a high-energy context that illuminates and activates the student's content from the mental body into the higher spiritual bodies. The light of the teacher's illumination provides the necessary activation by the power of Grace to facilitate the transformation from intellectual data to subjective personal experience. The high energy frequency of a teacher's aura acts like a carrier wave that transmits capacity to the student's aura.
It is really simple to do both pathways simultaneously, that is, the way of the heart and the 'way of the mind'. One starts with the technique of either central, intense focus or peripheral focus, as described above, and applies it in everyday life and in meditative practice. In addition, however, one adds the pathway of the heart by making a decision to be unconditionally loving to all that is encountered with either focus. This means one has to learn to love even a garbage can.
When seen correctly, garbage cans are not only lovable but beautiful and perfect. All blocks to love surface to be removed. The mind has to be trained so that it realizes that the only reason it sees the old garbage can as repulsive is because of its innate programming.
As one meditates on the garbage can, one will realize that in Reality, there is no such thing as 'garbage'. Instead, one sees that there is a watermelon rind, and while it was on the table, it was called food. Now, when exposed there in the garbage can, it has suddenly, mysteriously, somehow changed its name to "garbage." Actually, it is still just a watermelon rind. Next to the innocent watermelon rind is a broken egg shell. No matter what you call it, it is still merely an innocent, broken egg shell.
Next to it is a nice plastic wrapper that has been subsequently ripped open and crumpled, but innately, it is still just a nice, handy piece of plastic. Now, if they are all grouped together and placed in a can, suddenly they are rejected with the epithet of being 'just garbage'.
If the inner intention is to see the lovability of all things, it then emerges that all that exists has its own integrity and identity and that all equally deserve to be honored for their service to mankind. The watermelon represents the work of horticulture. Its growth and delivery provide income. The need for eggs means that chickens live and have created another whole industry. We learn that the letting go of positionalities allows us to see the value of all that exists and its lovability in all its expressions. Whether the mouse that runs up the side of the garbage can is viewed as adorable or repulsive depends on the observer.
An easier and faster exercise than the garbage-can Zen' is 'Kleenex Zen'. If we focus beyond its 'Kleenex-ness', we see the beauty and grace of the form of the next tissue projecting from the box. It begins to look like an elegant sculpture, not unlike an exquisite wing or the ripple of an ocean wave.
When the beauty and lovableness of the beat-up old garbage can reveals itself, the spiritual seeker can affirm that they are well along the way. The beautiful dance of the Kleenex is the beckoning of the truth of God to proceed further as one is getting close to the goal.
Q: Please clarify the terms "content" and "context" and their relationship.
A: This is a critical question and one that leads to the very core of the doorways to truth. These are arbitrary but very important terms that really denote a point of view and are useful until they are transcended.
Content is an arbitrary point of focus as is the amount of data or form that is included. Context is the totality of all that which is excluded, with implied or specified
SPIRITUAL INFORMATION AND PRACTICE 35
boundaries, or even with none at all, such as God or the entire universe.
For example, one could select a specific star (star "A"). Then the rest of the galaxy or the entire firmament, including its evolution over time, becomes the context which also includes the observer. If another star is then selected for observation (star "B"), then star "A" becomes included in the total context of star "B." Thus, content and context are not separate distinctions nor are they intrinsic qualities but instead reflect the consciousness of the observer.
Thus the terms "linear" and "nonlinear" are categories of thought and points of intellectual reference. Form includes the formless as its substrate and is not separate from it. Consciousness as such is equally present but the information registered by awareness would be a consequence of focus.
In the transcendent state, all is continuous and nominalization or denotation are of appearance only as nothing is actually separate. All is self-evident and self-effulgent, which cannot be adequately described in language. The "Dance of Shiva" is experiential and not conceptual.
In the ordinary state of consciousness, the T of the ego/self/me is content, whereas consciousness/aware-ness/God/Self is context. Unstated context often has more influence over the outcome than does visible content.
CHAPTER THREE
SPIRITUAL PURIFICATION
The core of the three great pathways of 'heart', 'mind', and 'action' is the process of surrender. This is activated by intention and the attitude of willingness. Progressively, each thought, feeling, impulse, idea, or belief is recognized and then released and surrendered to God. Each is an illusion, a program, a symbol, and an impediment to the clarity of the unobstructed awareness of the Self.
Every concept, idea, image, memory or fantasy is the product of perception. All these impediments have labels that indicate judgmentalism and a positionality (e.g., acceptable versus unacceptable, true versus false, desirable versus objectionable, or good versus bad). These represent endless series of interlocking meanings and nuances of unending complexity, for they feed back into interconnecting, continuous loops that propagate further loops.
