THE PRESENT OF THE PRESENCE. (The
state of awareness). Introduction to a book being written.by Tony O'Clery.
Many people sometimes wake up in bliss, which lasts for a few moments or minutes and is probably due to a direct awakening from deep sleep as opposed to transversing the dream plane.
It has happened to me on occasions and on awakening from meditation sometimes.
Recently I awoke from my unconscious meditation in a bliss state and it lasted an hour or more. I or something was observing the bliss state, and the world was more ephemeral and didn't matter at all. I couldn't really tell if I was the state or was even separate from it. It lasted just as long as I was observing, as soon as I started to function in the world it began to diminish progressively....The memory or residual is still there though......This leads on to the what is this 'I' or rather Who am I? Young toddlers for example think and speak in the third person and don't really have a strong ego-sense as such. However due to conditioning an ego starts to develop and expand. However it is only a thought and what we call mind is also really just a bundle of thoughts.
Separation is the odd man out rather than the truth, or the ground energy of everything from the big-bang onwards is only one. We constantly try to reinforce our illusory ego like having a mirror facing a mirror and seeing reflections going on and on, and then believing the image must be true for there are so many reflections of it. I am doing this and this is happening to me and so on and so on. Separating ourselves from the common energy, like a whirlpool in the ocean believing it is separate from the whole ocean, or a wave doing the same thing.
Taking responsibility for action causes us pain, and problems with other people, who also have egos. Not only egos but 'minds' and a subtle bodies that stores all the joy and grief of our experiences. Our relationships are a minefield of navigating to avoid each other rocks of wreckage and pain. Joy is no problem as it can be shared even if not totally understood, for it is nearer the truth of the 'ground of being or energy'.
This leads us to the question of freewill and what it means. Freewill cannot be explained without explaining what time is or isn't. There really isn't any time even science recognizes the concept as relative. So if there isn't any time everything must be happening at once in some way. Like a wagon wheel, consciousness is the hub and it concentrates on one spoke at a time but all the other spokes exist as well even if they are not illuminated. This has the effect of us completing an action that we have essentially already completed. In other words if we deliberate over an action and come to a decision, that is the decision that we made anyway. This allows the illusion of freewill so we can take responsibility for what we do or don't do. The reason for that is that we set up a memory to learn, which we call karma. Karma will teach the mind through experience, and the mind puts the body in many situations to learn.
However we are not our thoughts nor our mind, we are the consciousness or state of awareness behind the thoughts. Thoughts are also something that our ego reaches out and grasps hold of. If you sit quietly you will notice thoughts continuing unabated, running on and on. This gives you the opportunity to observe as a witness rather than a participant, and this is the first step to finding out 'Who am I'. The trick though is to realise that enlightenment cannot be achieved it can only happen.
It can be helped along so to speak by meditation 'observation' being the easiest way. That is observing the mind and its thoughts and one will find out it is only thoughts. This has the effect of strengthening the feeling of being the observer, which is the awareness state. One has to have course of enquiry though, and continually be aware of what the 'I' is. One has to realise that the 'I' is just a thought also and the ego does't exist apart from that. So going about one's daily chores ask the questions, who is this happening to, who am I, who is happy who is upset, who is doing this as an act of selfishness, and so on.
Every now and then some joy on earth will overwhelm our enquiry such as falling love with a person and creating an attachment. This sets up a chemical situation in the brain as well as a psychological one, and one thinks one has found happiness. But no human can live up to that the eventually the partner's ego starts to show and his or her mind full of karmas starts to take effect. Proving again there is no lasting happiness on the outside and one has to go within so to speak. This does not mean that one cannot have a meaningful relationship however; For that in itself is a learning experience and an exercise in reducing the egos.
KARMA
AND OR GENETICS.
In the Eastern Religions and Philosophies karma from previous 'lives' is used to explain today's happenings, tendencies and attributes. However if one doesn't believe in karma, which many in the 'West' do not, then the alternative is genetic tendencies and influences from the environment. No matter what the origin of these conditions the fact remains that our tendencies and attributes affect the very way we live our lives and make our decisions. It may not be possible to isolate a tendency that easily or even an attribute, but one can observe oneself and notice them.
