I am 'Spirit' - Self-Realization Meditation Part 2

  'The Many Faces of the One' unpublished esoteric writings of an aging yogi.

 

ONLY GOD is REAL

 

        Now for part 2 of the I-am 'Spirit' - Self-realization Meditation exercise.

 

Personally as an embodied self, I'd like to think there will come a time in the very near future when we can all see beyond the confines, illusions, fears and limiting-identities of the mind/body experience and all the self-importance and neediness of the conceptual and conditioned world, and potentially embrace and share conventional life as one transcendental and deathless 'Spirit'. Admittedly, humanity might not manage to endure indefinitely but pure 'Spirit' is untouched, boundless, inexhaustible, ever-present and eternal, and so too its endless and impersonal myriad and diversity of expressions, forms, phenomena, realms and worlds. Who am I to say what will happen to the coming future of humanity? The only certainty I am confident of, is that Only God is Real as the ever-present 'I-am'. Beyond this I am left with little or nothing to say on how we should all live out our embodied lives. Although I certainly cannot rule out the benefit and reward of living life from a higher state of consciousness. 

 

I recognize and know with certainty that the beauty, bliss, peace, immortality, purity, plenitude, love, wonder and freedom of the deathless pure 'Spirit' is ever-present in our lives even if we are too materially and physically caught up and busy with our individualized embodied lives to be aware of it or know it. The truth and identity of pure 'Spirit' is there with us all, endlessly giving life to all things, free of attachment, judgement, lack and rejection. It is that which has witnessed and known all the changes, conditions and challenges of our impersonal and temporary embodied individualized lives and yet it forever remains unchanged, free, unthreatened and unmoved by all that is and has taken place. It alone is all things. All is the Self, filled with the Self, by the Self and forever remaining as the Self. All is 'emptiness'. 

It simply remains silent, timeless and still as the unchanging, unborn, timeless and unmoving Deathless Self and allowing all life and sentient lives to freely and abundantly play and act themselves out. It asks nothing of us for it is already whole, perfected, fulfilled, blissful, plentiful and complete in and of itself, and yet this unborn, ageless and undying pure 'Spirit' can be endlessly expressed and shared in all things - a song, a dance, in service, in love, in movement, in stillness, in solitude, with others and in silence. All of conditioned and conceptual life is transcendental and of  pure 'Spirit'. Only God is Real. This is the ever-present light of Self.

It is not my individualized worldly agenda or mission to attempt to prove or argue a philosophical or spiritual point as to gain favor or agreement with anyone or to attract anyone's personal attention, recognition or praise in these spiritual contemplative writings and works on Atman-Yoga. This too is simply life playing and acting itself out, as to freely live and express the truth and identity of pure 'Spirit' as best as it can for the sake of its own impersonal and immaculate self-expression. 'Spirit' remains as it is, regardless of what is done or not done. Its nature, state, identity and essence is not changed by all that comes and goes, or is done and not done. It alone is - unchanging and whole as it is.

 

Perhaps humanity will endure and move beyond its own self-importance, selfishness and sometimes damaging illusions and ideas of self-grandeur and potentially the world will be a far better place for it. Simply to live and love with the transcendental knowledge, freedom and truth of pure 'Spirit' without the attachment or need of self-importance, power, ownership of others, greed, authority, status, control and superiority over others. To simply see and know the beauty, purity, plenitude, unity and innocence of the deathless and eternal 'Spirit' in all things, and to freely live, act and love from this transcendental and formless platform of Self-realization and Spiritual-awakening. No limited identity. No agenda. No stance. No demands. No division. No self-importance. No spiritual ignorance. No authority. The simple purity, knowledge and grace of 'Spirit'. The truth that 'Only God is Real' as the eternal 'I-am'.

                     I am Spirit - Self-realization Meditation Part 2

    I am Spirit. I am free.

What does it matter if I am liked or disliked? What does it matter if I am viewed or seen as good or bad, right or wrong, pure or impure? What does it matter if I am the target of praise or blame, fame or misfortune, affection or ill-will? I am not the false impression of doer-ship or the duality of subject and object. I am not the ever-changing mental and physical activities of the mind and body. I am not the appearance and disappearance of all creation, and its myriad of forms and phenomena. These things do not limit me or imprison me. They cannot hurt me or destroy me. They do not define me.

I am free from praise and blame, fame and misfortune, affection and ill-will. I am free from good and bad, right and wrong, pure and impure. I am free from guilt, shame, elation and sorrow, gain and loss, fear and certainty. I am free from the ever-changing mental and physical activities of the mind and body. I am free from the false impressions of doer-ship and the duality of subject and object. I am free from the appearance and disappearance of all creation, and its myriad of forms and phenomena. These things do not limit me or imprison me. They cannot hurt me or destroy me. They do not define me.

    I am Spirit. I am free.

I am free from struggle and the end of struggle. I am free from suffering and the end of suffering. I am free of the worldly forces of attraction and repulsion, expansion and contraction, creation and destruction. I am free from ignorance and the end of ignorance. I am free from existence and non-existence. I am free form action and in-action, emptiness and fullness, comfort and discomfort. I am completely free from the appearance and disappearance of all forms and phenomena. These things do not limit me or imprison me. They cannot hurt me or destroy me. They do not define me.

    I am Spirit. I am free.

This is the ultimate truth of who and what I am. I am Spirit. I am free. Always have been and always will be. What does it matter if I exist and have form because worlds come and go; phenomena appear and disappear; forms begin and end. This includes the body and mind, objects of mind and mind-consciousness. This includes the false impression of doer-ship and the ever-changing mental and physical activities of the mind and body. This includes the duality of subject and object, and the appearance and disappearance of all creation and its ever-changing myriad of forms sand phenomena.