This endless stream of mental content is propagated from an underlying source that can be located and identified. Unless this font of unending babble is de-energized, it has the unbidden function of the endless proliferation of data and the obfuscation of its source and purpose. The spiritual seeker is drowned in the overwhelm and dismayed at the spectacle of undoing this endless kaleidoscope of content.
By examining the overall content of consciousness, it becomes apparent that spiritual purification of this voluminous, ever expanding, and ongoing phantasmagoria of content is impossible. Across the screen of consciousness appears an endless array of mental and emotional products that are embellished by memories and imaginings. All these are the linear, dualistic products of perception and positionalities.
It is clear that addressing the content of thinkingness would lead only to greater confusion, and the very process of doing so would automatically create the production of further content. Fortunately, there is another solution to the undoing of the dominance of the ego/mind/self, which is the identification of context rather than content.
The first illusion to surrender is the belief that there is such a thing as "mind." Experientially, one can only state that thoughts, feelings, images, and memories come into one's awareness in an endless progression. The word "mind" is therefore only a concept, as is the word "ego."
"Ego" as used hereafter generally refers to a collection of thoughts that are presumed to be representative of one's personal reality and identity, with a shading of implication that the grouping of thoughts and beliefs is purposeful. The purpose is to maintain the illusion of the personal self as the inner cause' of one's existence and activities, including thoughts and feelings. Again, the implication of'ego' is that it is the self-protective collection and structure of the thought processes and is thus blamed as the culprit and source of spiritual error.
An important element of meaning of the term "ego" is the implication that its true basis is pride and narcissism, which bring in guilt about the implied selfishness of the ego. Ego is also a psychological term that generally has an implied survival value. In therapy, a patient may have the problem of a 'weak' ego and low self-esteem. In contrast, "egotism" or "egotistic" means overinflation or even grandiosity.
In spiritual parlance, "ego" implies a negative quality, an obstacle to realization because of its linear dualistic construction. In psychology, however, the term denotes coping and survival skills needed to deal effectively with the world.
SPIRITUAL PURIFICATION 39
Structure of the Ego
The positionalities are structures that set the entire thinking mechanisms in motion and activate its content. Primordial Positionalities
1. Ideas have significance and importance.
2. There is a dividing line between opposites.
3. There is value of authorship—thoughts are valuable because they are 'mine'.
4. Thinking is necessary for control, and survival depends on control.
Assumptions
Thoughts are valuable because they represent 'me'. They are valuable because they have been thought by my mind. Thoughts have value because they bring rewards and expectations. Thoughts solve problems. Thoughts are entertaining and 'something to do'. Thoughts keep one occupied and feeling useful. They are necessary to make plans and achieve goals. Thoughts protect and support survival.
The context of the mental function is therefore based on two important premises: (1) Its products are valuable because they have meaning and value and, (2) its contents are necessary for survival, and the ego promises that its products will bring happiness. Thus, the Achilles' heels of the ego are vanity (being the author) because it is what ensures survival and brings happiness, and the need to 'know', with the promise of solutions.
The Process of Surrender
Spiritual seekers know that the core of all pathways to God is surrender, but to what and how are not clear. Without a decisive technique, many seekers spend years surrendering on content and complain that they are no farther along than
before. The mind goes right on with its endless production and, therefore, one cannot surrender content as fast as it is produced; it is a losing game.
Next, one hears that it is not the content but attachments to the content that is the problem. This brings some relief but also brings the next question: How does one let go of attachments?
It is necessary to examine the nature of an attachment. It is based on a belief and a desire. The belief is that a mental content will bring happiness and solve problems; therefore, the attachment is to the implied promise that it is the thinking itself that is the road to happiness (wealth, success, love, etc.).
To let go of the thinking therefore seems frightening because it is also seen as the main tool of survival; plus, it is 'me'. As me', it is viewed as unique, personal, and precious, and it constitutes the main data base of identification of'who I am'.
The fear of the loss of self-identity brings up resistance. As we get closer to the discovery of the source of the ego's tenacity, we make the amazing critical discovery that we are enamored with our self.
Even if thoughts are loaded with pain and failure and have been a disaster and source of suffering, we still cling to them because 'they are who I am', resulting in a love/hate relationship with them. To ensure its survival, the self also learned how to 'juice' satisfaction and energy from the negative emotional states. It thrives on injustice, martyrdom, failure, and guilt. The ego secretly'loves' and clings to the position of victimhood and extracts a distorted pleasure and grim justification from pain and suffering. This can be seen in many cases as an addiction and a lifestyle. The 'loser' is an almost romanticized figure in music and folklore (e.g., Mr. Bojangles, the 'bag lady', the 'down and outer,' the rejected lover, etc.).
