Going Beyond Some Basics part 6 – the Snake & the Rope

Jungle environments provide cobras, asps & other poisonous vipers that terrify the human population to an extent that any elongated sinuous form like a Rope lying in a dark corner. Seeing through the understandable concept of fear, the jungle inhabitant cannot clearly see the true nature of the Rope. Seeing through the unnecessary concept of Ego, the Samsaric [typical less spiritual] being cannot clearly see the true nature of the Self, the Absolute Reality of Pure Being & Consciousness. Seeing through the fear, the inhabitant imagines a dangerous Snake where there is only a Rope. Seeing through the Ego, the Samsaran [worldy person] imagines a World where there is the Self alone.

Rope–Snakes cannot be seen in broad daylight,  nor Rope itself in thick darkness.  In broad daylight a Rope does not look like a Snake.  The Rope itself cannot be seen in thick darkness; so there is no chance of mistaking it for a Snake.  Only in dim light, in the dusk, in light darkened by shadows or in darkness lighted by dim light does a Rope mistakenly seeming to be a Snake.

Unless the jungle dweller can release the assumption of a Snake, the false superimposition, it is not possible to perceive the Rope. Unless the individual can release the assumption of an Ego & a world, the false superimposition, it is not possible to perceive the True Self.  Dispensing with the Illusion of the Snake, nothing more is needed for the Rope to be clearly known for what it is. Dispensing with the Illusion of the Ego, nothing more is needed for the Self to be clearly known for what it is. Shining a bright light into the dark corner to illuminate the supposed Snake can facilitate recognition of the Rope.

Shining a bright light of Guru’s instruction & Self-Inquiry into the dark corners of the Mind to illuminate the supposed Ego can greatly facilitate recognition of the Self.

Just as at Rope, when not ascertained in the darkness to be a Rope, is instead mistaken for

various things. such as a Snake, so likewise is the Self mistaken by the Jiva [individual]. [2.17]

Just as. when the Rope is truly ascertained as a Rope, the mistaken notion ceases & there is

the Non-Dual knowledge that: "the Rope alone is", likewise is the ascertainment of the Self. [2.18]

The Self is mistaken by the Jiva [individual] to be these countless things beginning with Prana [Life Force].  This is the Maya [cosmic illusion] of that effulgent One, the Self by which He himself has become deluded. [2.19]

Shankara’s Quintessence of Vedanta

Just as knowledge of a Rope removes the Illusion of a Snake in the Rope & the consequent

fear, so also the knowledge of the Self (Brahman) removes Avidya or Ignorance & the fear of Birth

& Death [unending cycle of rebirth].                                                   Shankara’s Atma Bodh

More of the instruction of Master Nome [Maharshi disciple] regarding this Waking Dream World:

The Self one, partless, & indivisible.  The World is composed of innumerable parts & divisions.  The Self has no Form & is purely Formless Being.  The World is composed of forms, without which, there is no World.  There is no Formless World.  The Self is not sensorially perceived, but is known more interiorly.  The World is perceived only through the Senses.  The Self is ever the subject, the Knower. The World is only the object, the Known.  Therefore, the Self has no connection with the World, since the Self shares none of its characteristics or qualities.  It is not defined by the World or worldly things.  It is not bound by the World or anything of the world.  It does not depend on the World in any way in order to be.  That which is true of the Bliss of the Self, these 3 [Being, Consciousness, Bliss] not actually being 3, but instead 1 & the same thing.  This  discernment yields freedom the illusory bondage when the World is apparently perceived as well as when it is not so perceived.  By such Knowledge, one realizes that the Self is not of the World & is not in the World. The Self is not produced by anything of the  shares none of its limited qualities, & is not an object within it, for the Self is neither a Body nor located in a Body.

Entertaining & debating various concepts or opinions regarding the World can be only so long as there is no clear discernment of the One who perceives the World.  Once there is the deeper Knowledge regarding the Self, the questions about the World’s nature no longer arise. The Realization of the Unborn is the Realization of No–Creation.  In the absence of this Knowledge, there may arise confusion such as, "If it is unreal, why does it appear ?; if it is unreal, why does it not disappear ?"

The confusion is rooted in the delusive supposition that the mere Senses are the determination of Reality, & the Knower is conceived as a sensory Being engaged in an experience that is of the same nature as himself.  A deep Inquiry into the nature of the Knower himself will result in an absence of a defined separate Experiencer & thus of the World, that which is supposedly experienced.

This yields the revelation of the one infinite Existence of the Self. The meaning of  "All is the Self" or

"All is Brahman" is comprehended in this Non-Dual Knowledge without a trace of anything other.

To experience a World is to conceive it. The World is not actually a perception, but a conception. To conceive, or experience a World, one must 1^st consider oneself as some kind of Body or as in the Body, the Body as existent, & the Body as being somewhere. It is not the truth, for such is only imagined in the Mind.  For this illusion of the World, one must also regard the sensations, not as sensations or modes of Mind, but as endowed with the duality of inner & outer.  Thereupon the apparent object portion of the sensation considered as separate from the knowing aspect.  Since the Body is not oneself, the Self is not

in a Body, the World is not around oneself. "Around" is imagined within the Mind & is not all around.

[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 ]

Going Beyond Some Basics part 5 – importance of the Guru

        [Black Mamaba (though not black in color) gets "defanged" in our next episode]

Please take the details of the following scenario "with a grain of salt", with a little latitude, some suspension of judgment.  What matters in the following is the essence or fundamental idea.  Providing simple & yet accurate analogies may be difficult, but the "flavor" of the situation is somewhat like this.

Love is natural, valued, something we want.  As infants in the Waking Dream, the fortunate children find themselves loved & care for by 1, or better yet, 2 parents.  More or less, friends show up in our lives.  With luck, Life rewards us with a lover, a spouse, whatever.

Other dimensions of Life: learning, sport, art, etc. follow the same pattern.  We have teachers, coaches, masters,  & so on.  This is simply the way this Waking Dream works.

Why imagine or assume that the most important endeavor, waking from this Dream, should be an exception, why should we expect it to be different.  If you take the Waking Dream World to be Real, then random chance militates against odds & probabilities involved in the Great Pattern we now summarize:

Initial transcendent intuition & spiritual aspiration may begin with a sense of the Presence of God.  Whether formally religious, counter-culture spiritual, or otherwise, a dyad is imagined: self & God.  Other patterns of entry can be found, but let this one stand in for all the others, for the sake of discussion.

