Ashtavakra & warnings 2

                                                                                                                    Ashtavakra "vivarta"

for a while, the following will preface all these blogs – so please skip over if seen before]

100 Billion

In order to hint at how serious this Blog is, let the author unequivocally state that the Knowledge here imparted, none of it original, none to be credited to the author, that Knowledge is THE MOST VALUABLE treasure that exists. If hypothetically offered 100 Billion dollars to forgo this Knowledge, that offer or any other would be disregarded in the blink of an eye.  Even with all the good that might be accomplished with $100B, this Knowledge is beyond the World & comes from beyond the Mind. This is no hyperbole.

Ashtavakra Gita selections

3.2 – Just as imagining "silver" [nacre], in a shell’s "mother-of-pearl" may cause desire for such "treasure, so does Ignorance of the Self lead to cause desire for objects of mistaken Perception.

3.3 – Having realized yourself as That in which the waves of the World rise & fall,

why do you run around like a suffering creature, anxious about mere things ?

3.7 – Strange that knowing lust as an enemy of knowledge, one who is weak & nearing death should still crave sensual pleasure.

3.8 – Strange is it that one who is unattached to the things of this World & the next, who can discriminate between the transient & the timeless, & who yearns for Liberation, should yet fear the dissolution of the Body & the loss of Individuality that comes with Release.

3.9 – In either praise of blame, the serene Sage abides in the Self.  He is neither pleased nor angered by what others may think or say.

3.10 – A great soul sees even his own Body in action as if it were another’s.  How can praise or blame disturb him ?

3.11 – Seeing this World as pure Illusion, having lost all interest in it, how can the strong-minded one feel fear, even at the approach of Death ?

3.13 – Why should a strong–minded person of, who sees the nothingness of objects, consider attachment to one thing & rejection of another ?

3.14 – He who is unattached, untouched by opposites [hot – cold, etc.], free of desire, experiences neither pleasure nor pain from events that come of themselves.

4.3 – He who knows That is untouched by good deeds or bad, just as the sky is not touched by smoke, even if it seems to be.

4.6 – Rare is he who knows himself as the One-without-a-Second — Lord of the Universe.  He does what seems worthwhile & no fear occurs to him who knows this.

5.1 – You are not bound or touched by anything.  What is there to renounce ?  Letting go of the complex Mind — know the Peace of dissolution into Consciousness.

5.2 – The Universe arises from you like bubbles in the Sea.  Know yourself as the One & enter the Peace of dissolution into Consciousness.

5.3 – Like an imagined Snake in a Rope, the Universe appears to exist in the stainless Self.  But it does not truly exist.  Seeing this you know: “There is nothing to dissolve.”

6.1 – I am like an infinite Space in which the phenomenal Universe is but one small jar. Know that there is no World to be either renounced, accepted. or negated.

6.2 – I am like a shoreless Ocean; the World is like a wave.  Know this & there is no World to be either renounced, accepted. or negated.

6.3 – I am like an oyster shell’s nacre, "mother-of–pearl".  The Universe is like the Illusion of "silver". Know this & there is no World to be either renounced, accepted. or negated.

6.4 – I am in all beings; all beings are in me. Know this & there is no World to be either renounced, accepted. or negated.

7.1 – In the shoreless Ocean of the Self, the Universe is like a ship wandering here & there, driven by the winds of its nature.  This has no effect on me.

7.2 – Let the wave of the World, by of its own nature rise or fall in the shoreless Ocean of the Self.  I am neither enhanced nor diminished.

Given again that the Asthavakra Gita is such a wealth of expedient, practical spiritual advice amidst transcendent proclamations, here’s a 2nd installment of  warnings found in certain Sanskrit terminology encountered in spiritual texts.  These are the "unreal" obstacles which are best addressed so long as they seem to be real.  A sample list [with simple rather than complete scholarly explanations] of some of the "obstacles" includes:

Apurva – unseen effect of a past act

Bhava – supposition, opinion (some have positive meanings too)

Bheda – differentiation

Jiva – individual soul

Kara – change

Karma – Prarabdha past, Agami current / Sanchit all past

Loka – world

Mithya – unreal (not just "myth" Greeks used the cognate)

Papa – sin

Pasu  – individual

Pasa – bondage

Varnam – caste

Vasana – re-incarnated or more recently acquired tendencies

Vikara – change in nature

Vivarta – superimposition

stula sarira – physical body – "food sheath" Anna – maya – kosa

sukshuma sarira – subtle body – Prana – maya – kosa  – "energy sheath" ; Mano – maya – kosa  – "mind sheath" ; Vijnana – maya – kosa  – "intellect sheath"

karana sarira – causal body –  Ananda – maya – kosa  – "bliss sheath"

[The above themes & 1600 pages more are freely available as perused or downloaded PDF’s, the sole occupants of a Public Microsoft Skydrive “Public Folder” accessible through  www.jpstiga.com ]

Ashatavakra, Illusions, etc.

[for a while, the following will preface all these blogs – so please skip over if seen before]

100 Billion

In order to hint at how serious this Blog is, let the author unequivocally state that the Knowledge here imparted, none of it original, none to be credited to the author, that Knowledge is THE MOST VALUABLE treasure that exists. If hypothetically offered 100 Billion dollars to forgo this Knowledge, that offer or any other would be disregarded in the blink of an eye.  Even with all the good that might be accomplished with $100B, this Knowledge is beyond the World & comes from beyond the Mind. This is no hyperbole.

Ashtavakra Gita selections

1.2  –  To attain Liberation, turn away from experience of the Senses like poison.

1.6  –  Right & wrong, pleasure & pain, are modes of the Mind. They are not your concern. You independent of those modes, neither the Doer or Enjoyer [experiencer of pleasure or pain], nor do you reap Karma [consequence of actions], so you are always free.

1.7  –  You are the one Witness of all that is & always totally free. Your only Bondage is not knowing this.

1.8  –  The thought: “I am the Doer” is the bite of a poisonous snake.  Drink the antidote of knowing “I am NOT the Doer” & be happy.

1.9  –  Burn down the forest of Ignorance with the fire of the Knowledge: "I am Pure Consciousness" & be happy & free from sorrow.

1.10  –  You are unbounded Consciousness — Bliss, Supreme Bliss, in which the Universe appears like the Illusion of a Snake in a Rope, so be happy.

1.11  –  If you know your self to be free, you are free.  If you know your self to be bound, you are bound. It is like the sayings, “You are what you think” or “thinking makes it so.”

1.12 –  You are Self—the Solitary Witness, perfect, all-pervading, One. You are free, desireless, at Peace.  The Universe is but an Illusion within you.

1.13  –  Meditate on this: “I am Consciousness alone – Non-Duality itself.”  Give up the idea that you are separate, a person, that there is anything external or internal.

1.14  –  You have long been bound thinking: “I am a person.” Let the true Knowledge: “I am Consciousness alone” be the sword that frees you from Mis-identification.

1.18  –  That which has Form is not real.  Only the Formless is permanent.  Once this is known, you will not return to Illusion.

