< Part 3 – Within the Identity
Part 4 – Consequence
One consequence this makes clear – self realization or awakening is not the desired goal. We want to complete the process. Genpo Roshi talks about the “Fall from Grace“, although his middle period was rougher than seems to be typical.
With identity shrapnel at play, there can be an overall experience of being OK with what is, a flow of love and bliss, but a nagging voice that still carries subtle expectations. I should do better. This should be different. Where is X experience? What state have I reached? These are surprisingly powerful but subtle messages that have been the backstory of our lives. The things that pull us into resistance, into not following our bliss, or into inertia.
When some of this junk falls away, the sense of OK gets much deeper and there will be much less stuff coming up that we’ll want to avoid. Our life and environment will change when we change. It becomes not just an inner OK, but all of what is becomes increasingly OK too.
Thus unfolds another of the paradoxes of the journey. With awakening, we found ourselves the non-doer. Yet as the fullness of who we are unfolds, we now see we are the container of doing. We are both the intender and that which experiences the intention. We are the playwright and the audience. The author and the reader. We are the non-doer that intends that which becomes done.
Action flows through us but the author depends on how we look. Is it the Person? God? Self? As the Unity deepens, the aspects merge together to an increasing degree. We find there is no difference. This is a substantial change in reality so it can take a bit of time.
But in the meantime, we have to become increasingly vigilant to what we’re giving our attention to. That attention is becoming increasingly powerful. It is creating the world. When there is some resistance or holding to a should, it can magnify that effect. But that does certainly make the cause more clear. What needs to be let go of sits right in front of us in our life. (but see how it is subtle – who needs to let go of it? (laughs))
As the resistance is seen and relaxed, the energy shifts roles:
3 – Need becomes Confidence, energy, reliability.
2 – Attachment gives way to Passion, flow, grace
1 – Must relaxes into Groundedness, health, physical comfort & presence.
This is the sense of The Push I’ve described prior. That is the movement or flow of consciousness, urging us to action. This is not characterized by resistance or inertia, or fear and holding. Although, if the Push feels large, it may be pushing us out of a rut. (laughs)
The process this happens in will vary widely by person. Some will be clearer here first, some later. Some will see it quite differently.
The point of all this is of course to clear the way, to open enough for the full flowering of human potential to occur. In the Veda of Unity, I touch on one vision of the flowering of Unity. Notably, this takes one past the 7 states of consciousness into the Totality of Brahman Consciousness.
What is life when all holding falls away? Where love and joy flow through us like blood. Where we and our experiences are one in wholeness, arising from ourselves. It is nothing we can comprehend. Yet it is our reality, under the mask of fear.
Much as the world may seem otherwise, this is where our journey is taking us. And it’s doing so at an unusually high speed. It’s very exciting to see it unfold.
Hope you’ve enjoyed the series.
Davidya
< Part 1 – Overview
< Part 2 – How did it Happen
< Part 3 – Within the Identity
Last Updated on December 11, 2013 by Davidya
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Excellent article, this website is a revelation, a perfect union of eastern and western philosophies of realization where one was not complete without the other.
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it. Not sure I’d use the word “perfect” (laughs) but I do try to synthesize my understanding and experience into something coherent. Clarity can help it be OK, give you a sense of the value of the work, and an idea of where this is going. Of course, ideas of it have nothing to do with what is, but at least it can help get the me out of the way…
I’m usually a lurker but today I come out to sincerely thank you. I am a frequent visitor of your website, and other similar sites. I’ve always especially enjoyed your articles, and the clarity I find in them. But your last series on the journey were more like a gift for me. I’ve been searching for this for a while now, and just 2 days ago I asked a personal growth writer if he could guide me towards any articles that describe the journey. Your words describe my feelings so I really appreciate you sharing. And, it is nice to know that this feeling of repetition is part of the journey…
So did you reach your crown head in your kundalini practise, you can see that i am a novice and curious. I was adviced against any practice as it would block my mind in day-to-day life. But there is a “want” not to be in grips of fear, sadness and helplessness, pushing to the quest of finding the true control.
Hi Masi
I’m glad it spoke to you. It makes the time worthwhile. The more I can just let it ‘come though’, the more it speaks to everyone. It becomes a conversation with Self rather than any ‘me’.
Thanks for the feedback. Always good to ‘meet’ readers.
