satchitanda Archives - N-lightenment

As spiritual seekers we enjoy listening to or reading theories of awakening and enlightenment. We want to believe there is some sort of step-by-step plan we can follow and understand with our minds. That’s the way we’ve learned everything else in our life. If we’re honest with ourselves, we have to admit that it hasn’t really worked, at least not yet. But there’s always the hope that the next thing will, or perhaps it will if we’re a little more diligent in following the path we’ve already learned. At some point in this process at least a few of us will realize that it’s not working and it probably won’t.

This is rather disillusioning. If all these spiritual books and teachers can’t help me, what can?

A Much Simpler Approach

Let me suggest a much simpler approach that perhaps we’ve missed. And very likely we’ve missed it on purpose. 🙂

The reason that all these wonderful new spiritual theories and step-by-step practices haven’t really worked is that they’re all based on thoughts. And thoughts are not the solution. They’re the problem. Not thoughts themselves, but our belief and attachment to them.

The Zero Point

Let’s call freedom from all thoughts the “zero point”. It doesn’t mean there are no thoughts, but no thought is believed in, no thought is attached to. Thoughts have zero importance.

In spiritual terms this zero point is often called Samadhi and sometimes Sat-Chit-Ananda (Existence-Consciousness-Bliss).

Ramana Maharshi has said, “When the Self is realized, the world disappears.” This is an interesting comment and very true. And there is a simple explanation for it that has to do with how we perceive the world. We perceive the world through our thoughts about the world and the objects in it. Our first experience of this zero point is often the apparent disappearance of the world and all the objects in it. All objects we were previously seeing appear to have disappeared into a pure light. This may sound frightening, but it is anything but. It is Existence-Consciousness-Bliss.

An Experiment in Perception

Years ago I spontaneously discovered a little experiment. After years of meditation and a practice of letting go of attachment to thoughts I called “don’t know” mind, I discovered I could look at any object and, layer by layer, surrender every thought I had about it, name, form, color, function, connection, etc. When this was complete for that object, that object would at first become very blurry and then disappear completely into the background. I could no longer see it. As soon as a single thought about it reappeared it would immediately snap back into sharp focus.

This was fascinating to me so for a while I experimented with this with many objects in my perception. What it taught me was that I could not physically see an object as something separate from everything else without thoughts about that object. Without thoughts I could not separate an object from the background it appeared in front of. Without a thought, that object ceased to exist to my perceptions.

This also explains why the entire world and all objects cease to be perceivable at the zero point, Samadhi, Existence-Consciousness-Bliss. As Ramana says, “When the Self is realized, the world disappears.”

If you have not yet experienced this, then this will only be another thought to you. This is why all words are only useful as pointers, not Truth. Hopefully these words can point you to a little expansion, a little less attachment to and belief in words as Truth. And also a little better understanding of what your perceptions (sight, touch, sound, smell, taste, etc.) are made from, as well as a little better understanding of your thoughts and feelings and even sense of self.

All Matter is 99% Empty Space

Let me add here that physicists have long known that what we see as solid matter is actually 99% empty space. Hopefully this will give you even less confidence, attachment and belief in what you see and believe as reality. That is certainly what the experience of the zero point, Existence-Consciousness-Bliss, awakening or your True Self will do for you. It will leave your mind forever free of mental knowing. And this freedom is bliss. It is peace. It is unconditional love. It is True Knowing. It is Presence to what is in each moment.

Integration

The initial experience of this freedom from thoughts, what we call awakening, is so radically different from everything we have ever “known”, which we now realize was just a thought-based waking dream, that it takes some time for integration. Some rush this integration and too quickly develop thoughts and theories about what it is. They let their initial discomfort and unfamiliarity with being in a thought-free state of complete not knowing trigger them back into a thought-world, although now it is a “spiritual” or “awakened” thought-world. But this is still a thought-world. It is a new dream, but it is still a dream.

There is another option.

Obviously remaining fully in the zero-point / Samadhi is not going to work for functioning in this material plane. Without perceiving objects, we cannot function with them. So that is not really an option, at least not for long. We might call the practical second option a Middle Way or as I like to call it:

Living Awake

In Living Awake we are fully aware that our thoughts are not reality, are not Truth. They are just thoughts. In this way we live free of thoughts. We are fully aware that all our perceptions depend on these thoughts and so none of our perceptions are real. The world we perceive is an illusion, a dream depending entirely on thoughts. I understand how disorienting this will seem to those who still believe their thoughts and perceptions. What is there to trust? What is there to depend on? Nothing in the dream. But for one who has experienced the zero point, Samadhia, Existence-Consciousness-Bliss, the True Self, this is a life of complete freedom.