All along we have been 'in love' with our thoughts and we cherish them. We defend and make excuses for them. We are jealous of our beliefs. We prize them and alternately despise and punish ourselves with guilt and self-hatred. Altogether, however, it is an infatuation. The self-image gets glamorized because it is the stage upon which the drama of our life pa-
SPIRITUAL PURIFICATION 41
rades. To let go of what is loved brings up fear of loss. To the self, all love objects are seen as a source of happiness.
The next core problem is the difficulty of letting go of emotional love—not because of the love itself but because of the attachment to that which is loved. We think that the loss of a love object brings grief, but actually, the grief is about the loss of the attachment itself, which is due to viewing the object of love as the source of happiness. Grief is due to the illusion that one has lost a source of happiness, and that the source of happiness is 'out there'.
If one looks at the feeling of happiness, it becomes clear that it is actually located within, although the trigger may appear to come from outside oneself; the sensation, however, is totally an inner feeling of pleasure. The source of happiness is therefore actually within and is released under favorable circumstances when the mind experiences a desired outcome. By inner examination, one will discover that the event merely triggers an inner innate capacity. With the discovery that the source of happiness is actually within one's inner self and therefore cannot be lost, there is a reduction of fear.
Viewed from Reality, thoughts are actually an out there'. Although it may sound amazing, they can be totally dispensed with because they interfere with the achievement of true happiness.
The Critical Issue
Without undue effort, it is relatively easy to make the amazing discovery that one is attached to thinkingness because of being secretly in love with it. Because of being in love with the self, it is held in high esteem. There is fear of its loss due to the attachment that goes along with what is loved.
The next step is to discover what or who is in love with itself and when this primordial phenomenon arises. 'Something' is in love with our existence and attached to that existence, and it is noted that the ego (mind/body/self) is a love object. There is a subject and an object. There is a 'this' (T) that is in love with a 'that' (the self, i.e., narcissism).
With contemplation, reflection, and meditation, the core of one's identifications progressively surfaces. It will be found that the true love for the self arises from something that is greater than the self and capable of totally encompassing the entirety of that self. The totality of the self is held within a larger underlying nonlinear field of awareness that is always present. It represents context rather than content. By analogy, it would be like looking at the planet Earth from outer space, where space is the context and Earth is the content.
To look within for the actual source of love leads to the discovery of the Self. Like the sun, the Self is ever present, unconditional, and not subject to thought, opinion, or attitude. The Self can only love because that is its essence. The love of the Self is not earned, deserved, or subject to limitation. The Self is the source of life and the subjective awareness of existence.
Later, it is discovered that even existence is unnecessary to the Self. It is beyond all dualities; there is no duality between the Self and existence. The Unmanifest and Manifest are one and the same. Consciousness may include content or it may not. By analogy, space is not dependent on the presence of planets or universes, yet it includes all of them.
Love is beyond duality; it does not need a subject or an object. It is a quality of Reality which is independent of circumstances.
With surrender, obstructions are dissolved by the infinite compassion of Divinity which unconditionally loves all that exists for that existence is the manifestation of God. Only illusions could make this obvious truth not apparent.
Enlightenment is merely the emergence of truth when the obstructions to the realization of that truth have been removed. By analogy, the shining of the sun is not conditional upon the removal of the clouds; it merely becomes apparent.
SPIRITUAL PURIFICATION 43
Q: This presentation brought about some inner, subtle change, like a release from some limitation. We calibrated the information at 998. With no disrespect intended, what accounts for that limitation?
A: That is a subtle discernment. The error' is that in the
presentation, it sounds like love is dependent on existence. In Reality, love is independent of existence and does not need fulfillment; it is complete and total within itself.
Q: That clarifies that love as love is the complete expression of that which it is and that there is no additional requirement for an object. With that answer and clarification, the calibrated level of the information moves up to 999.9.
A: Self-identity is not an easy concept to comprehend. It is actually a subjective realization that cannot be adequately verbalized because of the inherent structure of languaging. One has to bypass the intransitive verbs of "is," "be," "existing," "doing," "acting", etc., as well as the structure of subject, predicate, and pronouns.
Q: If mentation is bypassed, how does information arise in consciousness?