When Ego is attenuated & Desire for Liberation grows, perhaps for many decades, perhaps for many lifetimes [all in the Waking Dreams], "Grace" allows one to "hear" about a higher Teaching.  Pursuing in good faith that form of the Teaching, however imperfect & partial, leads to access to a higher version of the Teaching that leads to Liberation. Ultimately, like the parent, friend, lover, spouse, teacher, coach, master, …, the Guru appears in one’s Life.  Some overlook that precious opportunity, some check it out, only to drift away later.  Others follow the "breadcrumbs", thus leading them out of the forest of Ignorance, and attain Liberation in minutes, days, weeks, years, or decades.  Some will only "make it" in the next or some subsequent Lifetime.  Ultimately all are freed, to gloriously find there never was an "all", an Ego, an Individual at all.  But Grace does take the form of the Guru, 99% of the time,  In that Great Pattern, the individual is found to be a fiction.  The Guru was the True Self all along.

Some more of the instruction of Master Nome [Maharshi disciple] regarding this Waking Dream World:

 In as much as the view of the world is a mirror image of the view of oneself, as the identity of oneself determines the definition of the World since the Seer himself appears as the Seen, the “I” as “this”. For the purpose of knowing Reality without veils, one should inquire to know oneself, giving up the objective outlook, as well as the Ego to whom it belongs.  Those who are detached from the World & the Senses, who are not identified with the Body, who perceive the transient nature of all in the World & who yearn for the direct experience of the Knowledge of Reality as it is should so inquire. View the World as transitory, as inert, & as in a passing Dream. Never expect the World to provide what is one’s own Happiness, Identity, & Reality. To transcend it is to remain blissful, at free in the Knowledge of the unreality of the World & the Self’s freedom from that illusion. This is the perception of Reality free of the forms of illusion.  Abidance in worldless Being, true perception, transcendence of the World, experience of indivisible Existence, & true experience beyond debate or doubt are for those who inquire to know the Self which is the sole-existent Reality.

 By the term World is meant all that is perceived, all objects, all activities, all events, the forms of living beings, anything in Space & Time, & anything seen, heard, touched, or sensed in any manner. Transcendence of the World is Liberation from bondage & suffering in relation to all of this.

Abandoning the objective outlook constituting the World yields the perception of Reality as it is.  Such cannot be by anything of the World, but only by Knowledge of the Self, the Reality that is.  Where could one go in the World so that one would be beyond World ?  Yet one's real Being is ever beyond the World, & Knowledge reveals its nature.

 The Self is changeless & permanent.  The World is changeful & impermanent. Each Object has a creation, a changeful duration & a destruction.  This is true for all objects & for the World as a whole, without exception.  The Self is permanent with no creation or destruction.  The perception of the World depends on the changeful senses.  A change in the Senses brings a change in the Object & the World perceived.  The Self does not change as the senses do because it is immutable Being & the unchanging Witness of all the changing Senses.  A change of mode or state of Mind yields a corresponding change in the Senses & the perceived World.  The Self is not changed, being immutable Existence & Consciousness  & the witness of the Mind as well as the Senses.

 [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 ]

Going Beyond Some Basics part 4 - a short, quick deep comment

Many spiritual aspirants "work on the Ego" to complete its erasure [Maharshi's term], as if it were an Abnormal  Psych "complex"  like a 2nd or 3rd  Personality in a schizophrenic.  But Self-Inquiry, along the lines of searching out the Ego, is essentially complete when thoroughly discovering that the Ego just isn't there, & never was.

Likewise brief, after a few days break [& just before another break] is this last "Life Force" installment from Master Nome's discussion.  Longer topics & installments follow in a few days.

The Prana depends upon the Self.  The Self does not depend upon the Prana.  There are ways, such as those known by some yogis. to alter the Prana or its functions.  The Self is unalterable Being & immutable.  One cannot modify Being, & one cannot st& apart from Being to attempt to modify it.  So, how could Prana be equated with the Self ?

The Life energy is ultimately transient, whether viewed as one’s bodily Life-energy or as all the manifest Life energy.

The Self is that which is Eternal.  There is no time when one begins or ceases to exist. This Self which is Absolute Being, ever is as it is.  So, how could Prana he equated with the Self ?

Therefore. the Self is not to be identified with the Prana, the Life-energy & does not bear the Prana as an attribute.  The Self is free of Prana & all that manifests due to Prana.  May there be this unwavering Knowledge   May there be this immortal Knowledge of the timeless Self & Liberation from the illusions of Life & Death.  May this eternal Realization be.

[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 ]

Going Beyond Some Basics part 3

Comparing to the Waking-Dream of everyday Life. the blissful inner Space of pure "I" where Existence is immediately known, where Consciousness is the Substance, where Ananda [Bliss] arises & remains, this allows direct Awakening to That which has always been. Every preliminary Taste [Rasa] of this Freedom is both surprising in its easy Peace & familiar like a long-forgotten Memory dawning once again. Written Summaries serve to spark the interest. But what is needed is actual removal of obstructing Assumptions (Sankalpa’s), Tendencies (Samskara’s), thought Patterns (Vritti’s), & sheer Dullness [Tamas], & thereupon, direct Entry into Self-Realization, derives from Vichara Atma & proceeds with the Guidance of a Teacher, Realized Rishi, Acharya, Avadhuta, Buddha, Jetsun, Sansei, Master, Shaik, Christ, Sage or Enlightened-Realized-Liberated-Awakened Guru, that beloved Lord-Bhagavan who stands as the Truth to be realized. For the Absolute Reality to appear in one’s Waking state Mind as a Teaching, as a Text, as an Experience, as an Intuition, as a Guess, as a Hope, as a Wonder, or even as a Rumor is indeed Blessed. For the Self to enter one’s life in the guise of a Living Master whose Presence one can readily experience, whose Words one can listen to, whose Silence one can bask in, whose Bliss one can perceive, whose Love one can feel, whose Perfect Example one can emulate, whose unerring Guidance one can enjoy along the Path, this Good Fortune towers unmatched as the greatest Grace, the most priceless Treasure, the most wondrous Assurance of limitless & unending "Happiness".

