The Many Faces of the One

  What is this?

Who am I?

The Many Faces of the One: article 25  - the unpublished esoteric writings of an aging yogi.

            Daily Spiritual Affirmation:

"I allow the beauty and plenitude of 'Spirit' to support and bless me. I allow 'Spirit' to help and guide in every need and situation. I fully embrace the beauty and plenitude of 'Spirit'. The beauty and plenitude of 'Spirit' fully blesses and fulfils me. I always connect deeply with the beauty and plenitude of 'Spirit'. With 'Spirit' I always live my life in the full appreciation and gratitude of all that is and all that will be. I am always open and receptive to the beauty and plenitude of 'Spirit'. I know that there is a divine intelligence that delivers and supports a world of beauty and plenitude, I am one with 'Spirit'. 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."

Post-article 2023 note: daily spiritual affirmations are presented here on this blog as a way to help focus the mind in the task of freeing the mind from the grip and distractions of mental perceptions and sensory feelings. As with all spiritual vessels and tools on this unfolding path of Self-Realization they can all be discarded once the destination is reached. They are only different tools for different minds and yet all with the same destination and end result - Self-awakening from the mode of ignorance.

THE DEATHLESS SELF ALONE IS

We can have this idea or belief of what spiritual awakening should look like or feel like; this too is simply an idea or belief and this is an idea or belief that can become and be another obstacle to Self-Realization. The true Deathless Self naturally shines as the false self falls away. It isn't a state of becoming and being to be acquired, created, conditioned or found. It is a natural and unhindered state of being that which is free of all that is false, transitory and unreal, and yet it is always one with all things. It is the spiritual recognition and knowing that all experience and the knowing of experience is the transcendental on-going playing out and dance of the Deathless Self - 'I-am'.

In the esoteric act and aim of Self-inquiry into the true nature of reality, experience and identity we are asked to turn our attention within, away from the distractions external mental objects and the demands, expectations and desires they place on us; we retract the worldly senses from the pull of sensory impressions and let go of the self-importance and neediness that we place on the objective sensory world of things and phenomena. We directly, intimately and closely examine and investigate where the mind and all objects of mind have their origin and source. Knowing is not necessarily awareness. We seek that which is unaffected, unchanged and unthreatened by all that is. When the mind is turned outwards it results in thoughts and objects of knowing. With the mind turned inwards it is absorbed into the silence and stillness of the deathless Self, and so too the phenomenal world. It is stated that the 'I' thought is the first and foremost of all thoughts that arise in the the knowing faculty of the mind - mind-consciousness. It is only after the appearance of the 'I' thought that all other thoughts arise. Since every other thought can only occur after the appearance of the 'I' thought and since the mind is nothing but a bundle or thoughts and mental impressions, it is only with the Self-inquiry into 'who am I?', that the mind is allowed to subside. Otherwise its attention will remain distracted by the ever-changing phenomenal world of sensory objects, dramas and things. It is constantly distracted by and caught up with the stuff of conceptual and conventional life.

SELF-INQUIRY

Self-inquiry into 'who am I?' is the readiness to directly examine and investigate the source from which the mind arises. I can assure you if we were simply the mind then we would all be in trouble, and yet we know this not to be true because there is that that has the knowing of mind, and all its objects of knowing. So, who is this 'I' that can feel limited and fearful of what is?' If I am not this body and these bundle of thoughts and objects of knowing, who am I? The Self-inquiry into 'who am I? really directs us to finding the true source of the 'I' thought; that which gives the sense of individuality and separateness. If the body is not the 'I', and the mind is not the 'I', and the 'I' thought is not the 'I', then who am I? 

In this spiritual Self-inquiry into the source, origin and essence of the 'I' thought we begin to reveal and recognize our true identity with that of the Absolute. This is the supreme 'I'; the one true formless and enduring 'I' that includes all things, dramas and phenomena. We simply follow everything back to its true original source, origin and essence and this includes the thought and knowing of 'I'. We could say that I am that which recognizes and knows the having of a mind and all its mental impressions, constructs, projections and thoughts. We could say that I am that which recognizes and knows the having of a body with all its worldly senses and sense objects. But does this recognition and knowing confirm to us that I am the body and mind? 

Clearly I am potentially that which is aware of having a body and a mind, and that is also aware of being aware? Continuously in the stillness and silence of 'I-am' we are asked to seek and reveal to ourselves the source and nature of that we are truly are. It is not a matter of becoming and being, and Pure Being without the cognition of mind. Realizing the Self is only being the Self that we already are that is the true source and essence of the 'I' thought and all other thoughts of who we are. We examine and investigate the source and essence of the 'I' thought until all identity with the mind/body experience is eradicated and destroy as being real, and our true identity with the Absolute is known as the identity of all and all that is. It is fully beyond having and not-having; beyond being and non-being,; beyond ignorance and liberation. It is beyond bondage and liberation. The body will perish. The mind will cease. The breath will end. The sensory world of sense objects will disappear, therefore who am I?

THE WISDOM OF KNOWING

"Form is no different to emptiness and emptiness is on different to form. That which is form is emptiness, and that which is emptiness is form. Form is not separate from emptiness and emptiness is not separate from form. Form is emptiness and emptiness is form." This is what I mean when I say that the Deathless Self alone is, or that 'Only God is Real'.

"Sensations, perceptions, mental formations and impressions, and mind-consciousness are also like this. All things and phenomena are marked and shaped by emptiness. It is neither appearing or disappearing, neither purifies or impurifies, and neither increases or decreases." This is why I say it is unmoved, untouched, unthreatened and unchanged by all that is, and all that will ever be.  

"Emptiness is not limited by form; not by feelings, perceptions, mental formations and impressions, and discernment. It is free of eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind; it is free of sight, sound, smell, taste, touch and all objects of mind; it is also free of all sensory realms including mind-consciousness; it is free of ignorance and the end of ignorance; it is free of old age, decay and death, and it is free of the end of old age, decay and death. It is completely free of suffering and the end of suffering. It is free of liberation and attainment." 

This is what I mean when I say that there is nothing that threatens pure 'Spirit'. Even if all the worlds should end pure 'Spirit' will remain. There is nothing outside of 'Spirit' and nothing separate from 'Spirit'. 'Spirit' is the source and substance of all that is and all things reside in it and with it; never separate from it. From the esoteric knowing of reality and identity it does not matter what happens or doesn't happen, or what changes or doesn't change. Everything can happen and everything can change, and yet pure 'Spirit' remains untouched, unaltered, and unmoved. Nothing is taken from it and nothing is added to it. It doesn't go anywhere or do anything; the world of change belongs to the world of the senses and their sense objects and these do not affect, lessen or alter what pure 'Spirit' is. It is free of all things and yet all things have there existence because of it. Nothing exists independent of it.

When we use the mind to examine and investigate its origin we loose the mind to the Self. Our identity transcends the importance that is placed on the mind/body experience. All that is asked of us in Self-inquiry into the true nature and source of the reality, experience and identity, is to fully relinquish the mistaken identity with the mind/body experience and the phenomenal world and with that done, the Deathless Self will be seen to be the one reality and identity of all. Kalu Rinpoche states, "You live in illusion and the appearance of things. There is a Reality. You are that Reality. But you do not know it. If you wake up to that Reality, you will know that you are no-thing, and being no-thing, you are everything. That is all." 

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

This is something we have to come to know directly and intimately for ourselves as the knowing of knowing without knowing. It simply is. What Kalu Rinpoche speaks of is traditionally known as Sahaja Samadhi, the highest state of Pure Being, which is a permanent state of realization even whilst seen to be ordinarily and plainly active in the world. Nothing is an hindrance or obstacle to this unsurpassable state of complete realization. Despite the continual playing out of all the mental and physical faculties of the mind/body experience including intellect, one is permanently identified with the Absolute. This natural state of Pure Being is recognizes as never being hindered or broken or destroyed or limited. The mind-body identity has been fully extinguished and  given up. Nothing that the body and mind does takes away or adds to this perfect realization. All is abiding as the Deathless Self, and all alone is this. It shines without effort and no-thing can hinder or destroy it. The Self alone is the Real. This renunciation of all that is false and unreal is the sole abidance of reality with the Deathless Self. With this nothing need no longer be attained. There is no goal that needs to be reached. And no one to attain or reach anything. There is no one who will find it necessary to state, 'I am enlightened'. To assume 'I am enlightened' is itself an hindrance and obstacle to this highest and purest state of Self-Realization. There is no one who is enlightened and no real 'I' who needed to be enlightened. We have not become anything. We simply are as we have always been free of confusion and ignorance.