Living In The World But Not Of It

This is what it truly means to live in the world but not of it.

The world will always appear as a dream because of the way our brain and perceptions function. Reality can never be understood with the mind, thoughts or perceptions. When this is realized it is accepted. When this is accepted the dream no longer affects us, no longer causes any problems or suffering. Living Awake is living free.

Practical Applications

I understand that very few people have experienced the zero point as described above. And of the few who have few have spent enough time to fully integrate it. Of those who have not yet experienced this, there is a great deal of misunderstanding, attempted and believed mental understanding and flat out fear and resistance to letting go of the thought-world that completely.

Yet there are very practical applications for this understanding in every stage of consciousness and attachment.

True Healing

True and miraculous healing happens as soon as someone lets go of their attachment to the thoughts that create their suffering. It’s not something people are used to doing. But it is far less challenging than it might seem. I have helped many people do this with amazing results. It is only necessary to work with someone who is already free of thoughts.

Byron Katie

You can see how well this works in The Work of Byron Katie. Simply questioning these thoughts already gives some freedom. The more this freedom is experienced the more insight arises from direct experience about the true cause of suffering and freedom from suffering.

Presence and Mindfulness

As soon as anyone is free of thoughts, they are instantly fully Present. It might be said that Presence, mindfulness and being free of thoughts are the same thing.

Short Moments

It’s not necessary to experience full zero point. Even a short moment of freedom from thoughts is healing.

The Mantra

The most powerful mantra I know of is “I don’t know.” If understood and accepted fully this mantra brings instantaneous freedom. We have been carrying an enormous burden of layers of thoughts. Each year of our life we have added to this burden. We call it knowledge. The simple understanding that these are nothing but thoughts, and that thoughts are only representations of reality, not reality, can free us instantly from this burden. The freedom of this mantra “I don’t know”, fully understood and accepted, is amazing.

Do not worry. We don’t lose this knowledge. It doesn’t vanish. All we lose is the illusion that this knowledge is anything more than layer after layer of thoughts. In this realization and acceptance, we are free to experience the truth of life as it is without the heavy filters of thoughts that were in the way and prevented us from experiencing it. We were taught that the more knowledge we had the closer we would come to Truth. Life shows us that the opposite is true.

Thoughts Are Not the Problem

It doesn’t mean thoughts are not useful. They are. This is how we learn. This is how our culture was and is created. This is how we form our personal separate identity. The problem is that we believe these thoughts are more than thoughts. We believe they are reality. We believe they are Truth, just as we believe what we perceive with our eyes is reality, not a dream created with our thoughts.

The Dream

All spiritual seekers have heard that life is a dream. Perhaps now you are beginning to understand what that means. It’s not life that’s a dream. It’s our thoughts and perceptions of life that are a dream. It we want to truly experience the miracle of what life is, we only have to let go of our belief in and attachment to all the thoughts we have about it.

There is a lot of misunderstanding about the term Bliss. Most people think of it as a form of great and continuous happiness or joy or ecstasy. That’s not exactly it. Bliss is simply very high frequency energy and our awareness of it. Yes, it feels wonderful so the connection with enormous happiness or joy or ecstasy is understandable. But that’s not what it is. There is a different quality about it.

Bliss is a natural experience of our awakening. Ramana Maharshi describes it as Sat-Chit-Ananda (Existence – Consciousness – Bliss). When we reach the higher stages of awakening, Bliss is always here. It may not always be in the foreground of our attention but it is always felt in the background. The energy is felt and experienced in the body. It is as if every cell and molecule is vibrating at a very high frequency. It is as if the body has become an enormous tuning fork. It can be quite intense at the beginning, almost overwhelming. You can see why you may mistake this for ecstasy.

The intensity can be so strong in the beginning you don’t know if your physical body can handle it. But it does. There’s nothing to worry about. The body actually adjusts and changes to accommodate this higher frequency energy. And this adjustment seems to be very beneficial, healing and healthy for the body. It is almost as if it is making it younger, healthier and more flexible. And perhaps it is. That has been my experience, as I seem healthier at 67 then I was in my 30s. That’s how it seems, but perhaps that’s just my imagination.