The last word is more "unofficial" than all the rest.  In the spirit of handling the hypothetical Body-Person objection to the need for a Teacher, the whole Mystery of Non-Duality can be entertained in an even more casual manner.  Rigor here would be beyond the capability of words, but perhaps some Hint can be imparted, some inspiring Clue can be groped for, & all to the good it this attempt were successful.
  

Response to the sometimes encountered "don’t need a Teacher" objection can be a simple comparison to the relationships of Parent-Child, Instructor-Student, Mentor-Protégée, Master-Apprentice, & such to be found throughout the Arts & Sciences, throughout Trades, Crafts, Academia, & all the examples of skills & information acquisition in all of Life.  New & important Knowledge often comes to us by Dialogue. Writing & Media are lifeless substitutes, being bereft also of the inspiring Power of Example.

In a similar vein, we can imagine those who becomes so enamored of their Computer Hardware & Software, for instance that they neglect or delay proper implementation of the technology to achieve desired & necessary Results.  This would compare to being so enamored of the Mind & its Ideas that they neglect or delay proper implementation of the Mind for the purpose attaining Self-knowledge & Liberation.  More than such comparisons, Non-Duality has the more penetrating response in the Teacher Objection case, but now it is Non-Duality itself to which a similar light-hearted discussion is applied.

The puzzle of Non-Duality & the contrary impression of Dualism & Multiplicity is really quite bewildering.  Countless Self-Realized Sages within the sacred lineages of Advaita Vedanta & other Traditions of Non-Dual Teachings have independently discovered & declared that Multiplicity is an illusory concept.  The initial Duality of believing that there could be an Other different from one’s Self is the core Ignorance. One Non-Dual Consciousness illuminates Thoughts of "Other" & as it does all other Thoughts.  Behind the apparent Mind there is only the one Consciousness which is not only one’s Self, but is in fact The Self, since there is no Other Self.  Nor are there Other Minds, except as the imagined mental characteristics that I attribute to Other beings.  I can perceive what you say & do, but generally, I cannot not know what you are thinking, or even that you are thinking, or have ever had Thoughts. Whatever may be the mechanism of Mind-reading in a given case, should a valid one be investigated, that situation can be described either as the Experience of some sort of Subtle Signal, or the Blending of the two Minds into One Mind.

All that aside for the moment, most of the time, my impression of some Other’s Mind derives from their Words, Gestures, & Actions which I then interpret to construe some Guess as to that Other’s Thoughts & Mind.  If need be, the Subtle Signal possibility can be added to the list of Words, Gestures, & Actions with much the same conclusion.  The Mind-Blend alternative amounts to a non-Multiplicity of Mind in that case, & as will be seen below, this plays right into our final conclusion anyway. Trusting that the Mind-Blend alternative will not upset the discussion then, we can summarize to the point that Sense Experience, Ordinary or Subtle, leads me to assume the Existence of: Others, Other Minds, & similarly: Other Objects, Space, Time & Events Other than my Self, & so on, the whole seemingly separate Universe or World of Multiplicity.

This I can say for my Self. But what about You ?  I can say “there is no You” but I am the You when you call yourself "I" just as I do. If You really do exist as a separate Other, my “there is no You” Statement would then be foolish & useless. If you are Imaginary, how can these  Non-Dual insights be of value to You. What is the good of my communicating them ?  If you remain imaginary, then the good intention could only benefit Me, & the Meditation of sharing this insight with You ends up being an inspiring but symbolic conversation with my Self.  To ask "Why ?" again would be to only invite the Teacher-Student comparisons again, so that by Analogy, Dialogue with one’s Self could be offered the same justification as Dialogue with an Other, that is, because it works so well.  What seems a Dialogue could be just another mode of Thought & Focus.

Two other possibilities could also be entertained, however.  One is that, whether it be accurate or merely expedient to do so, Mind can be considered to extend as a larger field of Thought, embracing all seeming Individuals, all the while this greater Mind remaining only a Reflection of the one Consciousness.  One Mind comprising all minds is a view consistent with various degrees of connection we find between apparently separate Minds.  Short of the full Mind-Blend possibility alluded to above, we see shared Thoughts & also a great similarity of human Nature & Experience throughout the range of Time & Space.  We all Smile, Laugh, & Cry; we all Love & Fear, & so on along surprisingly similar patterns. You & I may not see the same Color Red, nor may 2 charging Bulls. But the similarity in behavior of the Bulls, & in subtle ways, the similarity in the Aesthetic & Emotional response that You & I exhibit suggest that the 2 Bulls see similar or the same Red, as do You & I, & likewise for Other Colors & Sense Perceptions.

Erwin Schrödinger, who proposed the Wavefunction in Quantum theory, was latter a student of Advaita Vedanta & discussed at length this Coincidence of Perception in his essay Mind & Matter.  He felt that, even give personal & cultural differences, the close or identical fashion in which all people do see the World is a fact that supports Non-Duality of Consciousness.  However many Dream characters we may conjure up, we never experience ourselves as more than one character or narrator at a given time.

Seemingly split personalities only display on character at a time. Despite Quadrillions of cells & Billions of Neurons, we feel unified as One, always, & never as Multiple as our Body cells. Many otherwise inexplicable phenomena support such a One Mind perspective.  This leaves all beings as sharing the One Mind despite the apparently diverse Bodies.  These Bodies, in turn, are only known by the Senses which are, in turn, only known by Mind.  The impression of separate Bodies then need be no more confusing than the many Forms that Dream characters display.  One Mind dreams the Dream with all its characters & Bodies.  Likewise, in the expedient One-Mind perspective, this One Mind reflects One Consciousness & projects insubstantial Thoughts that only seem to represent many Individuals.  In One Mind the many Individuals & many Object just become many Perspectives & Viewpoints.

All the above are practical half-steps to begin contemplating Non-Duality.  With the Liberation of each such Individual, the ever-true Non-Duality is again realized, from yet one more Viewpoint.  Each such Awakening is inevitable & yet the most urgent & worthwhile of Dream endeavors.  The Compassion with which the Teacher guides each sincere Student to this Awakening to the Always-so is the Dream Drama that is so noble as to take part in the Real.