A: Spiritual realizations arise spontaneously and not as a consequence of thought processes. They arise in awareness as though coming out of intuition. It is a nonlinear process through which one suddenly becomes aware that they just 'know'. The naive person says "But how do you know that you know?" In experience, it just becomes apparent; it 'dawns on you'. Truth arises out of subjectivity and is obvious and self-revealing. This very often occurs when one is occupied with something totally unrelated. It 'comes out of nowhere' as a gift, a given. It is like the answer to an unspoken question. It is satisfying, solves an underlying puzzle, and is freeing in its effect on the psyche. It is effortless. If in doubt, its level of truth can be calibrated.
M
Q: What makes thinking so tenacious?
A: All mental content represents attachments, and underlying are the attachment to the self and the clinging to what is believed to be the source of survival as well as happiness. It is also one's identification. In reality, the source of happiness is the Self, and not the self.
Q: How does one actually process the content of thought?
A: First, experientially verify that one is in love with the thinkingness/self and that spiritual work is essentially the letting go of attachments to thoughts and cherished positionalities, opinions, and memories, the value of which has been inflated and over-esteemed by narcissistic identification. The core of the ego' is narcissism. Second, discern the source of the love for the self. Third, be willing to surrender the objects of the love of thought, and worship God instead of the self. Fourth, become willing to surrender all attachments to the contents of the 'mind'.
Q: Is there a simple, workable technique?
A: As thought arises, it will be noted that it arises out of a primordial, silent blankness and void. It then takes form and is given an energy charge. This is associated with being emotionally reinforced over time. These recurrent opinions have come to be believed to be basic truths. Consequently, they influence and determine character traits and attitudes that trigger emotional responses which can escalate to severe degrees, as is demonstrated by the zealot. The severity of these attachments can lead to suicide, homicide, war, and physical death.
Although these basic positions are challenging to release, the spiritual payoff is very rewarding. Many of these positions were taught during childhood, so they derive authority from their parental origination and reinforcement by society. Some of these basic beliefs are magnified and become laws by which one lives. They
SPIRITUAL PURIFICATION 45
then become identified with patriotism, religion, ethnic identity, gender, and social creeds. They come to be considered axiomatic and beyond question. To even bring them up for consideration results in defenses by the ego.
Some Basic Axiomatic Positionalities of the Ego
1. Phenomena are either good or bad, right or wrong, just or unjust, fair or unfair.
2. The 'bad' deserve to be punished and the good' rewarded.
3. Things happen by accident or else they are the fault of somebody else.
4. The mind is capable of comprehending and recognizing truth from falsehood.
5. The world causes and determines one's experiences.
6. Life is unfair because the innocent suffer while the wicked go unpunished.
7. People can be different than they are.
8. It is critical and necessary to be right.
9. It is critical and necessary to win.
10. Wrongs must be righted.
11. Righteousness must prevail.
12. Perceptions represent reality.
To address these types of issues, it is helpful to recall that one's only obligation is to the Truth of the Self and Divinity. This process, therefore, demands letting go of all cherished positionalities because nothing one believes is true. Actually, axioms are illusions that create suffering and result in much destruction. These 'axioms' are barriers to enlightenment and create a multitude of dualities because they arise from linear perception rather than nondualistic spiritual Reality.
From the viewpoint of Reality, not a single one of these supposed axioms contains any truth, and even if it did, it would be irrelevant. All these cherished beliefs are, at best, wishful
Ab
childish notions of a make-believe world. Absolute justice is intrinsic to creation but invisible to human perception for it is the consequence of omniscience. The willingness to surrender these axiomatic propositions as well as the fate of the world to God eventually results in a clarity of spiritual vision that resolves all questions and illusions.
One of the most difficult propositions stems from the recurrent problem of the polarity of the 'duality of the oppo-sites'. Perhaps a simple illustration will assist in the resolution of this recurrent paradox for the paradox of the opposites results in a constant either/or-ness which makes them sound as though they are alternate and distinctly separate realities or possibilities.
Actually, the opposites are not opposite at all but are merely linear gradations along the same line and not along different lines.
Example 1 Example 2
By examination, one can see that these are merely varying degrees of the presence of heat (Example 1) and desirability (Example 2) or their absence. One will note that there are actually no 'opposites' of hot versus cold or precious versus worthless. All are, in fact, merely along the same line and not on two different lines of gradation.
