Enlightenment in half an hour

The book

Valeriy Prosvet

This book is about you: about One Who You Really Are

Source 

Table of contents:

From the author

Introduction to self-discovery

Don't trust anyone or anything

From concepts to Reality

Scheme of Existence. Everything is Consciousness

Available Truth. Realization Of Being

False ego and veil of illusions

Soul, self-identifications, involvement, and control

Purpose and meaning of life. Character's freedom of choice

Spiritual awakening and enlightenment

Search for Source

Not-knowing. Going beyond mind

Is there a need for religion or spiritual practice?

Accept Not Fight

From the author

Once I was asked: "Valeriy, do you have a book about enlightenment? Or maybe your website in the form of a book so that it can be downloaded to the phone and read without the Internet?”. At that time still neither option was available.

If I were now asked to create a new website on the topic of enlightenment, exactly these texts would have been published there. Brief, concise, without empty words – for serious seekers of Truth. (Nonetheless, for those who "have no clue" and stumbled upon this book "accidentally" a small introduction will still be made.)

This book is published on the website and is available online. On the forum you can ask questions or supplement the materials with something that makes sense to you to add. After each chapter there is a link to the discussion thread.

If you want to share the book in social networks, it is convenient to do that using the buttons at the bottom of each chapter on the website - just click the appropriate button. Or you can upload the book somewhere befitting: to thematic communities, forums, blogs, etc. Huge request: when publishing excerpts or whole chapters of the book in other places, please add a link to the source page, to this page, or to the main page of the site. Alternatively, you can specify the title of the book - "Enlightenment in half an hour" and the author - Valeriy Prosvet in case someone wants to discuss the subject.

If you want to post a review, it is best to leave it in the forum thread "Reviews of the book "Enlightenment in half an hour""

Best regards, Pure Consciousness and at the same time - Valeriy Prosvet, the site author, and the mysterious character of your dream))

Introduction to self-discovery

You're here to discover
Ultimate Reality – your True Self 

As various sacred texts and enlightened masters of all times and nations say, the ultimate purpose of a person is to discover his true non-material nature, and that discovery is enlightenment. This, among other things, implies sat-chit-ananda – eternity-consciousness-bliss. Is there a more interesting and worthy goal for a person?

This small book, which can be read in half an hour, is full of pointers to your spiritual nature - Pure Consciousness, and also contains simple recommendations - for those who are looking for methods of discovery of Truth or enlightenment techniques.

It is implied that the reader is interested in questions like "Who am I and what am I doing here?", "Why everything is the way it is?", "Where is happiness?", "What is Truth?", Etc.

In this book I will be brief to meet the stated half an hour of reading. I write in simple words, trying to avoid lingo, but sometimes still use it when it seems appropriate, and explain the meaning right away. For example, you will come across several terms from Hinduism, however, this does not mean that I am a supporter of Hinduism, that I profess it or preach. I just happened to study it at one time, and some of the terms with their explanations turned out to be quite deep and well describing. But again, this does not mean that you should immerse yourself in Hinduism, etc. since all the terms are explained directly in the text and do not require further clarification. You can come to Truth (enlightenment) by any path - by any religion, philosophy, or practice - if you are actually interested in Truth. The path of investigation suggested in the book is not tied to any religion, and it can be combined with anything because it is not a faith and not a system, it is investigation. Investigation goes well with anything, does not contradict anything, and does not oblige you to anything. 

I would recommend those who are just starting their path of self-discovery to read the articles on the site "Self-discovery – the path to enlightenment" where everything is written in much more detail - for a wide range of readers-seekers. In this book everything is brief and to the point, so for beginners I will leave links to the relevant explanatory articles and techniques published on the site, where everything is set out much more widely. At the end of each chapter there is a link to the forum thread where you can ask questions and clarify obscure points. Therefore, this book is suitable even for beginners. It is written "from scratch", which means it is not a compressed version or summary of the site. There is something here that is not and will not be on the site, and the site has something that is not in the book. So the book and the site will complement each other well. As for the site, there you will find a variety of materials and techniques for improving all areas of life, purifying consciousness from negativity, etc. The full list of nice "bonuses" due to working on yourself is presented on the main page. On the forum you can read reviews and comments of practitioners or leave your own. Also the site has a feedback form by which you can email me. Plus there is a link to my Vkontakte page where you will find hundreds of wonderful quotes on the subject of self-discovery and enlightenment. 

Going back to the book, I will immediately answer the quite natural question: “Is it really possible to achieve enlightenment in half an hour?” The answer is yes. Enlightenment is an awareness of Truth, and comprehending of Truth is out of time – it is an instant process, it is timeless, it is an insight. But at the same time, in order to become aware of Truth, you need to be prepared for this. Several factors should take place: a sincere interest in self-discovery, a sufficiently purified (open) mind, and the ability to impartially perceive. These three things are closely interrelated. Purification of the mind, of course, takes time, but enlightenment itself is instant. While you read the book, your attention will be heading again and again to Truth comprehension, and if you look carefully, you will see. In fact, there is nothing complicated. It's easier than you could imagine.

Truth is always available, it is simple and obvious, but people do not see it because they are looking the other way. And they are looking the other way because they have other interests. Their minds are "infected" with various ideas, desires, goals, false identifications, attachments, etc. And these things make it difficult to see what really is. Even not so much make it difficult as they simply distract attention. 

This book is an attempt to turn your attention and interest in the direction of Truth. And even if enlightenment does not happen in that half an hour, the book will help to look at everything from a different angle and start to see something that was previously out of sight or was too vague to give it time and attention. Anyway, enlightenment is guaranteed, and this book will definitely contribute to comprehending of Truth. The forces that led you to this book will lead you further, until the ultimate goal – enlightenment – is reached.

Wish you informative reading and deep insights! 

Discuss on the forum 

Don't trust anyone or anything

It is by your consent that the world exists.
Withdraw your belief in its reality
and it will dissolve like a dream.
Nisargadatta Maharaj 

There are two paths to enlightenment. The first is the path of faith, the second is the path of investigation.

The first of them, the path of faith, implies that you carefully listen to a Guru and faithfully abide by his instructions, carrying out a particular practice of worshiping (or serving) God, True Self. In Hinduism, this method is called "bhakti" - the path of cultivating the love for God by serving It; wherein a person acts on the basis of faith in the words of a Guru and sacred texts. Emotional people are more inclined to this type of practice. They can take things on faith and not mind that the existence of objects of faith has not yet been proven by them on their own. Eventually, as you practice, all of your interests become so focused on God, on Supreme Self alone, and the mind becomes so monodirectional (having no other interests) that the "false self" dissolves in Supreme, True Self; in Oneness; in God. 

The second path is the path of independent investigation where blind faith is not welcome, and where everything, absolutely everything needs to be questioned. Everything must be investigated on one's own, without blindly accepting someone’s authority, including the authority of one’s own mind, which is probably the most difficult thing. "Do not believe your own mind" is one of the principles of this path. This is the path of "jnana" - the path of knowledge acquired by investigation and analysis. Of course, there are also Gurus here who give knowledge (as pointers to Truth), but you are not required to have faith, you are required to do your own investigation and analysis. Intellectuals are more inclined towards this type of practice. For them blind faith is unacceptable, and therefore worship of God seems to them to be something wrong. Such people are prone to in-depth analysis and meditation; they require facts and evidence. And only their own realizations and not someone's beautiful words and promises can satisfy them.

Both paths lead to the same goal. 

Also, a path can be a mixture of the previous two, which is also normal since bhakti actually complements jnana and jnana complements bhakti: they are two sides of the same coin. Both are worship (or service) to Supreme Self: both cultivating love for God and exploring Its emanations (all manifested) in an attempt to discover Source, Supreme Reality. Both lead to Truth. To combine both paths in any ratio is also good.

