What is the State of Being?
The State of Being is not
a state of ‘having been’ or ‘will become.’ Atman, the Self, the Soul,
is not a ‘has been’ or ‘want-a-be’. Your Real Self is not what you think
you were in the past, or want to be in the future—nor is it what you think
you are now. You are what you ARE, and what is that? That is the pure
state of ‘is-ness’, the pure State of Being.
We imagine ourselves to be something we are not, but we are always who
we really are, and not who we have imagined ourselves to be. The thinking
mind is not the Self.
What is the Thinking Mind?
The thinking mind means ‘the mind that is conscious’, in other words,
the mind that is infused with consciousness. To understand
what this means, let us start from the ground up:
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How is the body linked with consciousness? The body is linked with
consciousness by the mind. The body cannot live without the mind. [1]
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How is the mind linked with consciousness? The link between consciousness
and mind is the intellect (Buddhi).
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How is the intellect linked with consciousness? The link between
consciousness and the intellect is the self-consciousness, or EGO.
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How is the ego linked with consciousness? The link between Consciousness
and Ego (self-consciousness) is Avidya,
which literally means the state of not-knowing, or Ignorance.
Now, what is that which forms the link between all these connections?
That is PRANA, the life force. The body, mind, intellect, and ego are
infused with PRANA, the life force that emanates from the Self (ATMAN
and PARAMATMAN—Consciousness).
PRANA is the Energy of Consciousness
The body, mind, intellect, and ego are animated with the energy of consciousness
(Atman, soul). The entire Universe is animated with the energy of that
Supreme Consciousness (PARAMATMAN). That PRANA is the same (whether identified
with ATMAN or PARAMATMAN), and it is that same PRANA that links the Self
with the Supreme Self.
What is the Connection Between Consciousness and Unconsciousness?
The link or union between Consciousness and Avidya
(between the Ever-knowing Self, or soul, and the state of Unknowing, or
Ignorance) is formed by the power of the Almighty (Supreme Self) and is
sometimes called Yoga Maya, or illusory union. By the force of this Yogmaya
the multitude of souls (all of us) are engaged in this Sport or Play of
Life (LILA). By use of our own AtamSkakti (or
soul-power, i.e., Self-controlled PRANA), and by the grace of GOD (Supreme
Self), we make progress in dispelling the darkness of Ignorance and ultimately
attain the Light of Wisdom by which we find ourselves established in the
Highest State of Being, or Moksha (which is
simply another name for GOD, the Supreme Being).
Dispelling the Darkness of Ignorance
For a moment, close your eyes and just be conscious without thinking.
. . . . . Now, were you thinking anything? Were you imagining something,
or hearing something, or smelling something, or tasting something, or
remembering something, or dreaming something, or analyazing
something? If you were, then you were thinking.
Even if you were just feeling something, this too is a thought-form of
the mind, unless it is the ‘feeling’ of the State of Being,
which is a ‘feeling’ that has no comparison since it is One Without A
Second. So, very likely, you were thinking, which simply means your
mind was active. This is quite natural.
Now, this time close your eyes again but mentally make the following
statement over and over, again and again: “I am conscious.”
Try this again, but this time as you repeat the statement, stop ‘listening’
to yourself in your mind and just merge with the thought.
If you were able to absorb your mind into this single thought, then this
means you were in the state of meditation.
In the state of meditation there is a ‘cloud of unknowing’ that fills
your mind. To make further progress, it is necessary to become acutely
aware of this cloud of unknowing, but without any analysis of it. Just
be aware that you do not know. (This is the purified mind.)
Now, go deeper. . . Be aware that you are aware that you do
not know. (This is the purified intellect.)
Now, be conscious that you are aware that you are aware
that you do not know. (This is the pure ego, or self-conscious
state of being, devoid of analysis or thought.)
Now this is the meditative state of consciousness which we must endeavor
to remain in throughout the day in all our activities. We cannot just
sit in this state and wait for something to happen. If we are waiting
for something to happen, we are in the state of expectation, which means
we are holding on to our images.
We must direct our energy to move our physical and mental faculties to
remove our ignorance. We do this through serving our loved ones and facing
all of life’s challenges in a spirit of non-violence. By so doing, the
cloud of ignorance that separates us from having the clear perception
of Truth (the Truth that We Are Free Souls) begins to evaporate. How
soon it evaporates depends on the intensity (earnestness) of our practices
(actions).
Hopefully, it is now clear that ignorance cannot be dispelled
without the energy of consciousness. It is only by directing our
energy thoughtfully that we can purify the mind to the point that the
mind seems to disappear and all that remains is the State of Being.
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