All sensory realms of experience and phenomena are impermanent, impersonal and imperfect. Here for a limited time only. I am not the false impression of doer-ship. I am not the ever-changing mental and physical activities of mind and body. I am not the duality of subject and object. I am not the worldly criteria of mind and body, or mind-consciousness. I am not the appearance and disappearance of all creation and its ever-changing myriad of forms and phenomena. These things do not limit me or imprison me. They cannot hurt me or destroy me. They do not define me.

    I am Spirit. I am free.

I am free to be myself - pure 'Spirit'. So I offer this spiritual affirmation and incantation of complete Self-realization that pure 'Spirit' partakes in all these things and yet it is free all these things. I offer the spiritual affirmation and incantation that states:

              I am Spirit. I am free. All is Spirit. All is free.

This is the message of Atman-yoga. Only God is real. Abide as this truth in all things.

I am the 'I-am' of I am.

        Pure 'Spirit' is what we are and not something we have to become and be. Blessings to you all.

Atman-Yoga Daily Mantra: "I am. Life is. I am one with all life and all life is one with me. Oneness in body. Oneness in mind. Oneness in all things."

Atman-Yoga Daily Meditation: 'Only God is Real.'

Song of the Deathless Yogi:

                                        I am 'emptiness'. All is 'emptiness'. 'Emptiness' is all. 

                                    Form is 'emptiness'. Only 'emptiness'. 'Emptiness' is form'.

This esoteric blog is dedicated to my earthly mother 'Rita' who transitioned on the 12th December 2021.

I am 'Spirit' - Self-Realisation Meditation Part 1

What is this?

Who am I?

'The Many Faces of the One' the unpublished esoteric writings and works of an aging yogi.

 

BEING AWAKE

 

            I am 'Spirit'. I am free. Only God is Real as the ever-present 'I-am'. All is this!

I am the 'I-am' of I am.

 

What follows in this particular Atman-Yoga article is part 1 of the 'I-am pure 'Spirit' Self-realization Meditation' first written, compiled and completed in 2015 after a sustained period of deep meditative contemplation on the real nature, source and essence of reality, experience and identity.

As you may have seen and potentially read I have already added and used selected parts of this 'I-am pure 'Spirit' Self-realization Meditation' exercise in the previous articles on Atman-Yoga, and yet I feel it should be presented here in full as it was originally written, compiled and intended. 

 

Obviously what is presented here to all you aspiring and committed atman-yogis in all these spiritual and contemplative articles and exercises on Atman-Yoga can only be viewed as a tiny literary drop or fragment in a vast and infinite ocean of spiritual insight and transcendental self-expression, wisdom and esoteric communication. What is written and offered here can only really hint and give us a potential mental flavor, idea and taste at what is intuitively and experientially realized and known beyond the confines, illusions, projections and limitations of worldly concepts, constructs, principles, beliefs, opinions, ideas, views, labels and words. For me, this transcendental, permanent and unconditioned stillness, silence, peace, immortality, love, plenitude, bliss and freedom of eternal 'Spirit' is always present in all life, here and now, and always. 

For me, it is the very unborn essence, presence and undying source and origin of life and experience itself, and yet, for the most part, our individualized worldly embodied mind/body experience is somewhat clouded by all that is appearing, changing and disappearing in our temporary earthly embodied lives as the on-going and ever-changing dramas, situations, conditions, experiences and events that we live, act and play out.

 

I can assure you all as a temporary and embodied physical form of humanity my life does not present anything particular unique, special or out of the ordinary. As an embodied self, I am, at present, fully and quietly engaged in conventional and everyday life, and yet my passion and commitment to the truth and identity of pure 'Spirit' and the esoteric nature of reality, experience and identity has remained at the heart of all that I embody, live, act and do, even when life is messy, demanding, hard, complex and challenging. I can assure all who take the time to read and contemplate these unpublished collected esoteric writings and works titled 'The Many Faces of the One', I have very much lived and tested these spiritual insights and conclusions of Atman-Yoga beyond the safe haven and refuge of the meditation cushion and retreat environment and I am eternally grateful for every situation, teaching and teacher that has expectantly or unexpectantly come my way to incite and challenge the authenticity of these contemplative and meditative writings, works and insights on Atman-Yoga. 

I simply attempt to present and offer this spiritual blog as a form of genuine and heart-felt gratitude and reflection to all who have inspired me and supported me to fully awaken from the worldly sleep of ignorance into the perennial truth of reality, experience and identity. For me to simply ignore all that is happening in the world today and not to seek to contribute something worthwhile in response to all this, would certainly be my greatest failing in life and I can assure you as a temporary embodied form of humanity I would be considered and viewed by many to have many so-called worldly failings. And yet I know in truth I am not these things. These things do not define or limit that that I am.

In the perennial philosophy and universal truth of Atman-Yoga, the Deathless Self, pure 'Spirit' is the one and absolute unchanging, untouched, boundless, ever-present and unmoving witness and transcendental principle and source of all that is known, embodied and experienced in life, and yet these compiled and presented words and articles can never really do it complete justice. Like I have already stated, they can only potentially hint at that which is always present and true in our lives, whether we know it intimately and experientially or not. I am not assuming that these articles alone will have the miraculous power and wish fulfilling magic to suddenly send you or anyone into a spiritual and esoteric state of samadhi or nirvana, or pure boundless consciousness. I would never be this foolish or self-assuming. Although I would like to think that compiling and presenting the simplicity of this universal philosophy and perennial truth on Atman-Yoga with the simple repeated line of, 'Only God is Real' it might potentially stir and awaken the self-inquiring esoteric mind to seek to fully wake up from its material and earth bound sleep, and to discover the one absolute, ever-present and unchanging source, state, identity and essence of eternal and unconditional bliss, peace, love, beauty, immortality, well-being, plenitude, wholeness and freedom. It seeks nothing and demands nothing, and yet at the same time it is everything, everywhere and everyone.