I have tried both. In my experience, the practice of investigation is at a higher level than the practice of worship based on faith, but at the same time I fully understand that the practice of worship is closer, simpler, and more understandable to most people. Advaita Vedanta (teaching about advaita, non-duality) is considered supreme knowledge, while worship of deities usually does not give knowledge of advaita, fixing a person in illusory duality for the entire period of practice until a spontaneous comprehending of Oneness occurs. On the other hand, on the path of jnana, a dry intellectual understanding of advaita (without discovering it) can make a person a “callous wiseacre” with the ego bloated from the knowledge gained, which will deprive him of the ability to comprehend Truth. Everything has its own nuances. But this is not so important since your success on a path to enlightenment depends only on sincerity of intentions. If you sincerely want Truth and are not satisfied with something less, It will be yours, regardless of the path you follow and regardless of any circumstances. You can consider it to be an official guarantee :)

Here, for the most part, we talk about the path of self-investigation, therefore you should not blindly believe what I am saying. Do not believe anyone or anything, check everything yourself. Be honest with yourself, separate facts proved by you personally from habitual beliefs, even very convincing and "authoritative" ones. On the other hand, do not worry if at some moments you take something on faith without verification. Because over time all your beliefs and convictions, without exception, will pass the test of "fire and sword". Everything has its time. Illusions will dissolve, Truth will prevail. That is inevitable. Which is good news, isn't it?

Discuss on the forum 

From concepts to Reality

No one has ever spoken Truth
© Truth :) 

We have to use words. But what are words capable of? Words are not Truth, they are only concepts - attempts to describe. It is impossible to convey Truth through concepts. Concepts can only serve as pointers to Truth, to Ultimate Reality.

On a path to enlightenment, concepts are used in two ways:

As pointers to Reality.

As means of getting rid of other concepts.

Both methods are used in sacred texts (especially in the teaching of Advaita), in communication, and in satsangs, when a seeker tries to understand, and a knower tries to help him by eliminating misunderstanding step by step.

This is a gradual process: you come to a Guru with your concepts, and he denies them as non-truth. Your mind, which is losing its foothold, persistently and inexorably demands a replacement for old ideas and views. Then the Guru gives you another concept that usually simplifies everything, thereby bringing you closer to Reality. Your mind analyzes the new concept, explores it, ruminates over it, and, of course, finds inconsistencies with other concepts, forcing you to ask new questions. So, gradually, from complexity to simplicity, the old concepts are replaced with new ones - until everything becomes so simple and clear that the need for new concepts no longer arises.

Words and concepts exist at the level of mind, and this is the level of relativity, the level of duality, the level of illusions, the level of inevitable contradictions. As for Reality, It exists beyond mind, therefore mind cannot embrace It and correctly convey It. When you become aware of Truth, you will be amazed at how huge the gap between concepts describing Reality and Reality Itself is. It is like a difference in dimensions. On a piece of paper it is impossible to create a three-dimensional image of an object, it is impossible to truly convey volume. A two-dimensional image may reflect reality, but when you see a three-dimensional object directly, you will understand how pathetic it was on paper.

Therefore please do not take what I am writing here for Reality since all of that are just ways of describing, attempts to point to Truth. Your task, if you want to comprehend Truth, is to look there and investigate on your own. Enlightenment cannot be conveyed through words, you have to go there and discover yourself what the talk is about. Words are but pointers. When Reality is discovered, all concepts fall away as unnecessary. When, using road signs, you find a place you are looking for, you no longer care about signs, do you? The search ends, and signs lose their meaning despite the fact that for other seekers they are still of great importance and play a major role in their paths.

This concludes the introductory chapters, and we finally get to the point.

Discuss on the forum 

Scheme of Existence. Everything is Consciousness

Even as this universe exists as a dream in the consciousness of the Creator,
it is experienced as a long period in the consciousness (dream) of all the beings
who are the dream-objects of the Creator.
Vasistha's Yoga by Swami Venkatesananda 

Before moving on to the scheme of existence, answer yourself the question: "Are you aware of the fact that you are aware? In other words, are you aware of yourself as someone (or something) who (what) is aware, a some kind of conscious being? Most likely, if you understood the question, the answer is yes. And it is not so important whether you identify yourself with the body, mind, or something else. If you are aware of yourself as consciousness (even if dressed in form), it will not be difficult for you to understand the scheme that I describe next. If the subject of self-awareness is difficult or obscure, try this meditation of self-discovery.

In Hinduism, there is such a term as "Brahman" - Pure Consciousness, Absolute, Source, Fundamental Base Of Everything. Eternal, unchanging, unlimited, non-dual, and incomprehensible Brahman. It has no properties and characteristics. Being in Its eternal original static state, It is not aware even of Its own being. And It is consciousness in its purest form. On the site, I call It by the term "Unmanifested Consciousness" since It is motionless (in a static state) and therefore unperceivable. And since It is unperceivable, then, accordingly, It is also incomprehensible. It is not an object. It is a subject.

How then does the manifested world arise? That is a very good question. As an answer, various concepts can be found in sacred texts, which can temporarily satisfy an inquiring mind, but in practice none of them can be proved. Here I will offer for consideration a scheme of existence, which will possibly simplify and clarify (relatively) your understanding of the world structure. It is necessary to move from the complex to the simple because Truth is simple, and all complexities are due to mind.

The bottom line is this: Brahman has a dream. Dream is the comparison that seems most appropriate, what is also mentioned in various sacred texts. Brahman as if manifests itself by "coming into motion” - like a serene ocean manifests itself on the surface in the form of waves. In a manner of speaking, the static entity (motionless unmanifested consciousness) changes into the dynamic entity (moving manifested consciousness). It should be noted that the static entity, however, does not disappear anywhere - the ocean in its depth remains motionless as before. Movement (manifestation) exists only on the surface. In other words, everything, both manifested and unmanifested, is Consciousness.

The first manifestation is the awareness of being. This is the universal impersonal sense of “I am” - as if a slightly agitated ocean surface. Not as words but just as a sense. The small movement on the surface enables self-perception, self-awareness, what does not take place in the static state. This light movement, the sense of “I am”, is primary - there are still no ideas about what exactly I am. Just the awareness of being, the sense of presence, no more.

The same sense of “I am” is also inherent in the soul (individual consciousness, Atman), which can be compared with one of the waves. A wave (a soul) consists of the same material as the ocean water (consciousness), and the same characteristic is inherent in it: water (consciousness). All souls are qualitatively equal, between them there are initially no differences - each of them is consciousness that is aware of its existence (there is still no identification with anything). Therefore, it is said that the Atman (soul) and Brahman are not two different things. For the sake of clarity of the scheme, we can say that Brahman smoothly changes into Atmans (partially manifests as Atmans), just as the body of ocean water partially becomes waves. 

Notice that each wave (soul) is not independent – neither from the total surface of the ocean (the universal sense of “I am”) nor from the total mass of water (original unmanifested Brahman). Water (Brahman) does not cease to be water while manifesting itself on the surface as temporarily existing waves (souls).

Thus, thanks to this scheme of being we come to the fundamental conclusion: individual consciousness (soul, Atman) is not different from one consciousness (the universal “I am”) and from original Unmanifested Consciousness (Brahman). Now what about seeming differences: the wave has a form, but the total mass of water (Brahman) is formless? But is there a need to care about it? If you see differences and realize them as just a temporary appearance (what is achieved with enlightenment), then this appearance no longer misleads you. The ocean becomes aware of itself by seeing itself in every wave. Consciousness recognizes itself in everything perceived.

So, we started with the idea that Brahman has a dream. Brahman is eternal. The dream is temporary. Therefore, it should be understood that the term “Ultimate Reality” refers to Unchanging Truth, and this Truth is eternal Brahman and not his temporary dream, which is a manifestation of Brahman. Of course, for an ordinary person the opposite seems true: this perceived world is more real to him than Brahman. But this is also temporary: as you purify your consciousness, your comprehension will deepen and come closer to Truth.

Next, Brahman perceives itself (in its own dream) as each individual being, including all of us humans as well as animals, birds, fishes, plants, etc., where there is possibly no self-awareness but are perceptions. Thus It manifests and experiences Itself in various forms and states. All this universe is created from one “material” - Brahman, Consciousness. This world can be called imagination, maya, matrix, dream, lila, hallucination, or anything else, but there is a need to understand: what else this creation of Brahman may consist of if there is no other "material" apart from Brahman? Therefore, it can be said that everything consists of Consciousness, and everything is Consciousness - in one form or another.

