Each of us experiences everything uniquely. Every unique point of awareness is a unique way of perceiving the whole. If we have a strong ego sense, we’ll tend to identify with these experiences and say “I am unique, special”. And in a way this is true. But in a deeper sense, it is completely false. All that is actually unique is the perspective, the angle of looking this aspect of awareness is taking.
Blink, and what is unique just changed.
To visualize this, you can close one eye and look with the other. Then switch eyes. Each eye has a similar but unique view. What we experience however is the shared vision of both eyes, synthesized together. 2 unique views in one perception.
Many insects have compound, unblinking eyes. Each facet has a unique view. The insect blends those together to get a picture of the world and a much wider view than we have. Add the other senses and sensings and you can see our experiences have many facets, like an insects eyes.
Perception is thus not limited to the number of sensory inputs. Consciousness, the container of perception, can handle a vast array of input. As all perception is contained within consciousness, there are no limits on the number of simultaneous perceptions that can be brought together. We call this synthesis the universe.
The reason we don’t see it quite like this is simply our identification with certain modes of perception. If we limit our perception to physical sense, that is the only aspect of universe within our consciousness that we’ll perceive. Step out of that boundary a little and you can understand a number of experiences people may have. Untethered perception.
We can also see that the whole remains undivided by a unique perception. It is just a shift in how it is seen.
Because consciousness perceives by moving within itself, perception has a quality of flow – awareness flows and creates perception and experience.
While people at a hockey game may try to establish a wave in the crowd, this also takes place naturally. If you watch crowd behaviour, response tends to move out in waves, like waves of cheering or laughter. Group dynamics are very fluid.
It’s all one flow of consciousness within itself, moving through us, connecting us even in our uniqueness.
Davidya
Oh, I love that phrase “untethered perception.” And now comes questions in relation to that and other favorite topics: intention and attention. Is attention tethered perception? Does having an intention also create a tethering, a vector if you will? Can there be layers of perception happening all at once so that on one level, perception is untethered and on another level, perception is tethered?
Identification is tethered perception. When we are identified, we have connected ourselves with the objects of perception. We think “I am this body”. “I am these thoughts”. “I am sad/happy/angry” (ie: I am emotions)
Mind then makes stories about it to justify this perception. “I am angry because…” Using memory, mind associates the stories with our experiences. Thus, when an experience arises in life, the first thing we do is call up our stories. Very much the actor on stage, in their role. It is an attempt by the mind to feel comfortable and in control. But it has the side effect of causing suffering. And disconnecting us further from who we really are, under the stories, under the identification.
Intention is directed or focused awareness. It may be encumbered by memory associations and such, but in it’s pure state is it is untethered. It is focused infinity. In our identification with the stories, we may see the intention as a fettering, like how we may see some desires as limiting or undesirable. But this is due to identification, not the inherent limits of any given intention.
We can also see that when there is a lot of resistance and drama at play, intentions will squeeze out in distorted sorts of ways. Unhealthy desires, for example. Underneath them, there is something pure. But it finds expression how it can, in ways that may be anything but.
And yes, there can be layered perception taking place, so we see both tethering and untethered. A classic example would be pre-awakening, when we experience that we are the Self, yet the ego-self remains. The identification with ego is much loosened, but enough is still there to hold it. Put another way, Self has begun waking to Itself, but is still in a pre-wakening semi-groggy state.
D, this for me is the clearest explanation of intention and story, etc. Thank you so much and is there any way that I can keep this post? Not sure what protocol or procedure is for that.
Hi Share
Do you mean the whole post or just the comment?
You can select, copy and paste the stuff you really like. You could use a PDF printer and print to PDF.
You can, in your browser, use File, Save Page As. If you use IE, choose Web Archive, .mht format. This puts everything into one file (zipped).
As far as protocol, it’s always nice to let the author know if you really like something and if you plan to pass it on. If you do pass it on, it’s only fair to include a link back to the original article. This way, if something is forwarded further, one can always come back to the source.
That what you wanted to know?
Sometimes, comments can become like posts by themselves. This is one I think I’ll migrate to a post. Thanks for that, Share.
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Yep, that’s what I wanted to know about protocol and procedure. And thank you for making your extended comment about untethered perception into a separate post.
That part about unhealthy desires with something pure underneath them–pure gold. Now, as if you haven’t given enough already, can you describe a process for getting to the pure intention underneath? I sense you’ve already done this, but to have it stated in this context might be helpful to everyone.
hmmm – in the other post, I described inquiry and looking behind emotions. I’ll do a post about that. But the intention is another thing.
Subjectively, we may tend to experience an intention as a desire. Or perhaps a sense of push or urging. A sense of power moving through us. Or a sense of clarity of direction.
If we feel resistance or craving, there is some pushing back against the intention, some inner conflict.
Pure intention is best described as a wave of intelligence. An intent. As it moves into mind, we experience an idea or concept, an inspiration, a focus. Into emotions, a desire, wish or even need.
What often happens though is that it gets cluttered by mental associations and stories, emotional resistance, reactivity, doubts, and other energy dissipaters. Just as pure consciousness becomes filled with thoughts and emotions, so too is pure intent cluttered by same.
If we understand that intention is the flow of consciousness, we can see why they are the same. Another word for this? Love.
More to post on…
Oh my God, D, I love that part about pure intention being a wave of intelligence and how it then arises either in intellect or emotions. The flow of consciousness as Love. Now that I will ponder tho it feels deeply true too. Thank you again.
PS One little question (-; Can pure intention also flow directly into the physiology and manifest as purely intended behavior? Maybe not bypassing intellect and emotion. But primarily flowing into the body.
Glad you enjoy.
Now there’s one other aspect here to be clear on. It’s not that it arises EITHER as intellect or emotions. It’s that it remains the flow of pure intention. We then EXPERIENCE it as either intellect or emotions, as pure intelligence or pure Love. or whatever.
The difference is not in what is there. The difference is in how it is experienced. This is why there is “states” of consciousness – different ways of seeing the one thing.
What evolves is our experience and relationship to Self, not what is there.
Can intention flow into the body and express as behaviour? That’s all that’s happening. This is seen clearly in clear CC. It is only ego that is taking credit for some of what’s going on that confuses. Intellect and emotions are not bypassed but may not always notice/respond. This demonstrates they are not causal. Just ways of experiencing. Filters of seeing. Impersonal and personal.
It’s also worth noting that not just the behaviour but the body itself is this flow. This Shakti. That is all there is. Only flow.
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