It is the 'I-am' of I am and I am That, 'I-am'.

 

I can confidently and knowingly say that this universal truth of pure 'Spirit' is not hindered, threatened, affected, lessened or destroyed by the ever-changing conditions, forms, situations and dramas of conditioned and conceptual life. No matter what appearances might be, pure 'Spirit' is never in bondage, lacking or limited or in any need of liberation. Whether it be in the reclusive mountains or caves of the Himalayas or the hustle and bustle of the suburbs and streets of metropolitan towns and cities this perennial truth of pure 'Spirit' is as it is - unhindered, unmoving, free, untouched, plentiful, realized, perfect, whole and unchanging, and all alone is this. What you will read me call 'emptiness' or reality. It is the 'I-am' of I am.

As it is, pure 'Spirit', abides and transcends the confines and limitations of conditionality, conceptual reality, forms and the mind/body experience. Therefore it is not reliant on certain situations, circumstances, phenomena or events to be present. It is completely self-reliant, self-fulfilling and self-sufficient. Whether we take refuge and solitude in a secluded and reclusive cave or in the thick and everyday demands and challenges of conventional and everyday life, pure 'Spirit' is what it is, and its nature, state, identity and essence remains unchanged, unhindered, unthreatened, ever-present and unmoved by all that is and all that is not. This is the true paradox that spiritual Self-inquiry and Self-realization presents to all humanity in us understanding and knowing the way things really are and recognizing and realizing it is not the things of this world in themselves that are the cause of our unhappiness and suffering, but it is our ignorance of the absolute truth, identity and essence of pure 'Spirit', and that 'Only God is Real' as the ever-present 'I-am'. 

This is the transcendental truth of reality, experience and identity that embodies and holds all things and yet is always free of all things. It seeks nothing and demands nothing, and yet it is everything and therefore it is fulfilled, whole, plentiful and complete in all things. It is free of space, time and form and therefore complete as it is. It need not become and be anything. It need not acquire or have anything. It is complete, whole and fulfilled in and of itself. It is Absolute.

 

I can assure you we cannot permanently rely on that which changes as a reliable form and source of refuge, certainty and self-assurance, and yet in full-awakening to the grace and truth of pure 'Spirit' we can certainly delight in all worldly and unworldly things with freedom, love, plenitude, compassion, peace, gratitude, wonder and wisdom . For me, true self-reliance and self-assurance can only come from abiding in the truth and presence of pure 'Spirit' as the one real source, state, identity and essence of all that is. Nothing needs to happen and yet everything can happen. Nothing needs to change and yet everything can change. Nothing need be done and yet all things can be done. All alone is pure 'Spirit' as it is. It is this spiritual awakening and esoteric truth that reveals to us all that we are already one with all life, for we are life itself in all its brutal beauty, wonder and divine grace. The Deathless Self alone is as the ever-present 'I-am'. This is the light of the true Self.

I am the 'I-am' of I am.

 

Please consider this following statement, as strange and alien as it might sound to you, "you do not need to look for love for you are love itself. You do not need to look for peace, for you are peace itself. You do not need to look for freedom, for you are already free. You do not need to become and be whole, for you are already whole and complete as you are. You do not need to seek immortality for immortality is the one true essence and nature of all that is." Of this I am certain. 

What we seek, we already are. Only God is Real. This is the absolute and unsurpassable truth and message of Atman-Yoga. In fully-awakening we are ask to live and abide as this ever-present truth. Should we abide in and as this truth, peace, love, beauty, immortality, plenitude and freedom will live with us always. Nothing to fear in life or death for 'Only God is Real' as the eternal 'I-am'. Nothing need happen and yet everything can happen. Nothing need change and yet everything can change. Nothing need be done and yet all things can and are done. This is the message of Atman-Yoga. All reality. experience and identity are 'emptiness'.

              

                     I am Spirit - Self-realization Meditation exercise Part 1

    I am Spirit. I am free. 

 

I am not the roles I play. I am not the actions I perform or the experiences I have. These things do not limit me or imprison me. They cannot hurt me, touch me or destroy me.

    I am Spirit. I am free.

 

I am free from the roles I play. I am free from the actions I perform, and I am free from the experiences I have. These things do not limit me or imprison me. They cannot hurt me, touch me or destroy me. They do not define me.

    I am Spirit. I am free.

I am not the thoughts I think. I am not the feelings and moods I have. These things do not limit me or imprison me. They cannot hurt me, touch me or destroy me.

 

I am free from all thoughts. I am free from the feelings and moods I have. These things do not limit me or imprison me. They cannot hurt me, touch me or destroy me. They do not define me.

    I am Spirit. I am free. 

I am free from eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind. I am free from sight, sound, smell, taste, touch and all objects of mind. I am free from all sensory realms of experience including mind-consciousness. These things do not limit me or imprison me. They cannot hurt me, touch me or destroy me. They do not define me.

I am not eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind. I am not sight, sound, smell, taste, touch and objects of mind. I am not mind-consciousness. I am not the mental and physical activities of the mind and body. These things do not limit me or imprison me. They cannot hurt me, touch me or destroy me. They do not define me.

    I am Spirit. I am free.

I am free from space, time and form. I am free form birth, old age, decay, sickness and death. I am free from all worldly and unworldly phenomena, be they favorable or unfavorable, pleasing or unpleasant, rewarding or disappointing, easy or challenging. These things do not limit me or imprison me. They cannot hurt me, touch me or destroy me. They do not define me.

I am not space, time and form. I am not birth, old age, decay, sickness and death. I am not the appearance and disappearance of worldly and unworldly phenomena. I am not the duality of subject and object. These things do not limit me or imprison me. They cannot hurt me, touch me or destroy me. They do not define me.

    I am Spirit. I am free.