Along with the One-Mind Perspective, another more elusive Perspective can also be considered.  What if the idea of Multiplicity were so Illusory that even as various Individuals are considered, there would still be no Multiplicity, there would still not be many Individuals, there would still be only ONe Consciousness.  Within the one Non-Dual Consciousness, a thought of Other leads the one Self to be mistaken for an Ego-self, One-of-Many.  A Dream of Life amid many Beings is only a Waking-Dream. When the Dream hero becomes spiritually oriented, the Dream finally gives way to spiritual Practice & Realization.  That would be how it is for Me, my story.  How would it then be for You? What is your story ?  Well, again, for You too, a Thought of Other leads to a now different Ego self Thought, & from there another Dream of Life & Liberation.  If it can happen once, why can it happen twice, especially since both Dreams are unreal ?  As to Simultaneity of Dream stories, well, what is Time & Simultaneity anyway. Time & Simultaneity are only part of the Dream anyway.  When we seriously contemplate how Consciousness is beyond any Thought of system of Thoughts, & how the one Self, the one Consciousness, is Infinite & Vast, how could such a Simultaneously-Multiple Waking-Dream Perspective be discounted.  

There need be no surprise in the fact that a derivative, down-stream Thought-churning function called Mind cannot encompass the true situation.  We still cannot put it past Consciousness, we cannot insist that Infinite Consciousness is incapable of such a multi-character Show.  Ultimately, who can say, at least who could say from the viewpoint of an individual within the Waking-Dream ?

The above kind of basic summary will be continued, but for now, more of Master Nome’s discussion of the World from the perspective of  "living" in a World, being "alive", from the perspective of  "Life-Force" or Prana.

Those who yearn to go beyond the illusory boundary of Life & Death, who desire to be beyond & who do not wish to suffer death, clearly discriminate between Existence, or Consciousness, & Prana, or Life Energy.  Prana signifies the Life-energy that seems to animate the Body & the Senses, & without which they are inert.  Prana in various combinations with the Body, Senses, & the Mind is that which is responsible for the experiences called “physical” & “subtle”.  Without such animating energy, there is no bodily or sensory experience, for a corpse has no experience & its sense organs, though perhaps intact, are not animated & do not produce any experience. The result of inquiry to know the Self is Abidance as pure Being-Consciousness which transcends the animate & in-animate, & which never dies, & this is Abidance in the invariable state of the Self.

As long as one is identified with the Prana, there will be the differentiation of living & dead, & the one Being which ever is will appear veiled.  When this mis–identification is destroyed through Knowledge, this duality vanishes.  Prana undergoes fluctuations from Birth to Death, health & sickness, & varies according to lifestyle & activities.  Being does not fluctuate.  So, how could Prana be equated with the Self‘ ?

The animating Prana is objective.  It is something experienced & not the Consciousness that knows it.  It is not being alive that enables one to be conscious, but Consciousness that knows the state of being alive.  So how could Prana be equated with the Self ?

The Life-energy seems to locate itself throughout the body.  The Self is not located in a body or spatially in any manner.  So, how could Prana be equated with the Self ?

The Prana functions, animating the body & the Senses in various ways. The Self, which is Consciousness, remains as its Witness.  The Self is the immovable Reality of Existence & not a function.  So, how could Prana be equated with the Self ?

The Prana does not remain eternally as it manifests, but, at some time, it is absorbed.  It may be said to be absorbed into the great, Universal Prana [~Mahat], which in turn is absorbed in the Absolute.  It may be said to be absorbed in the Mind, which in turn is absorbed in the Absolute.  The Self is itself the Absolute & is never absorbed into anything. That which actually exists, always is. That which can be absorbed, or which has a beginning & an end, is an unreal appearance, & ultimately does not exist. The Self exists, & there is nothing else into which it can be absorbed.  So, how could Prana be equated with the Self ?

[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 ]

Going Beyond Some Basics part 2

The “Who am I ?” Self-Inquiry, known as Vichara Atma, is a sublime Meditative device for wresting the attention away from the External & Objective so as to focus Consciousness upon Itself, upon the Existence aspect of pure Consciousness by seeking the true "I", the real Self in this open function of Self-questioning.  To question at all is to give rest to the Projection of mental declarations & to switch the Mind into a most receptive mode. When the Mind becomes thus receptive to the Mind itself, on the deeper level, Consciousness is turning in upon itself.  The Answer to “Who am I ?” is of course the true "I" who is also the meditator, but not the thinker. When that "I" reports in the guise of a Body, the discriminating Inquirer should be able to disqualify the Body as "I", but the real trick is to live in that Discrimination throughout Life.

The Body is intermittent & partial in our experience, & has changed completely many times since childhood. Being inert, objective gross matter, it differs too little from a corpse for it to successfully pose as the true "I".  Putting the Body corpse aside, even the Life Force [prana] itself is far too mechanical & insentient to be "I". The Mind full of Thoughts is even more changeable than the Body & is still inert & insentient without the Consciousness that illumines each Thought. Even the intellectual function that carries on the Inquiry is clearly searching inside for something closer to the Self, something more all-embracing & constant to stand for "I" .  When I consider My Mind & My Intellect, what position am I in to so deem Mind & Intellect as objects ? The assumption of Personal Identity, the Ego or I-thought is the last to be discriminated & rejected. Left with Consciousness turned inward & directly focused on "I", the Meditator is afforded the opportunity for direct experience of absolute Self-Consciousness in the deepest way. The irrevocable identification of the Non-Dual Self, Atman, as "I", characterized as Existence itself, as pure Consciousness, as highest Bliss, Sat-Chit-Ananda, one with Brahman is the culmination of Vichara Atma in steady Self-Realization.

The above kind of basic summary will be continued, but for now, more of Master Nome’s discussion of the World within the Senses.

The Self is changeless, continuous, permanent Existence.  The Senses are changeful, discontinuous, & impermanent.  The senses are lost, dulled, or altered in death, old age, & illness.  The Senses change during the lifetime, from infancy until the end of the body. The Senses are changing all the time, transforming into dull & acute states, subject as they are to the three Guna-s the qualities of Tamas (inertia), Rajas (agitation), Sattva (tending toward the light of Knowledge).   Each Sense takes a turn being predominant & fades due to a change of the sense organ, the mental attention, & similar factors.

Samkhya philosophy [nominally atheistic] describes primal forces of inertia, agitation, & harmony, a scheme found to be expedient for partial half-step explanations within Vedanta.  The point throughout that short paragraph is that Sense change in many ways, all the time, exhibiting no completely steady form or nature.

