Balanced Enlightenment

Balanced Enlightenment

Well-established Self Realization (Cosmic Consciousness) is known as Sat Chit Ananda or Absolute Bliss Consciousness. Why? Because those are the key markers of the state: Established in the absolute, established in Self (consciousness), and established bliss. When the noise of the emotional and mental layers are purified enough, then both consciousness and bliss can shine through in our normal experience.

In a lot of the talk you hear today about enlightenment, bliss is missing. This shows there has not been enough clean-up yet or it’s not yet fully established. Sometimes, the shift itself has not happened, even if they’re clearly aware of the absolute Self. Has it been clear enough to see through the ego?

If it has been, there can still be imbalance.

If there has been an over-emphasis on consciousness without sufficient sattva, not only will the bliss not be there but the experience will be more dry, detached, and impersonal. This is Shiva without Shakti. Words like illusion and emptiness are common.

There is nothing wrong with this style of shift in the slightest. It’s always significant when someone awakens. However, it can show some balancing is needed to more fully embody the shift. Some of this can also depend on the specific emphasis of laws of nature of that person.

If there is an over-emphasis on sattva, there can be a great deal of inner clarity, knowledge, profound experiences, and refined perception. Shakti is alive and we recognize the fullness of being. But there can then be too little silence for the awakening to happen, leaving the person still entangled with the ego.

Silence needs to be developed so the shift to consciousness (Atman) can take place. Then the liveliness or flow (Shakti) can be embodied with Shiva. There is a stable platform for the experiences to unfold on – without disrupting everything.

The ideal is both in relative balance. Then there is full richness with silent witness. The person is uncaught yet still fully in the world. And the God Consciousness stage will naturally follow.
Davidya

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8 Comments

  1. Grant

    Gasp! This one really resonated with me. Thank you.

    There’s so much talk of “awareness”, in non-dual circles, it makes the entire thing seem like nothing more than a giant camera.

    I could tell something was missing from my path but recently discovered Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee. Who seems to bring the focus back to the heart. It’s been a fairly dramatic shift for me.

    Love.

    1. Yes, agreed. Some of this is the influence of renunciate teachings.

      (laughs) There is a point where the experience can seem a bit like a camera. But if you live in the world, thats transitory and should integrate better.

      Further, nonduality is actually beyond this. If there is a camera observing a separate world, thats duality, not unity. My talk on Friday at the SAND conference is on this very topic.

      Yes, the Sufi approach includes the heart. Am a fan of Rumi.

      The heart has a huge role on the path if we’re willing to do the clean up necessary for it to open.

  2. Uli

    Hi David,
    Thoughts…?

    “THE SILENT ATMAN, THE DYNAMIC SELF AND THE MOTHER

    The experiences were all right ― but they give only one side of the Divine Truth, that which one attains through the higher mind ― the other side is what one attains through the heart. Above the higher mind these two truths become one. If one realises the silent Atman above, there is no danger, but there is also no transformation, only Moksha, Nirvana. If one realises the cosmic self, dynamic and active, then one realises all as the Self, all as myself, that self as the Divine, etc. This is all true; but the danger is of the ego catching hold of the ‘my’ in that conception of ‘all is myself’. For this ‘myself’ is not my personal self but everybody’s self as well as mine. The way to get rid of any such danger is to remember that this Divine is also the Mother, that the personal ‘I’ is a child of the Mother with whom I am one, yet different, her child, servant, instrument. I have said that you should not stop realising the Self as the cosmic consciousness, but should at the same time remember that all this is the Mother.
    *
    It is possible to go towards the knowledge by beginning with the experience of dissolution in the One, but on condition that you do not stop there, taking it as the highest Truth, but proceed to realise the same One as the Supreme Mother, the Consciousness-Force of the Eternal. If, on the other hand, you approach through the Supreme Mother, she will give you the liberation in the silent One also as well as the realisation of the dynamic One, and from that it is easier to arrive at the Truth in which both are one and inseparable. At the same time, the gulf created by the mind between the Supreme and his manifestation is bridged, and there is no longer a fissure in the truth which makes all incomprehensible.

    *
    It is the Divine who is the Master ― the Self is inactive, it is always a silent witness supporting all things ― that is the static aspect. There is also the dynamic aspect through which the Divine works ― behind that is the Mother. You must not lose sight of that, that it is through the Mother that all things are attained.”

    – Sri Aurobindo

    1. Hi Uli
      Yes, Sri Aurobindo had a balanced approach. He also emphasized the bigger picture so people didn’t get caught in an early stage, much as I mentioned on Barrier to Unity.
      https://davidya.ca/2017/10/08/a-common-barrier-to-unity/

      One of the issues in modern non-duality circles is that some teachers don’t mention the larger picture to avoid concepts in the minds of students. But thats lead to the concept there are no stages and to people getting stuck in the first stage.

      I was amused by “only Moksha”. Only liberation. This is a very important shift that the rest of the process depends on. But any idea that this is it, that this is nonduality, is such a mistake. There is SO much more.

      On “All is myself” there is an amusing point where, if the core identity is still subconscious and intact, we can claim this as mine. If you have the bigger picture, you know this isn’t to be taken seriously. But some do get carried away by it. Similarly with I am God. We’re talking cosmic (universal) Self and cosmic ego (He calls everybody’s self) at this point. But it can still be an identification.

      Some people do have more of an orientation towards God as a Father or God as impersonal Being. But these tend to be supplanted later on when the Divine is recognized as Mother. The guru of Shiva is the Mother.

      I’m not sure what he means by the opening of the second paragraph. The stages I talk about are more in line with the second part.

      “Consciousness-Force” is what I call Shakti. The power of the Divine Mother that drives alertness into consciousness and self-awareness. These lead to the appearance of the world. Realization of this ties it all together.

      The last is another way of saying without Shakti, Shiva is dead silence. And yes, pure Divinity is hidden behind the screen of consciousness and the emptiness of Brahman. And yet She infuses all and is all.

      I quite like Aurobindo but he does use his own language so I’m not always clear what he’s referring to. I suspect a greater immersion would help.

  3. Doug

    Aurobindo said it was an inside/out process and I think I’ve heard you say the same. With the internet you can hear a lot of different takes on this stuff. Even when people don’t actually say it if you listen to their descriptions it is like a different vibration is arising from within and the body takes time to adjust to it. It is certainly that way for me.

    1. Yes, Doug, I have. We could say it’s a progress inward stroke and then an inside/out process to embody that.

      Part of the issue is people talking from different levels or interpreting what they’ve heard of different levels and debating which is the “real truth” of it. But the real truth is in living it.

      And yes – consciousness can change instantly but the closer you get to the physical, the slower it adapts. The mind can take a few months while the body takes years.

      But the results are more than worth it. 🙂

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