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#1810 - Thursday, May 27, 2004 - Editor: Jerry
The following is from http://enlightened1.741.com/index2.html. "I" refers to the title of a book by David R. Hawkins, upon whom the website is based.
The Ego
Most people believe that their
view of the world
is the correct view. Everyone that is not highly
spiritually evolved to the point of enlightenment
has a distorted view of the world. As one
progresses through the levels of consciousness,
his or her perception of the world get closer to
the Ultimate Reality.
A person’s perception is
distorted due to one
factor that is inherent in every human being. The
ego (commonly known as the mind) is the common
defect within each person. It is the inner
commentary. The reason that it is so destructive
is because the ego claims to be the person’s true
self. The following are some basic
positionalities of the ego:
1) Phenomena are either good or
bad, right or
wrong, just or unjust, fair or unfair.
In reality there are no
opposites. Bad is not the
opposite of good; it is merely the absence of
goodness. “The opposites are not opposite at all
but are merely linear graduations along the same
line and not different lines” (quote from I, page
46). The following are examples of the previous
quote:
Degrees Fahrenheit
3,000
2,000
1,000
500
100
50
0
-50
-100
-500
-1,000
-2,000
-3,000
(Excerpt from I, page 45)
Goodness
Heavenly
Very Good
Good
Pleasant
Okay
Sort of Okay
Fair to Middling
Not Too Good
Unsatisfactory
Bad
Wicked
Horrible
Ghastly
(Excerpt from I, page 46) 2) The “bad”
deserve to be punished and the
“good” rewarded.
The main problem is the labels of
good or bad.
Actually, there is no such thing as good or bad.
The mind labels anything that is wanted or
appealing as good and anything that is unwanted
or unappealing as bad. The labels are completely
arbitrary, and therefore have no basis in
reality.
3) Things happen by accident or
else they are the
fault of somebody else. T
here are no accidents, therefore
everything
happens for a reason, but the reason is not
because someone caused the event. In reality
there is no causality. No one thing can cause
anything else. A good example is a car accident.
The two cars collide because the entropy
associated with their movement. The engine starts
the car and propels it. The wheels carry the car
to its accident location. The body of the driver
starts the car and steers it to the accident
location. The mind of the body influences the
body’s actions. Society and the past of the mind
affect the decisions of the mind. There are an
infinite number of causes that influence one
event. In order for anything to occur the whole
universe has to cause it.
4) The mind is capable of
comprehending and
recognizing truth from falsehood.
The mind is convinced that it
knows what the
difference between right and wrong. This
assumption is simply not true. The mind can only
make projections on what is the correct method or
answer from past experiences or from the ‘advice’
of other people. If the mind could be able to
tell the difference between truth and falsehood,
then there wouldn’t be any wars or
misunderstandings of any kind.
5) The world causes and
determines one’s
experiences.
People were endowed by their
Creator with free
will, the ability to make a decision based upon a
set of choices. People are ruled by the
ever-present law of karma. The law of karma will
be elaborated on more completely in later pages,
but basically the law of karma is expressed in
the bible as “you reap what you sow.”
6) Life is unfair because the
innocent suffer
while the wicked go unpunished.
Refer to positonality two.
7) People can be different than they are.
The ego has this assumption that
it is the
person’s true self. The true self is in fact a
person’s etheric energy body also known as one’s
soul. The Self does not think. Instead it exudes
an infinite knowingness. The Self is eternal and
does not change; therefore, people cannot be
different then their true self.
8) It is critical and necessary to be right.
The main function of the ego is
to lift itself
above others. The ego believes that it must put
others below it in order to survive. When one
strives to be ‘right,’ someone is always made
wrong in the process. In the end, there is no
such thing as winning an argument since the end
result does not benefit anything other than the
ego.
9) It is critical and necessary to win.
Refer to positonality eight.
10) Wrongs must be righted.
The universe self balances itself
due to the law
of karma. Therefore, people need not correct
anything. Plus, the definition of wrong is
completely subjective. Attributes of right and
wrong are based completely on perception.
Anything can be justified under the right
circumstances. The religious fundamentalist
groups do not believe that they are doing wrong;
they actually think they are executing God’s
will.
11) Righteousness must prevail.
Refer to positonality ten.
12) Perceptions represent reality.
Perceptions are variations of
reality. If one’s
perception represented reality, then everyone
would have the exact same opinions and tastes
because everyone would see the same world. Since
this is obviously not the case, perceptions are
only one perspective of the world and not the
Ultimate Reality.
The following is also from the above website, although it is not clear who the author is. Numbered calibrations of consciousness refer to the Map of Consciousness as depicted at http://enlightened1.741.com/truths/calofcon.html
Ultimate Purpose
The most prominent question on
the minds of
humans since the beginning of their existence has
been that of purpose. Everyone is faced with this
question sometime in their life. Whether they
find some simplistic answer based upon past
belief systems or if they store it in the back of
their heads for future mentation is irrelevant.