The Senses appear only in the Waking state.  With each state of Mind, they change. Upon the death of the Body, which is not the Self, the Senses are lost entirely.  Rarely all the 5 Senses are active, or experienced, simultaneously, but Existence is always wholly present. The Senses are just a momentary function. The Self is steady, self-existent Reality, permanent, & not a function of some other thing.

Unlike the steady Self, the Senses change for the Dreamer, or even when the seer becomes the listener.

The Self is Being & not a doing or activity. The Self is not determined by any conditions & is itself without any conditions whatsoever. The Senses, though, are determined by conditions such as the state of the sense organ, the environment, the experience of which is the result of the interaction of what appears to become split in Consciousness – that is, the object & the instrument used to know it.  The Senses are also determined by the mental attention given to or removed from the Senses.  From a higher view, in the One Mind, all 3 mutable factors appear [organs, environment, attention], determining the 5 sense experiences.  Partless Existence, which is the Self is beyond the changeful appearances in the Mind.  So, how can the Senses be considered to be the Self ?

The Senses are part of the Body.  The Body is perceived only by the Senses & has no reality apart from them.  Each illusion depends on the other.  Such illusion is like the painting of Wall that is painted on the Wall depicted, when the Wall itself has not yet been built.  The Self is bodiless & is not a part of the Body or associated with a location in relation to a Body, unlike the Senses. So, how can the Senses be considered to be the Self ?

Like the "strange loop" [ala Douglas Hofstadter] Image that has itself again in the image, & even more convoluted than that, the Senses are housed in & are part of the Body.  But the Body is only known by & in the Senses, just like the rest of the World.

The Senses depend on the Self.  The Self exists as it is, innately non–dependent on the Senses. This is the highest state of detachment. As pure Being, one is always detached from the Senses &, thus, to the whole World.

The above highlights the relationship between the Senses & the World. The World is known by & actually "exists" only "in" the Senses.

The Self is not the Senses & is not experienced by the Senses. The Senses are capable of perceiving sense objects only, & the Self is not a material object.  The sensory experience is only that of sensation, & not of a separate Sense & object.  The Self is not a sensation or a product of sensations. So, how can the Senses be considered to be the Self ?

"Knowing" by the Senses is a small & unreal part of knowing, while the Self is Knowledge itself

The Self is the eye of the eye, unseen by the eye.  This Self which is formless Being-Consciousness, cannot be sensed & does not have Senses.  It is not a sensing entity, conceived as a nexus of all the sensations, but is instead ever unalloyed Consciousness.

The Self, which is Pure Consciousness, is far more than the limited, fleeting, & ultimately unreal collection of all lesser kinds of knowing.  This one reason why "breath watching" & other exercises in Sense Perception, have preliminary, limited, relaxing value only.

The Self is all-seeing but eyeless.  In truth, the Senses do not exist. They are only a figment of the Mind, which is in the infinite Consciousness.  Upon the substrate of the Self, which is Being-Consciousness, the Senses, which are but the thought of them, appear. The sense objects do not separately exist, but appear only to & in the Senses.  The Senses vanish, leaving the substrate unaffected & all alone. The substrate is Reality, which is immutable.  There is no actual creation of the Senses in that Consciousness.

Just as Result in the Cause, so is the Object within a Perception.  The 2 are 1, & unreal.

By this Knowledge, one remains identified as the Self  & not mis–identified with the Senses, which are unreal.  Let there be this steady Knowledge.  May the un-sensed Knowledge of the Self, free of all the limitations of the Senses, abide.

[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 ]

Going Beyond Some Basics part 1                                                                                         [instead of "Going Back To Some Basics part 6"]

The real point of the Coordinate Space model is to illustrate the crude simplicity of our "big" ideas about the Mind, Time, Space, & the World.  They are really all the same Idea, regardless of dimension 1, 2, 3, 4.  Likewise the 0-D Reference Origins [Ego-Me, Now, Here] are all essentially the same.  Imagining some "Other", the internal image starts out as a vague Space of limitless extent, tenuous substance, & identical basic structure in each case.  First there is always the vague Space: Mind, Time, Space, & the World.  Except for the World, each Space-idea has an infinitesimal Center, a 0-D Reference Origin: Ego-Me for whom all the Thoughts are; Now dividing & measuring Past & Future: Here as the reference for where ?, how far ?, & so on.  But as an infinitesimal Center of 0-D, each Origin is a undefined assumption, indescribable, & ultimately imaginary.  In any case the 0-D infinitesimal character leaves them all largely the same.  Now & Here are indicated by My location in Space & Time.

Referenced by each Origin, the analog, somewhat Non-Dual quality of each Space continuum [especially Mind, Time, Physical Space] is broken into a discrete spectrum of Coordinate Points: Thoughts, Moments, Locations, & even Objects for the World, each Coordinate Point defined, measured, & referenced to its respective Origin. The pattern is simple & all the same for each case.  They are not actually different ideas, though we take them to be so.  And the simplicity is marked: vague Space continuum, discrete Points, singular Origin.  That’s it.

And when we long at the grosser, more applied Idea of the World, we however find no infinitesimal Center, a 0-D Reference Origin, but all Objects [the Coordinate Points] are referenced to the Body which is therefore a Macro-Origin of 3-D itself, rather than a 0-D Origin Point.  As a little World in itself, the Body distinguish the "outside" World from the "inside" of that Body.  And so the Body is also a Mini-Container Space, finite instead of infinite like the World, Space, Time, & Mind.

But now upon looking again, we see a key Macro-Origin / Mini-Container in all the other Coordinate Space Ideas as well. For Mind, there is the special inner collection of Thoughts that I could call my Personality.  More simply, around Now, there is my Lifetime as a Macro-Origin / Mini-Container by which to measure grander scales of Time, or to isolate that life time of special concern.  Around Here we likewise have my Vicinity, & of course for the World we have the Body as a Macro-Origin / Mini-Container without an infinitesimal 0-D Reference Origin.  But again, it’s the same for each Space Idea, even though now the Macro-Origin / Mini-Container concept is a bit more complex that the Container Space, the Reference Origin, & even the somewhat more subtle Coordinate Point Idea.  Including these remarkably similar Coordinate Points [Thoughts, Moments, Locations, Objects] with the Macro-Origin / Mini-Container concepts [Personality, Lifetime, Vicinity, Body], it turns out to be truly remarkable how much the same these 4 Ideas actually are.  This extension of the idea of "Other" replaces the vast infinite Self with an infinitesimal 0-D Reference Origin, starting with the Ego.