We can cite other examples:
SPIRITUAL PURIFICATION 47
Example 3
Example 4
Goodness
- Heavenly
- Very Good
- Good
- Pleasant
- 'Okay'
- Sort of'Okay
- Fair to Middling
- Not Too Good
- Unsatisfactory
- Bad
- Wicked
- Horrible
- Ghastly
- Horrific
Light
Blindingly Bright
Very Bright Light
Bright
Very Strong Light
Light
Subdued Light
Dim
Dusk
Dark
"Pitch Black"
The gradations are all on the same continuum, not on two opposing ones. There is merely one continuous quality track. One will see that there is no 'good' that is the opposite of'bad'. The scale on the left indicates the presence or absence of Love and is therefore only about Love, just as the scale on the right indicates degrees of light and not opposites of light versus darkness.
Apparent 'facts' are illusions of truth, and it is obvious to see that such denotation actually depends totally on context. On an absolute level, total context would include comprehension of every contribution to an event throughout eternity, plus an equal knowledge of all karmic history of everything and everyone involved. This accounts for the spiritual declarations of "Judge not" and '"Judgment is mine,' sayeth the Lord." It isn't that the ego is incorrect, it is just incapable of arriving at an accurate comprehension of any seeming event.
There is a peaceful relief when judgment and criticism are abandoned because they cause constant unconscious guilt as
well as fear of retribution. The self lives in fear of the very punishments and sentences that it metes out to others because, in so doing, it sets up retaliatory fears. The person, therefore, fears death, Judgment Day, and a God that is harsh and subject to one's own illusions.
Q: What of just ordinary thought?
A: Observation reveals that feelings and thoughts rise and fall away like a musical note. If focus is rigorously directed to this exact instant, a thought will be seen to arise out of a rather vague, primordial matrix. As it begins to rise, it is relatively unformed, like the swell of an approaching wave. Then the vague and as yet ill-formed primordial thought begins to take form and attract energy until if finally crests in full form where it attracts commentary, agreement and disagreement, associated meanings, and memories. Now it is in full force, with associated emotion giving it momentum. No sooner does it crest than it begins to decline and gradually lose definition and form, fading into the past.
If the focus of the sense of'me' is on the rising crest, the person never lives in reality but is constantly poised with the expectation of control of the next instant. They are therefore constantly concerned with the future. If the focus is on the back of the falling wave, then the 'me' tends to cling to the past and editorializing. With some practice, the focus can be precisely narrowed to only the breaking crest of the wave, for in that instant, there is neither past nor future and neither regret for the past nor longing for nor anticipation of the future. Everything is witnessed to be as it is. With no editorializing or anticipation, even the illusion of'now' disappears. Reality is actually 'always' and continuous, with no 'now' or 'then'.
Surrender is a constant process of not resisting or clinging to the moment but instead, continuously turning it over to God. The attention is thus focused on
SPIRITUAL PURIFICATION 49
the process of letting go and not on the content of the 'what' that is being surrendered.
When this precise practice of surrender is followed, the illusion of'rising and falling away' disappears as does the illusion of time. The ego experiences the sequence of the focus of perception which then is ascribed to time or change or being in the 'now'. There is no Reality such as 'now'.
Perception is linear, local, and limited to a fixed point of view or experiencing; therefore, from a single point of observation, there seems to be a 'here' or a 'there', a 'this' or a 'that', a 'past' or a 'future', a 'now' or a 'then', and space with dimensions and time elapses. It is important to note that 'elapse' connotes duration as well as starting and stopping points, which are obviously arbitrary.
If one could imagine what it must be like to be omnipresent, the observer would then be simultaneously witnessing from every minute position in the Totality. Every point of observation would therefore be experienced as 'here'. It can be quickly seen that 'here' would then quickly become 'everywhere', and the thought of 'now' would disappear into infinity. Therefore, omniscience is the consciousness of the entire totality equally in which the world would be no particular place. Nothing would be changing, nothing would be happening, and there would be no dimension, duration, beginning, or ending.
To make the understanding more profound, realize that the 'everywhere present, simultaneous observer' actually is all that is observing. There is neither subject nor object; consequently, the Presence is completely self-knowing because it is all that exists as the Totality of Manifestation.
Q: If the ego/self/mind is eliminated as a point of reference, are all linear concepts meaningless?
A: That is correct. To illustrate further, imagine that you are traveling out into space faster than the speed of light, past all universes, with no reference points. If asked "Where are you," the answer would be "Nowhere" for there is no where' to 'be'. With no parameters, consciousness could only know itself as consciousness, for without perception, no descriptions or differentiations are possible.
Q: Would that be the Unmanifest?