1.19 –  Just as a mirror exists both within & without the reflected image, the Supreme Self exists both within & without the Body.

2.4  –  Just as waves, foam, & bubbles are not different from water, so the Universe emanating from the Self is not different from the Self.

2.5  –  Look closely at cloth & see only threads.  Look closely at the World & see only the Self.

2.7  –  From Ignorance of the Self, the World is appears, just as from Ignorance about a Rope, it may appear to be a Snake.  In true vision, no Snake appears but only the Rope.  Likewise in true Knowledge no World appears but only the Self.

2.9  –  The Illusion of a Universe appears in me as Consciousness just as does "silver" [nacre] in a shell’s "mother-of-pearl", or a ""snake" in a "rope", or "water" in a "mirage".

2.10 – As an earthen pot returns to clay, a wave to water, a bracelet to gold, & so is the Universe resolved into Me as Consciousness.

2.15 – In Reality, Knowledge, the Knower, & what is to be Known do not exist.  I am the stainless Reality, the Self, in which they appear, only through Ignorance.

2.16 – Duality is the root of Suffering.  The only remedy is to realize that what is seen does not exist & that I am the one, stainless, blissful Reality which is Consciousness.

2.17 – I am pure Consciousness, without the attributes which are only imagined.  Continually reflecting on this, I "abide" in the Absolute beyond imagination.

2.18 – For me, neither bound nor free, there is neither Bondage nor Liberation.  Illusion has lost its basis & come to an end.  In my Self all things exist, though ultimately, they do not truly exist.

2.19 – Having seen for certain that the Universe & the Body are without form or substance I am revealed as Consciousness alone where Imagination has no place to hold on.

2.23 – On the limitless ocean of my Self, in the wind of Consciousness, there arise the myriad mind–waves of a World.

2.24 – In the limitless ocean of the Self, the wind of thought subsides & the great vessel of a World & its Individual captain both lie "ship-wrecked".

2.25 – Wondrous is it how in the limitless ocean of the Self, waves of beings arise, collide, play for a time, & then disappear according to their nature.

Given that the Asthavakra Gita is such a wealth of expedient, practical spiritual advice amidst transcendent proclamations, we might institute a first installment of  warnings found in certain Sanskrit terminology encountered in spiritual texts.  These are the "unreal" obstacles which are best addressed so long as they seem to be real.  A sample list [with simple rather than complete scholarly explanations] of some of the "obstacles" includes:

Antahkarana –  "internal organ" of perception the Mind: including Ahankara, Buddhi, Chitta, Manas

Bheda – difference

Buddhi – Antahkarana’s organ of intellect of discrimination & determination (mostly helpful)

Abhasa – projection

Abhimana – attachment

Adhasa –subjective positive illusion of individuality

Ajnana – not-knowledge, i-gnorance

Aropa – objective positive illusion of the world of objects

Avarana – veiling part of Avidya ignorance or Maya (God’s "ignorance")

Avidya – not-seeing, ignorance

Bandha – bondage

Chitta – Antahkarana’s organ of mental impressions, memory, feelings, emotion

Dosa – defect

Guna – binding “rope” or quality: Sattva, Rajas, Tamas

Kama –craving

Klesha – 5-fold vershion of the "7 deadly sins"

Manas – Antahkarana’s organ of will (sankalpa) & doubt (vikalpa), image forming mind, desire

Maya – cosmic Illusion

Moha – dense delusion

Pasa  – bondage

Rajas – restless Guna, fantasy projection & craving

Samsara – cycle of birth & death, re-incarnation, smaller cycle of non-spiritual life

Samskara – persistent tendencies, some from previous lives (serial waking state dreams)

Sankalpa – unquestioned assumption

Sattva – attachment to static order, but also harmony & balance, the best Guna

Tamas – dull Guna, attenuation of discriminative intensity

Upadhi – modification, what absolute Consciousness does NOT have

Vijnana – Buddhi

Vikalpa – doubt

Vikshepa – projecting part of Avidya ignorance Vivarta superimpose

Vritti – mental mode, wave, vibration, restless patterns of thought

[The above themes & 1600 pages more are freely available as perused or downloaded PDF’s, the sole occupants of a Public Microsoft Skydrive “Public Folder” accessible through  www.jpstiga.com ]

Introduction to a new review of Vedanta Analogies & Vedanta–like Analogies

[for a while, the following will preface all these blogs – so please skip over if seen before]

100 Billion

In order to hint at how serious this Blog is, let the author unequivocally state that the Knowledge here imparted, none of it original, none to be credited to the author, that Knowledge is THE MOST VALUABLE treasure that exists. If hypothetically offered 100 Billion dollars to forgo this Knowledge, that offer or any other would be disregarded in the blink of an eye.  Even with all the good that might be accomplished with $100B, this Knowledge is beyond the World & comes from beyond the Mind. This is no hyperbole.

Some classic Vedanta Analogies in brief:

"The 10th" is about10 ignorant fools who forded a stream & on reaching the other shore counted themselves to be nine only. They grew anxious & grieved over the loss of the unknown 10th man. A wayfarer, on ascertaining the cause of their grief, counted them all & found them to be 10.  But each one of them had counted the others leaving himself out. The wayfarer gave each in succession a blow telling them to count the blows. They counted 10 & were satisfied. The moral is that the 10th man was not got anew. He was all along there, but ignorance caused grief to all.

"The Necklace" is about a woman who wore a necklace round her neck but forgot it. She began to search for it & made enquiries. A friend of hers, finding out what she was looking for, pointed out the necklace round the seeker’s neck. She felt it with her hands & was happy. Did she get the necklace anew? Here again ignorance caused grief & knowledge happiness.  [more about these & other such analogies to follow]

[Selections from Michael James’ Happiness & Art of Being]

Happiness lies deep within us, in the very core of our being. Happiness does not exist in any external object, but only in us, who are the consciousness that experiences happiness. Though we seem to derive happiness from external objects or experiences, the happiness that we thus enjoy in fact arises from within us.

Desire and fear agitate our mind, and obscure from its view the happiness that always exists within it. When a desire is satisfied, or the cause of a fear is removed, the surface agitation of our mind subsides, and in that temporary calm our mind enjoys a taste of its own innate happiness. Happiness is thus a state of being – a state in which our mind’s habitual agitation is calmed. The activity of our mind disturbs it from its calm state of just being, and causes it to lose sight of its own innermost happiness. To enjoy happiness, therefore, all our mind need do is to cease all activity, returning calmly to its natural state of inactive being, as it does daily in deep sleep.

The science of being is incredibly simple and clear. The science of being begins with observation and analysis of something that we already know but do not fully understand.  This science does not study any object of knowledge, but instead studies the very power of knowing itself – the power of consciousness that underlies the mind, the power by which all objects are known.