If this analysis helps a single soul see through the Ego & World illusion a bit faster, the effort is well worth it.  For now we continue Master Nome’s discussion to the World Idea, starting now with the Senses by which the World is perceived. But we neither touch the World nor even the Sense, but only the Perceptual Thoughts in the Mind which well be Master Nome’s topic after the World.

Those who would know the Self by Knowledge, cease to regard the Senses as the measure of' Reality  & of the Self.  This non-sensory Knowledge reveals the Self’s freedom from the Senses & sets one free of the limitations of the Senses.  Those who know that there is neither permanence of the Senses nor Happiness via them, who do not equate pleasure with Happiness, or pain with sorrow, but recognize thst Happiness & sorrow are determined by Knowledge of the Self & Ignorance, respectively,  They desire to experience the spiritual Truth beyond the Senses, take recourse to the Inquiry to know the Self.  By such Inquiry, there shine Knowledge that the Self is innately transcendent of the Senses & not bound by the Senses in any manner.

The Knowledge of the Self is itself free from the limitations of the Senses, as is the Self itself, & those who abide in this Knowledge remain unmoved by whatever happens to the Senses. By the Knowledge of the Self, which is the Knowledge of Reality, one brings about the destruction of the foundations of the delusion of believing in the existence of an external World. 

Know that the Senses do not & provide Happiness.  Know that attachment to the Senses or their objects is Bondage.  Know that the Senses are neither Bliss nor Immortal, & that the purpose of Life is not fulfilled by any kind of Sense experience.  Know that Liberation is not any kind of sensory experience & that Realization is not any kind of Sensation, not an increase of Sensation, & not a decrease of Sensation. Freedom from the Senses must be firm & natural for there to be Realization. This necessitates the Knowledge of the Self’s transcendence of the Senses.

The Self is Infinite Consciousness, unchanging Being, perfectly full of  Bliss, Vast & Space-like,  Formless & unconditioned.  Of immense silent Peace, ever-shining & motionless is the Self.  Without it actually occurring, there is imagined the realm of objective experience, manifesting as the World perceived by the 5 Senses.  There appear to be 5 kinds of Senses with their corresponding 5 kinds of Sense objects.  Within the realms of the Senses, a great variety of sensations & an apparently uncountable number of sense objects arise.  These are the Sense experiences of living beings which are differentiated from one another by means of mis-identification with the Body.  Like the surface ripples & foam on the waves in the ocean of Consciousness, like clouds in the sky of pure Being, so are the Senses. The Self is Being-Consciousness. To confound the Self with any or all of the Senses, in any way, is Ignorance.  Freedom from mis-identification with the Senses is Knowledge.  Since Knowledge is Liberation, & since one seeks to know Reality & not create it, for it always is, therefore, one should discern clearly the Self, its innate freedom from all the limitations of the Senses.

The Self is singular & indivisible Existence. The Senses are multiple & divided. The Senses themselves are objective, the known, just as the sense objects are. The Self is non-objective, ever the Knower, of the nature of Existence-Consciousness.  So, how can the Senses be considered to be the Self ?

[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 ]

Going Back To Some Basics part 5

What is Coordinate Space? we find a simple inner image of the Mind & also of the Universe’s vast Outer Space. Both images are of an essentially empty, formless Void, without boundary or inherent location, veritably infinite ∞.

To get to  ∞–D  we started at 0-D Space, the perfectly Infinitesimal Point, followed “up” by Extension for a virtual Quantum Fluctuation within a Planck quantum of Time, barely nudging into the 1-D Space of a infinite Line, which upon bending extends onto the infinite 2-D Plane. Not perfectly flat, the 2-D Plane warps & buckles into 3-D Space, & then with Time, a 4-D Space–Time, & then higher String Theory dimensions to Infinity as each bend, warp, or wrinkle invades a next higher-D Space. Beginning to end, the series is bracketed by interplay of  0 – ∞, Zero–Infinity Duality.

Indian Philosophy considers the Ego–self as the infinitesimal bindu 0-D Point. By analog duals, this bindu is the inverse of akash, the vastu the vast (actually translated as Reality), infinite-dimensional Ananta, the Infinite, like the Greek Apeiron, the All. The All in turn is the obverse of the zero point binding bindu. The interplay of these 2 extremes, in Cartesian Coordinate Space terms, dictates that the Container has no measurable size or locations without the reference Origin.

Consider oneself as if an invisible 0-D dimensionless & infinitesimal Point of View called Me, suspended as it were, in vast boundless Space. Are you near, or are you far? “From what?” you might well ask. How can you tell with no other point for comparison? Given some Other, another point in the Space, you are still at a loss to respond to the implicit how near/how far in any near–far query.

Coordinate Space references position & motion by establishing relative distance along x  & y dimensions. Keeping track of positive & negative direction further completes relative distance to a relative displacement. In this way we get an answer to how near, how far.

The Reference Origin Point establishes the absolute numerical value or Coordinate Position of any Point in the Coordinate Space. Furthermore, with the absolute numerical value for our starting point, that is with respect to this Reference Origin, we address the preceding relative displacement question of “near / far” to where?

In the first case, we see that any Point & Location within a Cartesian Coordinate Space Container has that Location specified, firstly with reference Origin, a 0-D dimensionless & infinitesimal Point by which all other points are defined. Since the mathematical structures Coordinate Space  &  Reference Origin are so Objective, even if they could vaguely reflect Brahman  &  Atman, by their Objectivity, they do better at standing in for Mind & Ego, or Universe & Individual.

Limitless Coordinate Space has all points defined with respect to an infinitesimal Reference Origin Point, (0, 0) if we consider a 2-D example.

A limitless Universe is a container for Objects that all have meaning with respect to a specific Individual that I objectively call Me.

Limitless Mind is a container for Thoughts that all have meaning with respect to a specific Ego Reference Origin called “I” .

In each version, the Origin is contained within, but also defines the vast Space. Analogously, the Self is non-different from the vast Absolute Brahman. Thus the purest analogy, that Cartesian Space can claim, is that of an objective shadow of Self or Atman & the vast Brahman, in terms of Origin & Container. Murkier or more Dense is the equivalence of Mind & the Ego-Thought, & likewise Time & Now, Space & Here. The World & Body are the crudest Dual Analog in this series.