 

I am free from past, future and present. I am free from all perceptions, constructs, concepts, conditions and circumstances. I am free from the appearance and disappearance of all creation and its ever-changing myriad of forms and phenomena. I am free from the duality of subject and object. I am free from all sensory realms of experience including mind-consciousness. These things do not limit me or imprison me. They cannot hurt me, touch me or destroy me.

I am free from all opinions, views, labels and names. I am free from how others see or think of me. I am free from how I see or think of myself. These things do not limit me or imprison me. They cannot hurt me, touch me or destroy me. They do not define me.

I am not how others see or think of me. I am not how I see or think of myself. I am not the appearance and disappearance of all creation, and its ever-changing myriad of forms and phenomena. I am not the ever-changing mental and physical activities of the mind and body. I am not the false impression of doer-ship or the duality of subject and object. I am not mind-consciousness. These things do not limit me or imprison me. They cannot hurt me, touch me or destroy me. They do not define me.

          I am Spirit. I am free.

Here I shall end part 1 of this 'I am 'Spirit' Self-realization Meditation exercise'. 

Please remember this came about as a genuine consequence and reward of continued and sustained spiritual self-inquiry and contemplation into the true nature of reality, experience and identity, and it cannot replace the importance and need of one's own self-inquiry into the true nature and essence of reality, experience and identity. It is only offered here as a source of spiritual motivation and support to fully waken us from our earthly sleep of ignorance and to be fully awake as pure 'Spirit'. 

Forever in the love, peace, plenitude, freedom, bliss, beauty, wonder, truth and grace of the one true reality and identity, pure 'Spirit', that partakes in all things and yet is free of all things.

To love is to be free of wanting. 

Thank you to all who take the time to read, support and share these spiritual contemplative articles and exercises. May they inspire and excite you to awaken and to be free from all the limiting and painful illusions of conditioned and conceptual reality. May the light of the Self shine bright in us all. I'll meet you all in love me land.

I am the 'I-am' of I am.

Atman-Yoga Daily Mantra: "I am. Life is. I am one with all life and all life is one with me. Oneness in body. Oneness in mind. Oneness in all things."

 

Atman-Yoga Daily Meditation: 'Only God is real.'

Song of the Deathless Yogi:

                                        I am 'emptiness'. All is 'emptiness'. 'Emptiness' is all. 

                                    Form is 'emptiness'. Only 'emptiness'. 'Emptiness' is form'.

This esoteric blog is dedicated to my earthly mother 'Rita' who transitioned on the 12th December 2021. A truly selfless, kind, beautiful and loving embodied soul, friend and mother. 

The Many Faces of the One

What is this?

Who am I?

The Many Faces of the One - article 14  - the unpublished esoteric writings of an aging yogi.

"I am eternal 'Spirit'. Eternal 'Spirit' is all, and all is eternal 'Spirit'. Nothing to gain. Nothing to lose. Nothing to become. Nothing to be. Nothing to create. Nothing to destroy. Nothing to realize. Nothing to be realized. Nothing need happen, and yet everything can and will happen. Nothing need change and yet everything can and will change. All is free and eternal 'Spirit'. Simply this.

"I fully recognize the true existence of an infinite, divine and perfect intelligence which gives life and order to the universe and all things. This perfect divine intelligence is the one and permanent source of all power and plenitude. This intelligence can help me overcome and remove any and all obstacles. I stand firm in my faith and trust in this perfect intelligence as the answer and fulfilment of every need in all areas and facets of my life. I fully honor and share in the vision and truth of this perfect intelligence and divine order. This divine intelligence is the sole provider and fulfiller of every need. With this intelligence I am fully blessed and fulfilled in all things. I radiate pure 'Spirit' at all times, in all places and in all my thoughts and actions. I am always deeply connected and at one with pure 'Spirit'. OM, shanti, shanti, shanti. 'I-am', peace, peace peace.

       continuing from article 13

PURE INTELLIGENCE

Self-realization is to fully seek and know that which is not acquired therefore it can not be taken away. In spiritual Self-realization it is only our investment in the experience and knowing of the source that is of the most importance, and therefore all other experiences are secondary, transitory and fleeting. For most of us our identity comes from what is formed, changing and temporary. We are fooled or should I say the individualized mind is fooled by what is not real as being real. We have simply forgotten our true identity with the Absolute because our identity is strongly attached to the conditioned and phenomenal world of things and constructs. 

        'I-am'. Life is. Where do I begin and where do I end?

If the mistaken and false feeling of 'I-am-the-doer' or 'I-am-the-body' that is not real and yet the 'I' though of 'I-am' appears to be real to us, and gives the temporary and false impression that 'I' exist in relationship to the conditioned and conceptual sensory realms of experience and experiencing then what really is the true reality, identity or essence of  'me' or 'I'? Is reality and identity really all one reality and identity? Should I not ask myself, where does suffering begin and where does it end? How do 'I' transcend the limits and fears of this conditioned and conceptual world?

For me, the spiritual endeavor of Self-realization is realizing and returning to the recognition and knowing of our identity with the Deathless Self. This being the selfless and impersonal origin and source of all experience. This truth transcends suffering and the end of suffering. It is beyond the confines of good and bad, right and wrong, pure and impure and all dualistic experience. This Self-realization and Spiritual-awakening is the returning and knowing of the true original undying and unchanging Deathless Self, pure 'Spirit'. It is the one true and infinite source, identity and reality of all creation and its myriad of forms, constructs and phenomena. However much we might acquire in life, be it worldly possessions, success, fame, status, money, power, or authority we can still be left dissatisfied and unhappy with all that life is or is not. 