Emptiness as form, and form as emptiness. Emptiness not separate from form, and form not separate form emptiness. That which is form is emptiness and that which is emptiness is form." The Deathless Self alone is, and this is why I called these writings , 'The Many Faces of the One'. You are the world and the world is you, and yet you remain forever as you are. 

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

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


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

 

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

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 Buddhist Sutra on the Heart Realizing Wisdom Beyond Wisdom

  What is this?

Who am I?

- The Buddhist Sutra on the Heart Realizing Wisdom Beyond Wisdom                          

THE SACRED PATH TO THE SELFLESS SELF

"All that we hear, taste, touch, smell, see, think and feel will cease to exist. All this will come to pass perish and end. All these things and phenomena are created, shaped and conditioned by impermanence and 'emptiness'. This is the very nature of all created and conditioned things, creations and forms - no exceptions. So too with the body, mind and mind-consciousness. No one is to blame. No one did anything wrong. This is simply the way of things. Plain and simple. From this deeply profound spiritual recognition, self-knowing and knowledge comes true universal empathy, love and compassion for all humanity and transient things, forms and creations."

I'm including this particular Buddhist 'sutra' (thread) 'on the heart realizing wisdom beyond wisdom'  as it is very dear to my heart and has remained so for over 30 years on this blessed and sacred path of spiritual self-inquiry, self-discovery and Self-awakening so that it too is also widely available to all who choose to visit, view and read this particular formulated esoteric blog. Even after 30 years of continued spiritual self-inquiry and practice; directly and closely examining, investigating and contemplating the insights and wisdom of various spiritual and religious traditions, and esoteric teachings and teachers, this particular Buddhist 'sutra' remains as valuable, insightful and conclusive as I felt it was when I was first unexpectedly and graciously introduced to its blessed and beautiful embodied existence. 

I personally spent a period of 10 years of this embodied self-aware existence as a committed practicing lay Buddhist, and had the good fortune and welcomed pleasure of studying with a variety of established and widely renowned western Buddhist teachers of the Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions; although my personal spiritual interests and commitments were mostly focused on the Theravada tradition of Buddhism (the School of the Elders). I'm pretty sure among the written and compiled contents of this esoteric contemplative blog you will pick up on the Buddhist themes, vibes and teachings that have heavily influenced, flavored and shaped these esoteric writings and works. Certainly it is openly and clearly there with words and concepts like 'emptiness' and 'impermanence', although I personally do not see these labels, beliefs, views, opinions and concepts as historically unique to Buddhism.

With having also committed time, energy and years to western spiritualism, Jnana Yoga and Bhakti Yoga it is worth considering that these particular spiritual and philosophical traditions would have too potentially and very likely strongly influenced, flavored and shaped my personal thoughts, conclusions and revelations into the true nature and essence of reality, experience and identity. As I have continued to make very clear throughout this esoteric blog, I do not see myself as a spiritual authority, influencer or teacher. I am simply sharing what has continued to help me and stayed with me all these so-called embodied years on this blessed and sacred path of esoteric Self-awakening and Self-discovery, and my personal and individualized attempts to fully transcend the limiting confines, suffering and challenging conditions and on-going changes of the so-called human experience and egocentric identity. Not as a way to reject my embodied and individualized self-aware humanity but as a way to fully understand and embrace it with a genuine and fully realized freedom, love, acceptance and peace of heart, body and mind. It is an attempt to know Reality for what it really is.

Personally, I can not speak to you or anyone as a genuine, committed and practicing Buddhist or as an authority on Buddhism and Buddhist philosophy and thinking, but what I do know is this so-called body is of the nature to change, grow old, decay, weaken and die and therefore self-inquiry into the true nature, origin and essence of reality, experience and identity remains as necessary and important to the human experience and earthly condition as ever. For me, transcending the illusionary limitations and painful identities, changes and challenges of the mind/body experience is as important and relevant to us today as it has always been and I am certain that it will remain so all the time that humanity has its place in the world or even the so-called universe.

I can assure you all who openly and inquisitively view and venture the carefully compiled articles and pages of these esoteric writings and works I am not here with a personal or hidden agenda to persuade or convince anyone of anything. This is not a dogma, condition or an instruction. I do not see or have any evidence of my existence as having some kind of hidden agenda, purpose or visible self-importance or authority. I am simply inwardly directed to record and share what I have experienced and know directly to be Truth and what I have also found other like-minded souls, truth-seekers and individuals, both past and present, to also know to be their Truth too. Of course, this does not make me an expert, authority or teacher on these spiritual, religious and philosophical matters or conclusions. I can only share with you what I genuinely feel and know from my own direct experiential esoteric self-inquiry and practice into experience, identity and reality and leave it there. It is Truth as I know and live it to be.

I can assure you all I am always extremely wary and watchful of how easily the so-called individualized mind can become and be very self-righteous, deluded, misdirected and misinformed by its own spiritual conclusions, beliefs, ideas, opinions, interpretations and views. History is a testament to this. The individualized mind is of the vulnerable and unfortunate nature to easily make mistakes and errors; to misinterpret things and to distort the so-called truth of reality, experience and identity. Especially when we crave for certainty, control, reliance and permanence. Personally, I can assure you I do not place my trust or reliance in or on the so-called mind or intellect. What is presented here comes from the direct experiential knowing of knowing without knowing. For me, it is a direct experience of esoteric experiencing, self-knowing and knowledge, which is both free of the mind/body identity and intellect. It is fully identified and established with the Absolute, pure 'Spirit' as the one true source, origin, identity and essence of all experience and experiencing, and it does not really require or need to be spoken of. This pure 'Spirit' is what I repeatedly call 'I-am' and this 'I-am' is the ever-present and inexhaustible source, origin, identity and essence of all that is. It is nameless, formless, timeless, ageless and completely without any attributes. It is the naked Truth as it is.The one true Self of all reality

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

I happily and lovingly accept and acknowledge that as a temporary individualized self-aware embodied form and creation of humanity and reality in today's ever-changing conventional, demanding, troubled and conceptual world, I would be very much viewed and seen by many minds as a flawed, less than average, plain and simple man with no exceptional or interesting features, achievements or noticeable gifts, attributes or talents. But I never intentionally ventured and went on this blessed and sacred path of esoteric self-inquiry and Self-awakening to simply gain and prove anything to anyone or to be anything of any recognizable or special self-importance. I simply wanted and fully intended to finally stop being the angry, mindless and confused man that I was being; so full of hate, shame, guilt, confusion, envy, hurt and blame with the world, others and myself. I genuinely and deeply wanted to finally find and make peace with my father's untimely death and death itself. For me, death was suffering and this suffering was unconsciously hurting and sabotaging my capacity to live, accept and love life to the full. It was continually and at times unknowingly hurting myself and others and it needed to stop. I had reached a point in my embodied self-aware existence that I genuinely needed it to stop hurting and damaging myself and others. At this point both life and death had once again become suffering for me. Nothing at this point of wanting to stop made any sense.

THE JOURNEY TO TRUTH

As a young inquisitive boy, I certainly saw death as suffering and I wanted this suffering to end. I also at the time saw life as suffering too; the harsh and unpleasant pain of loss, hurt, grief, lack and sorrow, and I too wanted this suffering to end. Not only for myself but for all those that I liked, knew and loved. Plain and simple. When I was physically nine years old my father unexpectedly died in a sudden and fatal motorcycle accident. I can genuinely say, from that moment on-wards my life was never the same. I suddenly realized, recognized and saw how death was what waited ahead for all those that I knew, liked and loved and that included myself. I suddenly and unexpectedly deeply realized and saw the impermanence and emptiness of all things, creation, creatures and lives, and I could not completely describe to you now in words the deep, dark and immense mental pain, confusion, despair, anguish and sorrow that I felt at the time for all of life and myself. I also had no doubt that we would all feel and experience it at sometime too. This too I fully realized and struggled with as a young boy trying to make full sense a world that now seemed completely meaningless, unfair, brutally harsh, painful, hopeless, pointless and cruel. I could not see how anyone could be happy or content in this life and world of pain, loss, hardship, grief, lack, hurt and death.