Hi Raghuveer
I don’t have a kundalini practice. The teachers I’ve had consider it unnecessary, that the energy will awaken by itself. Indeed, you can mess things up if you open them prematurely. Keep in mind that there is not just the primary centers (the count varies depending on how you count), but thousands of energy channels in the body. In India, they call them Nadis. In China, the meridians. Clearing blockages involves all of it – there’s simply a few larger ones.
This series is mostly about after the crown has opened, when the divine energy is descending into the head, heart, etc. Like much of the path though, opening a chakra is just a signpost. And they don’t necessarily happen in a tidy sequence. My own crown opened long before some of my lower stuff, for example.
The most important practice in my experience is something that connects you with source, with your true nature, with the silence within. For me, that was effortless meditation.
As for your comment, I fully understand the desire to step out of suffering. But you won’t find it in control. This is the ego’s solution to problems. But control is resistance which leads to suffering. So this solution is actually the cause. This is another reason why the experience of source is valuable, to give you another example of what is, outside of control.
A sensible practice does not mess your day-to-day life up. Indeed, my own practice has enhanced it immeasurably. But there are some practices that can lead to trouble.
There’s a link on the right to “key posts”. It’s not current but will perhaps offer you further insights on these questions.
Wonderful series, Davidya. I am so grateful to you for continuing to publish such helpful content.
Hi Davidya
Thanks for talking to me, you made it easier.
You’re more than welcome.
Thanks, Ariel. I can take little credit though. In many ways, it’s a practice of getting out of the way. Letting Self flow through. I learn from it then too.
Ran into a very awake friend yesterday. He said this was a key thing to learn.
Wow, I think you’re answering questions, I didn’t even know I had.
Can a crown charka be opened in a Reikhi level 1 class.
I have needs and shoulds and woulds, about life.
Am just going to go on continuing to address them via, meditation, inquiry and gratitude.
Thank you. I think I found why I oscillate or that I actually don’t.
Am somewhere here, is this series of yours. Will have to read it again. You should have a questionnaire. So we can asnwer questions and viola, it takes us to where we are.Might be fun
I don’t know much about Reikhi but what opens a chakra is openness and readiness. It may be a class or dropping something on your foot. One never knows. Takuin woke with the honk of a car.
You will have those drivers as long as you have identity. That falls away later.
Yes, continue. And thanks for the feedback.
As for a questionnaire, that may satisfy the mind but that’s not the goal here. It would have to be very long as there are many wakings. And they don’t happen in a linear way.
When the mind is uncertain, we look. We then may open or allow. Thats when things happen.
The only thing you didn’t mention is spending time with the awake. That can be very useful to not always be surrounded by egos (laughs)
Hi Uzma
I’ll shortly be posting an article on the ‘4 realizations’. Coincidentally I’m talking about some of this in there, so you may find some value.
Thank you Davidya.
I understand that mind is trying to find its place on a ladder of awareness and there is no such thing.
I’ll just have to let it be and go on. Take simple steps for now , meditation, yoga, gratitude, inquiry.
And I only ever knew 1 person who was ‘awake’.
And then I know Takuin and you a little. So thats a start.
Thanks a lot for all the guidance.
Yes, awareness is more like an ocean than a ladder. Ladders soon float away. (laughs) I’ve known “where I was” a few times, either from clarity or being told. But even then, that was only one aspect of the picture, it was a generalization, and it changed within a short time.
Part of the lesson of the path is being OK with what is, with where things are. When you allow what is, you stop resisting it. And that allows what is to be.
An example that comes to mind. If you can walk out in nature and just enjoy, it can be enriching. But as soon as you start naming things, you engage the mind and separate everything. Of course, there is value and a purpose to that, but we also need to step out sometimes.
People who are awake don’t wear flags or badges. Quite a few people have been waking up in the last couple of years. Seek the company of spiritual people. If you’re open to the idea that anyone you meet may be awake, you may meet some. In person. (laughs)
And notice how differently Takuin and I approach this. We may agree on main points but our experience has been very different. It takes all kinds.
BTW – I know over a dozen people who woke up listening to a teacher they’d never met on a conference call.
It’s easier to awaken and it’s easier for them to help in person. But it’s not an obstacle.
This is amusing. One of the things that happens to original blog posts like this is that low end bloggers use scripts to lift your content and post it on theirs. That’s why I redundantly sign posts, so its kept in the content. Has reduced theft a bit.
Just noticed that a Recycling blog picked up this article. (laughs) Their script must need work…