The article "Games of Consciousness" describes the further development of events but describes it from the standpoint of the concept that Life is the Game of Consciousness. Here I want to supplement the scheme of Games of Consciousness with the clarification that these games are dreamed and imaginary ones since there are no real separate and independent players, because only Brahman is real. Of course, an ordinary person “by default” has a sense of separation, autonomy, and independence of existence (it arises due to the false ego - the wrong identification of oneself with the body-mind-personality), and this sense of autonomy, together with other illusions, generates a sense of play. Otherwise, if Brahman was aware of itself in everyone, it would have no sense of game, no interest in it. Playing alone is not interesting. Right?

In this regard, must be mentioned the philosophy of simultaneous oneness and difference, which states that despite a seeming plurality and diversity of everything, everything is one: Creator and created are one despite they are perceived as separate and different things. And for the mind it is incomprehensible. Everything is Consciousness, and It does not cease to be Consciousness because of the reason that It manifests Itself in different ways. It's all Brahman.

And now let us return to the supplementation again. This game is only a dreamed one, and it is just as much unreal as the temporary identifications of Brahman with each player (body-mind-personality). Nonetheless, identifications are perceived as actual and real, aren't they? And the stronger the seeming identification with a particular body-mind-personality, the more realistic seems the game and the manifested world - with a multitude of the same “separate independent players”. Such is the power of Maya, Great Illusion. At the moment of the realization of Oneness (Advaita) a sense of oneself as a separate independent player disappears, as well as all the tension that a dreamed player was experiencing in constant daily calculations and attempts to win. This is called liberation.

Remember that this scheme of existence is just yet another concept, and it cannot be proven at the level of mind, as, however, any other scheme as well. But perhaps it has simplified or clarified your current understanding. If, on the contrary, it made everything confusing, this is also good – then you may throw away all this confusion entirely because it does not contain anything of value, only unprovable concepts. Ultimately, in order to go beyond concepts and to become aware of Truth, you need to investigate everything yourself.

Discuss on the forum 

Available Truth. Realization Of Being

Sensing yourself thinking, feeling, wanting,
controlling, enjoying, and suffering
is entirely a part of the illusion, maya, hallucination
that you as Pure Consciousness see in a dream. 

What is Truth?

Immutability must be a criterion of Truth, mustn't it? Truth is eternal and unchanging. 

So what is unchanging? Let us leave Brahman in its static unmanifested state, which we cannot cognize, and try to find something that is available to us and at the same time unchanging.

It is good if you investigate it yourself, but I can give a hint. And you yourself can check whether what I am saying is true. It is very simple, besides Truth is always available. So why do we not see It, not realize? Just because we do not look in that direction. We are attracted by something else. There are only two directions we can look: at Truth and at something else.

So at any given moment of time what is unchanging for you personally? You as a body? No, the body is constantly changing. You as a personality? No, personality is also changeful. External world? Obviously not. You as a soul? As consciousness? As awareness of being? What? Turn on analysis, you should investigate it.

Look, at every moment of your existence there is a sense of being, presence, vitality, or whatever you call it. You know that you exist, you feel it, and you are present. Even when you do not think about it. Right? You are consciousness that underlies everything perceived. This is precisely the available truth of our manifested existence.

At the heart of any experience there is this sense of being - “I Am”. If there weren't you as consciousness, there would be no perceptions. Therefore, at any moment of life you can find only one unchanging thing - "I Am", and that "I Am" is awareness of being. Who discovers, who is aware of all this? What is the base of the one who is aware? I call it pure consciousness, soul, Atman, which is essentially Brahman manifested as the original impersonal sense of being.

Discover this Available Truth and dwell in it. Be aware of yourself as conscious consciousness - this is the level of soul, Atman. You cannot do more than that. But having done that, you have done everything needed, and the rest will come on its own. 

I suggest to “do it” because it is available to you. If you still can not just be aware of being, of Available Truth, you can use simple techniques, for example the "I Am" exercise, where using words you remind yourself “I Am”, “I Am”, “I Am” until the need for words disappears, and the awareness of the being without words comes. By the same principle, the Meditation on Pure Consciousness, to which was added the “function” of exposing illusions that emerge during meditation, works.

As you work on yourself, all illusions about yourself gradually disappear, Truth of Being opens to you, and you yourself become this Truth by having seen the falsity of identifications with the body-mind-personality and other transient things.

Also, talking about paths to Truth, one cannot but mention the method of self-inquiry “Who am I?” in which you ask yourself questions like “To whom does all this happen?”, “To whom do these thoughts (feelings, events) come?”, “From where does all this arise?", "From where do I observe it?", "What is the source of everything?". The last question is the most important, but usually in order to get to it, you have to work with other questions similar to the ones listed above.

When you discover this ever available Truth (awareness of being, “I am”), and this awareness becomes easy and natural, you may come to have the question “From where and how does this sense of being arise?”, and this question will lead you to Source. The topic of the search for Source will be discussed in a separate chapter.

Discuss on the forum 

False ego and veil of illusions

When you do not define yourself by opinions of others
and when you do not define yourself by your own opinion,
what are you then?
Ram Tzu 

From Unmanifested and through “I Am” you see the world that grows out of the same “I Am” and seems as something separate and different from you because of your false identifications.

What is the false ego? This is a temporary identification of yourself as pure consciousness with the body-mind-personality and everything else that you consider yourself. The false ego, the false self is a seeming linkage of spirit and matter, a set of fleeting identifications of Brahman with Its dreamed character, a character that you as a human are. Brahman, putting on a garb of a human, begins to consider himself a human. But everything is even simpler - you just dream that you are a human.

You as pure consciousness can be compared with a screen onto which this entire visible world with all its contents is projected, including the character with whom you are identified for some reason. As the main character of the movie, you go through various scenes, sensing the reality of what is happening. You get caught in a rain and sense moisture. You jump over a bonfire and burn yourself. You got yourself cut and see blood. Then, in due time, the character dies, and what remains? You remain as the screen, as pure consciousness (which you have always been, are now, and will forever be), and there are no more illusions. The screen did not get wet from the rain, did not get burnt by the fire, did not get cut, and did not get stained with the blood. The screen is always clean (pure) and not affected by illusions projected on it. Despite the various experiences you live through, nothing happens to the screen, because all the experiences are only apparent and dreamed ones. They are not real. And the false ego that makes you sense yourself this “real” person living his life is but a temporary phenomenon, part of the film, and not part of you.

The foundation of this world, its base is pure consciousness, “I Am”, the screen without which the world cannot exist. When a mind arises, a separation of the existing into “I” and “not me” arises, and next “I” is specified by false identifications such as “I am this body”, “I am this person”, “I am Valeriy”, “I am a human”, etc. This is how a false ego arises. At the root of all this lies the same “I Am” (manifested consciousness in its pure form), and that “I Am” becomes overgrown with incorrect identifications: "I am this", "I am that", and so on, and so on, and so on. Everything manifested and perceived without exception (including the ego) arises from “I Am” (pure consciousness) and within it. Therefore, if a person wants to go beyond the ego and know his True Self, he must look inward, at the base of everything, at Source.

So, once again about the few important points that you need to clarify well for yourself by investigating them on your own. In pure consciousness (in "I Am") the whole world (the flow of perceptions) arises, then a mind arises that divides this perception into a perceiver and perceived, thus creating the appearance of duality and plurality. In fact, the perceiver and the perceived are not separate from each other, it is the separating mind that creates the appearance that the one is different and independent from the other. If an observer and observed were not one, had different sources, and consisted of different material, then you (as an observer) would not be able to perceive (an observed). Observe how the mind divides Oneness into many, into “I” and “not me”. Try to find the boundaries between “I” and “not me”, and to your surprise, you will find that these boundaries are created only by thought, like all other illusions. When there are no separating thoughts, there are no boundaries, there is no ego.

Next, due to the identification with a specific person, a veil of illusions continues to arise:

Because the mind thinks, and you are identified with the thinking person, you say: “I think”, “I made a conclusion”, “I decided”.

Because the body acts, and you are identified with it, you appropriate the actions of the body. You say: "I did that", "I ate", "I read this book".

Considering yourself to be an independent being (thanks to not seeing the interconnections and mutual influences of everything), you feel like you have freedom of choice.

Having done something “bad”, you feel like a lowlife because you are identified with the mind that decided to do so and the body that did it. Like that a false sense of guilt arises.

Having done something “good", you feel like a nice person because you are identified with the mind that decided to do so and the body that did it. Like that a false sense of pride arises.