[The above themes & 1600 pages more are freely available as perused or downloaded PDF’s, the sole occupants of a Public Microsoft Skydrive “Public Folder” accessible through  www.jpstiga.com ]

NMT, No-Me Teaching 5

a short Satsang with Master Nome – "Meditation"

One absolute Being forever is. It manifests as the Existence of all things & of all beings.  It manifests itself as the Consciousness that knows in all beings.  It manifests itself as the perfect, omnipresent Grace that shines as Happiness in the hearts of all beings.  To know oneself as completely this absolute Being is the purpose, the essence, & the very substance of meditation. _

Meditate in a manner of dissolution so that there remains the Grace that is present everywhere, yet there is no recipient of it.  Meditate in a manner of dissolution so that the Mind is absorbed in the Real Knowledge, which is Consciousness, like a piece of salt dissolves in water.

Meditate in a manner of dissolution of the false Individuality so that the Identity, once imagined to be located in the reflection in the mirror returns to the original Existence which is this Absolute Being.

Dissolve.  Be absorbed.  True Knowledge is the way to accomplish this completely.  With the dissolution of the false identity, absorption of the “I” in the Self, all perplexity disappears, all confusions are resolved, & all Bondage vanishes.  For this true Knowledge of your Being, the Self of all, inquire, “Who am I?”  Inquire & thus dissolve & be absorbed.

The ever-shining Existence, the perpetually-existing Consciousness, & the perfection of Grace are what remain.

If you truly ask the question, “Who am I ?” there is no particularized thing called "I",  yet all that there is thoroughly "I".  There is nothing other than the one Self.  Dissolution, or absorption, is only in Knowledge.  In truth, there is no distinct, separate thing, with its own form, to dissolve, but only the Knowledge that recognizes this is called “dissolution.”

Nothing prevents you from meditation from beginning with the same intensity to which you are accustomed to end.  The ability & the source are there all the time.

Even if something were to be made up that appeared as a Veil, still, it would not depart from being within the Consciousness that knows it.

[responding to a question about awakening from a daydream to waking]

Then next perceptions or ideas arise, & they seem as if real.  The "reality" seems equal, thought after thought, experience after experience, & state of Mind after state after Mind.  The "reality" does not diminish.  It is constant.  That which is constant is "you".  

All of the forms that are illumined or taken to be real are not constant.  Not only does the sense of reality derive from you, but the reality, just the Existence, is "you".  If there is a Thought, the Existence in that Thought is "you", though you are not a Thought.  If there is a daydream, or if the daydream appears as if solidified or crystallized, the Existence of all that is "you".  There is no state in which the Existence ever becomes other than what it is.  It cannot go out of itself [out of existence]. 

The Thought & the crystallized daydream never depart from being within that Existence. The Existence, itself though, is entirely without Differentiation.

The very existence of Illusion is your Existence.  Once Illusion is imagined, it is your Reality that is lent to it.  When you lend Reality to Illusion, Reality, as it is, is not seen. 

So, dissolve Illusion.  Since Illusion consists entirely of imagination & your belief in it, there is no difficulty in its destruction, or Liberation from it.

When in Illusion, the Reality is still so close that it seems as if the Illusion cannot he separated from that Reality.  The Wise know that this is only indicative of the immediacy of the Reality & its homogeneous nature.

Even though Illusion so appears, you can still easily discern what is true & what is not, what is Reality & what is only a mere Illusion.  Discern what is self-existent versus what is entirely dependent on your belief in it.

If you profoundly notice from where Happiness comes, you remain peacefully detached from all of the Illusion.  You identify as the undivided Oneness that pervades all forms, but you are not attached to any of them.

The Thought is that objective confused happiness will make something seem more real, but it doesn’t.   Confused happiness makes it less real.

The Thought makes true Happiness seem less real & veils it.  Knowing the source of happiness yields detachment from all of the unreal appearances. You remain as their undivided Existence but not entangled with the appearances.  There is a great, unmatched fullness in this.

Comparison of Ribhu Gita selections (Sanskrit & Tamil by Master Nome):

S8.2 [meaning Sanskrit version chapter 8, verse 2]

I am the same as Brahman, I am the Self.  There is no doubt of this. One who is firm in the conviction that I am Chaitanya (the Conscious Self) is called a Jivanmukta (liberated while alive).

S8.3

I am the Self, which is Consciousness. I am Param-Atman (the Supreme Self).  I am attributeless (including absence of Gunas, "binding qualities"), I am higher than the highest.  One who has this certitude is called a Jivanmukta (liberated while alive).

S8.3

I beyond the Self triad of Bodies (gross physical, subtle dream astral, & Deep Dreamless Sleep causal), I am Brahman, Consciousness. One whose final conclusion is that I am Brahman is called a Jivanmukta (liberated while alive).

S8.4

One who has no Body or such (mind & ego), who is certain that he is Brahman, & who if filled with the highest Bliss, & who revels in Bliss is called a Jivanmukta (liberated while alive).

T8.2 [meaning Tamil version chapter 8, verse 2]

One who has the certitude "I am the Supreme Brahman, without the 3 Qualities (gunas) of (illuminating) Sattva & the others (agitating Rajas & Tamas dullness), the Truth transcending the highest, of the nature of Consciousness–Bliss" – this is a Jivanmukta (liberated while alive).  One who certitude "I am the Eternal Supreme Self without the 3 Bodies (gross physical, subtle dream astral, & Deep Dreamless Sleep causal), of the nature of Knowledge, the mass of Bliss, the One, the Eternal" – this is a Jivanmukta (liberated while alive).

T8.3

One who ever abides in Bliss, with no trace of attachments to the Body or such (mind & ego), in the certitude "I am the Supreme Brahman", the One, is a Jivanmukta (liberated while alive).  One who is all Silence & in great Bliss, rid of Delusion, & is of the nature of Consciousness alone, without a trace of the sorrow-ridden Ego, is a Jivanmukta (liberated while alive).

Defining Non-Duality pt 3  -  one's spiritual practice

The view to which one adheres will determine what kinds of spiritual practices are engaged in & how they are practiced.  These are not only basic views, forming one’s beliefs, determining the manner of practice & the resultant experiences, but also represent degrees of depth, or height, of spiritual experience.  Each succeeding one is more of the Truth, less of the Ego, more of Liberation, less of Bondage, more of Knowledge, & less of unexamined Ignorance.

In one’s spiritual aspiration, one necessarily has a view of what the Absolute is, be it a set of ideas or a result of inner experience.  The deeper the experience, the more transcendent of notions it is & the more Non-Dual it is.  An Un-Qualified Duality [UQD] view asserts that the Absolute is one thing & one’s self another.  There is a God, by whatever name called, & there is a separate soul, by whatever name called, & these are regarded as different in every respect.  Though there may be similarities, such as both lasting forever, they are regarded as different as 2 distinct Objects, as different.  With such an approach, one practices to establish some relation to the Supreme, the Lord, but there is no union or merger.  Even in a heavenly realm, the distinction still persists.