A: No, it would be the Unmanifest manifesting as consciousness only. Out of the Infinite Consciousness arises existence, and then existence as life. (Calibrated level 995.)
Q: It sounds foolish to phrase the question, but 'when' did all this occur?
A: The process is outside of time and eternally continuous. It goes on forever, and that is how it has always been. Creation is continuous, always and ongoing. The comings and goings of universes are an illusion of perception. There are no universes arising and passing away inasmuch as there is no such thing as time in which universes or anything else could phase in or out of existence. That is what is meant by the Oneness of Allness. This truth can be realized but not explained.
Q: To comprehend the Infinite, does one have to have an Infinite consciousness?
A: There is nothing to comprehend. That would imply a duality between the knower and the known. In Reality, they are identical. The Infinite knows by virtue of the fact that it is All.
For clarification, consciousness can be understood or described as having two layers or levels. The highest layer
SPIRITUAL PURIFICATION 51
is infinite and beyond all illusions, such as change, temporality, or sequence. The layer below has the capacity for awareness and includes recording all that transpires on the lower levels, including every thought, decision, and action of the self. It also records all decisions of the individual spiritual will, which serves as what could be called a transitional intermediary between the finite and the Infinite. A mechanical analogy would be like the differential gears of an automobile's drive train that synchronize variable action or inaction between the engine and the wheels.
As one surrenders the basic positionalities, one uncovers these basic axioms and finds that below each level of beliefs are yet deeper levels. One is brought face to face with the fundamentals of how the mind believes that it knows anything or how it even believes that it knows (epistemology).
One eventually comes to the amazing discovery that the 'mind' is not really capable of actually knowing anything at all, and that the illusion that it knows is a pretense and a vanity. By analogy, one can ask how a pair of binoculars knows what is seen through it, or how the ear knows music. Does the computer know the software programs? The mind can only'think about' a subject. To actually 'know' it would require being the known. We can think about a cat but only a cat really 'knows' what it is to be a cat.
Thinking is a processing device with great pragmatic value; however, it presumes that it knows the data, but it actually has no innate capacity to know. Belief manufactures an imaginary inner 'knower' that becomes the 'me'. Likewise, it manufactures an imaginary doer of deeds, an actor of acts, and an imaginary thinker of thoughts.
The 'me' or the T which constitutes the core of the illusory self (ego) is a composite of the memory of the imaginary doer of deeds, the thinker of thoughts, the actor of actions, the chooser of choices, and the maker of
plans. Thinking does all this because it is set up to process dualistically, with the presumption of a subject and an object. However, when one searches for this imaginary doer of deeds, no such entity exists. When the programs have been erased, one is startled to discover that the recording tape is blank and there is no T or 'me' behind all these programs.
The 'me' that is so jealously guarded and cherished is an elaborate series of layers of programs of which the last underlying program to be undone is that the other layers of programs are real and 'myself. With this discovery, for a moment the ego/self is fearful. Its fraudulent psuedoauthority as the author of reality is being unveiled. The fear of nonexistence then arises, followed by the fear of death itself, for it is only the illusory self which is subject to actual death. At this point, one clings to the last vain belief that one is the core and author of one's life. In this claim, it is truthful in that it is the author of the life of the 'ego'. At this point, the devotee now faces the surrender of the seeming core of one's life to God. This is the final and ultimate crucial moment that stands in the way of enlightenment. Because of its extreme importance, the subject is addressed in a separate chapter.
CHAPTER FOUR
THE 'EGO' AND SOCIETY
Social Structure as Context
Q: How should one handle the seeming conflict between the illusion called "ego," the world, and spiritual work?
A: The source of joy of spiritual endeavor stems from the work itself and is not dependent on outcomes or the achievement of goals. Each movement forward has an inner delight. There is, for instance, an inner pleasure that accompanies progress. The replacement of resentment with peaceful acceptance is its own reward. There is a progressive alteration in one's view of self and others. When this happens, one's own life story can then be recontextualized from a more compassionate understanding.
Q: If the belief system called the "ego" (self) is the source of life's pain and suffering, how does one develop compassion for it?
A: Each person who is born starts with a calibrated level of consciousness, which is shorthand for one's entire karmic inheritance. With no conscious memory of having asked for it, one is now confronted with an animal body and a literal as well as an abstract 'mind'. In addition, a whole set of conditions is simultaneously presented because one also inherits an emotional body as well as a physical one, and all these have to be inte-53
grated into the intricacies of family and social life in a complex civilization with its own innate programs that have evolved throughout history.