Taking note of a lot of factors of social life, you feel a personal responsibility for the actions performed by “your” mind and body because you are identified with them and due to ignorance consider yourself an autonomous cause and independent performer of these actions. Therefore, you are forced to correct “your” “mistakes” of an “independent” being with “free will”. This is what the false ego entails.

More information on the veil of illusions can be found on the website in the article "Illusions of Life".

Thus, each illusion supports and strengthens the others, which allows you to continue to be in a dream and enjoy these Games of Consciousness. Or suffer from them. But at some point you begin to suspect that something is not right here. You begin to explore and see that this whole veil of illusions hangs, as they say, "by a thread" - by a simple belief that illusions are reality. You begin to observe more, to be more conscious, and the false ego dissolves, illusions dissipate, and Truth begins to open to you. Like that a spiritual awakening begins. It brings you to the understanding that at the heart of everything manifested and perceived lies the simple pure "I Am", and that is you who are this pure consciousness - without identifications. That is a very high level. But that still is not enlightenment.

Discuss on the forum 

Soul, self-identifications, involvement, and control

In search of meaning, Truth, God, bliss,
salvation, superconsciousness, divine oneness,
or any other spiritual goal we pursue,
the “I” itself is never subjected to critical examination.
We just accept that we are who we think we are,
and that reality is what we think it to be, and we start from there.
We accept these “facts” as authoritative and reliable,
and set off from this starting point.
Thus, the initial error, from which all others follow,
has already been made and protected from recognition and correction.
Jed McKenna

Once I came across good quotes on the nature of the soul which confirmed and deepened my experience and understanding. Here I will briefly retell the most important and move on. To read more about the soul, you can click the link above, and in there you will find an explanation for each quote. 

So then, the soul is eternal, always pure, not subjected to anything, independent of anything, and unknowable.

Unchanging, motionless, and omnipresent. It is not born and does not die. 

It never appeared and will never disappear. 

It is not connected with the body although it seems as if it is in the body. 

The soul does not perform actions and does not get entangled in their consequences (karma). 

Deceived by the false ego, the conditioned soul considers itself to be performing actions that are actually performed by the three gunas of the material nature (by the energies of the material world). 

It is a concentrate, right? It is possible to immerse into each phrase and meditate, and I would recommend to do it because each of these quotes is the truth about you.

Thus, we see that the description of the soul corresponds to the description of Brahman, and this confirms again the sameness of the Atman and Brahman.

The soul does nothing.

You as pure consciousness do nothing, nothing at all. How real is that for you? The reality of that fact is inversely proportional to the identification with the body-mind-personality.

Next, we will try to investigate with the help of these quotes.

It is a fact that there are identifications. But does the soul identify itself with the body-mind-personality? We look at the quote that says that the soul does nothing and arrive at the inevitable conclusion (at least at the level of intellect) that no - it does not identify.

There is also involvement, but does the soul involve itself in the activities of the body and mind, in emotions and feelings? And again "no" because it does nothing.

Does the soul involve itself in this world? Obviously, the answer is the same, and for the same reason.

It seems to you that you control something, but does a soul control anything? Now try yourself to confront the question with the quotes and find the answer.

We are faced with a seeming contradiction, aren't we? The soul does not identify itself with anything, but identifications exist and seem to be a reality. The soul does not involve itself, but involvement seems to be real. The soul controls nothing, but there is a sense that "I control". The soul does nothing, but you perceive yourself as a doer. How do all these things come into existence if the soul does nothing?

The clue is in the last quote: “Deceived by the false ego, the conditioned soul considers itself to be performing actions that are actually performed by the three gunas of the material nature”.

As a small digression, even if you think that you as a person are an independent acting being, this is also a delusion because a person (a combination of gross and subtle bodies) is completely and irrevocably controlled by the energies of the material world, i.e. by the gunas exactly as it says in the quote. The gunas act by controlling the body-mind, and the false ego simply appropriates the execution of these actions (“I thought. I decided. I did.”). Interestingly, now even scientists have discovered, exploring brain activity, that thoughts like "I thought" and "I decided" arise only after actual thinking and decision making. Thus, the false ego retrospectively appropriates thinking, decision making, and the subsequent actions of the body.

Let us go back to the soul, which never does anything, and to the false ego, which is not only “guilty” of false perceptions but is in itself a false perception.

Did the soul create the false ego? No. Because the soul does nothing.

Who then created the false ego? Brahman? But It all the more does not care one bit. If the soul does nothing, then Brahman even more so. How did then the false ego came to be?

In order not to go into fine details like “Brahman created God, God created Maya, Maya created the false ego”, I can offer a very simple answer for investigation: nobody ever created the false ego as well as all other illusory perceptions.

But everything around exists, you would say. Yes. Just as a dream that Brahman sees. As a kind of Divine hypnosis. After all, your night dreams seem also absolutely real to you while you are asleep. There is too an identification with yourself-a-character-you-see-in-a-dream. You do something there, get involved in something, experience something, control something, communicate with other people, feel emotions, think, and all that seems very real! Absolutely real. But only as long as the dream lasts. Right?

From the point of view of Truth, any identifications, involvement, and control are not real. They only seem as such, and even at that not continually. They are changing, transient things, unlike “I Am”. Can transient, changing things be Reality, Truth? Of course not, because Reality is unchanging, both manifested ("I Am") and unmanifested (Brahman).

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Purpose and meaning of life. Character's freedom of choice

Consciousness has created this performance.
Consciousness has written the script.
Consciousness plays the roles of all the characters.
And it is Consciousness who is watching this play.
This is the One-Man show.
The sense of being alive and present is so intoxicating
that a person becomes so enchanted by the manifested world,
so involved in it that he no longer cares to find out
whether the world really exists
or is simply a hallucination, a dream, a mirage.
Ramesh Balsekar

As already mentioned in the Scheme of Being, Pure Consciousness, unmanifested Brahman has a dream that It became the manifested “I Am”, and then all the rest of the perceived arose from this “I Am”. This “transition” from the unmanifested to the manifested occurred spontaneously and uncontrollably. Because could pure unmanifested consciousness suddenly want and plan to manifest? It could not, because in unmanifested consciousness there is even no self-awareness, not to mention whatever thoughts, desires, and plans. Any thoughts, desires, and plans can arise only in manifested consciousness, in the sphere of relativity, within the framework of seeming duality. So to speak, in a dream of Brahman.

Everything in this dreamed by consciousness world is interconnected and interdependent. Everything affects everything. And hence everything controls everything. This is not always obvious to a specific person, but even science confirms this.

Is there a place in this scheme for a real independent person who are in control despite everything? In other words, can a person act independently of everything and be in control of something, being free from the control of everything else? Obviously not, even at the level of primitive logic. However, to a person it seems that he is exactly such an independent controller with freedom of choice, and often it is a very pleasant feeling, isn't it?

We find ourselves in this manifested world, seeing only a small part of it and sensing ourselves already certain entities: with already existing views, world outlooks, ideas, desires, goals, plans, and freedom of choice - with all these attributes of the false ego. We do not remember how this world appeared, how it all began. This is similar to how you go to bed in the evening and suddenly - snap! - find yourself in some other reality (already not remembering the “reality of wakefulness” from a minute ago) where everything is already created and seems to exist for a long time, where you have some goal corresponding to your (dreamed) understanding of the meaning of life, and by that moment you already sense yourself a doer who is free to choose this or that. In the same way everything happens in the so-called reality of wakefulness, in which you ended up similarly unplanned and realized yourself already having a set of some ideas, beliefs, views, etc., including the meaning and purpose of "your" life.

Both in a state of wakefulness and in a night dream you sense yourself a separate independent being with freedom of choice, a doer, a cause, a personality. But as we have already made out, all these things listed above only seem to exist, and they do not exist in Ultimate Reality.

The purpose and meaning of life can exist only for a separate being who considers oneself an independent cause, a personality, a human; but if these beliefs about oneself are illusions, temporary perceptions within a dream, then how can your purpose and your meaning of life not to be an illusion? 

Of course, it can be said that for a person the ultimate goal and meaning of life is self-discovery and awakening - gaining awareness of one’s true nature, Ultimate Reality. And just about all sacred texts and enlightened sages declare this. This is the ultimate goal and the ultimate meaning of the life of the soul identified with a character - to become aware of the falsity of temporary identifications, to comprehend oneself as Pure Consciousness. In the world of relativity this is true. And everything leads to this. Leads everyone without exception. The only question is when will you get there?