In Duality, the Absolute is viewed as if with all the qualities of a person, but on a grander scale, distinct from all others.  A Qualified Non-Duality [QND] view supposes the Absolute to be one thing & oneself another, but there is some sameness due to relation. The Absolute may be regarded as one’s source, just as a spark has fire as its source, but it is not regarded as the same as the fire itself.  The Absolute may be regarded as something to which one will eventually return, but it is not regarded as the same as one’s own state now or as one’s nature. With such a view, spiritual practice is to maintain a relation to the Absolute with the knowledge that one was once part of that limitless Being & one may return to it, but, for now, one must seek to deepen one’s relation to that God. The Supreme is viewed as similar to a person, yet on a grander scale, but which has left its mark, spark, or a trace of itself in the individual. With Qualified Duality [QD] as one’s view, spiritual practice aims at the strengthening of the relation with the Lord, the Supreme.

The view of Qualified Non-Duality [QND] is that the Absolute is of the same nature as oneself, one’s self being of the same nature as it, though there are distinctions, such as a difference in vastness, steadiness of experience, & such. It is said to be as a glass of water & the ocean. They both are water, the same thing, yet they are not the same. One’s understanding can extend to the point of viewing the Absolute as a background of All, or as a substrate of all, as that from which everything arises & to which all will return, & even as that which pervades everyone & everything with a distinction between the pervader & the pervaded.  There can be experience of union, but this will be followed by separation again, though there can be a memory of the union while differentiation resumes. The individual experiencer remains, for whom all else arises, who thinks, who feels, who acts, & such. With the view of Qualified Non-Duality [QND], spiritual practice will be one of attempting merger or union. The Absolute is viewed more impersonally, as a greater intelligence or as some all-pervading presence.

In pure, or Un-Qualified Duality [UQD], the Absolute is the Self, & the Self is the Absolute.  There is no other Absolute & no other self.  They are forever indivisible.  Union is ever the reality, or it may be said there is never a division at any time. All differentiation is regarded as the mis-perception of a Rope to be a Snake; it is purely Ignorance, or imagination, & never real at anytime.  There is no individuality, & the ego-death or destruction of that ignorant ego-assumption, with its concomitant ideas of all else, is by Knowledge.  The practice is one of Knowledge, the prime method of which is Self-inquiry, the finding of the answer within oneself to the introspective Inquiry question, “Who am I ?”

Knowledge, itself is the path, or the means of spiritual practice, & the method of meditation is Self-Inquiry. In Non-Duality, the aim of the reception & absorption of spiritual instruction is the Knowledge of  “That thou art,” as the Upanishad declares.  In Non-Duality, the Absolute is known as Existence itself, or as Consciousness, itself Meditations on the substrate, the background, the all-pervading One, & such are understood as steps & not the final Reality.  Reality, itself, is immutable, forever indivisible, always present, & without–a–2nd or anything other.

The view of oneself may be a collection of mis-identifications, or it may be actual Knowledge of oneself.  The deeper, or higher, the view, the more Non-Dual it will be.  It is Duality when one’s identity, the "self" is regarded as an individual soul encased within a Body.  It will thus be always less than & different from God.  Even alter Death, there will be a soul with another kind of Body. even if it be more subtle.  Because of mis-identification, all the activities of the Mind & Body are regarded as one’s own, & the existence of the Ego is unquestioned.  Yet one dedicates these activities in service to God according to His will, thus attenuating the influence of Egotism.

In Qualified Duality [QD], the self is regarded as an individual soul with a spark of the divine within it. The soul should be guided by that spark.  There is identity will all the activities of the Body & Mind & no real questioning of the existence of the Ego, but the inner divinity can guide these in addition to the will of God in an outer way.

In Qualified Non-Duality [QND], the "self" is regarded as the experiencer. This may be as a sensing entity or as a mental entity.  Even as a sensing entity, the emphasis will still be on the awareness incorporated in the sensory experience, because anything spiritual presumes one is not identifying as a mere Body seeking mere sensory things.  If there is merger, the experiencer remains or returns as the "ongoing reality"’ & the higher experience is regarded as that which comes & goes. The attributes of the Ego may be questioned or released, such as aspects of the Mind or tendencies of thought, but the Ego itself or Individuality, is not actually inquired into.  The Individual is the one who is attempting to combine the higher experiences with the retained belief of a manifest World, which is perceived, or conceived, by a process of mis-identification.

In Qualified pure Non-Duality [UQND], the Self is known to be pure, Formless Being-Consciousness-Bliss, with no Individuality at all, & not defined by a Mind or a Body.  It is not a "self" or a "soul", but the Non-Dual Self, without limit, definition, or form.  It is the Reality, without coming or going, without Birth or Death.  It is utterly impersonal & attributeless.  The Non-Dual practice is that

of singular Self-Inquiry to know the Self; not the Self in relation to anything else, but to know it as it is free of mis-identification.  The Self is free of Subject & Object, & the Knowledge of the Self is non-objective.  Hence, it is Self-Knowledge in which the Knower & the known are the same.  One practices Self-inquiry so as to abide in steady Knowledge of the Self.

In Un-Qualified Duality [UQD], Qualified Duality [QD], & Qualified Non-Duality [QND], Knowledge becomes increasingly important.  In Un-Qualified Non-Duality [UQND], Knowledge is of paramount importance for Knowledge alone destroys Ignorance, & what one seeks is to experience Reality as it is. To the degree that there is an increase of Knowledge of the Self, even accidentally, to that degree is spiritual advancement occurring in any spiritual practice undertaken with any view.

In Non-Duality, since the Absolute & one’s Self are identical, it is all-important to realize the Self.  Since the Self is the Reality, which ever is, & all differentiation is only imagined in Ignorance, the Realization comes by, & is identical with, the Knowledge of the Self, which alone destroys Ignorance. Since it is imperative to know oneself, the practice is that of Self-Inquiry to know the Self.  When one recognizes that Non-Duality must be what is true, one takes the path to realize it.

What one regards as real is, or becomes, one’s experience.  According to the degree of Duality or Non-Duality, what is regarded as real will be different.  In all cases, there must be the breaking of attachment to the things of the World, but the depth reached thereafter is different.  In Un-Qualified Duality [UQD] the World is regarded as real.  It is the creation of the Supreme, God, unless one is an Atheist, in which case it is an accident of matter, but such would not be any spiritual view at all.  The World is regarded as external, one seems to dwell in it, & the Supreme seems elsewhere.  The determination of Reality is the Senses & the mental cognition of the same.  In Duality, God is regarded as one part of Reality, & the Individuals, the World, & God seem as 3 distinct things.

In Qualified Duality [QD], the World is regarded as real & created, but it is the splendor, or manifestation, of the Supreme.  Some part of the Supreme manifests its presence in the World in various ways.  The World may be viewed its God’s "Eternal Play" [lila], or as something that is temporarily "arising".  The determination of Reality is still the senses & the Mind. The Supreme is seen as one part of the Reality, but it has left its spark, or something of itself in the individuals & in the World.