For me, suddenly the so-called world and all its demands, delights and promises did not make any sense to me anymore and I saw no point or meaning in the importance that appeared to be placed on worldly things and the needs and demands of this so-called world. At the time I thought this little boy would never recover from the immense pain, despair, grief, anguish, loss, anger, hurt and sorrow he felt, but as we all know, life in all its myriad and diversity of forms, creations and conditions, continues to go on in one way or another, regardless of any personal pain, loss, misfortune, anguish or suffering we might have experienced or have, and that is exactly what happened to the so-called 'me'.

Personally I had no spiritual or religious experience, support or refuge at the time of my father's sudden death, but I spent many nights alone as a young inquisitive and confused boy deliberately examining, investigating and quietly contemplating the idea and concept of death and what it would potentially mean or be like to be dead. I would ask myself, 'what is it to be dead?' 'What does it mean to be dead?' "What is death?" I would even try to imagine what death and being dead would be like and feel like. I would repeatedly lay on my bed awake at night for hours with my eyes closed contemplating 'death' and the possibility of what being 'dead' is, like or meant. At the time, I genuinely thought I could potentially experience and know what it was like for my father to be dead. I know it sounds ridiculous now, but something in me genuinely and intuitively thought I could some how actually and fully know what being dead would feel and be like. This attempt to understand and know death directly stayed with me for a very long time, but as I aged, like all things, this endeavor was eventually and temporarily put aside and forgotten, so I thought.

WAKING UP

I am not sharing these events to sound like a victim, but to only highlight why I would eventually be slowly and unconsciously guided and directed to take and commit to a sacred path of esoteric self-inquiry and Self-realization. Of course I know this experience and unfolding of events is not unique or special to me. I simply share this because I realize and know we can all have our own personal and individual reasons and motivations to finding ourselves on a genuine and committed spiritual or religious path of Self-discovery and Self-awakening and I am pretty sure I am not solely alone in my own unraveling of experience of the unexpected or expected painful and emotional life-changing impact and pain of suddenly loosing someone or anyone to death. 

Obviously I soon realized in my direct efforts to examine and contemplate death that the body, being what it is, is of the nature to die, cease and end. I now know it is not anyone's fault; no one is to blame and no one did anything wrong. It is simply the way things are. The body, being what it is, is also of the nature to potentially have pain and sickness. Again, I know now that it is not anyone's fault; no one is to blame and no one did anything wrong. It is simply the way things are. Pain and pleasure simply come with the having of the embodied self-aware human condition and existence. It is the way things are in a dual reality of conditions, consequences, causation and forms.

The body, being what it is, can also become sick or be broken. It is not anyone's fault; no one is to blame and no one did anything wrong. It is simply the way of things. The body and its sense organs are of the nature to decay, cease and die. Again I soon realized it is not anyone's fault; no one is to blame and no one did anything wrong. It is simply the way things are. I assume this is why the Buddha stated that 'birth is suffering'. With birth we as a physical individualized self-aware embodied form are all always vulnerable and open to the way things are in life and the consequences that come with having a body. Plain and simple. This is why, as a committed atman-yogi, we are encouraged to look to that which is unborn, unchanging, ageless, timeless, deathless and formless. I can say now I spent many years thinking and blaming myself for my father's death. Thinking and feeling that I had done something wrong or bad to cause his death. Of course I now know this not to be true but that is how I saw it at the time.

FACING THE TRUTH

The mind is of the nature to easily distort and misinterpret the truth of reality, identity and experience. The mind is of the nature to easily make poor and bad decisions and choices; blinded by its own self-importance, desire, hatred, ignorance, confusion, rage, beliefs, views, lust, envy and fear. The mind is also of the nature to have and experience painful and damaging mental states, moods, thoughts and impressions; like grief, sorrow, restlessness, anger, envy, jealousy, sloth, lust, depression, doubt, fear, rage, obsession, attachment, aversion and so on. This is why on the sacred path of spiritual self-inquiry and Self-awakening we do not seek and take refuge in the mind/body experience or intellect as the abiding, reliant and trusted source and origin of our desire and need for permanent love, peace, contentment, beauty, immortality, plenitude, freedom and satisfaction. 

The sensory objects and creations of experiential knowing can only satisfy us temporarily. The sensory world of change can not be our permanent and reliable source of refuge and happiness. The body and mind are unreliable, as is the world of the senses and all its sense objects and creations; this is why I feel that the Buddha stated that these things as suffering. When we look we find no lasting and permanent refuge, satisfaction or contentment in them. It will all come to pass, perish and end. Whatever we seek to acquire and have from them will not last. It is all the impersonal, ever-changing, uncertain and transitory playing out and dance of 'emptiness'; the good, the bad, the beautiful, the so-called ugly, the light, the dark, the young, the old, the slow, the fast, the silent, the noisy, the simple, the complex, the painful and the pleasurable. All of it. 

Emptiness is form and form is emptiness. This is Absolute. All is made of 'emptiness', filled with 'emptiness', of 'emptiness', and forever remaining as and with 'emptiness'. This ever-present 'emptiness' is all things and creations and this 'emptiness' is the true nature, source and essence of reality, experience and identity. We are all this unborn and causeless Reality as the abiding and ever-present 'I-am'. This 'emptiness' is the fullness of all life and therefore the one true abiding and ever-present source of all reliance and plenitude. It is the 'I-am' of I am.

'WHO AM I'

If what is offered and available here on this esoteric blog on the nature, source and essence of reality, experience and identity is seen as the foolish and mistaken ramblings, conclusions and writings of a deluded mind, then I will happily leave this world as one of many who have continued to remain fully deluded, fooled and misguided. I openly admit even with all the spiritual insights, teachings and wisdom that have touched, blessed and shaped my temporary embodied self-aware existence, life itself, still, at times, makes no sense to me from a human individualized perspective. For me, there still is a palpable beautiful strangeness and mystery to it all that still captivates my attention.

I openly admit that I slightly envy and admire those individuals and groups of individuals who can be so certain and confident about the things and events of this world and what life truly is. For me, life and what it all means remains a sacred, precious and welcomed questionable mystery and I am okay with this. For me, there is a genuine beauty in the uncertainty, mystery and unknowing of it all. Lets not forget even the greatest and most world renowned spiritual and religious sages, saints, philosophers and teachers died, but for them they are no longer identified and attached to the mind/body experience and the ever-changing transitory world of the senses and sense objects. For me, their true identity abides in and with the Absolute, as the Absolute. For the one who is fully awake, the atman-yogi, death only belongs to the appearance, transition and disappearance of conceptual and conditioned things and creations. Our true and inexhaustible nature is the Deathless Self. What the Buddhist call 'emptiness'.

Certainly I am not willing to conclusively state any reason for life itself, but I am willing to state that I fully accept and acknowledge that we are a part of something much bigger and more meaningful than ourselves and our own self-interests and self-importance. And it is to this esoteric and impersonal knowing of knowing without knowing that I fully surrender this temporary embodied self-aware existence for however long it might last. I accept that the body is of the nature to die. Birth and death are inseparable. There is no birth without death. No death without birth. This is simply the way things are in this dual and conceptual world. This is why on the sacred path of self-inquiry into the true nature, origin and essence of reality and our identity we seek the truth and knowing of Pure Being, 'Spirit'; that which is unborn, formless, unchanging, without attributes and therefore ageless, timeless, unborn and deathless. I now present to you the 'Buddhist sutra on the Heart of Realizing Wisdom Beyond Wisdom'. May the truth and wisdom that it perfectly embodies become a genuine and direct experiential Self-realization for you and all self-aware creations.

                The Buddhist sutra on the Heart of Realizing Wisdom Beyond Wisdom

Avalokiteshvara, who helps all to awaken, moves in the deep course of realizing wisdom beyond wisdom, sees that all five streams of body and mind are boundless and frees all from anguish.

Oh Sharipura, form is not separate from boundlessness (emptiness); boundlessness (emptiness) is not separate from form. Form is boundlessness; boundlessness is form. Feelings, perceptions, mental formations and discernment are also like this.

Oh Sharipura, boundlessness (emptiness) is the nature of all things. It neither arises or perishes, neither stains or purifies, neither increases or decreases.

Boundlessness (pure 'Spirit') is not limited by form, not so by feelings, perceptions, mental formations and discernment. It is free of the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind; it is free of sight, sound, smell, taste, touch and any object of mind (knowing); it is free of sensory realms including mind-consciousness. It is free of ignorance and the end of ignorance. Boundlessness is free of old age and death and it is free from the end of old age and death. It is free of suffering, arising, cessation (the end of suffering) and path, and free of wisdom and attainment.