In our humanity, people love, people hate, people build, people destroy, people give, people take away, people lead, people follow, people rise and people fall. This is the ever-changing way of things. Due to the unsatisfactory nature of the dramas and challenges of life we in our humanity seek something that transcends and frees us from the the trappings and miseries of this phenomenal world of things and phenomena. It can pose the question, "why should we exist when existence itself can be an unwelcomed burden of suffering and hardship to so many? Yes, this burden is the illusion of our false identity, and yet we are mostly ignorant of this in the hustle and bustle of our day-to-day lives. So I say again and again, the essential aim of Atman-Yoga is fully realizing and knowing our true identity with the Absolute; that which transcends and is free of the mind/body experience and all their associated mental and physical activities and impressions. It is to take full possession and ownership of that which is beyond the confines and trappings of the mind/body experience. This is the greatest possession, or should I say treasure, we could ever possess and have. The truth and knowing of our true nature, identity and essence. Completely identifying and taking ownership of that which is Pure Being underlying all that is and all that will ever be. Again presenting the question of, 'Who am I?' Who am I that resides in and has experience? What is this?

                                                           THE KNOWING OF SELF

What follows are some of the questions I have faced in the challenge of revealing and recognizing who we truly are: - "Where do I begin and where do I end?" Who or what am I in relationship to experience? Who is it that suffers and seeks the end of suffering? Who is this that can feel so burden and troubled by the what the world is and all its demands? Why is experience not more permanently fulfilling in and off itself? Why is it that existence and existing are so flawed and burdening to the mind/body experience? What is the pursuit and fulfilling of spiritual Self-realization really going to do for us when so much of the world is built on consumerism, self-gratification, self-centeredness and self-importance? What is the true purpose of existing when existence itself can burden so many? It is a harsh awakening that the self-importance placed on sensory objects and our need to have permanent pleasure, reward and gratification in them is really of our own making and therefore flawed. It is not imposed by the things or situations themselves. It is us who expect it. 

Only the Deathless Self is real, and all phenomena that we ordinarily identify with and emotionally invest in as real is mostly unreal. This includes the mind/body experience and their associated mental and physical activities and impressions. Only the one undying and original source is real, and when fully recognized and known as the Deathless Self all other phenomena are seen as a temporary expression of the Real in a myriad, diversity and multitude of forms. So what reality really is, is nothing and everything. It is called the Real because it is unchanging and eternal. It is not limited or confined by space, time and form. This is what is meant by the statement and conclusion that only the Deathless Self is real. What we ordinarily identify with and attach to are only temporary and empty projections and constructs of our true undying essence and identity. When we purposely and intensely investigate things for what they truly are we soon begin to realize the impersonal and empty nature of these temporary appearances that have no independent or intrinsic nature or essence of their own. 

This is the removal of the ignorance of the unmade and unchanging Self as the essence, identity and source of all experience, experiencing and phenomena. It is all the Absolute seen and experienced in a multiple and myriad of changing forms, constructs and phenomena. Worldly phenomena in and off themselves lack the genuine capacity and power to permanently make us feel whole, fulfilled and complete. By their very transient nature we are continuously left dissatisfied and therefore compelled to follow blindly our impulses, urges and cravings to desire and have more to attempt to remove this feeling of dissatisfaction. This is the never-ending dualistic cycle of wanting more and never being completely satisfied. It is what is traditionally and spiritually known as samsara.

                                              ESCAPING THE WHEEL OF SAMSARA

Atman-Yoga suggests to us that we are already whole, fulfilled, worthy and complete despite the worldly appearance of lack, unworthiness, fear and neediness. We are already free and unburdened by all that is. It is only the false identification and attachment to the phenomenal world that burdens the 'soul'. Realizing and knowing the Real from the unreal in an intimate and liberating way fully presents us with the recognition and knowing that only the Absolute, pure 'Spirit', is real and eternal. This is the truth and reality of pure 'Spirit'. The unmade and unchanging Self is the real, and the universe and all its myriad of creations, constructs and phenomena are the unreal. In the Self-realization and Spiritual knowledge of the Absolute the awakened mind realizes its true identity with pure 'Spirit'. Like a wave that becomes one with the ocean having always been one with the ocean. Despite its appearance as a wave it is and always was one with the ocean. It never truly left the ocean. The wave and the ocean are in fact one. The wave is the ocean and the ocean is the wave. Separateness is the illusion, as is the individuality of the wave. So the wave is never really lost as it was always one with the ocean. No longer does the awakened individualized self mistakenly identify itself with the mind/body experience as who and what we are. It recognizes and knows it true identity with the Absolute. The awakened and individualized mind realizes and knows with unshakable certainty the impersonal and unreal nature of the mind/body experience. What is know as non-doer-ship, or ego-lessness. I prefer 'emptiness'. Like the wave that was always the ocean, there is the realization that there is no intrinsic and separate permanent self who does things and gets things done. It is all the playing out of the senses as the mind/body experience. Nothing more. 

The awakened individualized mind knows the one true origin, identity and source of all creation and phenomena as the Absolute. It no longer relates to experience and experiencing in a personal and needy way. It is all the impersonal and selfless act of the one reality. This one reality and identity being the act, the actor and its play. Whether this be in ignorance or knowing of the Absolute. Both the sinner and the saint belong to the real. Both the tyrant and the savior are waves in the ocean of supreme consciousness. This complete and unsurpassable spiritual Self-realization and esoteric awakening is in a fully conscious and unbroken way, whilst continuing to be outwardly active and engaged in the temporary and impersonal activities of the mind/body experience, fully expressed and embodied in all things. It is all the unmade and unchanging Self, and this pure 'Spirit' is you and all that is. It is all creation and its myriad and complexity of changing forms, creations and phenomena. 

