FOUR WAYS TO TRANSCEND THE SEPARATE SELF.

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Pravin Kumar
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FOUR WAYS TO TRANSCEND THE SEPARATE SELF.

Post by Pravin Kumar » Sun Nov 18, 2018 6:29 am

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Four Ways to Transcend The Separate Self.

‘I honour those who empty the self and have only clear being there’ ...

‘If there were a clear way into that no one would stay here.’ Rumi

As it turns out there are four straightforward investigations, or ‘ways’, to go beyond the separate self and reveal the ‘clear being’ which we essentially are. They all reveal the same Absolute Reality by considering different aspects of our existence in the world. They are:
1/ Investigation of this moment of experience.
2/ Investigation of the nature of perception.
3/ Investigation of our identity … ‘Who am I?’
4/ Investigation of the nature of the universe.

1/ This Moment.

'Each Moment Reveals The Absolute'

"Check it out in this moment, now
Thoughts and sensations to and fro,
In ever present Awareness, that is how
Our experiences we can enjoy and know."

Each moment of experience consists purely of thoughts (including all mental images) sensations (that is everything sensed by the nervous system and sense organs) and the Awareness of these. These thoughts and sensations are a flow of objects (things) whilst Awareness is not a ‘thing’ but the constant conscious perceiving presence.

"Pure and pristine, by things unaffected,
By whose radiance they are detected."

This Awareness is unaffected by these ‘things’ that flow through it and provides the illumination (radiance) by which they are perceived. So investigating this moment reveals the 'Radiant Aware Nothingness' in which thoughts and sensations come and go, and by which they are ‘seen’.

2/ Perception.

'Perception and Awakening'

"For perception of any thing there to be,
There are necessary factors, three,
Fundamental and easy to see."

To perceive any thought, mental image or sensation (in fact any ‘thing’) the following factors must be present.

"Radiance by which we can ‘see’ it’s there,"

Radiance is vital in the sense that for anything to be ‘seen’ it must be illuminated. In the case of seeing with eyes this radiance is physical light, but in the case of seeing with the mind (becoming ‘aware’ of) this is the radiance of Awareness Itself.

"Nothingness, to which we must it compare,"

Everything that we perceive takes place, and is noticed, relative to the nothingness in which it exists. For instance sounds relative to silence, forms relative to space etc …

"And Awareness, so of it we are aware."

This is self explanatory for without Awareness we could not be ‘aware of’ anything.
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"If this we, in this moment, see,
Then awake we will come to be,
Radiant Aware Nothingness is Consciousness at rest,
In which movements are cosmic energy - the manifest."

We awaken by seeing that we are this Awareness ('Radiant Aware Nothingness') Itself, rather than the perceptions (thought and sensations, in fact any ‘thing’, which are these movements) that come and go in this.
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3/ Self-inquiry.

'Who Am I?'

"When we ask who am I?"

This question is the basis of ‘the direct path’ championed by Raman Maharshi as being the quickest, and most direct, way to awakening to the truth of self-identity.

"We discover by and by,"

Once we have discarded body, mind, sensation and thought as being ephemeral, ever-changing, and thus not our ‘essence’.

"Absolutely nothing there,"

What’s left is ‘no-thing’, a nothingness that is full of Consciousness at rest (Pure Awareness). Therefore there are no ‘things’ as these consist of cosmic energy which is ever in motion.

"Radiant, pristine, ever aware."

This is radiant in the sense that for anything to be ‘seen’ it must be illuminated. In the case of seeing with eyes this radiance is physical light, but in the case of seeing with the mind (becoming ‘aware’ of) this is the radiance of Awareness Itself. This latter is pristine in that it is unaffected by that which it ‘sees’ and thus no ‘thing’ can degrade it in any way.
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"This Radiant Aware Nothingness
Is still resting Consciousness
Which is The Tao, Jehovah, Brahman, Allah, Rigpa – God
Revealed to mystics on the many paths they trod."

The same Absolute Reality which all religions are based on, although many of them (and their ‘sects’) would undoubtedly dispute this! If you read the accounts of the ‘negative’ mystics of all religions The Absolute that they describe is almost identical. Which validates the previous comment … So it turns out that the answer to the question ‘who am I?’ is the milieu in which the question appears and is seen, that is ‘Radiant Aware Nothingness’.
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4/ The Universe.

Awareness saturates the whole of manifestation, from electrons changing their behaviour when (aware of) being observed1 , cells responding to (aware of) changing environments, white corpuscles attacking viruses they detect (are aware of) in the blood, moulds moving towards (when aware of) foods placed near them and so on...

Awareness can be defined as Consciousness when it is totally at rest, completely still; aware of every movement that is occurring within it. In our direct experience we can see that Awareness is still, as there can be awareness of the slightest movement of mind or body. In fact this is the ‘stillness’ relative to which any movement can be known. Every ‘thing’ that is occurring in Consciousness is a manifestation of cosmic energy, for the string theory and the earlier theory of relativity show that matter is in fact energy, which is Consciousness in motion (or motion in Consciousness). For energy is synonymous with motion and Consciousness is the substratum, or deepest level, of all existence.

Now all motion arises in stillness, exists in stillness, is known by its comparison with stillness, and eventually subsides back into stillness. For example, if you walk across a room, before you start there is stillness, as you walk the room is still and you know you are moving relative to this stillness, and when you stop once again there is stillness. In the same way every ‘thing’ (motion in Consciousness) arises in Awareness (Consciousness at rest), exists in Awareness, is known in Awareness and subsides back into Awareness. Awareness is still, but is the container of all potential energy which is continually bubbling up into manifestation (physical energy) and then subsiding back into stillness. Thus all things arise in, exist in and subside back into this ‘field’ of Consciousness, Awareness when at rest and manifestation when in movement, which is aware of everything in It.

From this it follows that Awareness is ‘Nothingness’ as it is still and all ‘things’ are in motion. This must also be radiant to provide the illumination by which the objects appearing in it may be ‘seen’. In terms of being aware of anything, thoughts, sensations or mental images, they must be 'illuminated' (able to be detected) for them to be apparent. And it is this 'illumination', which is a property of Awareness, that allows this ... thus Awareness can be described as 'Radiant' in that it has this 'illuminating' quality.

So by considering the nature of the Universe we can see that it is grounded in 'Radiant Aware Nothingness', Consciousness at rest, in which all things (cosmic energy – movements in this) come and go.
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So investigating each of these four different aspects of our existence reveals the 'Radiant Aware Nothingness' which is at the heart of all, the Absolute Reality; That which we actually are, beyond the illusory separate self.
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MICHAEL CUPO
For detailed palm reading and spiritual guidance Consult at: pravinjsoni97@hotmail.com

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