Transpersonal

"Transpersonal" means that some sort of process is occurring in the individual that, in a sense, goes beyond the individual. The simplest in-stance of this is extrasensory perception, or ESP. Parapsychologists rec-ognize several forms of ESP: telepathy, clairvoyance, precognition, retrocognition. We might also include out-of-body experiences, experi-ences of a transpersonal self or witness, peak experiences, and so on. What all of these events have in common is an expansion of the self/not-self boundary beyond the skin-boundary of the organism.

Saturn

I was talking about the restraining power of Saturn the other day with someone. I wonder which is more frustrating, enforced change toward an unknowable goal or preservation of an arbitrary standard?

Conditioning

It has not been yet demonstrated that all conditioning can be absolutely released into consciousness. This is the shining strength of the various paths of enlightenment in the western traditions; by shaping the course of the awakening with critical themes concentrated on, it is also possible to shape which remnants remain. Thus one might create archetypes such as Fates, Seers, the Western and Eastern magi and so forth. Where the East concentrates on the goal of total formlessness, the west offers individuation into an archetypal form before formlessness.

Abyss Mysticism

There is That which watches the arising and passing away of consciousness. When consciousness arises there then arises Thought, of which the first is I. Thus arises duality with Not I. And this is the Fall of Man. And the path again.

There it is folks, the secret of enlightenment in the Western Magical Tradition. When you understand it fully, the sleeper has awakened.

Magick vs. the East

The Western Magical Tradition has been criticized by adherents of Eastern enlightenment traditions such as Buddhism and Zen as not containing a valid initiatory path within the various systems extant today. Moreover, some critics continue, since almost all major religions contain at least one form of initiatory path, the modern earth-based religions such as Wicca that are common in the United States today which by dint of being created out of whole cloth do not contain such a path of development are doomed to not even being able to function adequately in those roles which religion has historically been noted for. 

In response, the  Western traditions note that the transcendental paths of Christianity, Judaism, Islam and others concentrate on removing those aspects of mortal man that obscure the hidden divinity. As those mortal thoughts are understood and purified, the faithful achieve the moment of Union where there is no will, but God’s will be done. By contrast the tradition of magic seeks to obtain knowledge and understanding of all, so that all may fall within the grasp of the Magician and he becomes One with all, creating and sustaining all and indeed inherent in all while being also separate. When all the starry sky is but a gleam in the eye of the Absolute, the adept has no will in any direction.

Said the Adept of the West to the Adepts of the East, “We both point to the same moon. Why are you staring at my finger?”.

NonDual Milestone

Saturday, April 3, 2010
On Thursday last I settled into my evening meditation as is my habit in the evening. The focus of this meditation was mindfulness, which is to say being the Silent Witness which observes objects arising in consciousness, observes those objects themselves and observes when those objects leave consciousness. Sometimes the Silent Witness observes those moments that have no perceptible objects in consciousness. As I remained as the Silent Witness, the frequency of objects arising in consciousness slowed down as is my experience, but then something unexpected happened.

As I existed as the Silent Witness, it was noted that there was an increasing sense of pressure in the skull, for all the world like a bubble was forming under the surface of thick oil and was slowly fighting its way to the top. This sensation increased, and the Silent Witness noted a growing feeling of unease and even fear from the ego, accompanied by a violent trembling of the body, concentrated in the arms and the musculature connecting the chest muscles and neck. I intuited this was a physical exhibition of the fear reaction being expressed by the ego. Nevertheless, the Silent Witness continued to observe and the meditation continued.