You as Pure Consciousness do not have and cannot have any goal or meaning of life, while you as a character do have a goal and a meaning that are innate in you and are an inseparable part of “your” dreamed life.

Character's freedom of choice

We should also consider the question of freedom of the choice of a person who is only a character in the dream of Pure Consciousness. On the website we have already investigated this in the article “Is there freedom of choice?”, and here I will only add that this sense of freedom of choice is also innate in the character, like all other illusions. In fact, the question is not even whether you have a real freedom to choose, but rather WHO has (or does not have) that freedom? Who is this I? Investigate it sincerely and till the end, and you will find out that this “I” that is supposedly free to choose, control, etc. is created by emerging thought. You sense yourself choosing, controlling, or having a meaning and purpose only when a corresponding thought arises: what you choose, what you control, or what purpose and meaning of life you have. When these thoughts do not arise, you have no such sense. When there is no thoughts about some certain "I", there is no any "I" either.

These things are not at all difficult to see when the mind is already sufficiently purified by preliminary practices. And if you need yet another practice, try to notice the gaps when no thoughts creating a temporary image of you arise. Who are you without these images of yourself? Are you a character, or are you just watching how thoughts form a sense of yourself as a character?

Want to see the formation process of your false image? Just ask yourself the question “Who am I?” and see how the mind quickly assembles “you” from memories and ideas. Do this for a while, and you will see that this image of “yourself” is changing. In fact, every time the mind creates an image of yourself (in response to your yet another question “Who am I?”) it is already not the same image - there are differences. If you are attentive, you will see it.

Having practiced this self-inquiry (“Who am I?”) for some time and having clearly seen that the image of “yourself” is quite changeful, you will naturally have questions like: Should I trust the mind that constantly gives different answers to the same question? Am I obliged to consider myself to be all these changing images, exactly which jointly form “me” as a certain permanent character? Can I even be this character if I can observe it? Who am I who observes all these changing things?

Such investigation leads to Available Truth and centers you in it, due to which charms of the mind weaken, and this opens a door to spiritual awakening and then to enlightenment. What we will discuss in the next chapter.

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Spiritual awakening and enlightenment

In pursuit of awakening and awareness of Truth
you feel involved in the affairs of this world
and make efforts to wake up
and know yourself as pure free consciousness.
But all this involvement in worldly affairs,
similar to all "your" efforts to become enlightened,
is only part of a dream, illusion, movie of life.
This is not what you do.
This is what you see in a dream.
You are not a doer. 

Considering yourself an acting being, you try to get out of the Dream of Life, but the actor is part of the dream, not part of Reality, so he cannot go beyond dream, just like a character in a movie is not able to get off the screen into real life. Whatever you do as a person is part of the script, and you always act according to it, without exception. All that you as consciousness can do is just to be present, to observe, to be aware.

Seeing everything that happens (including the “main” character) as a kind of dream, movie, maya, you become aware of yourself as pure observing consciousness, and then your search is over. There is no longer a seeker, there is nothing more to look for and achieve in the dreamed world. The dream continues, the character faithfully plays a role assigned to him, but now you are not identified with him. You are his observer, witness, present consciousness that watches this Movie of Life. And that is huge freedom. You can read more on what the path suggested on the site gives to a person in hundreds of reviews on the forum.

On a path of self-discovery there are two stages: spiritual awakening and enlightenment. It is not the same thing.

What spiritual awakening is

Essentially, spiritual awakening means a disidentification with the body-mind-personality and all other things that you for some reason consider yourself. “A path to enlightenment lies through disidentification”, Osho once said, and this is an important aspect on a path of self-discovery.

Here awakening is called spiritual only because it implies the separation of spirit from matter - the separation of pure consciousness from the dreamed body-mind. In spiritual circles there is a habit of separating the spiritual and the material, and at this stage this habit is useful. In spiritual awakening you realize that you are not the body, mind, personality, name, etc., but you usually still have some identification with the soul – the individual (but impersonal) consciousness, the separate observer. You are aware of your spiritual nature, but there is still some impersonal you and some impersonal others – same souls, individual consciousnesses. It is spiritual awakening. It is a very high level but still not exactly enlightenment although it is often called that way.

It should be said that spiritual awakening is not necessarily related to religion since awakening occurs outside religious practices as well. People often associate the word “spirituality” with holiness, and usually those are called spiritual people who are part of various religious egregores and behave accordingly. But the phrase “spiritual awakening” in this case means the awakening of the spirit (soul, Atman, individual pure consciousness) from the dream of false identifications. It means the awareness of one's nonmaterial nature. And this happens by no means always within frameworks of religions.

Signs and symptoms of spiritual awakening

In fact, awakening from a dream (from illusions of life) is not always pleasant, because there are changes inside, and the more rapidly and intensively they occur, the more discomfort it can bring, both at the level of body and mind and at the external plane. Nevertheless, there are also a lot of positive moments because there is liberation from the old and unnecessary any more, a place is made for the new, and this new will definitely please you.

Signs and symptoms of spiritual awakening are quite a wide spectrum of manifestations, and it is impossible to list them all. But there is something that is common in everyone, and now we will scrutinize it. As for specific cases, they are very broad-ranging and can be found in large numbers on the Internet.

Often awakening begins with a crisis when something in life changes rapidly and substantially for the “worse”, and you realize that from now on it will never be the same. This can cause anxiety, fear, insecurity, incomprehension of how to live on and what to strive for, disappointment in oneself, one's powers and abilities, disorientation in life, and other hardly pleasant experiences. What to do? If you are a believer (even a little), read prayers, recite mantras, study sacred texts, communicate with wise people, and more often be in a circle of spiritually seeking and advanced people. Ask Higher Powers (Angels, God, etc.) to lead and direct you to Truth and support you on a path of awakening. Admit that not everything is in your hands and put trust in the Forces that actually control everything, including your whole life, even if it is not yet completely obvious. They know what is best for you, and They will guide you till the end, till the very enlightenment, so do not be afraid. Everyone goes through this, and on a spiritual path everything is for the best. If you do not believe in external powers, then simply analyze, study, track changes and their consequences, be attentive and open to what is happening, and try to figure everything out yourself. This will also lead you to the correct comprehension of what is happening. In fact, the process of spiritual awakening is something to rejoice about because you get rid of an old unnecessary burden and head for liberation. This can be said to be the path of the evolution of the soul, the path to Source, the process of reunification with God. Occasionally, of course, it is extremely unpleasant because getting rid of cherished illusions is sometimes painful, but it is worth it because losing illusions you acquire Truth.

Discomfort in the body and exacerbation of diseases. It could be anything. All diseases are related to the state (and contents) of the mind, mental attitudes, misunderstanding of life, and psychological issues. Purification of the mind causes a change in the state of the body, therefore physical diseases may temporarily exacerbate (and then disappear). Or just a discomfort of any kind may occur. There is no need to be afraid of this, but it is a must to keep the body in good condition. Ayurvedic advice and common sense will help. If necessary, contact a good medical doctor or an expert who is well versed in herbs and other reliable and safe folk remedies tested by time and a large number of people. Also read a short article by Roberto Assagioli “Self-realization and Psychological Disturbances”. Equip yourself with this knowledge and cope with the difficulties encountered on the path of spiritual awakening.

Your thinking changes, and you begin to understand more deeply that you are no longer the same as the general mass of people. Old interests and activities fall away, priorities and goals change, old “friends” disappear, and new people, not like everyone else (they are brighter, wiser, better) appear in your life. You begin to see that the general mass of people is similar to zombies. They live like bio-robots, according to a general pattern imposed by society. You begin to see and become aware of this system, this matrix, and gradually you get out of it. Try not to fall into fanaticism telling people what you begin to see. As one of the Christian saints said, become saved right now, and then thousands will become saved around you. Along with a change in thinking, your character also gradually changes, and, of course, for the better. That is, the general trend is improvement, although at times worse qualities may also surface. It will pass.

Changes on the external plane: they can be diverse and not always pleasant as well. This is a consequence of the changes taking place inside. Maintain reasonableness and be patient. Everything will restructure and settle in the best way, but not immediately.