In the poetic comparison of vast infinite Space akash with its dual counter-part, the bindu or “bind” Point of 0-D, what is seen is the “forbidden” Arithmetic of reciprocal for Zero and Infinity, as duals of each other.

                                                0  =   1/∞                                   ∞    =   1/0

The Ego-Thought is itself a more hardened, crystallized development of a pre-Thought Ego-notion imagined within Consciousness. In the Ego-Thought, the Me is a tiny thing, while Mind as a Space is considered boundless & vast. In Cartesian Space the Universe or the Mind is relative to that juxta-posed, Me or Ego Origin within Mind, & any 0-D point within infinite Space. The vast Mind is anchored & first delineated by the Ego or Me Origin. The Coordinate Space & the Origin then, the Mind & the Ego mutually Bootstrap each other into illusory existence by Dependent Origination. Vast Mind & infinitesimal Ego are like inverses or reciprocals of each other, much like Zero is the “reciprocal” of Infinity, & Infinity is the “reciprocal” of Zero.

Zero or 0-D is the infinitesimal point of no Extension, dimensionless, formless, indiscernible. This stands better as a symbol for the Non-Dual Absolute Reality, Brahman, or better yet for the identical Atman, the universal Self.  Contrariwise, ∞ stands in better as an Objective symbol for Brahman, perhaps, but more truly for the Creator God, Isvara who is Brahman imagined with attributes, such as infinite Extension.

Without the Origin, the Coordinate Space of Mind is neither vast nor small, there would be no scale. Without placement within the Coordinate Space, the Ego would be neither minute nor huge, without some scale of reference. And so they both complete each other. Another illustrative phrasing could be that Mind is not actually differentiated from Consciousness without the Ego Origin, & Ego is not differentiated except as taken to be the reference Origin of Mind. Mind stripped of Ego is Consciousness. Ego stripped of Mind is the Self within this analogy.

Newton conceived Space as Aristotle did, as an unlimited Void. Einstein acknowledged relative distances between Objects but no intervening Space, at least not one of fixed & determined properties. The Eleatic philosophers lead by Parmenides denied the possibility of an empty Void. “Nothing” by definition is not something. Void Space it is not a cosmic swimming pool through which we can fly space-ships. Nor is it the Vacuum a Quantum piggy-bank out of which God or some inanimate Big-Bang can fashion Matter-Energy and Space-Time.

In more relative human terms, the same 0-D bindu reflects the supposedly fixed point of Me or Ego. Vast empty Space by the same token reflects the inner concept of Mind, the empty Container of Thoughts.

Rene Descartes represented the variation of simple functions by constructing graphs within the Mathematical device of his Coordinate Space. While physically represented as a piece of graph paper, the concept of Coordinate Space is that of a vast, boundary-less, formless, & empty Container which remains steady & constant like Newton's absolute Physical Space. Each Location in the Coordinate Space is a potential Coordinate Point, defined in every case with reference to the central Origin Point where the Coordinate Axes cross.

In this next installment on the basic Duality of  "Self" & "Other", modeled in terms of Descartes’ Coordinate Space, we go past zero-dimensional, 0-D Point , & also 1-D & 2-D Surface to finish 3-D Volume Container & 4-D.  But at the same time we introduce an additional key concept for 1-D through 4-D, that of the Mini-Container / Macro-Origin.

Now is the infinitesimal 0-D Reference Origin Point for 1-D Time.  But on a larger timescale, such as human history, or the evolution of the Universe, then "my Lifetime" could be a relatively small Reference Origin without strictly being an infinitesimal 0-D Point such as Now.  This practical 1-D Macro-Origin is also a Mini-Container to Me, since my Lifetime is an especially significant span of Time, as far as my interest goes.  So a Lifetime can be a Mini-Container / Macro-Origin.  For a Coordinate Space model of Mind, or whatever dimension, 1-D through 4-D, something like the collected ideas of my Personality could be a Mini-Container / Macro-Origin.  A "world" in itself to Me, the Personality can also be a practical, though larger, Reference Origin.  In 3-D Physical Space, my Vicinity could be a Mini-Container / Macro-Origin.   In these examples, other Mini-Container / Macro-Origins could also be considered to fit a given application of the Coordinate Space model.

One important use of the Mini-Container / Macro-Origin lies in extending 3-D Physical Space or 4-D Space-Time to the grosser Coordinate Space of the "World" or Universe.  When Coordinate Points become physical Objects in a World, there is no single infinitesimal 0-D Reference Origin Point available like Here which serves for the mathematical abstraction of 3-D Physical Space.  One very useful Mini-Container / Macro-Origin for the World is the Body, & this is just where the Body comes into the Coordinate Space Model.  The further significance of Mini-Container / Macro-Origins & the Coordinate Space Model is presented in the next & final installment along these lines.  For now, suffice it to note that the Brain might be a smaller Mini-Container / Macro-Origin within the Mini-Container aspect of the Body.  For again, physiologically speaking, the Body is a "world" in itself.  The Body as a Mini-Container also clearly demonstrates how key Mini-Container / Macro-Origins always serve to define the Inside/Outside Duality, be that for the Body, my Vicinity, my Lifetime, my Personality, or whatever might be the Mini-Container / Macro-Origin considered.

Just as this concludes the basic outline of our Coordinate Space model of imagined Reality, so to does the following conclude Master Nome’s discussion of Inquiry & the Body & how the Self is subjective, while the Body & World are objective.  But the subsequent installment will lay out meditations based on the Coordinate Space model.  Subsequently we begin Master Nome’s discussion of Inquiry & the World.

The Self is not located in a Body. lt is not in Space. It is not located in relation to a Body. That is, it is not located in relation to a Body. lt is simply undefined by the Body. The Self being Space-like but not in Space, has no location.  Being is neither a particular part of the Body nor confined inside it.  If it were a spot or in a spot, the spot could be pointed out, & that very form would be the Self or would contain the Self, but, then, the Self would neither be Existence nor Real, neither Infinite nor Eternal, & there would be no Liberation from bondage. Then, the very declarations of the Wise would become false. This result & its causes are absurd. If the Self would be located throughout the Body or in a bodily spot, such location would be objective. The Self, though, is non–objective. The non–objective cannot have an objective location or other objective attributes.  lf the Self were located in the Body, when that part of the Body underwent change or decay, so would Existence itself.  If that part of the Body would be lost, the Self would be lost; if forgotten. then forgotten. The Self which is which is Real Being is never modified, is always present & is never forgotten. If the Self would be located throughout the Body, Existence would diminish & change as cells of the Body change. If one part were lost, even a single hair or cell, Existence would diminish accordingly. This, though, is not so, for the Self is changeless &  ever undiminished. The Self is not located in the Body. The entire assumption of being located in a Body, as if the Body were a Container for the Self, is not true.