For those minds who are not fully established in the knowledge of pure consciousness (awakened consciousness) it might be a genuine momentary glimpse into the truth and essence of the Absolute as being the one true reality and source of all creation and its myriad of forms, creations and phenomena. It is seen as something realized rather than something that I am. This is why despite realizing the transitory and empty nature of all appearances and phenomena as unreal we can still continue to engage with the things and creations of the world as they too are essentially 'Spirit' first. The Awakened Mind transcends the false impression and limited constructs of individuality, doer-ship and separateness. It sees and relates to all phenomena and experience as temporary manifestations of 'Spirit'. Ideas of lack, confrontation and limitation are all seen as part of the illusion. All is seen and know as a temporary expression of the one true essence of 'Spirit'. The formless as forms. Forms as being 'emptiness'. The unchanging as that which changes, and yet, it remains unchanged. No color. No form. No shape. No being. No non-being. No sides. No beginning. No end. No stance. No position. No race. No agenda. No demands. No other. All alone is this. 'I-am' that which alone is, and all alone is 'I-am' that.

       This is the essential and core message of Atman-Yoga. The Deathless Self, alone is.


Atman-Yoga Daily Mantra: "I am. Life is. I am one with all life and all life is one with me. Oneness in body. Oneness in mind. Oneness in all things."

 

Atman-Yoga Daily Meditation: 'Only God is real.'

Atman-Yoga Daily Meditation: 'Only God is Real' as the eternal 'I-am'. All is this.

Song of the Deathless Yogi:

                                        I am 'emptiness'. All is 'emptiness'. 'Emptiness' is all. 

                                    Form is 'emptiness'. Only 'emptiness'. 'Emptiness' is form'.

This esoteric blog is dedicated to my earthly mother 'Rita' who transitioned on the 12th December 2021.

The Many Faces of the One

What is this?

Who am I?

The Many Faces of the One - article 13  - the unpublished esoteric writings & works of an aging yogi.

"I have no beginning, middle or end. No past, future or present. I simply am as 'I-am'. I am completely free of conditioning, constructs and form. I have no causation therefore I am not born, made or created. I have no history or story to speak of and no other. I alone am. I am beyond and free of the concepts and ideas of time, form and space. And yet I am fully one with all things, projections and phenomena. All is experienced and known because of me alone. I am the unborn, ageless and deathless 'I-am'. The one true and ever-present identity and reality of all that is and all that will ever be. I alone am. All awakened embodied souls rejoice and find peace and fulfilment in me alone."

'I-am'. Life is.' Not 'I am' this or 'I am' that. Not 'life is' this or 'life is' that. Simply, 'I-am. Life is.' Nothing more than this. Only this. One Reality. One Truth.

I am Eternity seeing, recognizing, realizing and knowing Eternity.

           continuing from the collected esoteric writings and works of article 12

THE NOT SELF OF SELF

Self-realization asks us to seek the origin and source of experience, reality and identity. This being the experience and knowing of 'I-am'. Life is'. Body and mind are simply constructs of experience rather than the one who is having them. Both body and mind are known with the knowing of self-awareness and mind-consciousness. Thoughts and feelings are known constructs of experience rather than the one who is having them. These too are known with the knowing of self-awareness and mind-consciousness. They are impersonal and sensory objects of our experience. It is said, that in sleep we neither know the body or the mind and yet we still awake from sleep, and once again have the experience of the physical body and the so-called thinking mind. The body and mind are temporary constructs and concepts; objects of experience. Thoughts and feelings are temporary constructs; objects of experience. And so too with emotions, images and moods. These are all impersonal, transitory and empty of permanence and individual ownership.

We also have the self-aware impression and feeling of something identifying with the mind and the body as being who we are. We have the notion and idea of self-hood who knows and has experience. This is all formed in relationship to the having of experience and the ever-changing objective world of phenomena. And yet what is it that forms and identifies with this relationship of subject and object? This relationship of inside and outside? This relationship of 'me' and 'other'? Even consciousness is something we can know as part of experience and experiencing - the knowing of knowing. The knowing of being awake and aware. Would it be correct to say that consciousness is the subject of knowing or that we are pure consciousness? I prefer the word 'presence' or 'Spirit'. For me, consciousness is recognized and known like all other objective phenomena, and has no independent arising apart from that of a dual and conceptual reality. It too is part of experience and the act of experiencing. For me, consciousness is a phenomena and a happening of having and knowing experience, of being self-aware, but it is not the true source of knowing. 

The true source of knowing and experience is not conceptual in that is can be observed and known as an object or construct of experience and experiencing. It simply is. It is that in which all things are known but it remains free of all phenomena and is without form and attributes. It cannot not be known in a conceptual way, as an identified, conceptual and tangible object of knowing, even though we might describe it as such. It is the unchanging, unmoving and indestructible selfless and impersonal 'Presence, that always is despite the coming and going of all phenomena, forms, dramas, conditions and events. It simply is what it is. It is that out of which all things and phenomena appear and it is that into which all things and phenomena disappear. This coming and going of phenomena and experiences does not change, alter, lessen, hinder, improve or affect what it is. It always remains as it is. Simply 'I-am'.

It is the 'I-am' of I am.

THE ONE TRUE SOURCE OF 'I'

The Deathless Self is unburdened, unhindered and unlimited by all that conceptual and conditioned life is or is not. It places no self-importance or neediness on temporary appearances, forms, events, dramas and phenomena, and yet it is present within all things and all things are present within it. Existence or non-existence are of no self-importance and neediness to the Deathless Self. These do not define it, limit it, threaten, hinder, destroy, improve it or effect it. It does not need experience in order to exist. It is whether we have the cognitive and knowing experience of it or not. To the Deathless Self limitation, lack and bondage are illusions of the so-called mind. The same too with suffering and the end of suffering. Only ignorance keeps us imprisoned by the mind. Limitation, lack and bondage are not truths in an absolute sense. These are only relevant and believed in whilst we are wrongly identified with the mind/body experience and the conceptual and conditioned world of space, time and forms. Once ignorance of the truth of reality, experience and identity are overcome the self-importance placed on these things becomes obsolete. The Deathless Self is free of whatever worldly conditions and situations are experienced, played out or known. It does not identify with the things, dramas and phenomena of this world in a personal, permanent and attached way therefore they are not seen to be personal, needed or limiting to its existence. 