The mind is like a glass of fluid with sediments at the bottom, these sediments can be stirred up and so changing the fluid's conditions for a while. Tendencies and attributes are something similar and may be triggered by a certain event and then subside and lie low until the next 'triggering'. The trick in controlling these mostly sub-conscious tendencies, is in understanding that which triggers them and avoiding them, if it is unpleasant or 'bad'. (The opposite is also true of course).
Observing the ego or 'I' thought can help avoid and control certain tendencies, understanding when it is a motivation of selfishness, or altruism.
The ego looks for liner achievement to fulfill itself. However even on achieving great goals the feeling of unfulfillment is still there, for it is related to falsehood of egoistic activities. The nature of the ego is to be greedy and desire ever more and more of its desires.
ACTION
OF NON-ACTION?
It is a common misconception that activity is required, to help humanity or do 'good'. However, once one understands the mind and the fact that it broadcasts vibrations, a person sitting in a cave and doing no activity could help the world, with invisible influences. Meditate on the space between thoughts and one will find out the truth.
ACTION.
With regard to the field of action, there is a great concept taught in the Bhagavad Gita, by Krishna to Arjuna. That is surrender, or 'no karma, karma'.. This essentially means surrendering the fruits of the action one is doing and leaving it to providence. Karma Yogis, are among the best known in history. St Vincent de Paul embraced this concept and used it as a devotion and to help the poor and downtrodden. This in fact brings the 'Universal' into the lives of many through the Yogi or Saint, as well as expanding love and reducing the ego of the practitioner. For the Saint or Yogi offers his work itself as a prayer to the Universal, and therefore absolves himself of thinking about a successful or a result in failure. One doesn't have to do anything karma will take its course anyway. So surrender and have the confidence that as long as one complete's action things will unfold as they should do. One can create 'Good' karma for the future and future 'Lives', for 'Dream actions have dream results'.
Motivation and Desire.
Motivation is a belief in the present, but it is also following one's bliss. Find your inner feeling and you will find your raison d'etre or goal.
There may be other goals on the way. It is a matter of being positive, complete your actions, and surrender to the moment. There is an old saying that we become what we think about and this is so true, for we are thinking of what we are at a deeper level.
HOPE.
Hope is an expectation with a belief the goal is already mentally achieved, except for the action to complete. This does involve visualization and dreaming the goal but also act. Dreaming the goal brings it up from the subconscious present. Think in the present for the present is the result and no result can be achieved without the present.
'The person who has the most success is the one who expects it'. For they know they are already successful in the present.
So after the goal is set dwell in the present not on the desire for the desire will invariably not measure up and result in unhappiness and frustration. This is due to the energy being forced in contrast to the truth of the subconscious present. So dwelling in the moment is an advantage for there is less stress, good vibrations of happiness, and peace. This leaves people in a sense of relaxation, enthusiasm and communication.
The word akasa is used quite a lot and it means ether and in my opinion—Universal Citta or mind. Many seers and prophets claim they can access and read it, such as Edgar Cayce. Here in this chapter I will be posting Indian Thought and in particular the late Ramana Maharshi, and David Godman’s works in popularizing him.
“The mind is like akasa (ether). Just as there are the objects in the akasa, so there are thoughts in the mind. The akasa is the counterpart of the mind and objects are of thought. One cannot hope to measure the universe and study the phenomena. It is impossible. For the objects are mental creations. To measure them is similar to trying to stamp with one's foot on the head of the shadow cast by oneself. The farther one moves the farther the shadow does also. So one cannot plant one's foot on the head of the shadow.... Similarly with the ignorant practicer to study the universe. The universe is only an object created by the mind and has its being in the mind. It cannot be measured as an exterior entity. One must reach the Self in order to reach the universe.
Again people often ask how the mind is controlled. I say to them, "Show me the mind and then you will know what to do."
The fact is that the mind is only a bundle of thoughts. How can you extinguish it by the thought of doing so or by a desire? Your thoughts and desires are part and parcel of the mind. The mind is simply fattened by new thoughts rising up. Therefore it is foolish to attempt to kill the mind by means of the mind. The only way of doing it is to find its source and hold on to it. The mind will then fade away of its own accord.”
Raman Maharshi —TALKS, No. 485
D. What is the
significance of the Crucifixion?
Maharshi:
The body is the cross. Jesus, the son of man, is the ego
or the I-am-the-body idea. When the son of man is crucified
on the cross, the ego perishes, and what survives is the
Absolute Being. It is the resurrection of the Glorious Self,
of the Christ - the Son of God.