The Body

The body appears to be lighter, weightless really, as if gravity has no effect on it. It still does of course, so this is just the experience. It may explain the experience of and belief in levitation, which I have never physically seen so far. But this experience of weightlessness does feel like this. And the body appears to be made of light and energy rather than solid matter. It appears to be glowing with light, consisting of nothing but light. There is a certain radiance about it that other people can actually see. This is often referred to as the Light Body. It is sometimes referred to as another body besides the physical body, as if there were two or more bodies, the Light Body hovering outside and around the physical body. My experience is that it is the same body, just perceived and experienced in a very different way. The physical body is the old way of experiencing the body.

Bliss is a wonderful experience and it does seem to increase with the expansion of Consciousness. More and higher frequency energy seems to be experienced. And the body quickly adjusts to this new level. Many physical changes seem to correspond with each new level. And the energy does seem to affect others as well.

When attention is placed on this energy, it can be very intense. When attention is directed otherwise, it simply continues simmering and vibrating in the background.

Happiness, Joy, Ecstasy

The connection with extreme happiness, joy or ecstasy is understandable. But that is just an interpretation of Bliss. Happiness, joy and ecstasy come and go. They are not experienced as permanent states of consciousness. And there is usually some external event that triggers them. Bliss is always experienced as being here and there is no external event to trigger it.

Bliss might be thought of more as “life force energy”. Life force energy is always here or life would not be. And Bliss is also always here, not separate from life itself. It is experienced in the body or through the body, but it can also be sensed everywhere.

Everything is Energy

When people say everything is energy, Bliss is the direct experience of this. Attention has turned to this energy and energy is experienced more prominently than physical matter. It is realized that all physical matter, not only this body, is pure energy. What, previous to this level of awakening, was experienced as physical matter is now experienced as energy with the appearance of physical matter to the more limited human senses of sight, hearing and touch. And even these limited senses are also directly experienced as pure energy.

Bliss appears to be fundamental to our basic nature. The inquiry which has become second nature to me by now, “What is aware of this?” dissolves everything that is not fundamental. When asked of Bliss, “What is aware of this energy?” instead of dissolving, the energy simply increases. That, for me, has always been a sign of a fundamental nature. The other clue is that it does not come and go. It is always here, whether attention is on it fully or not. For years, it simply has been my experience of life.

I caution about making a big deal about Bliss, searching for it or trying to attain it as if it were some kind of spiritual reward or goal. I imagine that is a pretty reliable way of never experiencing it. Just continue doing your practices, letting go of stories and opening to the Unknown. When you are ready for it, it will simply appear. And you will realize that, although you were not aware of it previously, it was actually always here, like life force energy or the energy that holds your body’s molecules together and makes your cells function. When you are aware of it, you can call it Bliss or whatever you like.

Bliss Without a Body

I realize now that the experience of bliss is not actually an experience or awareness of bliss, but it is actually the being of bliss. And it has nothing to do with a body. In Nirvakalpa Samadhi, there is no longer the experience of a body, mind, or world. There is only pure being itself. And pure being is bliss. This is why bliss is continuous and unchanging. It is quite literally what we are. Bliss can be experienced while there is still awareness of the body, as it is in earlier stages of Samadhi or Kenshos (brief, temporary awakenings). But it does not depend on a body, or even consciousness, as it is what we are. It is being itself and has no dependence on or relationship to the dream of form.

A Taste of Bliss

Bliss is usually experienced in the later stages of awakening, but you may experience it earlier. You may have already done so. In a moment of great freedom, when for just a moment all stories have fallen away, you may notice this powerful, vibrating energy. Your mind may even first interpret it as a powerful fear, even fear of your own death. If in that moment, you can let go of this story too, let go of all stories, return to this freedom before all stories, you may experience, savor and surrender to something that has always been here without your noticing. And that will be a glorious day indeed. This realization will not come as you expect it to. Does anything? Keep letting go, be diligent about all practices that help you let go and, above all, pay attention. What you are seeking has always been right here under your nose and far closer and more intimate than that.

You will eventually discover that underneath every feeling you experience, there is this same Bliss. It doesn’t matter what that feeling is: fear, depression, anger, jealousy, doubt, anxiety, happiness, joy, ecstasy, even love as you now know love. Underneath all of this is Bliss. If you are able to let go of the story that supports and creates these feelings, you will find Bliss. It is always here. When I say, “Love as you now know it.” I am not speaking of love as the fundamental state of being you will also discover.

Return to the Map of Consciousness

Return to True Oneness

Is Life a Dream?