The Deathless Self is only identified and attached with its own eternal and enduring existence, and not with the appearance, change and disappearance of space, time and forms. There is no self-importance or identity placed on what worldly conditions, dramas and situations are at any given time. These things are seen as temporary constructs and ever-changing occurrences and therefore empty of any real permanence to fully satisfy us. They are unreliable, unreal and flawed. Only the Deathless Self is reliable, permanent and certain as it is not subject to change, limitation, bondage, creation, destruction or lack. It is life eternal. It is complete, whole, plentiful, fulfilled, free, radiant and perfect as it is. In fact, it is all that is and yet it is always free of all things.

What is this?

Who am I?

REALITY AS IT IS

In this full recognition and knowing of Self-realization we are left to fully live embodied experience from the truth of the Original and undying source of all that is, and yet everything is existing as a temporary projection of its own indestructible essence. In truth, the Deathless Self, does not require or need us to be conscious of it, and yet being conscious of it is what frees the mind from the illusions and trappings of bondage, limitation, lack, creation and death. It extinguishes suffering and the end of suffering. It reveals that which is without beginning, middle and end and causation. So we could say that the Self that is already fully realized knowing the Self, relinquishes all concern and importance for what worldly conditions and situations are, and yet at the same time it rejoices in all that is as temporary and limited forms and constructs of its own divine essence, identity and reality. 

As already stated, the Deathless Self is complete, whole, plentiful and fulfilled as it is regardless of worldly appearances, dramas, conditions and situations. Self-realization is a matter of being established in this truth and seeing everything else as temporary, flawed, limited and fleeting. From this knowing of the Deathless Self all is left as it is, as it is all of its own essence and therefore free of anything that is real. To emotionally invest and attach to what is fleeting, limited and transitory will always disappoint us in the end, even if they do satisfy us for a while. This simply is the way of things. It isn't anyone's fault. It is not because we did something bad or wrong. It is simply the way of things in this life.

I am the 'I-am' of I am.

           This is the message of Atman-Yoga. The Deathless Self alone is.

Atman-Yoga Daily Mantra: "I am. Life is. I am one with all life and all life is one with me. Oneness in body. Oneness in mind. Oneness in all things."

Atman-Yoga Daily Meditation: 'Only God is Real' as the eternal 'I-am'. All is this.

Song of the Deathless Yogi:

                                        I am 'emptiness'. All is 'emptiness'. 'Emptiness' is all. 

                                    Form is 'emptiness'. Only 'emptiness'. 'Emptiness' is form'.

This esoteric blog is dedicated to my earthly mother 'Rita' who transitioned on the 12th December 2021.

The Many Faces of the One

What is this?

Who am I?

The Many Faces of the One - article 12  - the unpublished esoteric writings of an aging yogi.

"I always stand firm in my faith and trust that pure 'Spirit' is the answer and fulfilment of every need and requirement in all areas and facets of my life. I always act on whatever honors 'Spirit' and all that 'Spirit' has created. I am free to be all that 'Spirit' intended and created me to be. I always feel 'Spirit's' presence blessing and surrounding me in all facets and areas of my life. I know that divine guidance is always available to me. With my faith and trust firmly established in pure 'Spirit' I easily and fully accomplish and fulfil all things. 'Spirit' is the one and permanent source and provider of all power. I radiate pure 'Spirit' at all times, in all places and in all my thoughts, deeds and actions. I am always deeply connected and at one with pure 'Spirit'. OM, shanti, shanti, shanti. 'I am', peace, peace peace."

I am the 'I-am' of I am.

       continued from the collected esoteric writings and works of article 11

WHAT IT IS TO BE MYSELF

If we dwell too much on what appears to be hopeless and meaningless it is very easy to become and be immobilized in fear, hopelessness, doubt, confusion and frustration. And yet, life is what it is, and we all share the experience of living it as 'I-am' and 'life is'. We all experience a so-called subject of experience that looks out into the world from a mind/body embodied experience of self-awareness and self-knowing. Whether we find ourselves in favorable or unfavorable circumstances, conditions or situations this we all share in some manner, condition and form. This is the price we have all paid in having the advantage and perhaps disadvantage of being self-aware and having self-awareness. As I see it, it is both a blessing and a curse of our limited, temporary and embodied humanity.

Despite all the multiple of choices and opportunities that we can have and take advantage of in being self-aware, we also have the knowing and uncertainty of not knowing how little or much time we have in living and playing out this fragile embodied mind/body experience and it is the same for us all. We all know with self-awareness that the mind/body experience does not last indefinitely, and all that we desire, like and love will have to be given up and surrendered in the end. Is this a bad thing? No, it simply is how it is. What appears eventually disappears. What has a beginning has an end. What was once new and fresh will become old and tired. This is the nature and cycle of birth, old age, decay, dis-ease and death. This is the consequence of 'becoming' and 'being'.

Yes, we can as a result of self-awareness and mind-consciousness directly examine and investigate the nature and essence of the mind\body experience. We are in the genuine and fortunate position to know what is the permanent source, origin and essence of all experience, creation and phenomena. This is definitely not something we should ever overlook or take for granted. We are in the welcomed and blessed position to wake up from the sleep and suffering of ignorance and to live in the spiritual and transcendental grace, recognition and complete knowing of Self-Realization. We, in our on-going humanity, are in the position to ask ourselves in the self-inquiry and contemplation of 'I-am'. Life is', "who or what is the true knower and experiencer of all that that is known and experienced? What is this knowing and what, if anything, is the original source and essence of this knowing of knowing. What we call the knower - the one who knows.

What is this?

Who am I?