~~~ Maharshi's Gospel
What is body consciousness? It is the insentient body plus consciousness. Both these must lie in another consciousness which is absolute and unaffected, and ever abiding, with or without body consciousness. What does it then matter whether the body consciousness is lost or retained, provided one is holding on to the Pure Consciousness. It makes no difference in the knowledge of the Supreme.
~ taken from Thus Spake Ramana
This brings in the idea of ‘Heaven and the Kingdom of Heaven. The ultimate Kingdom of Heaven is becoming The Christ or Liberation. However there is a lesser Heaven, if you will, and that it about planes of existence. The highest heaven and the ultimate of all the amorphous planes is where beings who do not need to incarnate again reside. They remain here until the next dissolution of the material and subtle universe and at that time they merge with the Universal. Any being that takes birth from this level does so at their own volition, no karma forces them to. Buddhists call them Bodhisattvas, Hindus call them Avatars or Karana Janmas, and this is what Jesus was. He had fallen as Adam or Adams but regained his spirituality as Enoch and therefore was not Liberated but only one step away. However as Jesus fell as Adam he felt he had to redeem himself and give an example to human kind. Also taking on the ‘Sin’, or Karma caused by his original faltering. So Jesus or Jeshua took birth again, and paid off a lot of humanity’s karma by his suffering but he achieved final Liberation by becoming Christ, on the cross.
80.
You can never find the mind through mind. Pass beyond it in order to find it non-existent. Mind, ego, intellect are all different names for one single inner organ ( antahkarana). The mind is only the aggregate of thoughts. Thoughts cannot exist but for ego. So all thoughts are pervaded by ego (aham). Seek wherefrom the "I" rises and the other thoughts will dissapear.
~ taken from Thus Spake Ramana
20.
The mind is nothing but the stream of thoughts, that passes over Consciousness. Of all these thoughts, the first one is the thought "I am this body". This is a false thought; but because it is taken as true, it is possible for other thoughts to arise. So the mind is just an outgrowth of the primary ignorance and it is therefore unreal.
~ taken from
Thus Spake Ramana
So this is the kernel of Indian or Vedic thought. That there is a Transcendent God without attributes at all---------Nirguna Brahman, ( The great expanse without attributes). However there is also the concept of Immanent God or Saguna Brahman, God with attributes associated with Creation. So we have two ideas of the One God here. Creation is posited as a kind of projected dream that has no beginning but has an ending. An ending individually and universally. Whilst still in existence Creation has pralayas or periodic dissolutions, where all is subsumed into God. This is at the material and subtle levels at different times, called Pralaya and Mahapralaya. Seemingly if one becomes Liberated or Christed, one is like a drop of water dropping into the ocean. All individuality is gone, or the illusion is that is. At this stage, as almost like dreamless sleep, all materiality doesn’t exist and didn’t happen ever. So the concept of Nirvana in Buddhism, Moksha in Vedanta, and becoming The Christ in Christianity convey the same interpretation. A dropping of the individual illusion and become what one already always was, The Universal, this is Liberation.
Q: What is samadhi?
Sri Ramana Maharshi: The state in which the unbroken
experience of existence-consciousness is attained by
the still
mind, alone is samadhi. That still mind which is
adorned with
the attainment of the limitless Supreme Self, alone
is the reality
of God.
When the mind is in communion with the Self in
darkness, it is
called nidra (sleep), that is the immersion of the
mind in
ignorance. Immersion in a conscious or wakeful state
is called
samadhi. Samadhi is continuous inherence in the Self
in a waking
state. Nidra or sleep is also inherence in the Self
but in an
unconscious state. In sahaj samadhi the communion
is continuous.
The immersion of the mind in the Self, but without
its destruction,
is known as Kevala Nirvikalpa Samadhi. In this state
one is not free
from vasanas and so one does not therefore attain
mukti
(liberation). Only after the vasanas have been
destroyed can one
attain liberation.
Q: When can one practice Sahaj Samadhi?
A: Even from the beginning. Even though one
practises Kevala
Nirvikalpa Samadhi for years together, if one has
not rooted out the
vasanas one will not attain liberation.
Q: Is samadhi, the eighth stage of raja yoga, the
same as the
samadhi you speak of?