In Qualified Non-Duality [QND], the World is regarded as real as a projection of the Supreme, as a Dream of God, as a Creation of the Mind, as the Mind’s play, as the energy of Consciousness, or as similar to these.  The determination of Reality is still with the Senses & the Mind, & the Objective aspect is regarded as existent yet, in nature, more subtle than matter. Therefore, the Absolute, or the Self, is regarded as only one part of Reality, & not the only reality. In Un-Qualified pure Non-Duality [QND], there is no embodied Individual &, so, no World perceived by the Individual or the Body.

[The above themes & 1600 pages more are freely available as perused or downloaded PDF’s, the sole occupants of a Public Microsoft Skydrive “Public Folder” accessible through  www.jpstiga.com ]

Defining Non-Duality pt 2  –  Theodicy 

[coming back again, for good I hope]

To further illustrate in a concrete way some "Defining Non-Duality pt 1" distinctions between Un-Qualified Duality [UQD], Qualified Duality [QD], Qualified Non-Duality [QND], & Un-Qualified Non-Duality [UQND], we consider the "mystery" of  Theodicy, that of evil in the World & why God allows it to exist. (Perhaps since we are delving into the "World" in this episode, it may serve to repeat our occasional "value-disclaimer": whatever good might be accomplished with, say a hundred billion dollars, whatever the practical value such funding might have, never for a micro-second could we consider relinquishing the liberating Teaching of Non-Duality, Advaita Vedanta, for such a pay-off.  Whatever the World holds is unreal, whatever leads to the Self-Realization of Non-Duality is priceless beyond all imagination).

Theodicy  –  To further illustrate Theodicy, evil in the World & why God allows it to exist.

Testosterone Monsters  –  Mostly males, but a few females have stretched the envelope of credulity when it comes to cruel Theodicy, so to speak.  Long-term sexual slavery & sadistic abuse is incredible. Mass murder, genocide, Inquisitions, slow boiling of enemies, quartering by horses & the “rack”, hanging by the tongue, the genitals, the intestines, you name it. Unspeakable cruelty & terror, a thousand cuts, covering a skinned victim with covering sheets of cellophane to prolong survival & pain – what is the point ?  Sado-sexual cross-wiring & hate, sick adrenaline-rush from a real-live horror movie, it is baffling. Extracting information by dismemberment, nailing scrotum or tongue to a table, subjecting the victim to be devoured by fire, insects, crabs, rodents, wild beasts, or dogs. Daily immersion in feces, overheating & crowding, freezing, withholding sleep, food & water, attaching electrodes internally & to pain centers in joints, teeth, eyeballs, private parts, & so on. How can this be, what does it mean ?  Such super-dense ignorance foretells long-term compensating karma & fierce obstacles to awakening for the perpetrator. Perhaps some accelerated karmic catch-up is a factor for the victim, who can say ?  No God “allows” this most horrid of Ego manifestation. And yet considering the selfish nature of Ego, only glimmerings of Divine self-nature explain why is not even worse. For true “pure” Ego, anything goes when it’s the other guy. Mis-directed self-love always  rationalizes the pain of a victim as somehow deserved. The same mis-directed self-love  always paints the act as loyally following orders, seeking revenge & honor, or some other twisted explanation.

That all would be part of what we later call the rajasic side.  But dull-minded neglect & indifference, the other tamasic side of human cruelty can be just as crushing.  Giving birth to AIDS infested fetal-alcohol (and/or "gifted" with HIV, syphilis, etc) babies dangerously born to too-young mothers & rape victims, babies pre-addicted to crack cocaine & heroin, how can there be such neglect ?  Getting high & “partying” in the a filthy room, leaving babies locked in roach & rat infested, unclean restrooms, with stopped-up, overflowing toilets, babies “toyed” with by cigarette burns & sold by the hour to sexual predators, how can there be parents like this ? And how different are they from the luxuriously pampered privileged one inheriting millions or cheating hundreds of have-nots with financial swindles, when those same through selfish greed, indifferent contempt, war-mongering & political hate serve as active or passive accomplices to families freezing & starving, lying sick in the streets & roadways ?

Not for the first time, nor last, there arises the enigma of Theodicy, that mystery of evil in the World, & questions like: how can a loving God let all the "bad things" happen ?  To various questioners, various first answers could be offered in terms of UQD, QD, QND, & UQND.  Only some such explanations can be introduced here in the partial outline that follows:

I) UQD,  Qualified Duality – adherents for starters live in denial about how mean-spirited God would have to be to have eternal Hell, to leave the vast majority excluded from Calvin’s Predestination, Rapture, or whatever might be the current & Last Days elitist clubhouse.  Pushing all that under the rug first, they attempt to console themselves with “God’ s will” & his “mysterious ways.”  But when their young daughter is stricken with painful & fatal disease, or raped & tortured by a child molester, some understandably turn their backs on that God when their blind faith has thus been too sorely tested. War & evil of all sorts can overwhelm the UQD practitioner.

II) QD, Qualified Duality – adherents are "soft" on hell but more rationally find mystery in Theodicy, God’s destiny or justice, that includes the existence of evil. In a circular mutually modeling cycle, Crime & Punishment Legal systems mirror & inspire Crime & Punishment Theological systems, & vice versa.  In neither case can the grim enjoyment of revenge & retribution satisfy the grief of loved ones.  At the same time, revenge punishment offers precious little "closure" balm to innocent victims who suffer, & of course less solace to those who die.

III) QND, Qualified Non-Duality adherents include some who take a subtler but also weak position on Theodicy, & this QND subset itself can be well divided into 2 groups for clarity. One still retains some metaphysical version of a RWOT [real-world-out-there] ranging from varieties of Deism-Panentheism to all kinds of Gnostic & Theosophical hierarchies of planes & levels with many hierarchies of beings. Exoteric Buddhism & Hinduism, for instance, retain almost biblical heavenly hosts & demonic hosts, armies at war with each, like traditional religion’s angels & demons. Levels of heaven & hell abound, though usually not eternal hell. Astral planes of all description are the scene for elaborate delineations of karma, where hopefully, mysteries of Theodicy get lost or forgotten in all the confusion. In a sense this

strategy, at best, results in a plan of not getting distracted by theodicy, dealing with what "learning experience" comes your way, but primarily getting on with one’s real job of striving for union with

God, the Buddha-Mind, or the Tao. The 2 groups filter all of the foregoing through roughly 2 distinguishable models for a RWOT [real-world-out-there]: both QND & less than highest UQND.