Being free of attainment, those who help all to awaken abide in the realization  of wisdom beyond wisdom and live with an unhindered mind. Without hindrance, the mind has no fear. Free from confusion, those who lead all to liberation  embody complete serenity. 

All those, in the past, present and future, who realize wisdom beyond wisdom manifest unsurpassable, authentic and thorough awakening. 

know that realizing wisdom beyond wisdom is no other than this great mantra, luminous, incomparable and supreme. It relieves all suffering. It is genuine, not illusory.

So set forth this mantra of realizing wisdom beyond wisdom. Set forth this mantra that says:

                      GATE, GATE, PARAGATE, PARASAMGATE, BODHI! SVAHA!

Gone, gone, gone to the other shore, completely gone to the other shore, enlightenment! Welcome!

         

            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' as the eternal 'I-am'.

Song of the Deathless Yogi:

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

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

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 24 - the unpublished esoteric writings of an aging yogi.

          'I-am 'Spirit' daily affirmation 

"The wisdom and love of pure 'Spirit' guides me and protects me in all areas and facets of my life. I am always blessed and fulfilled with the plenitude of pure 'Spirit'. My thoughts, decisions and actions are always centered in the knowing and knowledge of pure 'Spirit's wisdom and love. Pure 'Spirit' has given me life and is always renewing me with the beauty, love and plenitude of life. Aligning my thoughts, words and actions with the knowing and knowledge of pure 'Spirit' I continue to be blessed by the loving grace of pure 'Spirit's divine presence. With pure 'Spirit' all blessings flow easily to me in abundance. With pure 'Spirit' I am always fulfilled beyond measure. The spiritual well-being and loving grace of pure 'Spirit' continuously blesses and fulfils me. I always abide in the spiritual well-being, peace, beauty, plenitude and love of pure 'Spirit'. 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.

AT ONE WITH THE DEATHLESS SELF

We are caught, or should I say the 'I' thought is caught in the idea that we have to strive to become and be someone in order to be whole, complete, perfected, fulfilled and worthy. Who and what we are is measured by what we achieve, have, do and portray to the world and others. Pure Being is already whole, complete, perfected, fulfilled and worthy as it is. Everything else is secondary. For the Self-realized soul, the atman-yogi,  there is only the one; the one reality and identity as the many and yet remaining as the ultimate one. The Self-realized soul, the atman-yogi, is only identified with the Absolute and not the mind/body experience. The true Self is within all and all is within the Self. 

Self-realization is the renunciation of ones individuality with the mind/body experience. Renunciation is the non-identification of the Self with the non-self. The world is within you and you are within the world. The body dies, but the 'Spirit' that is as 'I-am' is not touched or altered by death. The aim of spiritual Self-inquiry is the Self-realization of the Deathless Self, and one's true identity with it. The Impersonal Self has no bondage to the world and all its myriad and complexity of things and phenomena. It is only as long as the idea of a person thinks they are the doer of actions that they reap the consequences of their actions, but as soon as they realize the Self as the origin and essence of all actions and things, then the sense of being the doer falls away and so with it the idea of cause and effect. The 'I-am' of I am is free of space, time and forms.

All is the Deathless Self as the Deathless Self which is free of cause and effect. It is all the Self as the Self and nothing can change it or effect it. All our efforts in the pursuit of Self-inquiry into 'who I am' is simply to be rid of the mistaken impression and idea that one is limited, lacking and bound by the ever-changing conditions and activities of the mind/body experience and the conceptual and conditioned world of things. The idea and sense of being the doer is the bondage and not the actions and activities themselves. When you see pure 'Spirit' in all, and all in pure 'Spirit', then and only then are you totally free, as you have always been, of all that is changing, having never really been in bondage to anything or one. The true Self is beyond the consequences of cause and effect. So we can ask, 'who is it that is troubled by life?' 'Who is it that is pained by life?' 'To who do these experiences happen and effect? 'Who is it that feels like I am in bondage to the world?' 

What is this?

Who am I?

The Self-realized soul, the atman-yogi, recognizes and knows that they and all creation are the Self, the one true reality and identity, which is both inside and outside, and is not bound or limited by any form, situation, drama or act. All that is, comes from the Self alone. As an aspiring and committed atman-yogi, we closely investigate and examine the thinker behind the 'I' thought; the 'I' behind the thinker; the source behind the sense of 'I'. It is said that the 'I' thought is the root of all other thoughts; from this 'I' thought all other thoughts arise; therefore find the source of the 'I' thought and by finding the source of the 'I' thought all other thoughts will vanish with it, and the source will be revealed as 'I-am'; which is free all thinking, thoughts, mind and intellect. This is how we realize our true deathless identity with the Absolute, pure 'Spirit'. This involves turning the mind inwards and tracing the 'I' thought back to its source. In this we realize that we are already what we seek; complete, whole, perfected, fulfilled and free. Being someone or something takes effort. Being ourselves as the Self does not. We just have to wake up and remember who we are behind all that we are telling ourselves to become and be. It is the idea and sense of being the doer that is the bondage, and not any actions in themselves. All our effort in the Self-inquiry of the 'I' and its source is only directed to given up the notion that we are limited or in bondage. Being the Self requires no effort on our part as we are already it but effort is required because we have forgotten our true identity with the boundless and enduring Self. 

THE ENDURING LIGHT OF SELF

In esoteric Self-realization we, the atman-yogi, are not seeking to gain anything but to simply realize what already is. The Deathless Self is not something to be found and acquired, it simply is. In returning to the Self, one sees the Self only, and sees the world as a form assumed by the Self, and yet the Self remains free of cause and effect and all the activities, changes and dramas of the world. The Self-realized soul, the atman-yogi, knows that they are moved by the Real Self within, and are ultimately unaffected by what others do, say or think. There really is not a limited and permanent ego-centered self that experience belongs to; it is all impersonal and belongs to the Impersonal and Deathless Self. This is an enduring and ever-present reality that already is. It is not created, or made; formed or constructed; gained or found; acquired or sought. Otherwise this would mean it could be destroyed, broken, lost, taken away and removed. It is infinite, unchanging and unmoved. It eternally is. As a Self-realized and Awakened individualized embodied soul we are moved by the deeper and real Deathless Self. pure 'Spirit', within, and are unaffected and untouched by what we do, say, or think. Only the body and mind are touched as all change and actions belong to the senses and their sense objects. As the atman-yogi, we realize that nothing really belongs to the mind/body experience and mind-consciousness. Separateness and individuality are the real illusions and limitations of the ego, the 'I' thought. All is the Self as the Self within the Self, and always remaining as the Self - unchanged and unmoved.

It is the 'I-am' of I am. 

After the embodied worldly events of spiritual Self-realization and awakening the individualized embodied person may continue to act and be in the world, and yet what is done or not done makes no difference to their innate and enduring truth or essence. The fully realized and awake atman-yogi is permanently identified with the Deathless Self, and therefore totally detached, unaffected and unidentified with the ever-changing conceptual world of things, dramas and phenomena, whilst all the time selflessly acting, playing and being the world. The genuine fully realized atman-yogi is aware and knows that all these things belong to the playing out of the mind/body experience and the Deathless Self remains unaffected, unaltered, unthreatened and unmoved by these things. Life simply continues to have the appearance of carrying out all the activities and behaviors of an individualized person, and yet the person has completely surrendered and died to the Self, which is unborn, ageless and deathless. It is the knower, the known and the knowing as one. This is the esoteric meaning of letting go; of true spiritual surrender and self-renunciation. 

THE BODILESS SELF

The body is bound and conditioned by its nature, birth, growth, old age, decay and death, and yet the body does not bind the Self. The true Self is always free of birth, aging, decay and death, and therefore the illusion of bondage must be what is overcome. The Awakened Soul relinquishes the identity of the 'I' thought with the mind/body experience and so too relinquishes the limiting identity with the 'I' thought and the knowing of the 'I' thought. It knows intimately and fully the 'I' of the 'I' which we can call 'I-am', and yet 'I-am' is not an object or thing to be known. It is simply Pure Being independent of knowing and the objects of knowing. The Awakened Mind is one with the Absolute within which this body, this life and this world has its being, and yet it has transcended the self-imposed limitations, constructs and conditions of the mind/body experience. The true Self is not bound by anything or activity, and yet its nature and essence is expressed, embodied and present in all things. The Self-realized soul has transcended the consequences of cause and effect and is no longer bound by neither the body or its activities, the atman-yogi knows that the Self forever remains as it is, untouched, unchanged and unmoved, despite the appearance of things, conditions and dramas. The thinker, the objects of thinking, and the knowing of thinking all belong to the Self. Like the waves that belong to the ocean. It is all the Self, the one reality and identity, both inner and outer, which is not bound or limited by anything, forms or worlds. In truth there was never any bondage. The Self-realized soul knows intimately without knowing that all is the Self, and that our real natural state and essence is eternal and free but we imagine that we are bound and make strenuous effort to be free, although all the while being free. 