'I-am'. Life is. We are finite and perfect expressions of the infinite essence and source of all life. Temporary and yet eternal. Seemingly imperfect and flawed and yet perfect, complete and whole. Even now, in the knowing of, 'I-am. Life is', I alone am. I am the 'I-am' of I am.

                                                KNOWING THE TRUTH OF REALITY

In the pursuit of spiritual Self-realization returning to the original source of all creation is what is asked of us. Even though this is only the urges and impulses of the mind, we still endeavor to play it out. To exhaust the mind of its held to limited ideas, views, opinions and beliefs of reality, experience and identity, and its need to control the playing out of all the events and dramas of conditioned and conceptual life. It is the removal of all that is false and the full recognition, knowing and acknowledgement that we have been mistaken about who we really are and what reality, experience and identity really are. We have had a mistaken and misinformed idea and notion of what reality and identity are. Due to our temporary humanity we seek to be continuously fulfilled and self-satisfied and free of the misery, burden and struggle that life can potentially inflict on us and others. 

In the spiritual Self-realization and knowing of our true nature and essence we are already perfect, whole, free of suffering, liberated and complete, as we are. and yet due to the conditioning and urges of the mind and its identity with the body, we are mistakenly caught up in the false idea, view and construct of separation and individuality. And yet, "who is it that is caught up? "Who is the one who feels burdened and troubled by life? Spiritual Awakening and Self-realization asks us to put aside and to eventually relinquish and release the mistaken identification and self-importance that is placed on all that is appearing, changing and disappearing in our lives, and to wake up and establish one's true identity with the impersonal, unchanging and deathless source. This source being the origin and essence of all experience, identity and phenomena. This should be approached and actualized as the highest spiritual endeavor in our embodied humanity beyond everything else because everything, and I mean everything, will be enriched, freed and loved in the actualization of this spiritual pursuit. In this actualization of the Deathless Self all is realized as oneself. All is loved, free and at peace in this pure realizing and knowing of pure 'Spirit'. It is the only true and satisfactory way that permanently releases us all from the attachments and burdens of conditioned and conceptual life. Anything else that we might do in order to be free of the things and dramas that burden, worry and trouble us or others will only be temporary states of happiness, peace and satisfaction. If we do not wake up from the sleep of ignorance, we will only be met once again with the feeling and impulse of unhappiness, restlessness, self-doubt and dissatisfaction with what life is, and the way things are in the world. There will always be something to be unhappy and upset about in life and complaining is certainly draining.

PURE BEING

What spiritual Self-realization is asking us to do is to lessen and weaken our self-interest and self-importance in all that is appearing, changing and disappearing in our mind/body experience of the phenomena we call world, including our identity with the mind/body experience, and to seek the true origin and identity of all experience and experiencing. It is a genuine invitation to actualize and directly know the one true and enduring source and essence of all creation, forms and experience. We are asked to discover and find the the one permanent and inexhaustible source and identity of all experience beyond the constructs, ideas, views and concepts of time, form and space, and to fully realize that which is not created, does not change and cannot be destroyed. It has no beginning and therefore no end. It is completely free of birth, old age, decay, sickness, dis-ease, change and death. It is free of suffering and the end of suffering. It is a Truth that is unburdened and fully free of all that is, and all that will ever be. It is a Truth that transcends the constructs, limitations and trappings of time, form and space. It is a Truth that transcends and is free of the confines and conditions the mind/body experience. It is a Truth that is already realized, free, unburdened and deathless. We are asked to discover and realize that which does not rely on the existence or need of time, form and space. It does not come into existence and therefore it always is. It is not something that we need to acquire or find, for it always is. Even now it is.

It is the 'I-am' of I am.

The irony of this spiritual endeavor is that we already are what we seek to become and be. In fact, we don't have to become and be it, for it is what we already are. And yet we assume we are what we think, feel and experience. I experience the body therefore I must be the body. I experience thoughts and feelings, therefore I must be what I think and feel I am. Our identity becomes what we think, see and feel it to be, and yet what we think, see and feel is itself temporary and empty of anything permanent and personal. What we aim to wake up to is ourselves, as our pure unconditioned and unmade essence. There is no becoming and being, as these are the urges, tendencies and conditions of the mind. We don't have to become and be what we already are. What we have to do is give up and surrender what we keep becoming and being, to give up all that is false, the 'I am this' or 'I am that' and then our true essence, identity and nature shines and radiates unhindered, known and free of all that the world is and yet it is one with all things and all things are one with it. In fact, this is what it is always doing. We have simply forgotten. The thought of 'I' is not the Self. And yet the thought of 'I' is not separate from the Self. The waves are not the ocean and yet they are always one with the ocean. The waves and the ocean are one. It is only appearances and our identity with them that create the idea of separation.

                    This is the message of Atman-Yoga. The Deathless Self alone is.

Atman-Yoga Daily Mantra: "I am. Life is. I am one with all life and all life is one with me. Oneness in body. Oneness in mind. Oneness in all things."

Atman-Yoga Daily Meditation: 'Only God is Real' as the eternal 'I-am'. All is this.

Song of the Deathless Yogi:

                                        I am 'emptiness'. All is 'emptiness'. 'Emptiness' is all. 

                                    Form is 'emptiness'. Only 'emptiness'. 'Emptiness' is form'.

This esoteric blog is dedicated to my earthly mother 'Rita' who transitioned on the 12th December 2021. A truly selfless, kind, beautiful and loving embodied soul, friend and mother. 

Post article note 2023: I have included written and compiled spiritual affirmations which were created and came together over the changing years of personal spiritual practice and self-inquiry. They are only included here as an exercise in unraveling the mind and its held to mental habits, views and tendencies. The more the truth of Reality is recognized and established they can simply be discarded. I attach no self-importance to them. I known for a period of so-called time I found them useful. They are only here because they too were part of the works and writings I had put together. Potentially they are all pointers to something which is calling to its true Self. This being Reality as it is.