1. Nirguna Brahman, Buddha-Mind, Dharmakaya, most absolute Tao, by whatever name “co-exists” in some fashion with Saguna (with form) Brahman or equivalent. This latter more objective aspect of Absolute Reality or God projects, dreams, or “like a spider extruding its web” s omehow manifests a Universe out of its own substance. God’s Dream or Lila ("Sport, Play, Dance"), or web of Illusion (Maya is a more friendly tone) contains all of "us" as evanescent characters playing out multi-lifetime karma –learning. Rehabilitative sentences (ajudicated) with R & R rewards on various heavenly, hellish, & other planes are determined by our thoughts (especially last ones), words & deeds that obscure the reality of God in & as it all.  Evil describes the wrong turns that we dream–characters take in our winding path.  Victims of karma thereby fulfill retributive punishment from former transgressions recorded in the akashic records or their own minds.  So no matter how horrible, the suffering is expiative, like Purgatory on the fly.  Ultimately, as generalized above, union with God is the destiny of all these dream characters or projections/sparks with whose immortal souls live through many, thousands or millions of lifetimes as required.
2.  Nirguna Brahman (Absolute Reality without Form) & Saguna Brahman (Absolute Reality without a little Form left in) is a distinction that becomes far more virtual in the 2nd group, verging toward Nirguna Brahman alone which is UQND, Un-Qualified Non-Duality. What we will repeatedly return to as the “Counting Problem” is embraced here in the negative in that “there is only One even if it can seem that we are many.” Life & the Universe are illusions from which we awaken to rediscover that we are One all along.” How this can happened remains a mystery as it must because the only resolution lies in the context of Un-Qualified Non-Duality, UQND where it just plain never happened.  Evil, Suffering, & Theodicy are branded with the status of Illusion, but this can still be weak solace to one who is suffering or who is or knows an innocent victim of Evil.  Progressively, from the furthest advanced edge of QD Qualified Duality through QND Qualified Non-Duality there is growing recognition that Ego is the selfish fount of misguided, ignorant Evil.  So then seeking Liberation, “erasing the Ego” is the only solution.  Further into Qualified Non-Duality, QND toward UQND, Un-Qualified Non-Duality, the surprise is no longer in the perverse depths of consummate Evil whenever it appears.  Rather, in contemplating the inversion that is Ego, we must be surprised that, with "out for number one" Ego at the “helm”, Evil is not even worse.  Rather than feeling betrayed by God for “allowing” Ego, this seeker is grateful for the Grace that holds Ego–Evil at bay, limits it, admits Goodness, &  in the end redeems all from evil Ego.

IV) UQND, Un-Qualified Non-Duality alone has an answer for Theodicy, evil, Ego, & all suffering. Knowledge alone liberates, knowledge of the Self as Brahman "1-without-a-2nd". Words cannot express Un-Qualified Non-Duality, UQND but more words will be directed at hinting & pointing as we proceed. Looking back across this brief Outline, we metaphorically see that needless suffering, Ego, evil & such are the “fly in the ointment” for UQD, QD, & QND, a fatal flaw in every one of them that belies posing as a complete understanding.

V) SPAM [scientism–physicalism–atheism–materialism], needless to say, can only face Evil & Suffering with “fear & loathing,” enough to inspire suicide in any such adherent who is not living in denial. In this “last” or “first” properly but listed-out-of-order entry, there is no God, so no Theodicy or divine mystery or answer to Evil.  Instead Evil is trumpeted as a salient "proof" against the existence of God.  Taking on the lamest & least appropriate spokesmen for spirituality, the most obdurate Fundamentalists within UQD Un-Qualified Duality & their Bibles, all at face value, SPAM adherens they see no answer forthcoming at all to their question: "how can there be a God if "He" allows evil & suffering in the World.  For SPAM, evil proves no-God.  So again, the contradiction of evil Theodicy is resolved only in the “all Form is unreal” absolute resolution of Un-Qualified Non-Duality, UQND reviewed in acronyms. 

SPAM  = Scientism-Physicalism-Atheism-Materialism

UQD    = Un-Qualified Duality

QD       = Qualified Duality

QND    = Qualified Non-Duality

UQND = Un-Qualified Non-Duality

 Typically, there is the “allow” term in the: how can there be a God if he "allows" Evil & Suffering in the World.  This “allow” part of the objection carries a context of complete micro-management by special creations & miracles at all times, & a divine "Legal Justice" system context. The God of Un-Qualified Duality, UQD has his fingers in every pie, all the time, or else he doesn’t exist, they would say. Any undesired outcome is “God’s will” & he seems mean-spirited for intending & dictating the nasty ones. There “should” be no disease, no evil, no death, but only great family planning. God could not exist if he fails the criteria for fair play, good intentions, & support of life, liberty, justice, & the American way, the pursuit of, even if never finding, Happiness, & generally a good GDP & low unemployment rate for all. Then the fact that some of us are born weak, fat, sick, ugly, & impoverished is another issue but we’ll take that up another day under "identification with the body".  All goes to show that God is not very nice, eyen without the unspeakably insane eternal Hell, so therefore he could not exist, so say SPAM adherents.

[The above themes & 1600 pages more are freely available as perused or downloaded PDF’s, the sole occupants of a Public Microsoft Skydrive “Public Folder” accessible through  www.jpstiga.com ]

NMT, No-Me Teaching 4

Note on true Happiness:

Happiness is felt, experienced, sourced & "contained" in the very heart of the conscious Mind. Happiness is in no way connected [affecting or deriving from] any external Object, but only in & from ourselves.  We, as Consciousness, are the One that experiences Happiness.  Though we seem to derive Happiness from external objects or experiences, the Happiness that we actually experience derives from Consciousness at the core of our Being.  Desire for Happiness, fear concerning its diminution or absence, such "thought–waves" or vrittis leave the Mind troubled & unhappy.  But "beneath" the superficial Mind, Consciousness ever remains peaceful & happy.

Agitation [rajas guna] in the Mind obscures [tamas guna] innate Happiness in the center of our Being.

Upon temporary satisfaction of obscuring desires, some temporary subsidence of such vrittis in the Mind is felt as "partial happiness" – all to the extent & for that interval consistent with the degree & continuance of subsidence.

That "partial happiness" is a "whiff" of the limitless innate Happiness that is Consciousness.  Sri Shankara, & before him the Buddha, among many sages from various traditions, delineated some details of this illusion of unhappiness.  Buddha’s 4 Noble Truths concerning the nature of Happiness could be roughly summarized as follows:

Life is of the nature of Suffering.

Suffering arises from Desire.

Desirelessness is Liberation.

Spiritual practice [as in his 8–fold Path ] is the way to Desirelessness & Liberation.

Further interpretive intuition implicit in the instructions of the Buddha could be extended thus:

Not getting what you want is Suffering.

Getting what you don’t want is Suffering.

Even getting what you want is Suffering, because deep down you know that the temporary enjoyment is fleeting & will slip away, so that future loss is already intuited & is already painful.

Sri Shankara contribute additional insights amid his thorough discussion of the nature of Happiness:

That an external object cannot produce Happiness is suggested by the fact that its enjoyment is less or even absent at certain other times & by certain other people.

Furthermore, increasing access to the supposed "happiness–producing" [such as having twice as much, etc.] does not increase the enjoyment proportionally, & sometime not at all.  Even reversal to aversion to excess of the imagined "happiness–source" can be the case.

Further, Happiness is not within the Mind.  Mental replay or memory of the supposed "happiness–producing" experience may be slightly enjoyable, but never to full extent of the immediate experience.  The Mind cannot fully [or at all] replicate a happy experience, thus possibly leading the former illusion of attributing the Happiness to an external Object.