Once we, the atman-yogi, give up regarding the unreal as being real, then only the Deathless Self alone remains, and this is what I mean by the statement that, 'Only God is Real'. And this is permanently and perfectly expressed as 'I-am'. All things, worlds and realms have their being with this truth of reality, experience and identity and from this truth of reality, experience and identity all things are perfect as they are one with the Self. And yet to those ignorant of their true identity this will not seem so. Having given up the illusion of 'I' as an individual thing or person, the 'I' knows its true identity with the true Self as 'I-am'. This is what is meant by the 'I' casting of the illusion of the 'I' and yet remaining as 'I'. Nothing has really changed as the 'I''s true identity was always the Deathless Self. Things have been seen for what they really are. There is no one who is in bondage even whilst still embodied in a mind/body experience. This is reality fully awake as the Self remaining as the Self. This is traditionally known in eastern philosophy and spirituality as 'Jivanmukta'; the awakened soul is free from the illusion of bondage whilst still remaining embodied. It is being in the world but not of the world, and yet at one with all the world. Nothing that the world is or is not can truly bound and affect the spiritually liberated soul. What is realized and known is beyond conceptualization, mind and intellect, and yet all this talking about it can potentially give us a flavor, taste and glimpse into the realization and awakening of a 'Jivanmukta'; a genuine fully liberated embodied soul. 

WHAT IS THIS?

As I have stated Self-inquiry into the nature and essence of 'who am I?' is considered by many spiritual authorities on this matter to be the most direct method to perfect Self-realization. It is considered that Self-inquiry leads us directly to Self-realization by removing the false obstacles and hindrances that make us think that the Self is not already realized. Self-inquiry alone can reveal to us the truth of the matter at hand that neither the ego; the 'I' thought; the individualization of doer-ship, really exists as a thing, in and of itself. Once fully recognized, seen and known the limiting and false identity with the mind/body experience is extinguished and all abides as the unchanging and unmoving Self as 'I-am'. It is our true and indestructible natural state of Pure Being. It is not an experience in that it is something to be gained or acquired. It is completely free of conditioning and form and therefore it is not created or born. And yet one can realise this pure undifferentiated being of Self, which is always free and unaffected by all that is. I prefer to say it is not an experience. An experience requires a knowing of that experience. It is something witnessed and known by the act of knowing. It is something we can talk about and describe. It is something recalled and felt. These are experiences that belong to the world of the senses. This is why when  approaching the Self-inquiry of Self-realization we do not look for something to be found, gained or acquired. It is not a thing. It simply is. The very idea of coming to it, or becoming and being it, or acquiring it, and realizing it, are all false. Even though someone of authority might describe it and communicate it this way. It would be far better to remain silent and still, but life does what it has to do. Just because there are full liberated souls in the world, the world doesn't stop and yet these liberated souls are not imprisoned and affected by what the world is or is not. All that the world is belongs to the world of the senses and is not the true Self. 

Pure Being is the true essence of all that is. It is not made, created, formed, acquired, found, conditioned or born. It is an effortless and natural state of all that is as 'I-am'. It is always present and giving life to all things and all things are one with it. Even now all is it. You haven't got to acquire it; you simply have surrender and to let go of all that is false. What we ordinarily identify with and attach self-importance to belongs to the world of the senses. True awakening is simply giving up and letting go of our mistaken identity with all that is false, unreal, temporary and changing. Pure Being is regardless of circumstances, conditions, beliefs, views, opinions, ideas, and appearances. All that is has no affect on what it is. No individual or group of individuals have authority over it or ownership of it. It is the Self of all that is. It is unhindered, untouched, unaffected and unchanged by all that is and all the self-importance and neediness of the world. Those who truly realize it do not impose themselves on the world for they see all the world as the Self. They are one with all that is, and they remain untouched and free of all that the world is or is not. What is done or not done belongs to the world of the senses and not the Self. This is the abode and platform of the liberated soul, the atman-yogi, who is identified with the Self. We can easily have this idea that spiritual awakening should look a certain way. It should be a certain way, or appear and show up in a certain way. What it is already is, and it does not belong to the world of the senses. It is regardless. It is all; be it the material and visible or the immaterial and invisible. The Deathless Self alone is. This is the light of the true Self.

The 'I-am' of I am.

        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.'

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

The Many Faces of the One: article 23 - the unpublished esoteric writings of an aging yogi.

           'I-am 'Spirit' daily affirmation 

"Fully aware and awake to the self-knowing and knowledge of pure 'Spirit', I am always centered, calm and at peace. I always act on whatever honors and respects the self-knowing and knowledge of pure 'Spirit'. I honor and respect that all creation is one with pure 'Spirit' and pure 'Spirit' is one with all things. I have and live a whole, fulfilled, peaceful, plentiful, beautiful and loving life in the full knowing and knowledge of pure 'Spirit'. I am always one with the beauty, love, peace, plenitude and unity that is pure 'Spirit'. I always make a daily conscious intention and connection with the oneness that is pure 'Spirit'. With the self-knowing and knowledge of pure 'Spirit' I am always whole, complete, free, awake and fulfilled in all things and experiences. I know that pure 'Spirit' is the one true source and provider of all things. Pure 'Spirit' fully blesses and fulfils me in all areas and facets of my life. 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.

                                                        KNOWING THE DEATHLESS 

The world has no reality apart from the Absolute; no intrinsic or separate reality or identity. All that exists is only a temporary manifestation of the Absolute. When the true Self is realized and known, the world ceases to exist as a separate reality independent of the Absolute. It is the Self within the Self. Only that which is permanent and unchanging can be called real. Therefore we as aspiring and devoted atman-yogis are continuously and wisely advised by the spiritual masters, both ancient and new, to seek the unchanging Absolute, and to abide with, in and as that. The authentic and realized one who sees the true Self, sees the Self alone in the world also, and all things are one with it, in it and of it. As already stated in these writings and works, it is the Self within the Self, as the Self and always remaining with and as the Self. It is only unreal to associate and limit the Self to names and phenomena and it is only real to regard all creation and its ever-changing myriad and diversity of forms as the Self. The world being what it is is unreal as the cognitive and conditioned construct that is the world, but it is real as the realization of the Self as being the Self within the Self. 

It is suggested that the cause of suffering and the end of suffering are within us. Both the problem and the solution lie within us. They are there as a result of our own mistaken identity with the mind/body experience. We as the individualized mind/body experience impose limitations, beliefs and ideas on to ourselves and then seek to transcend them. And yet these limitations, beliefs and ideas are self-made and have no real existence in and of themselves. They only exist as temporary mental constructs and projections of the mind, and yet we mistakenly see them as real and therefore we identify with them and emotionally invest in them for a sense of becoming and being whole, fulfilled, worthy and complete. When all creation is realized to be the one true ever-present Self, then all is realized with us as the one reality that is Self. Therefore we are now and have always been one with all that is. We abide as the Self knowing the Self, within the Self, and always remaining as the Self. The Dreamer has awaken from the dream. This is the light of Self.

As aspiring and committed atman-yogis, we seek the Self behind the self. The 'I-am' behind the 'I' thought. As long as we view ourselves as the body, the world appears as external to us. The world is no more real than the individual that sees it. It is only seen to be real because the mind assumes it to be. If you see yourself to be the body then the world and all its sensory objects is seen to be real also. But if you are awake to the deathless 'Spirit', there is only the Self alone as all that is. All alone is the Deathless Self, unmoving, timeless and unchanging. The Self-realized soul only sees the one true Self spontaneously manifesting and parading as the myriad and complexity of worlds and forms. All forms and phenomena only exist as being real as long as we are identified with the mind/body experience. If you see the Self it will be found to be all that is, everywhere and always. Nothing but the Self really exists. The Self alone is the one reality. The Self-realized soul, the atman-yogi, does not see the world and all its appearances as different from themselves. Like waves are to the ocean, despite the ever-changing appearance of waves they are always one with the ocean. The ocean and the waves remain as one. The true Self is the one and only reality. The Self alone is. I am that as 'I-am'.

