To: K-list
Recieved: 2000/10/10 14:52
Subject: [K-list] Re: The Role of Consciousness
From: Bob Vincent
On 2000/10/10 14:52, Bob Vincent posted thus to the K-list:
Thank you all so much for your thoughtful responses on this subject,
both public and private.
My apologies for not responding sooner, as I have been indisposed
here while slogging through some heavy karmic energy. Perhaps
everyone on the planet has been, as it was quiet here for a while and
now has gotten busy again. Things are breaking out all over the
world, aren't they?
Wim, I concur with your comments on the growth of consciousness (the
witness) re-engaging back into the moment to moment experience of our
daily living. In other words the separation or apparent duality of
the witness in relation to matter is not a permanent dissection of
spirit from matter. That could not be the case, as matter is nothing
other than condensed spirit. Matter's appearence as something other
than spirit is called "lila," or "play of divine consciousness." It
is also called "maya," or "illusion" by those with less flair for the
dramatic. :-) The process of union is a progressive one, where first
the witness, a sense of silent self observing all relative events,
arises and appears to stand as separate from all that is going on. A
great state to be in when all hell is breaking loose, because you
(the witness) don't get blown away by it. As one observes from this
perspective, the process continues as love draws the silent awareness
into the relative existence, a merging of spirit and matter. I say
love draws silent awareness into matter because from the viewpont of
silent witness, all outside relative events (including even our own
thoughts) become radiant and beautiful, gorgeous! Consciousness sells
out to the beauty of the play of the divine, but is not lost in it as
in the original "fall" which led to unaware identification with
phenomenal existence, the common state of suffering we are all
familiar with. So there is a going out into the expanded immovable
silent state of absolute bliss consciousness, and then a gradual
coming back into the material world with this unmovable bliss. This
coming back corresponds with the latter stages of transformation
during K awakening, where the entire body/mind and even the vastness
of the surrounding universe is permeated with our own conscious
bliss, i.e., divine self. The witness does not give way to another
experience, rather, the witness eventually grows to encompasses all
experience, a true union of absolute (subjective) and relative
(objective) experience. Of course, this has been our latent condition
all along. We have only to evolve the necessary organs within
ourselves to live what has been waiting in us and around us for all
eternity. The caterpillar must become a butterfly, yes? Then are we
living fully "in the world but not of the world," our natural state.
Ahhhhhh, what joy!
Angelique, I appreciate your thoughts on cultivating the witness
state by how one relates to thought process and sensory perception.
It reminds me of practices I read about many years ago from
Ouspenski, and of the conscious cultivation of mindfulness by Zen
Buddhists and others. The method by which I cultivated the witness
has been TM, as you know. My understanding of cultivation via TM is
that it takes the body/mind to a state of deep silence twice a day
during meditation, and gradually over time a subtle (and measureable)
biology of silence arises in the body/mind, i.e., the nervous system.
Throughout this gradual cultivation process which can take many years
there is no lethargy, withdrawal from motivation to be active in the
world, etc. If anything, the tendencies to be active in the world are
enhanced. Over time, the silent witness arises as a natural state,
not requiring any attention to initiate or sustain it. It is just
there all the time, even during sleep. I was wondering how one would
go about cultivating the witness through mindfulness practices such
as you describe. As you describe it, it seems more like a place you
visit as a form of retreat rather than cultivation of a permanent and
self sustaining state of absolute bliss consciousness. Or am I
misunderstanding the method you describe? Of course, there are a
number of methods to cultivate the silent witness. The question is,
which methods are the most practical for people in different types of
lifestyles? - active working family types versus the hermit recluse
types being the two extremes on the scale. Whatever the method may
be, it seems to me important that it can be sustained on a daily
basis for a long period of time to achieve the necessary
psychophysical transformation to a natural state of absolute bliss
consciousness (witness). That is why I raise the question. Whatever
people do, it ought to be sustainable as practice over the long haul
to achieve the desired result. It seems that our spiritual progress
depends on such regularity of practices. Anyhow, that's how my yogi
brain works. Not everyone will agree. :-)
Angela, yes, it is a dilemma what people with spontaneous K awakening
should do in terms of practice. I was corresponding with someone a
few months ago who has had a raging K for over 5 years since a near
death experience, and can't even put attention on the breath without
getting into a lot of trouble. The best thing in that situation is no
yoga practices at all. Just lots of long walks, a heavier diet, a
very low stress lifestyle, and other measures known for quelling
excessive K. But that case is extreme. Your case sounds blissful and
fairly steady. You might consider adding a light daily routine of
meditation practice to aid in cultivating some inner silence. It
would serve you well over the long term. If you experience any
problems, you can back off if necessary. We are all different and we
each have to pace ourselves according to both our capacities and
level of "tapas" (intensity of desire to grow spiritually). It's your
call.
Peace,
Bob
http://hometown.aol.com/bobvincent
/971214727/
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