When one looks at the entire picture of what it means to be a human, one can develop compassion not only for society as a whole but also for the individuals who comprise it. Not only is the individual confronted by enormous complexity but also by a consciousness that is unknowingly influenced by pervasive, invisible energy fields of which they are unaware.
Within this complexity, the individual now has to cope with survival and learn complex skills on multiple levels. The individual is also aware that a single serious mistake can bring disaster to their life, or even physical death. It is as though the entity has to walk the mine field of human existence in order to survive, whether it wishes to or not.
Aside from these conditions, there is also the necessity to develop a guiding sense of self and identity. The self-image that is formed is central to all decision making. This self then coalesces all goals and ideals and integrates them with moralistic positionality. Unknowingly, an aspect of the self splits off and becomes the inner enemy, the victimizer/attacker, and the author of guilt, remorse, fear, and the relentless self-judge.
Even the most advanced computer would be swamped and unequal to the task of being the equivalent of one single human. One compelling fact that makes this observation certain is that the human entity has to contend not only with conscious data that could be put into a computer, but it also has to deal with unconscious data and energy fields of which they have no comprehension, as well as unknown individual or group karmic propensities; thus, no computer could possibly be programmed since a major portion of the most significant data is missing.
THE EGO AND SOCIETY 55
As a result, the human has a huge task to accomplish. To do so, it is further impaired by the structure and function of the brain, with its built-in reward and pleasure circuits and its naive, easily programmable software. In an attempt to deal with the complexity of data, the mind uses the shortcut of lumping data together into classes and logical algorithms. It therefore has to be able to instantly determine every bit of input, whether it is unlike or similar to all other data. In addition, all this incredible complexity is not only handled by the mind and its software, but it is also overwhelmingly 'experienced'. There is little time to analyze experience for at the moments of its occurrence, it is already a given and included in the package which the mind automatically edits and files in the data bank of memory. The data is filed not only according to form but also according to subtle gradations of feeling that importantly determine where the information will be stored. Some is retrievable but a considerable portion is now buried and unavailable for conscious recall.
For instance, some data is stored in the "painful-do not recall" file. Some of this filed-away, now irretrievable pain data, however, is stored as potential ammunition for self-attack and painful self-torture of guilt, remorse, and even suicide. Any occurrence can trip the self-attack trigger and release a barrage of self-punishment. One mechanism the ego uses to protect itself is to disown the painful data and project it onto the world and others. The world then gets peopled with hateful enemies whose origin was actually internal, and the ego now fears attack from without instead of from within. Paranoia is an accompaniment to having an ego.
When one comprehensively recapitulates the situation of man, it becomes obvious that from his own limited resources, survival, happiness, and success are fragile. In massive numbers, even survival is not accomplished and millions of people die from multiple traps and disasters.
Even if they are not personal, one can get caught up in the ego problems of society that manifest as war, pestilence, starvation, or accidents.
Q: If even a single mistake can be fatal, how is survival possible under these conditions?
A: Of its own, the personal self cannot really survive, much less prosper, in such a milieu of both internal and external complexity. What has been described is actually the world of form, but the human is more than just a vulnerable ego because life is supported by the power of the nonlinear dimension of spirit. It is the overriding guidance of the spirit that enables survival, despite the ego's claims to the contrary. The spirit is like the governor on an engine, without which the engine would spin into self-destruction.
Spirit in the form of consciousness integrates the entire mass of data from instant to instant, and its output is the moment-by-moment subjective experience of life. This counterbalances the major impairment of the ego which is its inability to discern truth from falsehood.
Q: Is survival determined by one's level of consciousness?
A: The subjective experience of life, whatever its content, is profoundly influenced by the level of consciousness, as are the choices that appear as options. Whether the endeavor of life is satisfying or pleasant is dependent upon one's positionalities, which determine how the situations are contextualized.
If we look across the levels on the Scale of Consciousness (p. 424), we can see the likelihood of choices that are open and which prevail within the parameters of a given level of consciousness. Pleasure would result from fulfilling the goals that characterize that level, and negative emotions would result from failure to do so.
The personality is complex and includes identifications and subpersonalities sometimes called "alter egos" that
THE EGO AND SOCIETY 57
may lead to conflict. One subpersonality often has different goals from another. These may alternate in conscious appearance due to life's circumstances or age periods. Spiritual goals tend to synthesize the complex ego organization and give it balance.
Q: What part does the intellect fulfill?