The Self-realized soul, the atman-yogi, is the one who has realized their true identity with the Absolute, and now abides therein permanently with the Self. The Self-realized soul never sees any difference between themselves and others, and those who appear to be in ignorance of the Self. They are at one and in love with all that is. They are in love with the Self as the Self, within the Self and one with all things as the Self. They know that all ideas of separateness and individuality are but thought constructs. As are like waves to an ocean. Waves do not change what the ocean is. The same too with clouds. Clouds do not change what the sky is. The sky still remains as the sky. The Awakened Soul is free from the idea that they are enlightened or liberated whilst those around them are in bondage and ignorance. In the Self-realized soul, the atman-yogi, being fully awake from the sleep of ignorance all is recognized and known to be the Self, perfect, whole, plentiful and complete. For the Self-realized Soul there is only the Self, and the Self alone. The Self alone is all things. The light of All.

The atman-yogi only sees the Self as all creation. This is why the mind is absorbed into the Self, like a wave that returns to the ocean having never been separated from it. Separation is the real illusion. Separation, or should I say, individuality only exist as long as there is attachment to the 'I-am-the-body' identity. This is like only seeing the wave and not realizing in fact it is the ocean. At no time is the wave separate from the ocean, and its true essence and existence is the ocean. The wave is the ocean, and the ocean is the wave. They are one and the same. From this truth and knowledge of pure 'Spirit' there is nothing left to do, and yet all things can be done. There is on one to be, and yet you are all things. Nothing exists independent of pure' Spirit'. The Self alone is all creation. For the Self-realized soul there is only the Self. They only see the Self in and as all things, and all things within the Self. To the Self-realized soul all phenomena, things and forms only exist as being real as long as there is the mind/body identity as 'I-am-the-body' and 'I-am-the-doer'. All is the Self and the Self alone.

                                                         THE DEATHLESS AS 'I-AM''

All thoughts are objects of knowing, and not the one that knows. All feelings are objects of knowing and not the one who knows. Mind and body are objects of knowing and not the one who knows; as are all sense objects and all experiences of knowing; this also includes the intellect. Even the knowing of knowing is an object of knowing and not the one who knows. The world and its myriad of conditions, situations and dramas, is an object of knowing and not the one who knows it. The same too with mind-consciousness and mental perception; these too are objects of knowing and not the one who knows. All that can be known are objects of knowing and not the one who knows. And so it is with the true Self we can not know it with knowing as all we can know are and can only be objects of knowing and not the thing in itself that knows. The true Self is completely free of knowing, and all its objects of knowing and yet it is what enables knowing and the knowing of objects to be known. It is the knower, the known and the knowing, and yet it too is free of these things. It stands apart and at one with all that is; for it alone is. This is the truth of one who knows without knowing and who is and has always been completely free of all the objects of knowing. Of this I am clear. Of this I am certain. Mediate on this until it is known without knowing as it alone is without knowing as 'I-am'.

There is no one to who these thoughts belong. There is no one to who these feelings belong. There is no one to who this mind states and moods belong. There is no one to who this mind belongs. There is no one to who this body belongs. There is no one to who these experiences belong. There is one to who this 'I' thought belongs. There is no one to who these opinions, beliefs, views and names belong. There is no one to who thinking belongs. There is no one to who these sensory impressions belong. All these things are objects and phenomena of knowing, and there is no one to who knowing belongs also. In thinking there is only thinking. In feeling there is only feeling. In seeing there is only seeing. In hearing there is only hearing. In taste, touch, and smell there is only taste, touch and smell. In knowing there is only knowing, and in the knowing of knowing there is only the knowing of knowing. It is all impersonal and belongs to no one but the Self. Anything that can me know, and this includes knowing and the knowing of knowing is not the knower. 'I-am' is without knowing, and therefore there is no 'I', or 'me' or 'one' that knows it. And yet it is expressed and known in and as all things. The Deathless Self alone is. No object of knowing can touch it or change it, for it remains unchanged, unmoved and untouched. No object of knowing can penetrate it or destroy it or exhaust it, for it is formless and eternal. All is this. Of this I am certain. Of this I am clear. And yet there is no one or person who knows it. It is simply expressed as 'I-am'. What we know as a 'person' is an impersonal and conditioned construct of knowing as a wave is to the ocean. Its true identity and essence is the ocean. This is why I say, 'Only God is Real'.

                                                BEING AWAKE TO THE DEATHLESS

The Self-realized soul does not see the world as different from themselves. To the Self-realized soul all is one, and the one true reality and identity of Self is all. The Deathless Self is the one and only true reality and identity. This is the absolute and natural state of unity and oneness, that no thing or circumstance can move or change. It is not created or acquired therefore is cannot be destroyed or loss. It is free of the confines, constructs and limitations of space, time and form therefore we say it is limitless and eternal. It is without beginning or end therefore it always is, even now. All is realized in the Self being realized, but nothing has changed in the Self being realized, as all is the already realized Self, and all this does not require the act of knowing, and the knowing of knowing. Things are as they have always been, so nothing has really changed except the letting go and relinquishing of all that was false. All can be left to be the Self, as it has always been and the Self is all that there is. One who has realized the Self, never having left or been separated from the Self, has realized their identity with the Self abides there constantly as their true home. This is what it means to die before you die. They are, as they have always been, one with the source and essence of all things. There is nothing left to approve of or disapprove of. 

Time, space and form have lost their hold over the one who is awake. I'm sure we are all familiar with the classic Buddhist Zen saying, "before enlightenment, drink tea and chop wood, and after enlightenment, drink tea and chop wood". So simple and yet so profound. In this simple and timeless Buddhist Zen saying is the true essence and conclusion of all spiritual Self-inquiry and Self-realization. For the fully Self-realized soul there is really nothing left to do or be, and yet all things can be done and all things can be. All can be what it is. From the view point of others this might seem confusing and perhaps the behavior and thinking of a fool, but not so for the one who is awake to the Self of all, who only sees the Self within the Self and all things as one with the Self. 

Remember forms and phenomena only exist as being real, personal and substantial as long as the 'I' thought is identified with the mind/body experience. Self-realization is the recognition and unbroken identity with the Deathless Self, pure 'Spirit'. The 'I' that is ignorant see all things and phenomena as separate and different from the Self. The 'I' that is awake as 'I-am' sees the world as the Self and the Self as the world. They see all things as the Self and the Self as all things, therefore unity is our true abiding and natural identity and state. The Deathless Self alone is and all things exists as one with this truth of reality and identity. Ignorance of this is what gives rise to suffering and the 'I' that seeks its end. But suffering is only a consequence of the 'I' thought identifying with the mind/body experience rather than it knowing its true identity with the Absolute as the abiding and unchanging state of 'I-am'.

         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.'

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

 The Many Faces of the One: article 22  - the unpublished esoteric writings of an aging yogi.

       'I-am 'Spirit' daily affirmation 

"Realizing and knowing that pure 'Spirit' is present within me in every moment and all times, I trust and know that divine guidance is always available to me in all facets and areas of my life. I feel pure 'Spirit's' presence blessing, guiding and surrounding me. All my actions are guided and acted in the awareness, knowledge and knowing of pure 'Spirit'. I am always fully one with pure 'Spirit'. In the awareness, knowledge and knowing of pure 'Spirit' I am continuously inspired and strengthened to be all that I am created and intended to be. With pure 'Spirit' I too am always free to be what I was created and intended to be. I fully trust in pure 'Spirit' for the perfect outcome in all facets and areas of my life. With pure 'Spirit' I always remain calm, focused and centred. All that I am has its foundation and trust in the knowledge and knowing of pure 'Spirit'. I always acknowledge and honour pure 'Spirit' in all things. Being aware of pure 'Spirit' in all areas and facets of my life I only ever act on what honours the awareness, knowledge and knowing of pure 'Spirit'. I am always one with pure 'Spirit'. I fully 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.

                                                              WHAT IS ENOUGH?