The very word means one’s most important goal in
the infinite continuum of one’s existence. When
one is aware of that purpose, he or she can start
living for the permanent instead of the
temporary. Because the permanent is what everyone
has an inner longing to achieve.
Evolution is a continual process.
The universe
has been evolving since the beginning of time.
Homo sapiens have been at the top of the
evolutionary chain for millions of years. The
greatest leaps in technology have occurred within
the past century. Man has mastered land, sea, and
the sky. It is only a matter of time before
humans master the science of space travel with
travel that exceeds the speed of light. Homo
sapiens have mastered physical form; therefore no
physical evolution is necessary.
The world is far from being
described as problem
free. Violence is seen in the streets, broken
homes have become common place, and hatred has
become widespread throughout the Middle East .
Governments have tried countless tactics to
remedy the problems that sweep the nation. The
have remained largely ineffective due to their
nature. All the ‘solutions’ that governments have
tried are external and as a result only deal with
the effects rather than the causes.
Causality does not exist. It is a
figment of
perception that is ruled by time. For every event
that occurs, there is not a individual thing that
causes it. There are an infinite number of causes
to each event; therefore, everything is
connected. Nobody can change anyone else; they
can only improve or weaken the ‘environment’ for
change. Therefore the key to the world’s problems
is to change oneself. More specifically, the
Ultimate Purpose is to evolve spiritually.
Since humans have already
mastered physical form,
there is only one more domain that humans have
not mastered. The spiritual domain has remained
untapped by the vast majority of society for the
last few million years, but more and more people
are joining the spiritual revolution. For the
first time in history, the entire collective
consciousness of the world has made the jump past
level 200 in the mid 1980s. The Ultimate Purpose
of one’s existence is to evolve spiritually.
One’s purpose of evolution in one’s physical
lifetime stops when it is one’s karmic destiny,
but the ideal level to reach is enlightenment
(consciousness level 600) where the ego is no
longer in control and one sees for the very first
time.
There are many paths to
enlightenment, but the
narrow paths are the way of the heart and the way
of the mind. Neither path is better than the
other, but one may be more difficult depending on
the spiritual speaker.
'Sailor' Bob Adamson correspondence Awakened Awareness list
Email to Bob and reply:
I received your book....read it once....and now I am on the
second
reading. Once again, after reading the teachings the first time,
it felt
like there was nothing more to 'know'....like the seeking was
over........................ After reading your book, there was a
deep
sense of Peace and strong confirmation of the Oneness THAT IS.
Then all these thoughts and
feelings arose which seemed to cloud over the
deep sense of Peace and Oneness, although there still is the
'knowing'
that the Peace at the core is not disturbed. There is 'seeing'
that these
thoughts and feelings are just energy vibrations with no real
substance on
the one hand, AND there is also a direct experiencing of these
thoughts
and feelings which can be rather intense.
There is more witnessing
happening, as well. When the witnessing arises
(which is usually during or after the intense feelings arise),
the
thoughts are cut-off and the feelings are seen for what they are
(energy
vibrations). When this happens it feels as if a light switch is
being
turned on in my brain!
(Question) Is awakening always
sudden? (Two teachers) have said this.
One has used the analogy of someone that has been carrying a
heavy load in
his backpack...and then suddenly it is like the backpack is
emptied and
has no weight anymore. Or like a pebble in one's shoe is suddenly
removed.
This is confusing to me in the light of what you have said about
there
always BEING PRESENSE here.....and nothing to wait for in terms
of a
'happening'.
Although, you have also said that
there is a "consolidating" that happens.
Please clarify.
(Also) When you talk about the
desire to change WHAT IS into what one
would like it to be........it seems that Consciousness may
operate through
a body-mind organism in such a way as for change to happen as
part of IT's
functioning. So I do not see a problem in trying to change WHAT
IS, if the
thought and action arises to change something.....as long as
there is no
attachment or expectation about the outcome being a certain way.
If
something is to change, it still IS WHAT IS! Do you have anything
to
clarify here...
or do you agree? Hopefully, if
all of these questions are addressed, this
'mind' will be able to relax and there will be no more
questions!!!
But I guess one never knows! I hope I am not wearing your
patience too
thin with all these questions!?
I feel that if anyone can help
put an end to these questions, it is you
('you' as an instrument of Consciousness). I feel that if you can
answer
these questions one at a time rather that generally, it would be
most
helpful and clear......but then what do I know!!! Again, thank
you dear
sir, for your Presence in 'my' life.
REPLY:
Good to hear from you again.
We will start from basics, you
are always, already and ever THAT (pure
presence awareness) - only THAT -nothing else. Though the clouds
may
constantly move around the sky they can never pollute or be lost
in the
sky, nor can they grasp or know or understand the sky. You, the
reality
are the sky like awareness.