A: In yoga the term samadhi refers to some kind of
trance and there
are various kinds of samadhi. But the samadhi I
speak of is
different. It is sahaj samadhi. From here you have
samadhan
(steadiness) and you remain
calm and composed even while you are active. You
realise that you
are moved by the deeper real Self within. You have
no worries, no
anxieties, no cares, for you come to realise that
there is nothing
belonging to you. You know that everything is done
by something
with which you are in conscious union.
Q: If this sahaj samadhi is the most desirable
condition, is there
no need for nirvikalpa samadhi?
A: The nirvikalpa samadhi of raja yoga may have its
use. But in
Jnana yoga this sahaj sthiti (natural state) or
sahaj nishtha
(abidance in the natural state) itself is the
nirvikalpa state. In
this natural state, the mind is free from doubts. It
has no need to
swing between alternatives of possibilities and
probabilities.It
sees no vikalpas (differences) of any kind. It is
sure of the truth
because it feels the presence of the real. Even when
it is active,
it knows it is active in the reality, the Self, the
Supreme Being.
Q: How can one function in the world in such a
state?
A: One who accustoms himself naturally to meditation
and enjoys the
bliss of meditation will not lose his samadhi state
whatever
external work he does, whatever thoughts may come to
him. That is
Sahaja Nirvikalpa. Sahaj Nirvikalpa is Nasa Manas
(total destruction
of the mind). Those who are in the laya samadhi
state (a trance like
state in which the mind is temporarily in abeyance)
will have to
bring the mind back under control from time to time.
If the mind is
destroyed, as it is in sahaj samadhi, it will never
slide down from
their high state.
Q: Is samadhi a blissful or ecstatic state?
A: In samadhi itself there is only perfect peace.
Ecstasy comes when
the mind revives at the end of samadhi. In devotion
the ecstasy
comes first. It is manifested by tears of joy, hair
standing on end,
and vocal stumbling. When the ego finally dies and
the Sahaj is won,
these symptoms and the ecstasies cease.
David Godman,
BE AS YOU ARE…Date…The teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi, Arkana, 1985, London.
KUNDALINI OR UNIVERSAL MIND.
Kundalini is our own Universal Mind. It rises in the Heart and goes directly to the brain on awakening. Prana or energy is the instrument of Kundalini-Sakti, Sakti/Grace isn't the energy but the Creator/Goddess/Saguna Brahman of the energy. With the disturbance of the gunas, action or karma begins. There is only karma and prana in this universe.
The nightly surges may or may not be kundalini-prana.
Let us assume that they are, then it is a cleansing action that is working on the mind, particularly the intellectual/awareness sheath or Vijnanamayakosa. As the sheath is cleansed so to speak the surges will diminish, until at a more advanced level they will be barely perceptible in meditation.
There may be some disturbance of thoughts and ideas during this cleansing, like a broom disturbs all the floor not just that which it is sweeping so to speak.
There is only one way to control the surges and direct them and that is through, prayer or japa/rosary, (or something similar as an affirmation.) It has to be channeled back so to speak, so it flows much easier as it accomplishes its Spiritual task so to speak. Otherwise unchanneled prana may disturb the mind or the sexual activities in the lower cakras, instead of rising to the Heart Cakra initially.
This is the importance of practise or sadhana. One has to concentrate on Prayer or a Godform of some kind. Or even an affirmation of some spiritual nature. 'Who am I' will do fine. The first time the prana surged in me, or the first time it really was heavy, I fell over in shock. I was sitting cross-legged on the floor meditating. I had felt surges throughout my life from childhood, but attributed it to rocks and my surroundings etc. This time it was heavy for I had stepped on to the path through taking up meditation, so opening the door so to speak. I had also taken up some preparatory breathing exercises or pranayama.
I notice mild and pleasant movement during meditation, these days, and as Sarada Devi said, Japa will raise the Kundalini, or Consciousness.
Kundalini arising to the Crown Cakra doesn't result in Moksha the Kundalini-Prana or mind has to be absorbed into the Heart or Self. In the end the timing of all this is Karmic as is everything.....
It is probably a little late to wait until the surges occur.
One should be doing meditation and japa/rosary either constantly in the back of one's mind or doing meditation before retiring to bed. It is wise to meditate at a similar time everyday. A few minutes will do. I used to do the corpse pose and grab meditation at work during the day sometimes. This pose has the benefit of easily de-energising the muscles, so there is no tension.