Pure Being is not concerned with age, gender, race, history, sexuality, status, co-dependency, space, time and form. It is completely free of all these things, and the self-importance and limitations that attachments to these things can create and impose. It is completely free of any conceptual identity and the need to hold to any opinion or idea of what is right and wrong in order to justify its existence, authority or self-importance. Pure Being exists independent of the self-imposed mental concepts, ideas, opinions, views, agendas, demands and labels of the ever-changing conventional and conceptual world of things, events and dramas. And yet it is one with all things. Pure Being needs no story, no history, no agenda, no drama or purpose to validate its existence. It does not need to do anything, or be anything, or to prove anything, or be superior to anything, or to control anything, or to have anything. It is already one with everything and is everything. Therefore it is content and fulfilled in its own knowing of knowing. It is fulfilled in the spontaneous and impersonal arising of all things, creations and phenomena as temporary expressions of its own Pure Being. Its own Divinity. This is what it is to be 'awake' and to live in the certainty and knowing of the Absolute. Self-realization is the complete removal and end of the false and mistaken notion of 'I-am-the-body' identity and the 'I-am-the-doer' identity. It is the complete removal and end of the false and limiting notion that I have to become and be a 'somebody' before I am whole, fulfilled, worthy, entitled and complete; in order to prove to others and myself that I am also worthy and deserving of love and respect. 

In the recognition and awakening of Pure Being, 'Spirit', we realize we are already whole, fulfilled, worthy and complete. For we are all the Self within the Self and as the Self. Due to ignorance of Pure Being we are caught, or should I say the mind is caught, in the mind-made idea that we have to consistently strive to become and be someone better and more in order to be whole, fulfilled, worthy and complete, and to also be worthy and deserving of others love, admiration and respect. This can lead to us never feeling that we are enough, or the world is not enough, or we need to have more in order to be seen to be of value and importance to others. All these self-imposed demands and expectations on us can lead to suffering and a genuine feeling and lack of self-worth, self-acceptance and love. Who and what we are in the world is painfully measured by what we have, who we are, what we do, how we look, how much we have, our social status, and our co-dependency on others and their approval or validation. All this can add to never feeling like that who we are, what we do and what we have is never enough or is never going to be enough. Pure Being is free of all things. 

With Pure Being we begin to realize that there is nothing we need be or do, to have or accomplish, to be worthy and deserving of love or to be at peace with what conventional life and what the world is. We are already enough simply in the recognition and knowing of our innate nature of Pure Being. We are already the Self within the Self and with the Self and as the Self, which is already whole, fulfilled, worthy, plentiful and complete. It does not need a story, or drama, or persona, or platform to validate its existence and worthiness. It does not need anything outside of its own Self to validate its Self either. It alone is, and all things have their existence as a consequence of its Pure Being. In fact we lack nothing because we are already one with everything and everything is already one with us. Pure Being is whole, fulfilled, plentiful and complete in and of itself. This is true whether things or worlds exist or not. Nothing can change, lessen, destroy or alter this. You are already that which is independent and free of everything else and what the world looks like or does. You will have no need to impose or force yourself on others or to validate or prove your worthiness to them. You will not impose or force your need for love or fulfilment on others or the world because you will be fulfilled and in and as love as the Self. Everything else will be secondary and therefore false in its ability to create a sense of lack and unworthiness in the world. For the genuine Self-realized soul, the atman-yogi, there is only the one reality; the one reality as the many and yet always remaining as one. It is all Divinity as 'I-am'.

                                                       WHAT IS THE ROOT OF 'I'?

It is said that the 'I' thought is the root thought, and if the root is pulled out all all the rest is at the same time uprooted. Therefore find the source of the 'I' thought, and rest in the silence and stillness of 'I-am'. The personalized 'I'  is the 'ego'; the 'I' thought. After the arising of the 'I' thought all other thoughts arise. The 'I' thought is seen as the root of all other thoughts. Therefore we endeavor to find the source of the 'I' thought in the stillness and silence of 'I-am'. Self-inquiry into the root of the 'I' thought leads us directly to the Self-realization of Pure Being by the removal and giving up of the all the obstacles which make us think that the Self is not already realized. As atman-yogis we directly investigate and examine where the 'I' thought arises from then it will cease to exist as a thing in itself. Closely investigate and examine where the mind arises from and this too will cease to exist as a thing in itself; the mind simply being a bundle of thoughts and mental impressions. The mind is a temporary and changing construct that has no intrinsic separate existence. It is not a thing in itself. What we call the mind is really a bundle of thoughts and mental impressions, and these thoughts and mental impressions when investigated and examined have no permanent and solid existence. Hence why they are said to be unreal. Rather than having the focus of the mind turned outwards loosing itself to thoughts and sense objects we turn the mind inwards to realizes the Self. We ask, 'who am I' in the silence and stillness of 'I-am'? Even to ask is perhaps too much. Simply rest in the silence and stillness as 'I-am' - unmoving, unchanging, desireless and at peace

If it helps you can simply meditate on the wise words of Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, "just sit and know that 'you are' the 'I am' without words, nothing else has to be done; shortly you will arrive to your natural Absolute state." Or in the words of the Buddha, "Better a single day of life seeing the reality of arising and passing away than a hundred years of existence remaining blind to it." Again simply rest awake in the stillness and silence of 'I-am'. Let all come to rest in the stillness and silence of 'I-am'. Turn the mind inwards, away from sensory objects, to the silence and stillness of knowing. In this way you will see things for what they really are.

Being someone requires effort. Being the Self requires none. We are already the Self, and yet our ignorance of it causes us to act in the effort to know it. Knowing the true Self involves the undoing of the effort to be someone or something. Pure Being is our natural state as 'I-am'; no effort need be made on its part. All effort is at the consequence of the identity with the mind/body experience as 'I'. It is the mind/body identity that creates the idea of effort. It is this 'I-am-the-body' that creates the idea of effort in order to become and be something or someone. We have mostly forgotten Pure Being and wrongly mistaken the mind/body experience to be real, and assumed the identity of all that is unreal. We have mistaken the unreal as the real. We are already the Self and no effort really need to be made or done, but our ignorance causes us to make the effort to realize it when in fact it is already realized as 'I-am'. It is the mind that creates the idea and concepts of path, destination, separation, journey and goal. Being someone or something requires us to do something. Being as the Self, Pure Being, requires nothing of us as it already is. It is whole, perfected, plentiful and complete. As already stated being someone requires effort on our part. It takes birth in the mind with the arising of the 'I' thought from the silence and stillness of 'I-am'. Pure Being requires no effort in and of itself as it essentially what we truly are. It is our natural, unconditioned, pristine, desireless and pure state. And we are always this in all situations, dramas, conditions and circumstances. Being someone and doing something is caught and identified with the mind/body experience. 

                                                  WHO WAS 'I' BEFORE 'I' ARRIVE?

In Atman-Yoga what we are invited to do as atman-yogis is to relinquish everything that is false in order to realize our unity and identification with Pure Being. Self-realization is the intuitive and experiential understanding and knowledge through the silence and stillness of 'I-am' of the unbroken unity of reality and identity as one reality as Pure Being. Remaining as Pure Being because we are Pure Being. As Pure Being there is nothing that need be done, and yet all things are and can be done. With Pure Being there is nothing that need happen, and yet everything can and does happen. With Pure Being there is nothing that need change and yet everything can and does change. And with Pure Being all things are done or undone, and yet Pure Being remains unchanged, unmoved, complete and effortless. 

This Self of Pure Being must be fully realized and known by direct experiencing and knowledge. To simply be told it is not enough, even though the mind might think it. It is a experiential knowing that transcends the intellect and mind. It is beyond thinking and reasoning. Therefore as instructed we take this exploration of Pure Being with the silence and stillness of 'I-am'. Who am I? What is this?

     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.'

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

The Many Faces of the One - article 21  - the unpublished esoteric writings of an aging yogi.

"I always connect deeply with the love, beauty, peace and plenitude of pure 'Spirit'. I am calm and centered. Everyday and in everyway I am rediscovering the love, beauty, peace and plenitude of pure 'Spirit'. I always act on whatever honors 'Spirit' and all that 'Spirit' has created. Knowing fully that 'Spirit' is present within me in every moment, I know that divine guidance is always available to me. I know my faith and trust in 'Spirit' is real and enduring. 'Spirit' is the one and permanent source of all love, beauty, peace and plenitude. In 'Spirit' I am blessed beyond any desire or need. I am a divine and perfect creation of 'Spirit'. 'Spirit' is the answer and fulfilment of every need. With 'Spirit' I am blessed. I am always one with 'Spirit'. 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."

Sensory experiences come and go. They appear and disappear from our experience of reality. Some are pleasing to us and some are not, and other remain neutral, but the question of Self-inquiry is to who are they pleasing, or not pleasing or neutral? In the Upanishads it is stated, "All is change in the world of the senses but changeless is the supreme Lord of Love. Meditate on him, be absorbed in him, wake up from this dream of separateness." So, who is the one that has sensory experiences whether they be pleasant, unpleasant or neutral? From where do attraction, repulsion and neutrality have their origin and source? Who am I? What is this?