Life becomes more simple, calm, and wholesome. In the course of spiritual awakening, you can track how the gunas that govern your life change: the guna of ignorance gradually disappears, and through the guna of passion you move towards goodness. It is very beneficial to track it. Moreover, you can accelerate the transition into the guna of goodness by gradually and regularly bringing its elements into your life. Read the article “The gunas of goodness, passion, and ignorance” - this is your guide to improving and stabilizing your life. Apply it every day, and you will quickly see results that will please you. Also study the "Spiritual laws of success and happiness" - it will help you greatly to build a new life that will bring joy and happiness not only to you but also to everyone around you.

Then you become interested in important questions like "Who am I?", "How does it all work?", "What is Truth?", "How to achieve liberation and enlightenment?", etc. Exactly these questions with the support of your sincere interest in the answers will lead you further in the right direction.

To alleviate the troubles on the spiritual path, use also the "Practical advice to purify consciousness" - this will speed up your path to Truth and happiness.

I suppose the general symptoms and signs of spiritual awakening are listed, and now we can proceed to the next stage on your spiritual path.

Enlightenment

Next follows the second stage – enlightenment. If it is still somehow possible to understand spiritual awakening at the level of intellect, then as far as enlightenment is concerned, everything is much more complicated because enlightenment is already the level of non-duality, awareness of advaita. In spiritual awakening there is still some duality and multiplicity: me, other beings, other things. But enlightenment implicates the disappearance of the illusion of duality and multiplicity, and the separating mind cannot comprehend this, because it functions only within the framework of duality, which it itself creates. 

I already wrote on the website what enlightenment is, and also reviewed misconceptions about enlightenment, but here we touch on the very essence.

Enlightenment is the disappearance of the illusory separation between “I” and “not me” or, in another words, the disappearance of the duality of perception. It is the awareness of non-dualism, advaita; deep insight that there are no two. And the more so three, four, and further sets. That awareness comes when the mind ceases to divide oneness into many. First, identifications with the body, mind, personality, name, roles, etc. disappear, and then the subtle identification with the Atman (individual soul, individual consciousness) disappears as well.

Of course, thoughts still arise, and habitual thoughts, containing “I”, “to me”, “mine”, “other beings”, and “other things”, may arise. But at that it is realized that these separations are unreal. They are only an appearance which disappears just as quickly as it appears, leaving no traces. Attempts to discover what this arising separate “I” is, invariably lead to the realization that there is no “I”: it is created by an emerging thought and dissolves with the disappearance of the thought. This can be observed, and such observation is an excellent practice on a path of spiritual awakening. You can even say that this is a supreme practice.

Careful observation also leads to the realization that there is even no thinker: the illusion of the thinker is created by spontaneously arising thoughts about some allegedly existing thinker. Do you think that all these thoughts - good and bad, brilliant and stupid, beautiful and ugly - are yours? Do you know what makes you consider them your own? Just a thought that they are yours.

Question the reality of your “I”, the thinker; investigate it; and you will see that it never really existed.

For those who are looking for a practice to destroy (expose) the false self, I can recommend a technique of personality erasing. This method is not for beginners as usually a beginner's mind is still quite polluted with everyday garbage to seriously engage in self-destruction, therefore in the initial stages it is better to purify the mind from garbage with the help of other practices. But those who have gone deep enough into self-discovery and are close to enlightenment will be able to successfully dissolve the false self without any techniques – just by watching how it appears and disappears.

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Search for Source

You feel “nothingness” inside, get scared, and run away from it.
After all, there is no one there - only the inner sky,
the abyss, infinite and beginningless.
But when you do not run away from it, it is the most beautiful thing,
the most pure one, for only emptiness can be pure.
Osho 

From where do you perceive all this, this whole world, all these sensations and thoughts?

Many will say “from the head”, some will answer “from the heart", and someone else will admit “I don't know”.

The idea of "I am in the head" is just as wrong as the idea of "I am in the heart". Why do you think you are in the body? Just because you have a sense of the body and perceptions, received by the senses? But this does not prove that you are in the body. By analogy, when you watch a 3D movie, it seems to you that you are there, in that space; and this illusion is so realistic that you twitch when something flies at you or something rides at you. Then what to say about our physical world, which is tens of times more potent than 3D illusions since at each moment a person experiences more than 50 types of perceptions!

The idea of location is wrong from the start. It is only the body that can have a location, therefore a sense of your own location is a sign of identification with the body, and this identification is false.

If you feel that you are in the body, then try to answer the question: “From where do I perceive my location in the body?”. After all, you perceive “your” location. From where? If you see something, then you see from somewhere. A point cannot see itself, an object cannot see itself. In order to observe something, one must be separate from the observed and to perceive from some distance, from another place. Investigate this carefully, and you will find that any location is just an idea, and nothing more.

The fact is that you perceive the body. Because of false identifications, you feel yourself as the body or being in the body, but all these sensations are nothing but observables. Observable by whom and from where?

Based on previously reviewed quotes about the nature of the soul, I suggest looking at it this way: you (as consciousness) are not in the body, but on the contrary: the body as a perceived object is in you (as consciousness), in the feeling of being, in “I Am". The problem here is that you as pure consciousness do not have any characteristics and boundaries, so you do not feel Yourself but feel the boundaries and sensations of the body, which makes it seem as if you are the body or located in it. But you are not only in it; you are in everything and outside of everything at the same time, you are the very infinite space of being, permeating all that exist. It sounds great, but how to become aware of it?

You need to find the source. The source from which everything arises. The source from which you perceive this manifested world. This is one and the same source; there are no two or more independent sources. If it seems to you that there are two or more sources, then all the same - they should have Universal Original Source, shouldn’t they? And you need to find it.

Do not think that Source is a place or a point. Do not consider Source to be an object. In the material world, we got used to the fact that the source of something is necessarily somewhere in space-time, has dimensions, characteristics, and other restrictions. But here we are talking about Source of everything - space, energy, objects, and time; and this True Source of Everything cannot be squeezed into something that has emanated from It, cannot be limited, can it? In other words, we are talking about Brahman that is original pure consciousness. Do not limit Source to space and time. Source is everywhere and all the time, and therefore It is always available, at any moment, in any "here and now".

Why look for Source?

In fact, you are always doing just that - you are looking for It, but you may not realize it. You are looking for happiness. You are looking for it in external fleeting things, and you are never fully satisfied, because external temporary things can give nothing but external temporary satisfaction, again followed by dissatisfaction. Absolute peace comes when Source, Ultimate Reality, Brahman is found. Until Source is found, your search will never stop. You seek Truth, eternity, freedom, bliss but seek it in the wrong place. It must be sought inside, not outside, because everything external is an illusion, this is what comes from Source. You need to look inside.

What you seek is You. The seeker and the sought are one. Source is looking for itself. Brahman is looking for itself. Consciousness is looking for Consciousness. There is no two. Discovering the falsity of temporary identifications and becoming aware of yourself as Source, becoming aware of yourself as Pure Consciousness beyond the manifested, you find peace. At the moment of spiritual awakening, you comprehend “There is no me” ("I do not exist as an object"), and after that, at the moment of enlightenment - the wordless “Everything is I”, the disappearance of duality. And then your search is over.

How to find Source?

It's very simple, but at the same time may be difficult to accomplish. Source is found by discarding everything that is not It. This requires analysis. For example, asking yourself questions like “from where do these thoughts and feelings arise?”, “from where does this world arise?”, “from where do I observe?”, etc., you get answers. These answers are from the mind, and you analyze them, casting away lies. In fact, everything that the mind says is false, so ultimately you drop all this mental garbage along with ideas about yourself. Or, in the search process, you discover that there is no answer; and this is also good because then the question itself disappears as well.

In fact, you do not “discover” Source in the usual sense of the word, because Source is not an object that you can find, grab, and say: “Here it is, I found it and hold it”. But when everything false is discarded (seen as transient, changing, and therefore false), True Source remains. Truth is realized when all false is recognized as false. Everything perceived is just illusions. Only Source is true because only it possesses eternal reality.

As Nisargadatta Maharaj said, the search for Reality [the search for Source] is the most dangerous of all undertakings, for it destroys the [illusory] world in which you live. The destruction of illusions is by no means always a pleasant phenomenon, but continuing to live in illusions, considering them to be real, is sometimes much more painful.