You say 3 am used to be your usual meditation time. Yes, this is the Brahma Murtha and advised for spiritual seekers. Unfortunately most of us work and cannot meet this schedule in many cases. However if you are used to meditating at this time, then 'God' is looking for the appointment. You may have to change the regular appointment time, then the energy will be absorbed/transmuted into the normal meditation.
There are only two ways of getting help, either from a Realised Master/Mukti or from your own Inner Self, which amounts to the same thing.
The other problem to avoid, as I mentioned in my original post, is psychological and psychosomatic, due to not enough Spiritual Direction.
It may require intense prayer and meditation/japa for a while, but the answer truly lies 'within'. Which is the only advice I can give, as I am not a Jivanmukta or Realised Master.
Ramana and others say that if one just repeats the mantra it is ineffective; one has to be emotionally involved with it. The Vedic sounds of a mantra have to be concentrated on, so rote is impossible, if one is doing it properly. If I had a penny for each time I heard the Gayatri chanted incorrectly, I would be a rich man. The sound of OM/AUM of course is within manifestation and is not Liberation itself. Sakti is not the energy per se but Saguna Brahman that projects it.
I know to many, my opinions on Kundalini are somewhat different. That is because IMO 99%+ of so called Kundalini-Prana isn't! One has to identify if one is 'experiencing' the cleansing prana, for K of course is everything as, the Universal Mind. So K-Prana is a Spiritual event.
1.There are the movements of energy impulses at the biological nerve level, and this may be due to any physical condition; arthritis, pinched nerves, spine problems, psychosomatic etc etc.
2.There is the movement of prana in the nadis, that may not be necessarily in the Sushumna. Acu-puncture type movements of energy can take place and this may not be K-Prana. These may seem to be spontaneous and out of control, and painful.
The five pranas or modes are quite complicated to the uninitiated. Without going into them to deepy, they are involved in breathing, and expulsion and sometime it seems they get out of sync. Badly performed pranayama can cause this as well.
When a person is dying there is a feeling of a need to defecate, for this is the prana starting to leave. A good example is my best childhood friend died a few months ago, of a heart attack. He felt an urge to defecate so he went upstairs to the toilet and took a book with him. His wife found him some time later leaning against the wall, book on his knee and dead as a doornail!--a heart attack!
Kundalini being the Universal Mind is everything and doesn't make random mistakes IMO, in stimulating the cleansing of the kosas or sheaths. The nadis and sushumna, (the tunnel of light), are after all only concepts and constructs to describe the connectors of the body to the kosas. A person not on the spiritual path is not going to be subconsciously cleansing their vijnanamayakosa are they? There has to be a trigger!!!
Finally as Sarada Devi says, Japa will raise the true Kundalini-Prana, perhaps even emperceptibly. IMO opinion if one has a true K experience happening it is more important to pay attention to their behaviour not the experiences. If one isn't becoming more spiritual, following a sadhana, becoming vegetarian for example, and in fact becoming a Sadhaka, in some form.
Finally one has to take into account that Lakshmana Swami says the K goes straight from the Heart to the Brain, and not from the Muladhara. This indicates to me that pranas may or may not be of a spiritual nature. i.e cleansing or otherwise.
The yardstick to me though is that a person become more the spiritual, less attached to the world and its sensual activities and pleasures. That is the difference between the pranas and kundalini-prana
Yes I agree with that statement of Ramana's. Sometimes when 'God'
calls we aren't ready in our ego mind, so we look for ways to slow
it, change it, divert it into illusion etc etc.
There is no Ego stronger in the world than that of an unrealised
spiritual seeker.
I had energies from a young person, but it really surged as an
adult. There is a lot of psycho-babble and rubbish written on this
subject as well of course. It is the realm of psychotics,charlatans,
false gurus, hurdy-gurdy men, as well.
I can only write from my own experience and comparing notes with
Ramana's teachings. I was lucky that at the time of the great surge,
I was already practising some Sadhana of sorts. After that I was
thrown in totally to being absorbed in this spiritual path, and
doing meditation and japa. I was using an Ishtadevata, as well. Also
I had a Sufi guide name Ibn el Rasa, whether he was a spirit or from
my own subconscious he was helpful-------take the middle path was
most of his advice, if I remember. Of course in a previous life I
may have gone through something similar to ERAs. Nowadays I am aware
of the movement of energy during pre meditation but I don't dwell on
it, I just stick to my point of meditation between the nose and lip,
and some affirmation or mantras, in the background.