The body changes, but does the 'I' that knows the body change? The body is known through sensory experience, it is an object of the senses, we know it by sight, taste, touch, smell, sound, and mind-consciousness, and yet who is the 'I' that knows it? Feelings change, but does the 'I' change? We know feelings through sensory experience and mind-consciousness; heat, cold, pain, pleasure, comfort, discomfort, and so on; feelings are a sensory phenomena, and yet who is the 'I' that knows feelings? Thoughts change, they come and go, be they considered positive, negative or neutral thoughts, loving, indifferent or hateful thoughts, they are of the nature to change, they are temporary objects of mind-consciousness, and yet who is the 'I' that witnesses the coming and going of mind objects be they thoughts or mental impressions? Moods and mind-states come and go, be they sadness, elation, vigor, restlessness, anger. anxiety, doubt, fear, and so on, and yet who is the 'I' that witnesses and knows them?  Who is the 'I', or should I say, 'I-am', that witnesses, knows and experiences all these changing phenomena with the luminosity of mind-consciousness?

We could say that the phenomenal world is only the creation of the mind. It is a mental construct fabricated and constructed from within consciousness, and yet consciousness is not changed by the changes in the the phenomenal world. And yet what is the uncaused origin of consciousness? We are told we are already free. We are told that the idea of bondage is the illusion. We are told we are spirit first, and that oneness is our true nature and identity. And yet, why is this so alien to most of us? If it is our pure natural state then why is it that it requires so much of us to know it or feel it as a living and breathing embodied truth? 

Self-realization is the removing of all that is false,; the removal of the illusion of a separate individuality by the identity with the Self, which is all creation and all phenomena. It is the attainment of Self-realization as recognizing that the idea of bondage to the I-am-the-body, I-am-the-doer illusion is false. It is the letting go of the mistaken identity of separateness and individuality. You are the world and the world is you. There is nothing that stands apart from the true Self. This is why even with this knowing of knowing, feelings, thoughts, moods, the body and mind, and the world are still known, but the Self, pure Spirit', remains forever free of them and unchanged and unaltered by them. So, who am I? What is real? What is the truth of reality and identity?

It is stated that the Absolute is beyond the constructs of space, time and form. Beyond the constructs of mind, mind-consciousness and the body. Therefore nothing is beyond 'I-am'. We could say or argue that even 'I-am' is an idea or a concept, and yet who or what is it that states it? What would it be that exists beyond 'I-am'? Again all of this leads us to the Self-inquiry of 'who am I?' It is the need to remove and to be free of the burdens of what life can be; the challenges, the demands, the pain and the disappointments. The limiting and painful conditions of our humanity. An attempt to make sense of what can be seen, for some, as a meaningless, cruel and harsh world of struggle and suffering. 

The Self-realized soul is the one who at all times and in all situations abides and dwells in the heart of the Self. They are fully identified with the Deathless Self and not the mind/body experience, even though the mind/body experience is still present, their identity is with the unchanging and unmoving Absolute. The Self-realized soul never sees any difference between themselves and others, as their identity is free of the identity of form, and this awakened soul is completely free from the false notions of distinction that this so-called person is the enlightened or liberated soul, whilst all others appear to be in bondage or ignorance. They are in full possession of the Self and therefore at one with all creation and phenomena. Nothing needs to change, and yet everything can and does change. Noting needs to happen and yet everything can and does happen. Nothing needs to be done, and yet everything can be and is done. This means there is no distinction between forms and appearances. It is all to do with discovering the Self within the Self and the Self within all. When the wrong identification of the self with the I-am-the-body, I-am-the-doer illusion ceases the Self is both awake within and without. Our identity with the Absolute is fully realized, embodied and known. All is as it is. 

To die before you die is to give up all that is false and unreal, and to abide fully as the Real. With this awakening we see an end to clinging and grasping and the body identity. No story. No history. No drama, and yet the mind/body experience continues to play itself out, free of attachment and ignorance. In the search and discovery for the Self, we realize our true identity with the Absolute, which is eternal, timeless and formless. Self-inquiry into 'who am I' is seen as a direct way and path to realizing our true identity with the unconditioned, formless and unborn Self that we really are. This is what is means to die before you die. You are That. All is that, despite the illusory divine and dualistic dance of separateness and individuality. This Self-inquiry into our true essence, nature and identity is what enables us to overcome and conquer the I-am-the-body illusion as well as the I-am-the-doer illusion; this being the ego or mind. In this endeavor we are ask to quiet the mind into the stillness and silence of Pure Being; to bring it to its source; the true origin and essence of Pure Being. 

It is that which is beyond space, time and form. It is beyond body, mind and intellect, and yet all these things exist and have their existence with and within the source and essence of Pure Being. No thing can stand apart from this. As Pure Being is the true and only source and essence of all that is, and therefore all is one with with it and all is of it, and as it. Pure Being is the originator, origin and source of space, time and form, and yet their existence does not change, shape or alter what it is. Despite the temporary and changing appearance of things, constructs and phenomena it remains unmoved, unchanged, unthreatened and eternal. This is what it is to abide in and as the unchanging and unmoving 'Spirit'; to die before you die; to give up and relinquish all that is false and transitory as the object of our identity and sense of who we are, and what the world is. This is what it is to realize and know our identity with pure 'Spirit' and to no longer place any lasting importance or identity on that which changes. In this recognition and awakening on the nature and essence of reality and identity, both what is seen as personal and impersonal, as seen and known as one. The personal being the wave and the impersonal being the ocean, and yet their essence is one and the same, water. This is what is meant by the statement that separateness and individuality are illusory. Both the wave and the ocean are one. There is the appearance of separateness but their essence is one and the same. 

It is said that a thought is one thing and realization is another. Some would say that there is no real answer to 'who am I?' Self-inquiry is the dissolving of the 'I' thought. The 'I' thought is considered to be the root thought of all other thoughts. Others say that when the Self is realized the world ceases to exists as an objective reality. I guess this makes sense in that it follows that those who see the Self, see the Self alone in the world and as the world also. I would say that 'Only God is Real' or 'the Deathless Self alone is'. Admittedly you might not be in a position to grasp this truth of reality and identity with the individualized mind; as the mind itself is potentially an obstacle to Self-realization. 

The mind can only takes us so far, to a point where this too is given up and transcended, and recognized as a construct that inhibits the knowing of our true identity, nature and essence. The conceptual world and all its myriad of things, constructs and phenomena are seen as temporary manifestations of the Self whilst the Self remains untouched and perfect as it is. Some would say that it is like this to show that we are That. That it is all a spontaneous and impersonal arising of objective and subjective reality with no need, meaning or purpose on the part from that which created and gave life to it. It simply happens because it can. The Self is not some lifeless and dormant entity. It is life itself. It is Pure Intelligence that can give birth to a myriad, complexity and diversity of world and things. Not for any reasoned reason, but as an impersonal and spontaneous act of its own transcendental existence. 

For the enlightened mind, the world is not seen as outside of us, but it is seen as within us, and one with us. No things can stand or be seen to stand apart from oneself. All experience and existence itself is one with the Self. It is with the Self, in the Self, and as the Self, and existence and its myriad of worlds and phenomena do not alter or change what the Self is. So in the act of Self-inquiry we can ask of reality and identity, 'what is there outside of the self?' We can ask in the act of Self-inquiry, 'what stands apart from the sense and knowing of 'I-am'?'

What we are told is that if you can know the Absolute, pure 'Spirit', within which all ideas exists, not excluding the idea of 'I', and of others like you and the world and all creation you will now see the Self of all selves; the one Absolute as distinct from the idea and concept of ego and individual being, which is impermanent and impersonal. It is all the Self within and with the Self, and as the Self. No thing is ever separate form the Self, and therefore everyone is in fact already Self-realized, even though they are ignorant of it. Self-realization only really consists in getting rid of the false idea and illusion that one is not realized. This is why we have to transcend the body/mind identity, and awaken from our sleep of ignorance into the truth of reality and identity, therefore overcoming and ending suffering and the cause of suffering. It is not anything new to be acquired. It already is. It is not really something that needs to be realized as it is already realized in all that is, and yet we endeavor to realize it as an act of our humanity. This I would consider to be the highest endeavor and reward of life. Only the false and mistaken identity with the mind/body experience as a result of the mind clouds the truth of our already realized Self. This is the light of Self.

     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.'

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.