If this article turned out to be too obscure and abstract, you can read the Review of techniques and practical advice, therein everything is more mundane and concrete.

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Not-knowing. Going beyond mind

Even if one engages oneself in every other sort of spiritual endeavour,
and even if one has the gods themselves as one's teachers,
and even if one were in heaven or any other region,
liberation is not had except through the cessation of all notions.
Vasistha's Yoga by Swami Venkatesananda 

No understanding is better than any other since any understanding exists only at the level of mind, and Reality lies beyond it. You as Ultimate Reality are always beyond all manifested and accessible to perception, beyond any knowledge or lack of knowledge, understanding or lack of understanding. You are before, during and after everything that can be perceived; out of time, space and anything else.

All that you "know" and "understand" is temporary knowledge, temporary understanding, nothing but concepts, fleeting beliefs, points of view, projections of the mind. This is all false. The same as the whole world. This is all changing things. They change, come and go; You are not. Reality is eternal and unchanging.

From where do you perceive any knowledge? After all, you perceive it. Go beyond the mind: take a “step back”, into your true nature, into not-knowing, into Source, and realize that you always looked “from there”, just did it through the prism of the mind. Of course, Source, as we have already discussed in the chapter “Search for Source”, is not a place, but it is better than any place. It is eternity itself, non-manifestation, total freedom. It is beyond mind, beyond mental knowledge, beyond all ideas, concepts, beliefs.

The mind is afraid of this because it needs footing, and any knowledge, any view, any belief, any idea will do as a support. The mind is afraid to fall through into emptiness of Brahman, of Pure Consciousness because there it will disappear, just as suddenly as it appeared. But what do you care about that as Brahman? That is not your fear. That is not your problem. That is not your concern in the slightest. All fears are of a mental nature and are associated with objects (bodies, things, events), but you are not an object, and you have in fact nothing to worry about.

Divine Not-Knowing is Freedom

There is no knowledge that is Truth and gives freedom. Any knowledge exists only on the mental level and consists of illusory emanations, therefore there is already restriction, lack of freedom. In fact, there are no “levels of correct knowledge”, all knowledge is a manifestation of ignorance. Real freedom is beyond any knowledge (faith, experience) and manifests itself as the sincere admission: “do not know”. This is Divine Not-Knowing, in which there is no knower or not-knower, no divisions, notions, or anything else. This is Pure Consciousness, which is original eternal You, Brahman, One that is the base of everything.

At a simple mundane level, not-knowing is the absence of a blind faith that the perceived is the ultimate reality, and explanations of the perceived by the mind are true. This does not mean that you take the position “I do not believe in it”, it is not a denial of the perceived. Rather, you just understand: “I do not know the way everything really is. Yes, it looks like this, and the mind says this works like that and like that, but I don't have absolute proof of it, so I don’t know". You can practice it, and such practice will eradicate blind faith, make you free from false knowledge and illusions that previously seemed true.

Everything perceived, including any knowledge, is projections of the mind, the flow of perceptions, nothing more. And the mind is not your friend. It is rather a conjurer who constantly fools you. The mind creates a projection of the world and descriptions of its workings, and this looks very real. Why does the world look so real? Just because it is perceived. You as Brahman (the unmanifested entity that does not have characteristics) do not perceive yourself, therefore any perception (a manifested entity that has characteristics) seems more real than You. This is surprising and paradoxical, incomprehensible and inexplicable. And all the explanations put forward by the mind are only beautiful concepts for the mind's entertainment, for consciousness' endless games.

And as long as you trust the mind, considering its projections and explanations to be true, you cannot become aware of Truth. Only by abandoning false knowledge, or at least calling all knowledge into question, will you be able to become aware of the way everything is in reality. But this awareness is not just another mental understanding, it is rather an intuitive insight.

From where do I perceive?

One needs to go beyond the mind, beyond the confines of false mental knowledge, and return into divine not-knowing. It can be done by simply asking yourself "From where do I perceive all this?” and remembering that any answers come from the mind, and therefore they are false. Getting any answer, ask yourself "From where do I perceive it (this answer)?", and eventually all answers will end, and you will go beyond mind, become immersed in blissful not-knowing, in your true nature, pure consciousness. In fact, there is no one in this not-knowing (there is no “you”, no objects, no duality), no one did come out from there, and no one returns there. It is just that false perceptions disappear - of “self”, of “others”, and of “the world”. You have always been “there”, you have always been That, you have always looked from "there”, but the mind created the illusion that it was not like that. Having become aware of Source, you will no longer be fooled by the tricks of the mind despite the seeming world will continue its seeming existence.

For those who still cannot successfully practice “From where do I perceive all this?”, who become confused, or who completely do not understand what all this is about, for them there are clearer ways to go beyond the mind - by systematically purifying the mind from all the garbage that has accumulated there and is based on false duality. These workings-through take some time, but the result is worth it, judging by the hundreds of reviews on the forum.

All beliefs, concepts, and “knowledge” get dissolved in divine not-knowing. And then, when you meet some concept, it looks like a bunch of random words, like baby babble, like beautiful amusing tales. It does not deceive you any more, but rather entertains you. It is indeed amusing. Enjoy these games of consciousness, this dreamed movie of life.

Not-knowing gives complete peace, freedom, and bliss. Even the not-knower disappears in not-knowing, and there is no longer any “I”. And that is Complete Freedom, enlightenment.

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Is there a need for religion or spiritual practice?

By means of the ego, Life directs you
to where you should be at the moment.
Ramesh Balsekar

At each moment, only what must happen is happening - it is necessary for your spiritual growth and, ultimately, enlightenment.

In accordance with the concept that Brahman has a dream, one should understand that the dream, unlike Brahman, is not eternal. This dream, in the case of each individual soul, ends in self-awareness, comprehension of Truth - Ultimate Non-dual Reality.

The force that prompted you to be interested in self-discovery, read wise books, listen to lectures, attend seminars, and practice something, will bring you to the end in one way or another. No need to even doubt that.

There is a popular joke in advaita circles that enlightenment happens not because of your practice but in spite of it. The opposite view that enlightenment comes due to practice is equally true and equally wrong. I would suggest to leave these opposing concepts and look from a slightly different point of view.

Interest in self-discovery arises when it should arise. Practice happens when it should happen. Enlightenment occurs when it should occur. Everything takes place in its own time - in the moment it takes place; no matter what we think of it.

Do we need religion to attain enlightenment? If you are relentlessly drawn to religion, then you need it. Exactly you. And exactly at this moment. That does not mean that everyone needs religion all the time. Religion is a stage on a spiritual path. This is an important stage since you got there. Some people attain enlightenment in religion. Some people do not. But may it not bother you.

Some people are drawn to engage in yoga, psychology, or various other practices. Is there a need in that? If you are drawn to some kind of practice, then it is exactly what you need now. Exactly you. Exactly now. Not everyone and not all the time.

There are no rules for enlightenment. Life leads every person, every character of the dream, individually. Sometimes paths of people can intersect, and for a period of time they walk together along a “wide road”, what can often be seen in mass religions or other practices. This means it should be like that at the moment. It just happens. Then, at the right moment, the path of a particular person becomes individual, or he moves to another “wide road”.

In Bhagavad-Gita, Krishna says to Arjuna: "Everyone follows My path in all respects". Each path is given by God, Supreme Power, Supreme Being, Creator, or whatever you may call It. And you cannot turn off the path you follow: “in all respects” means - without exceptions. Think carefully about it: there is no any “your independently chosen” path since nothing can go not according to God's plan. Therefore, there are no right or wrong paths. No right or wrong religions. No right or wrong practices. So you can relax and enjoy your spiritual journey, your personal path to Truth. If you can, of course.

Try to take a step towards Ultimate Reality. Let God guide you, trust It, rely on It. Say "Thy will be done! Lead me to Truth!" Give the reins of your life to It. Give them back every time you have the false sense that you yourself control your life. In fact, It is exactly what leads you, but your false ego appropriates everything to itself - thoughts, desires, actions, control, consequences; creating the sense that this is all yours. When there is an appropriation, there is also identifications, involvement and a sense of burden of having to live; life becomes complicated, hard, serious, and unpleasant. This is like you are pushing a train which is already traveling, but you think that it is moving thanks to you. Your idea that you are the cause of the train's movement does not accelerate the movement, you only strain and sweat for nothing. You cannot even change the direction of the movement. The best thing you can do, if you can, is to jump on the train, sit in a car, relax, and look out the window, experiencing admiration and gratitude to God that everything was already taken care of - the train is traveling perfectly, and everything happens by itself. This is the level of awareness “Everything is already according to Your will”, “I am not a character,” “I am not a doer”, “I am only presence, being, observation.”

