This is part two

Some terms used here:

Previously, and in the first blog, I have discussed the use of Ω.

Omega signifies enlightenment, spiritual progress.

Its most prevalent definition is tied to spirituality.

Traditionally, it is seen as bridging the human experience with the divine.

Ω

Also I have created a term:CEP – Conscious Enlightenment Practice

Post -Enlightenment

Now we have reached the mountain summit, we have attained the Journeys’ end point, and we have attained a sense Self-Realisation? What happens now?

Well we descend!  Down off the mountain, even retracing our steps. Go back into the real wold of disappointments and suffering, (and occasional fun). We will not be doing any more exercises to alleviate our problems. Now we will have a method. A way of dealing with everything — all that is Life and the Universe.

We will be of course – Realistic & Practical.

Now we want to be:

Realistically Realised & Practically Enlightened.

Some approaches here may seem like an exercise or technique but they are just G.O.D. – good orderly direction. Maybe? For we will have the freedom to not do what might be deemed socially correct. We might be even just a little bit crazy, at times.

In therapy there is what’s called the Wheel of Change. This was particularly used for addictions therapy. Now there are variations, including a Wheel of Life. A Google search will give a range of options regarding this “wheel”.

For our circle I use the Wheel of No-Change!

This wheel was used to help work with recovery from addictions. In many ways we are addicted to life, lived via the ego-identity.

Relapse?

Normally we do our “treatment” and if all goes well we don’t relapse. We enter the wheel via Contemplation initially, usually. For Relapse here, we are coming back into the world, which we experience through the three qualities of nature. We fall back into Maya deliberately, as we retrace out steps from the lofty heights of Samadhi attained when Self-Realisation reaches fruition.

This is not a fall from grace, as it’s a deliberate part of the Realisation. That we are inseparable from others through our Journeys through life, and so, at the higher peaks we will still seek to help and serve others. To do this we come down to the human levels of suffering due to Compassion. This is the final grace that is an achievement Post-Enlightenment.

The three qualities of nature

Contemplation

This is where we enter our Wheel of No-Change, when we decide to set out on our Journey to Self-Realisation. For our purposes here we have reached that Realisation, so we use the wheel now differently.

Firstly in our Contemplation, we understand that all of Life and the Universe consists of the three qualities of nature

These qualities translated into human activity within life consist of:

Purity – living a healthy, “clean”, and selfless life.

Enjoyment – living out our desires, and doing whatever gives us pleasure.

Inertia –living in the dark, and doing things that are detrimental to our and others health.

Purity is connected directly to the forces of the light. If you are into healthy activities, healthy diet, and engaging in spiritual or self-development practice, you are engaging in within yourself the nature quality of “purity”.

Enjoyment is connected to the forces of the pleasure domains. If we are mostly engaged in the world of pleasure seeking, or engaging in life for material benefit mainly we are in this quality.

Inertia is driven by the forces of darkness. If we are living in darkness, addictions, or suffering deep mental health problems, we are stuck in this quality, even if it’s not our fault. We may also deliberately do actions that are connected with dark forces.

Therefore as there are three qualities of nature, there are three types of food, and three types of activities, and so on. These are the three qualities known as the Gunas, in Sanskrit treatises.

Have a guess where you are primarily! (Most of us vary in the mixture or range between the Gunas).

In Purity mode, meditation becomes spontaneous and it does not necessarily involve sitting in a quiet room. However it also becomes natural to enjoy contact with like minded people, who also meditate, or have some elevated philosophy. Although the Realised person doesn’t feel the need to journey to anywhere on this plane or even to follow any rules, their spiritual or similar practice usually mandates an outcome of:  “Being in the world to serve others”.

Nevertheless the qualities of nature still exist, at the point of Self-Realisation until final Transcendence. In this stance we cope with life in equipoise

We tend to eat simple healthy food, and avoid over-stimulating food. Is Cappuccino ok? Alcohol is not so “pure”, and alcoholic drinking is “in the darkness” as it is destructive. Going down dark roads and you’re sick of it all? It means you’re in this mode.

From a Realised souls perspective the Gunas act at all times, but the soul is the witness of those activities. So from that perspective technically we can be Enlightened, and yet behave in the mode of any of the Gunas. E.g., “the drunken master”, as described in some Tibetan texts. (It’s theoretical)! Whatever the case, when we enter our wheel, we want to place ourselves at the centre, where we “watch the world go round”

We want to be in centre of the wheel having moved to the Determination segment of the wheel. He we also accept that we may like the pleasures of life. As a consequence we may have suffered physical/mental problems from the minor, to moderate. “Life in the fast lane” may be focus when we were entrenched in our Enjoyment mode. We want to be the witness of that activity also, as we stay in our Centre.

 (Staying in the Centre is to be discussed further).

We are also aware now of how negativity issues start when we move into “darkness mode”, and may include, money loss, addictions, and significant depression/anxiety. We are high sometimes and depressed sometimes. We rage and rant, fueled by desire, and aim for own personal gain. This road though is dark, and we may be deeply into seeking pleasure, but now at a painful level. Violent, stupid or destructive, behaviour may be the “rock bottom” outcomes. Inertia sets in and it’s hard to move on or get out.