The perception. or idea of a Body & the notion of location appear in Mind, which is, & illumined by,

Consciousness, which is beyond all that. The known occurs within the knowledge of the knower, which is of the nature of Consciousness, & not one bit otherwise. Therefore, the Self is not the Body & is not in the Body. There is no Birth or Death for the Self, & the Self does not enter into or exit out of the Body. It is not in relation to a Body.  It is not in the Body now, nor is it out of the Body at some other time. It is locationless. 

The Self ever is ever as it is, with no modification. What it is, it is always. The Body, with its transience  & mutability, is not an attribute of the Self.  The Self does not possess a Body, for, otherwise, it would always have it, which is not so. Possession of a body is not in the nature of the Self & the Self, being Reality, never changes its nature.  The Self does not have a Body, as possession implies division, or the duality of the possessor & the possessed & posits their relation. Being is Non-Dual & indivisible. Existence is Absolute. It is not in relation to anything.  There is not anything to which it could have a relation, as a finite object might. The Self does not have a Body, as an attribute can only be for a "thing" & pure Existence is not a thing.  The Self does not have a body. In this lies its great freedom.

The Body does not possess, or have as an attribute, the Self.  The attributes of the Body are not the attributes of the Self.  The Body is a form.  The Self is formless. The Formless does not have a Form in any manner. The Self is Infinite & Space-like, ever the same, & bodiless.  The Infinite does not wear a Body, & the Space-like has no Form.  The Body does not possess the Self, & the Self does not possess a Body.

The Self is not the Body, the Self is not in a Body, & the Self does not have a Body. Know the Self to be bodiless. Thereby, abide as the Self, the bodiless Absolute.

[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 ]

Going Back To Some Basics part 4

When last we touched on the history of various dimensions Spaces we use here in a model of  "Self" & "Other" Duality, we saw how the Egyptian pyramid builders took the fisherman’s knotted anchor line, related to the knotted network or the fishing-net, took that measuring line to be a Number-Line for building. The knots was a 0-D Space like Ego & Now Reference Origin Points for the 1-D Spaces of Thought-Flow & Time.  Words & Sounds are modeled by similar 1-D Spaces. Well, given those 0-D Spaces & 1-D Spaces, we continue to a prominent 2-D "screen of the Mind", the "windshield" through which we imagine each coming encounter with the World.  Vision too shifts from a 2-D "screen of Vision" into 3-D focus.  Likewise the 2-D "screen of the Mind" scan of Imagination holds up to fill out a full 3-D "inner theater of the Mind". 

As is with 2-D Imagination & Vision, for the 3-D counterparts that are ultimately modeled by "Physical Space", the Reference Origin becomes spatial Here instead of temporal Now of 1-D Spaces.  Thought flow may be 1-D, referenced to Now like Time & Sound, but Imagination is 2-D & 3-D, referenced to Here, like Physical Space.  And what is referenced, the other Coordinate Points, are therefore Locations rather than Moments along the Number-Line or Time-Line of Time, or Thoughts within the Flow of Thought constituting the Mind, at least in the 1-D sense.

We take this further next time, but before passing by 1-D Time, we need to review the promised  meditation on the "3 times".  Similar to McTaggart’s  A & B theories, our review starts with enumerating 3 "times": Past, Present, Future.  What is Past is gone-by, never to be experienced again.  What is Future has not yet come to be.  So if there is to be Reality, it would seem to necessarily be found in the Present.  But if the Present should be seen to vanish, what then of Reality?  Not found in Time anyway.  Now watch the Present vanish.

Take a Planck Quantum of Time, about ½ of 10^–43 sec, take that bit of Time into the Future – still no Reality because it has no come to be.  Go the same interval into the Past – well again, that’s gone.  However thin we want to slice Past & Future to make a "sandwich" of the Present, we find nothing yet existent, or still existent.  That thin sliced "sandwich" of the Present vanishes, with no Reality left in it.

Before continuing with our Coordinate Space model of imagined Reality, we again continue to scrutinize the key-identity-notion of the Body as discussed by Master Nome.

The notions of an existent Body & that the I is the Body are only delusion, utterly dependent upon the conception of such. The Self is self-existent & not a notion or a product of a concept. The Self is naturally, without effort, thought, notion, or becoming anything other than what it is, the "I".

Therefore, the Self is not the Body. The Self is bodiless, immutable, indivisible, ,unborn, undying, indestructible, ever-existent, continuous, formless, partless, beyond the elements or matter, non-dependent & self-existent forever. This is beyond all doubt.

In simple terms, the singular Non-Dual Self is "God-like" while the Body is an animated corpse.

The Self is motionless & actionless. The Body moves & acts. The Self is not affected by actions of the Body. It does not act, move, or change by the results of the motions & actions of the Body. Abidance in this Knowledge alone constitutes the truly still or actionless state.

The Eleatic Greek philosophers who we will soon reference for the topic of "Gaps" are also our source for denial of "motion" itself as an illusion [especially Zeno].

This alone is truly Liberation from karma, which can never be achieved within the context of the "I am the Body" notion  & its corollary concept, “I  am the doer.” All physical experience, from birth to death, inclusive of everything between, is only for the Body.

Karma inevitably includes Death & Rebirth, all as dreams.

The Self is free of all of it & without birth or death. The body is inert & not endowed with Consciousness. The Self is Being-Consciousness & is never nonexistent or insentient. Being-Consciousness plus bodily definition is called "Life", which, not being eternal or true, has a death.  In delusion, one thinks that the Self of the nature of Being-Consciousness, perishes, rather than that the bodily definition, being a start & false, cannot last.  Being-Consciousness, as it is purely, is bodiless & has neither Life nor Death.  In Knowledge, this is clearly evident.  Thus one who abides in this Knowledge of the Self abides in imperturbable Bliss.

We crave Existence & fear Death because we intuit that Existence itself is Bliss if we but knew it to be so,

[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 ]