“The Lord's will be done”, is the handover to God of that which never belonged to you in the first place. You give to God that which has always been under Its control to start with. It just seemed to you that it was yours, that that was you who controlled everything. When you realize how wrong you were, you will already not say “Thy will be done”, you will say, “It has always been, is now, and will forever be your will only”. This is true humility. This is the level of spiritual awakening.

As long as you consider yourself to be a cause and a doer, you are identified with a dreamed character, and because of that you suffer and do not sense true fulfillment, and your search for happiness continues. And that means you still need religions or practices. Not because gurus, priests, or instructors say so, and you need to listen to them, but simply because life will force you to seek and practice. It is very simple and logical: if you are not fulfilled and at the same time consider yourself an independent doer, a cause for what is happening with you, then you are the one to correct the situation - who else if not you? Hence, you need some suitable practice, religion, or some other method to purify consciousness. What you feel is most appropriate at the moment will do. Afterwards something else will do: something that will seem most appropriate at that moment. Etc.

Whatever practice you perform, whatever religion you profess, sooner or later, in due time, you will see that all your problems and unfulfillment occur because of false identifications and other illusions of life. When there are no these identifications, you just watch this dream-movie about life, without worrying about what is happening on the screen. You are just a spectator, and you know that. It is as if you are in a state of light morning drowsiness: imagination still draws pictures, but you have already awoke and you know that it is only imagination, it is not Reality.

As soon as you become aware that you are not a character, not a cause, and not a doer, and you see that everything happens on its own, without your control, similar to a movie on the screen, by that moment is there anyone left who needs to practice something? Enjoy the free show, admire the stunning realism of what is taking place, and be free and happy!

This is the level of spiritual liberation, and it is already not far from enlightenment.

Discuss on the forum 

Accept Not Fight

All you need to do
is drop the idea
that you are doing
anything at all.
Annamalai Swami 

Let's talk about accepting as is, and about fighting the unacceptable.

So, "Accept Not Fight". Where would you put a comma when it comes to accepting your ego, yourself as a person, as a personality?

As I already said on the website, "accepting as is" is your nature as pure consciousness. This is not acceptance that occurs at the level of mind and has its opposite - rejection. At the level of mind, you accept or reject something, based on considerations of benefit, utility, or pleasure. As for true acceptance, it is absolute and unconditional, it is the very base of being, the very presence, pure universal I Am.

As pure consciousness, you accept everything unconditionally and totally, and such acceptance is not an action (remember, the soul does nothing), it is simply perception of what is. But you as a body-mind-personality, as a person, as a character of a dream-movie, accept or reject something, and in that case it is an action at the level of mind. Even when you do not accept something at the level of mind, you still accept it as a soul, as pure unconditioned consciousness.

Accepting and fighting something are elements of the game of life, but you as Brahman are at the base of all these games. You are their source, the root of all life, and absolute acceptance of everything that emanates from you. Because everything that emanates from you are You Yourself: there is no two. Nonetheless, to have an interesting game, even if just a dreamed one, there must be all these identifications, dualities, beliefs, contradictions, preferences, and hence acceptance or struggle - for the sake of achieving this or that game goal.

There is nothing wrong with playing the game called Life. Even if that game is only a seeming one. Even if you play alone, preferring not to know all of this for the sake of the thrill of the game and other pleasant or adrenaline boosted experiences. How else would you while away your eternity? What is wrong with the fact that you imagine a cosmic cycle of trillions of years in length, immerse yourself in these figments, identify with the dreamed characters and everything else, and have fun this way? What else is there to do?

And everything would be fine if not for how at some point you discover yourself to be a person, and then some crisis occurs, or something goes "wrong", or you start to feel sick from what is happening, or you no longer see the meaning of life, or something else like that takes place, and you become a seeker. A certain mechanism of awakening gets triggered, and your dream nears its end. You are still asleep, still identified with a person, but illusions begin to dissipate inexorably. It is not always pleasant and is often even painful, because you are tearing off the masks that have been ingrowing into you for trillions of years. You can see that everything is not what it seemed to you before, and your familiar, albeit illusory, world begins to crumble.

Accept yourself or fight yourself?

At a certain stage of spiritual growth, you begin to realize that you are suffering because of egoism that is growing out of the false ego. Then, accordingly, the idea comes to you that something must be done with the ego. Various religions, practices, and philosophies confirm this. You start using different means to overcome, destroy, or eradicate your ego - you perform austerities, do good deeds, recite mantras, read prayers, serve God, or try various practices. One way or another, your actions bring some results. And gradually your mind purifies enough to comprehend two very simple things:

The ego fights against itself, thereby sustaining its existence.

Since you are able to observe these two parts of the ego, you are neither one nor the other.

“Who is observing?” - this question becomes much more interesting than the endless war with the ego, and at that time you leave the level of “struggling with yourself” and rise higher. Now you can accept yourself as a person or personality to a greater extent, and even accept your “own” false ego. And the ego of others, by the way, too. Your ability to “accept as is” has increased because your consciousness got purified, and you no longer identify so strongly with perceived objects such as the body, mind, personality, roles, position in society, etc.

By observing the ego, you destroy it. Through simple observation and awareness. It burns in your awareness. And this happens by itself. Or this can be done with the help of suitable practices, for example, using the technique of personality erasing. This is no longer a struggle, this is an investigation, something on a higher level. But do not try to jump over the levels: if you consider yourself to be a body-mind-personality, then such practices in the process of their performing will be perceived as painful self-destruction. Therefore, if the use of such techniques does not yield good results or causes a lot of negative emotions, go back to your current level and do things that bring you a good result. You should see a result, and this result should please you and inspire. Don't be in a hurry, everything has its time. On the site I publish practices for different levels, there are universal ones too, you can pick out something suitable for yourself. Or ask on the forum.

As you purify your consciousness, you discover that in everyday life there is less struggle and more acceptance. More calmness. More positivity. Life becomes simpler and easier. Senseless worries disappear, the pursuit of illusions stops, you live in the moment now, feeling satisfied with what is, and not worrying about the future. You begin to understand that in this dream about life, everything is already taken care of, that you, at your very base, are not a doer, but only an observer that is always present. You relax and bliss out from watching the movie, even if at times it is not very good. This is all signs of you approaching Truth.

As you purify your mind, you are getting closer and closer to the awareness of your true nature - pure consciousness, Atman, soul. Then, when the mind calms down and ceases to divide Oneness into many, awareness of advaita arises: there are no two, everything is Brahman. And you are That. This is enlightenment.

Only a sincere desire to come to know Truth leads you to enlightenment; everything else is secondary and depends on this desire. The question is, are you really interested in Truth, or is there something more interesting? There are no barriers from Truth, the door to the home is open always and for everyone - at every moment now, in every place imaginable. You can exit at any time. If this is really what you want. Actually, you always have one foot in there. In fact, you are always and completely “there”, you are That, it is just that you are looking “here”, into the world of illusions, into your imagination, therefore it seems to you that you are here. The "fact" that you are “here”, in this dream world, is just an optical illusion with multidimensional special effects, and you seem to like it – everything is so realistic and exciting! Only your attention and interest are holding you here, nothing more. In fact, you are free. Absolutely free. Right now. And always will be because freedom is your eternal nature. Which is good news, isn't it?

In conclusion

Probably, reading this book took more than half an hour. But that said, if you read it to the end, that means it was at least interesting. Which is also not bad in itself))

So let's finish on this positive note. It was interesting to chat with oneself, right? :)

You can leave a review about the book on the forum. There, in suitable threads, you can also ask questions or just chat.

Finally, I want to ask the reader who would like to share the book, a separate chapter, or quote with others to leave a link to the source or indicate the book name and author in case someone would like to ask questions or have a talk.

Wish you the most speedy enlightenment, oh, Brahman in the role of the reader! Or further fascinating games, even if imaginary))

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