The statement "The answer
can never be found in or through the mind" is
constantly made until it is understood and seen - that it is
pointless to
go looking there. You saw and understood in a previous email that
thoughts, feelings, emotions, so called body - mind organisms,
teachers,
sailor bob, you, others, witnessing, the concept of a sage,
realization or
enlightenment, the whole manifestation etc. appearing in the
skylike
awareness are like the clouds, appearances with no substance or
independent nature.
SEE the subtle trap; thoughts
(clouds) are looking for the answer in more
thoughts, questions etc. (clouds), and it can never happen - as
it ALREADY
IS.
The sky was there 'before the
clouds', 'while the clouds are there', and
'after the clouds disperse' - KNOW for certain YOU ARE THAT.
If a question arises, ask yourself "who is the
questioner" - and in
investigating, see that the 'questioner' (thought) - is the
'question'
(thought), both are thought - and understand that there can be no
'questioner' without the 'question' - both are thought without
substance
or independent nature - so the questioner and the question cancel
each
other out.
What's left without thought?
Isn't there still an awareness of being present?
KNOW I AM - the pure Being in whom ALL the manifestation is
appearing.
There is nothing separate or apart from THAT which I AM -
whatever appears
is in essence THAT - which I AM, which understands the appearance
to be
fictitious and dreamlike. So there is no concrete reference point
to
'attach to' or 'detach from', or accept or reject, so to 'who' or
'what'
could it 'matter' what is thought, felt or done? - I AM complete
as
ISNESS. As was said earlier, start from that - and instead of
trying to
get 'somewhere', just drop anything that tends to have you think
otherwise
and realize, that with 'nowhere' to go and no 'time' to go there
- there
can only be an effortless relaxation into isness - As isness.
I could go into it for you, question by question, and give you
answers
that would appease the mind for a while - but that would not
break the
minds seeming hypnotic spell and keep you a seeker forever.
The cold hard facts are: There is no difference between a 'sage'
and a
'seeker' - they are both appearances in that which you really are
- ONE
without a second - pure intelligence energy (Awareness) - BE what
you are,
you cannot really be anything else, though at times you may think
so (both
- mind clouds).
- 'Sailor' Bob
from: http://members.austarmetro.com.au/~adamson7
Excerpt from chapter 21 Awakening to the Dream http://www.awakeningtothedream.com/index.html
Lucid dreaming is a term that
refers to waking up
inside a dream, realizing it is a dream, and then
continuing the dream with this understanding.
Seeing through the illusion of separation could
be termed lucid living, as it is not you waking
up from the dream of life, but the impersonal
awakening to the dream of life. From which point
could an illusion see through itself as an
illusion? What could an assumed doer do to become
a non-doer? What thought could take the thinker
beyond thinking? The answer is nothing and none.
Like Rumi said,
"Whoever brought me here
will
have to take me home."
This "coming home"
reveals
the illusory nature of the ego, the world, time
and space. All this does not disappear in a blast
of white light, but what does disappear is the
sense of separation that constitutes the ego
illusion. Although it may put a glint in "your"
eye as "you" delight in this cosmic illusion,
there will be actually no you to delight in it,
no you to see it, and no you to get it. The play,
including your role in it, continues with the
altered perspective of knowing, delighting, and
seeing, without an individual claiming these as
personal activities or achievements. What is left
is that which appears as you and everything-your
true Self, which is already and always awake to
the dream of life.
This realization happens by
itself. No new
knowledge is acquired, but old assumptions fall
away. No effort in the world can make you what
you already and actually are. The truth behind
ego is a no-thing-ness too close for
investigation, since it is the very source from
which the attempt to investigate arises. Seeing
this makes it clear that the activating agent in
all your actions is not a fictional "me," but the
universal energy, or one's true Self. The belief
in a "me," as well as the seeking for
enlightenment, is seen through by no-one as
nothing but the playful activity of this primal
activating energy. The cosmic joke in the journey
of the seeker is that the energy that fuels the
seeking is precisely what is being sought. In Zen
this is called "riding an ox in search of an ox."
Wei Wu Wei compared it to looking for your
spectacles, not realizing that they are on your
nose and, were you not looking through them, you
wouldn't be able to see what you are looking for.
IT awakens to itself or, more to
the point, IT is
Awakeness itself. It is the light in which all
apparent opposites reveal their interdependence
and ultimate One-ness; it is the clarity in which
the illusion of separation dissolves. The witness
and that which is witnessed merge into
witnessing, while the illusion of past and future
dissolves into the clarity of timeless presence.
As It Is, life has no meaning beyond itself. It
is always at the point of completion and,
simultaneously, as fresh as the morning dew at
the dawn of creation