In fact, it is removal of obscuring mental waves [vrittis], as mentioned above, that allows some glimmer, little or great portion of innate Happiness to shine through. Full & lasting Happiness, Liberation arises from transcendence of the Mind & naturally complete Renunciation regarding unreal external objects.

Generally, disturbance in the Mind obscures the calm Peace of the Self, which is Pure Consciousness.

To enjoy full & lasting Happiness, we need only return, consciously to the Mind-transcendence naturally but unconsciously experienced on a daily basis in Deep Dreamless Sleep. 

more Container Space analogies:

Just as Ego is the Reference “Origin” for thought & Mind, so is Now such for Time, Here for Space, & the Body for the World.  Each is in fact another form of Ego [my self]: my Now time, my place Here, my Body.

Thoughts or pieces of an Image, a Sound, any Sensation or Thought–form can be compared [within the analogy] to Coordinate Points within an appropriate Cartesian Container Coordinate Space, all defined with reference to their respective Origins.  So 2-D locations on the TV/Cinema/Visual–Screen of the Mind are referenced to the Origin of Central Focus or mental "Here" of the TV/Cinema Image Screen .  More proper 3-D locations in "Physical" [perceived that way] Space are referenced to the Origin of Physical Here. 

Thoughts, on the other hand, are referenced in Mind to the Ego–I or Me Origin.  The 1-D Linear Thought–flow & Sound–sequence are referenced, just as is Time itself  to the Origin of the Now Moment.  The 3-D Tactile & Visually Scanned World of Objects in Physical Space could be said to have one’s Body as the "Origin" which in this case is not an infinitesimal 0-D Coordinate Point like the other Origins.

In each case the premiere Sense Modality for each Coordinate Space analogy could begin with Hearing for the sequence of Sound, & by extension to the Flow of Time & of Thought. That Sense-association is of course "tight" for Sound Sequence even though some 3-D echo-location occurs as well, especially for bats, dolphins, etc.  The extension of this same Acoustic  Sense Modality to Thought & Time is by analogy.

For the 2-D "Screen" & 3-D Space, Vision predominates.  Tactile Sense comes in as well for the 3-D Container Coordinate Space of the World of Objects.  Each "great empty space" is perceived primarily by 1 or 2 Senses.

1-D:  Time, thought-flow, sound sequence                                             Hearing

2-D  “Window / Windshield” of the visualizing Mind                              Vision

3-D   World of Objects                                                                              Tactile 

In another vein, the various Coordinate Space analogies correspond to "classical elements" of phases of Matter.  Certainly Space is space & the World is space but also the solid earth.  "Airy" Time, Sound, & Thought-flow then "belong" to the gas phase.  To posit a 0-D thinking & imagining Mind with memory, etc. could by a stretch be connected to the Olfactory & Gustatory Senses where things may stink or taster sweet.

Mind of course includes Time, Space, & the World.  But specifically focusing on Mind itself as one of the Container-Spaces, ever with Thoughts as the Coordinate Points & the Ego–I or Me as there reference Origin, models for Mind appear in 5 different dimensional aspects:

0-D for the core [false] Ego Identity, Me

1-D for the sequence of Thought

2-D for the visual screen of the Mind

3-D for the theater of the Mind

4-D for lifetime identity Personality, born, growing, dying in Waking State Time

The 1-D Space of Time overlaps somewhat with the Mind's 1-D for the sequence of Thought, with Moments for the points on the Timeline with Now another Origin along with Ego.  Sound & other Sequences compare as well, with Auditory Sense most aligned with this 1-D as in the chart up above. Almost by default Olfactory & Gustatory Senses matched up with 0-D, in some vague way.  Olfactory especially aligns a bit with Ego, or at least the Limbic System in terms of fear & other Emotions.

Vision as been lined up internally with the 2-D Screen of the Mind & also 3-D via Perspective & internally in the Theater-Stage of the Mind.  But 3-D properly belongs to Tactile [somato-sensory Somesthetic, Proprioception,  Nociception, Haptic-touch including lateral motion, pressure, enclosure. contour following] & Vestibular-balance. Yet even Tactile Senses, like Vision creates 3-D one dimension at a time.  Using 1-D Time-sense we instinctively measure a visual scan or a feeling by how long it takes in context, all things considered. This gives us the 1-D of Length as a Perceptual Concept. In some orthogonal sense [generalized "perpendicular"], another Dimension is simultaneously "calculated" as Width & "multiplied so to speak " by Length to yield 2-D "Area" or general "expanse". Again in another orthogonal sense a 3rd Dimension is likewise "calculated" as Depth & "multiplied" again to fill 2-D "expanse" out into tangible "volume" or Mass.  In this way Tactile & Visual Sense , create a 3-D World or ant given Object, one Dimension at a time, quick enough to seem simultaneous.

So the chart op above loosely links the Senses with big-category concepts/mental-projections.  From there the ancient "elements" or phases are, by serendipity, loosely matched to both Senses & characteristic Dimensions, to some degree.  Even Fractal Dimensions can be worked into the Concept scheme.  For one example, a 2-D sketch could contain edges & outlines.  Some 2 ½  Dimension could indicate the shading & texture suggestive of 3-D.  Likewise, 4-D Space-Time has with Here & Now at (0,0,0,0) Origin.

So again, the World fills Space with Objects, etc. as points with an extended Macro-Origin reference as the Body. While Hearing naturally parallels Time in Sound & Music, all being mostly 1-D, Vision naturally scans 2-D Screens suggestive of 3-D Space. These Sense Perceptions along with Tactile, etc. Senses concretize a World. While the Body is an extended or Macro-Origin reference Origin for the coordinate space of the World, that same Body can be a Micro-Space in itself, with it own smaller Macro-Origin as perhaps the Brain. The Body-skin marks the inside–outside boundary in the World

All of this imaginative association serves only to reduce the "magical" function of the Mind to a repeated pattern of simple Ideas. To flesh out additional detail [among a number of imagined others] of these Container Coordinate Spaces, we can see the Body as a small Micro-Container-Space in itself.  The boundaries of a Micro-Container-Space constitute the line dividing Inner from Outer, in that latter case between the physically inner Me & the Outer World.  A Micro-Container-Space in 3-D Physical Space might be one’s Vicinity, in 1-D Time it might be one’s Lifetime.  A Micro-Container-Space around a 2-D map of Mind’s thought or a 3-D or 4-D Space-Time of such thoughts could be the Personality enclosing Ideas close around the Ego–Origin.