At length, the feeling of increasing pressure in my head decreased but did not stop, as if the “bubble” had swollen so as to contain less pressure, but the manifestations of body twitches continued. As the meditation concluded, I recognized that I was still embodying the Silent Witness, and I was aware of the ego and the sense of “I” as distinctly separate from the Silent Witness, reduced merely to objects in consciousness themselves.  This is not typical at the conclusion of a meditation but hardly unique in my experience; the initial experience of nondual consciousness is typically a single timeless moment lasting in reality perhaps a few seconds or even perhaps a half hour, but it is a temporary peak experience as compared to a stable and consequently permanent stage.  Those who wish to move forward from an isolated peak experience to a new stage of development often must spend considerable time and effort to encourage the ego to let go. I took care of some minor chores I had neglected earlier in the evening and eventually went to bed.
I remember distinctly when my body fell asleep. The Silent Witness noted the slowing of the breathing and heartbeat and eventually even noted the beginning of REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep. However, I was conscious during this entire interval, noting the arising of dreams and random thoughts as objects in consciousness. Eventually I awoke, remaining as the Silent Witness and still accompanied by the twitching of my musculature and the sensation of pressure in my head I went about my day.

During Friday I remained as the Silent Witness, performing my various tasks at work while the mirror that reflects all but keeps nothing remaining everpresent. My ego remained a useful tool, as it allowed me to become a person when the occasion demanded it but always the Silent Witness observed the activities my mind and body were performing. I found that certain changes had occurred; I noticed that my conditioned responses seemed muted or even absent, the impulse to eat food mechanically and without thought was absent, and various characteristic mannerisms such as a tendency to handle objects while thinking or even habitual jokes in response to certain social situations seemed absent as well. I noticed I now tended to remain motionless unless something required me to move, contrasting to my normal wont of changing position or otherwise fidgeting periodically. And always the implacable calm, objective, unchanging and unchangeable, existing in the eternal now while observing the world around me and the activities of my body and mind.
This persisted throughout the entire day. Only close to midnight did something happen that shocked me sufficiently to drive the Silent Witness from me.

Reactions to Nisargadatta

"Having realized that I am with, and yet beyond the world, I became free from all desire and fear. I did not reason out that I should be free, I found myself free, unexpectedly, without the least effort. This freedom from desire and fear remained with me since then. Another thing I noticed was that I do not need to make an effort; the deed follows the thought, without delay and friction. I have also found that thoughts become self-fullfilling; things would fall in place smoothly and rightly. The main change was in the mind; it became motionless and silent, responding quickly, but not perpetuating the response. Spontaneity became a way of life, the real became natural and the natural became real. And above all, infinite affection, love, dark and quiet, radiating in all directions, embracing all, making all interesting and beautiful, significant and auspicious."

"The person, the "I am this body, this mind, this chain of memories, this bundle of desires and fears" disappears, but something you may call identity remains. It enables me to become a person when required. "

 The above selections from the thought of Nisargadatta, a man of profound insight. Although not deliberately discussed in the above selection, his thoughts caused me to reflect on one aspect of the concept of nonduality. Nonduality literally means "not two", and the initial assumption is that nonduality therefore means "one" or "unity". This has been reinforced by similar slogans like "we are all one" and so forth, but this is only correct in a limited fashion.


When something is in unity, or one, that specifically means that there is no distinction between a portion and another portion. Two lumps of clay molded into a single lump would be an excellent example of this. However, the concept of unity itself is based on the assumption of at least the possibility of non-unity as a reference. Consider a mason jar full of air but tightly sealed. The air in the jar is certainly part of the total atmosphere of the earth, but is separate. When the seal is broken, it once more returns to being an undifferentiated part of the total atmosphere despite it's previous specific reference to being the air contained in my mason jar. 


This is the sum of our existence. The underlying matrix of reality I call Awareness, and is undifferentiated, infinite, extending without quality in all directions. When we are conceived we are part of that undifferentiated Awareness, but temporarily possess the phenomenal quality of physical existence and the birth of individuality and thought. When the body wears our, we return to the sea of Awareness. Was that sea of Awareness changed by our temporary incarnation? Absolutely not! How can something without qualities change in qualities? Awareness as described above can only be described specifically (in limited fashion) in the negative.

Earth Spider - Doing Nothing

Earth Spider, what are you doing? Is it hard? Why are you doing it?
Earth Spider is doing Nothing, and Nothing is the easiest thing in the world to do. How hard must you work to do Nothing? Only the work required to see what you are doing now instead of doing Nothing. When you realize that there is Nothing to do, and Nobody to do it, you will be ready to truly begin the work of doing Nothing.