Our task is to enable a stable witness state of tranquillity, being centred in our wheel and augmenting this stance by our own Actions – the next segment of our Wheel.

Staying in the Centre – this is also Action

In the spiritual world or in the mental health world, there are other things we can do: activities to partake in to enhance our Journeys. Here we are examining and continuing to practice what is helpful. It not just for Me now! We do this to also benefit others. At one level there are talking therapies. We can try to heal through counselling or psychoanalytical methods, or with practical efforts, such as using sensory modulation techniques to alleviate anxiety. Physical relaxation methods also. Practice controlling the breath, listening to soothing music, or practice some mindfulness type exercise.

If we go further still, then there are other things we may do. It seems necessary in life to bring in mechanical means to alleviate suffering. An illustration of this is taking medication for physical or mental health problems. We “forcefully” try to resolve the issue. This is sometimes successful, otherwise people would not bother going to doctors or psychiatrists.

We may also go into the realm of religion/spirituality, and use prayer, liturgical hymns, or use mantras. Or, do some devotional worship, as for instance performed in temples/churches.

We want to make it happen. (This staying in the Centre). Some of it we can experience and solidify through meditation etc. You will still need to expose yourself to the method you use – through your practice again and again, until there is no more “again”.

So this daily moment to moment practice is what gives us the moment to moment relief, (from our suffering), and this is where we can thrive instead of survive. By this time we will have formed a connection with our Inner Deity/Guide or Ω, within our spiritual or CEP pathway, and understand the place of our particular religious/spiritual/other beliefs in the whole picture.

We can’t so easily wander off to the forest. Even getting to go and live in a monastery has become complicated. Places of sanctuary to actual just walk into and settle down in, are rare, especially in the Westernized world.  So, this is the time for You to find Your Inner Deity, and then additionally Your Transcendental state. Can it be done?

Our birth right is our whether we are monks, rock stars or plumbers. We are our own Transcendental Guru. Yes, the body/mind provides painful experiences, or as the Buddha says, “all life is suffering”. We agree to participate in this delusory activity until we stop pinching ourselves, and start being who we really are.  Then the body/mind of ourselves, and the environment of the whole universe, ceases to rule our lives or even have much significance. We transcend from Life and the Universe.

We may currently struggle with mental health, addictions, trauma, or relationship disasters. Then we might be impelled to shout out: “I am certainly not Divine”. I am not even Enlightened.  Keep on being sad and suffering then if you want to keep on avoiding the Truth of all life. There is nothing between you and that Truth except this business with the great delusion of all life – Maya. One can chose to “wake up” in any circumstance and indeed that is what the Transcendental is.

Mission Impossible! If we are truly Pure Consciousness always why are we not Realised and Enlightened from birth? Also the evolutionist say we are descended from monkeys anyway, so what hope do we have?  We can of course have an alternative and sign up for a God/Creator who is really in charge, and thus get salvation, especially if we then engage some religious activities.

However it is still possible to also accept the Cosmic Consciousness perspective, by seeing the human aspect as actually sparks of the Cosmic fire. If you wish you can chose both a Him God, or an impersonal Cosmic Awareness. (Or any other choice/combination). It’s about hedging ones bets! It’s legal in countries which have freedom of choice of belief. (Some don’t)!

We may be descended from monkeys, but remember this is still in the ambit of Maya. The monkey-man and the enlightened–man are still in the same ego-bound situation, just different varieties of intelligence, or spiritual purity. (If there is such a thing). Even within Maya, the experience can still be that of Sat, Chit, Ananda or Existence, Knowledge, Bliss. A choice is made to experience this state as a formless position as in being centred in Consciousness. Or as an experience with some form, where the presence of one’s Deity is included.

No matter how intellectually spiritually astute one becomes, if you remain in a certain headspace of basically ego-focused need, you ultimately go nowhere. This spiritual dimension cannot be made or experienced by the brains electro-chemical processes. Even if science takes us to longevity, even immortality and cures all mental deficiencies.

Researchers cannot be trusted with God!  This is why we need external Divine interventions, which technically, or rather, as far some of the ancient teaching go, come from our own generated spiritual activities. We need to give up on our ego struggle and let our Deity or Ω come to the party. We enter, or rather simply exist in, a place powered by something other than who we thought we were. The deeper we go, the more it becomes an easier path, with less frustration about what’s going on in so called real life.

The impossible is the nothing. Everything is on the table. Then the spiritual reaction is per moment-to-moment life practice. This practice is real in this life in some sense, as I am the witness of it like as in a dream. Though, I am truly real as a spiritual being. Experience all within and without, as Divine, when connected to the eternal Divine Consciousness. Oneness is like being just a one is a drop of water, which is not different from all the water in a lake. Eventually that drop of consciousness merges into the Consciousness.

Next blog: Maintenance