Back in the 3-D or 4-D World of Objects, where the Body, a Micro-Container-Space in itself, serves as the best practical Macro-Origin for Objects outside that Body. Similarly, the Lifetime Micro-Container-Space could be a Macro-Origin for a longer scale of Time, just as the Vicinity Micro-Container-Space could be a Macro-Origin for a larger scales of  Distance.  The infinitesimal Now & Here Origins still serve as Origins within the Time & Vicinity Micro-Container-Spaces. If pressed for a "more infinitesimal" Origin within the Body Micro-Container-Space, which alone best serves as a Macro-Origin for the World of objects, then such a more “inner” Origin might be the Brain within the Body, or the Cortex, neither completely infinitesimal, but still rather discrete. Each Macro-Origin/ Micro-Space is the same kind of "local neighborhood" in each case. Body – Planet – Star system – Galaxy – Galaxy Groups etc. are successively larger Macro-Origin/ Micro-Spaces or "local neighborhoods".

Mathematical categories & curiosities aside, the point of these simplistic models is to suggest that Mind, Time, Space, & the World are not objective "givens" with fixed qualities.   Different people experience these differently, & each of us also does so differently at different times.  However modeled, or not, these big-category concepts are mental projections, not fixed realities. The Coordinate Space models suggest that the same old "space with a center" Idea is repeated over & over again for Mind, Time, Space, & the World.  More importantly, these represent the net of Illusion that distracts us from recognition of our core Identity, the Non-Dual Brahman, the Self of Absolute Existence, pure Non-Dual Consciousness, & complete Happiness, Love, Bliss, Peace, & Liberation.

Moreover, the establishment of a Reference-Origin is a coalescence of an Ego or pseudo–Ego like Now, Here, the Body.  Given the  Ego or pseudo–Ego, a "world" appears, a "world" of Mind, Time, Space, … Lost in the Mis-identification of Ego & Superimposition of a "world" is one’s True Nature: including Happiness.  Mis-identifying Happiness, one fails to "do the right thing" due to chasing the wrong target. There results a World gone wrong where we need to "save the world", starting by recognizing the various forms of Ego & the loss of Happiness.

Master Nome quote regarding Happiness:

"The Self is in truth, perfectly full of Bliss.  The imperturbable Peace, the ineffable & complete Happiness, quite beyond any sensation or mode of Mind, pervaded by a silent Knowledge of eternal, uncreated Perfection is known as "Bliss", Ananda.  To realize this Bliss as it is, one should comprehend

the nature of Happiness, examining it in 3 ways; desire, experience, & the source.  By knowledge of desire one attains recognition of the basis underlying all desires, all hopes, & all seeking in all kinds of experience, be such physical, subtle, or mental. With this recognition, one uses that powerful current, in an undiffused manner, to abide as the Self.  This recognition causes one to become one pointed in the quest of the Self.  By Knowledge of experience, one attains Liberation the experience of Happiness from the delusion of limitation of it by form & the ability to experience Bliss directly without delay. One must merge with That which Bliss itself, free of duality, for if the experience of Happiness is to be full, it must endure, &, if it is to endure, one must become One with it.  By Knowledge of the source of  Happiness, one becomes, & remains, completely detached.  Detachment is itself, free & blissful.  By such knowledge, one is liberated from the external, the inconsequential, & the unreal, & one comprehends the reason to inquire into the Self.

The desire for Happiness comes from deep within.  It is an intuition that Bliss is one’s natural state. This Bliss includes Peace with no bondage, & perfection with nothing incomplete.  The source of the desire is not from external phenomena of any kind.  It is not from objects, circumstances, other beings, & such. There is, therefore nothing alluring.  The source of the desire, itself is not a bodily; sensation.  It is not particular thoughts, though particular thoughts constituting images in the Mind may appear by which the desire manifests.  The desire itself is simply the urge from within to be in the natural state of limitless Bliss.  The intensity of the desire is continually surging forth. It cannot be subdued, & the attempt to do so would merely be an unsuccessful one.  It can be fulfilled by Self-Realization, which is abidance as Bliss itself.  Bliss is of the very nature of the Self & the Self is truly without any desire.  When the Self is not known & by delusion, the first suffering becomes possible, & when with the appearance of an "I", the natural seems lost, that very Bliss of the Self manifests as the intuition of one’s natural, true state, & this appears as the desire for Happiness.

The experience of Happiness should be comprehended in Wisdom so that one does not superimpose what is not actually the experience of Happiness upon it.  The joy felt anywhere, ever, is the shining of the Self.  Yet, in Ignorance, such is accompanied by superimposition of inert, unreal forms upon the experience.  When the experience is accompanied by the Delusion of imposition of forms, it appears as if momentary, limited, & dependent.  When the experience is without such delusion, the Self itself shines as vast, unlimited Bliss, which is self-existent.

Happiness is always a subjective experience in which the Ego diminishes along with its attendant notions.  Thus because it destroys the Ego & those notions by the revelation of their unreality, leaving, the ultimate subject unconcealed, Self-Inquiry to know the Self yields the most profound Happiness. To set the experience of Happiness, free of limitation, the experiencer must be free of limitation, that is, free of misidentification with form.  Then, one abides in infinite, unending, intense Bliss, which is so intense that even the memory of Suffering & sorrow is erased.  All the superimposed forms are of a sensory or mental character.  The experience of happiness is not a sensation. such as seeing, hearing, etc.  It is not a thought or a collection of thoughts. Happiness is of a formless nature, shining at the same depth from which the desire springs, at the very source of Happiness itself.

The source of the desire & the source of the experience of Happiness are one & the same.  That source is within.  Unrealized, the source manifests as the desire. Realized, that source shines as Bliss itself.   Realization means Knowledge.  Knowledge is direct experience of the Self.  Such is Abidance at as, the very Source of Happiness.  The Self is the Source of Happiness.  Nothing else is the Source.

The Self is Bliss.  The experience of it is determined by Knowledge.  No other factors are involved. Seeing this is the dawn of Knowledge. To conceive otherwise is delusion.  Objects, circumstances & events, sensations, & time are not factors determining the desire, the source, & the experience of Happiness.  The Self, which is alone the Source, is always present.  Self-Knowledge is the sole factor determining Bliss.

Therefore, the search for Happiness is actually a search for the Self.  The Self is the source of Happiness, the “place” in which Happiness occurs, & the nature of the experience of Happiness.  The Self is always present.  Self-Knowledge is its revelation & not its creation.  The Knowledge of the Self is the blissful Knowledge of Reality.  Bliss is Being, which is ever-existent, as Existence itself can never cease to exist.  Bliss is, therefore, always present, & all that is required is to know its existence within Oneself.  All that is required for permanent, profound Happiness is to know the nature of Being."

More will be offered on the Container Coordinate Space analogies, but for the moment consider the following: [To play the "devil’s advocate" for a moment, one might ask [for lack of paying attention]: "what’s with all this ‘graph’ stuff, what does that have to do with the No-Me Teaching of Non-Duality ?"]

The point is to offer one of a number analogies to drive home the relationship between the Ego-Reference & all thoughts, including those of the World, etc.  Any thought & specifically any part of the World must seem to "be" for someone, must be "in relation to" someone, some Individual, some Ego. Subject & Object are connected, the relationship is "built in".  If a "graph" or any other device can help anyone’s [& not necessarily everyone’s ] intuition regarding this vital understanding, then the effort is worthwhile.