A: Via the intellect, positionalities are refined and put into abstract symbols and languaging. All this is subsumed under the general requirement for logical, linear reasonableness. While this is operationally useful, it also reflects that the intellect can be manipulated to make any positionality seem reasonable. The intellect, however, deals not only in form but is also capable of incorporating spiritual values into its mentation. This happens progressively as one evolves up the Scale of Consciousness. When the intellect is freed of hidden motives, it is capable of refined abstract conceptualization. The basic defect, however, remains in that it is unable to tell truth from falsehood or really comprehend context, and it tends to ignore data that would conflict with its positionalities.
In addition, it mistakes effects for causes', which is one of its primary defects. It is unable to comprehend and contextualize the difference between the realms of the linear and the nonlinear. It also has a tendency to overcomplicate solutions to problems to the point that they become practically unworkable.
What appear on the surface of society seem to be multitudinous problems, but by use of critical factor analysis (see Power versus Force), they often have a common root. For example, we can make up a list of 'unsolvable' social problems, all of which are deemed to stem from different causes' in the world, such as poverty; crowded highways; massive immigration; rising gasoline and power consumption; environmental destruction; overwhelmed government agencies; pro-
gressive elimination of the rain forests; excessive C0 2 production; high taxation; crowded inner cities where crime and poverty prevail; smog and air pollution; global warming; overcrowded landfills; overcrowded courts, jails and prisons; overcrowded emergency rooms and overwhelming medical costs; overwhelming Social Security costs; a postal service overwhelmed by deficits; lack of dump sites; dwindling wildlife and natural resources; threatened extinction of species; pollution of the ocean; excessive case loads for all areas of welfare and human services; overwhelmed child protective services; rising costs of welfare and social services; long waits for service from all agencies; long lines at supermarkets; traffic jams; escalating police costs; overcrowded schools; teacher shortages; nursing shortages; rising noise-pollution levels; invasion of privacy on every level; shortages of raw materials; shortages of dump space for toxic materials; overtaxed energy sources; pollution of streams, lakes, and rivers; the AIDS epidemic; and starving nations and continents.
Merely listing all these supposedly diverse problems brings the awareness that they all stem from the same single basis—the very simple and obvious-to-see but unnoticed fact of overpopulation. Thus, we see the paradox that sending financial aid to a country results in a spurt in the birth rate and a worsening of the basic poverty level (e.g., Haiti). The already apparent burdens to society of overpopulation call into question the wisdom of unregulated immigration policies that, although they are opposed by seventy percent of the American public, are favored by eighty percent of the elitist policy makers (Arizona Republic, 2002).
During the last centuries, the consciousness level of the world's human population stood at 190. At this level, overpopulation was held in control by the inevitable consequences of the negativity that ensued. For example, major world wars wiped out whole generations, and
THE EGO AND SOCIETY 59
great epidemics wiped out twenty-five percent of populations. (Chairman Mao's social experiment alone killed more people by starvation than World War I, and genocide killed millions more.) In the Roman era, the average life span was forty years.
In contrast, very recently, the consciousness level of mankind jumped from a negative 190 to a positive 207. Although hot spots remain, the civilized world is no longer in the mood for mass extermination. The Cold War ended, hot wars became localized, and the nations of Europe deescalated and stopped their nationalistic rampaging.
At this new level of consciousness, the mass destruction that had held the population in check became mitigated and the world population soared, as did average life spans. The most populous country in the world, China, was then forced into taking serious steps. As world population doubles and then doubles again, the time period between each doubling becomes progressively shorter. This is common to any closed-in biologic population, whether they are fruit flies, rabbits, or people. In a safer society where mass exterminations are eliminated, each generation exacerbates the proliferation. The ensuing population automatically needs more territory, more food, and more services, and metropolitan sprawl begets suburban sprawl, which means the end of more habitat in a natural environment.
The Ego and the Political Structure of Society
Q: We were looking at how the intellect falls into error.
A: We can cite examples from recent history as well as from current society. Intellectual positionalities gather favor within certain intellectual groups. There is the rise and fall of Utopian schemes, which were very common in the 1930s. One popular scheme at the time was to eliminate
money and put 'work-hour' credits in its place, a technocracy. Various socialistic and Utopian 'isms' and schemes came and went, of which communism still remains. Isolationism and pacifism were popularized. "Esperanto" was touted as a new world language.
In the United States, the same groups tried to force the metric system on an unwilling population. People were not happy with Centigrade or kilometers, so they were cast aside and people went comfortably back to the familiarity of Fahrenheit and miles. The collectivist-farm idealism of Chairman Mao resulted in one of the greatest famines in history, and thirty million people died. People are not motivated to work on a 'collective' farm like they do on their own.