In the end result we can only take our own advice.........
I realise that what I am saying is heresy to many people, who are attached to their 'surges'. That sounds funny actually hahahah. However my last paragraph reproduced below shows that my judgementalism only goes as far as the resulting spiritualiy.
The yardstick to me though is that a person become more the
spiritual, less attached to the world and its sensual activities and
pleasures. That is the difference between the pranas and kundalini-
prana.
I am aware it is all one, but the pranas are broken up so to speak to play roles, udana, apana etc, and of course Kundalini-Prana. My observation about many people, particularly Westerners, claiming K-Activity is not very enlightening. Many are attached to Sex, the surges or whatever, and I see little to claim a modicum of Spirituality. Many are charlatans, and many others are deluded or suffering from some mental breakdowns.
In the end result the K-Prana activity is to result in a more cleansed Vijnanamaykosa and subsequent rise in 'awareness'. I am sure my opinon is very similar to many in India.
As Lakshmana Swamy says prana raised to the sahasrara may result in some increase in siddhis but that is all. IMO it will not go down the amrita nadi to the 'Heart', if the vijnanamayakosa isn't cleansed of its vasanas and samskaras. So if it cannot do that, it begs the question doesn't it?
Much of the K-activity in the end may just be people observing and experiencing the pranamayakosa, Vivekananda remarks on this
I'm not trying to be judgmental or rigid. I am expressing an opinion that it is not a tantric one in the common understanding. Then again nobody in tantra will admit there is another step to Moksha via the concept of the amrita nadi as Ramana says.
They believe the union of Siva/Sakti occurs at the Sahasrara and that is it.-Kula-Arnava-Tantra 8:109. I find this text quite confusing and contradictory. 9:14 it talks of Nirvikalpa Samadhi and then goes on to talk of it as an ecstasy which is an experience and therefore Saguna. They are in the main attached to the surges and ecstasies. Bliss is not the end result it is the final impediment to Moksha. Tantrikas even talk of Sahaja as being ecstatic as well. So here we are dealing with what the Sufis call 'states', and others Samadhis, in term somewhat different to Vedantic or Buddhist. Ramana says that in true Samadhi there is only Peace, as does Jesus. Ecstasy is a kind of memory that occurs approaching and leaving Samadhi.
The ultimate though is that once one merges with 'God'-one becomes God and the mind is destroyed, according to Ramana.
So there is a lot of different interpretation here as in Vedantic Samadhi and Buddhist Samadhi for example, a lot of semantics.
IMO opinion still, what passes for K-acivity can be explained in other ways, in many cases...I understand my path is more Advaitic than Tantric and this may lead to some being confused by my statements of opinion...............
.*************************************
The intoxication of the Sufis is probably savikalpa samadhi of some kind, or they obviously remember it. Many people sometimes wake up in bliss which lasts for a few moments or minutes and is probably due to a direct awakening from the bliss sheath as opposed to transversing the dream plane. It has happened to me on occasions and also on awakening from meditation sometimes. Recently I awoke from my unconscious meditation in a bliss state and it lasted an hour or more. I or something was observing the bliss state, and the world was more ephemeral and didn't matter at all. I couldn't really tell if I was the state or was even separate from it. It lasted just as long as I was observing, as soom as I started to function in the world it began to diminish progressively....The memory or residual is still there though.......
PART TWO. Various eclectic talks and writings.
Consciousness and the
process of manifestation.
Miracles are essentially technology that we don’t yet understand. We are moving into micro nano technology, and unseen impulses and codes rule our world.
A thought is a thing, that is, it is created by our own mind, which is thought stuff in itself. The more one can penetrate the levels of mind, the more one can perform ‘miracles’. However there are ‘Left-Hand’, yogis and magicians who also can perform some miracles, but this is not accompanied with any rise in spirituality. For even if one has some control over the lower astral planes, one can still do ‘miracles’. One cannot influence a plane higher than one’s state of mind control. Mantras or Spells, and Yantras or Mind Tools, are used to trigger the mind into performing some feats. This is because they attract the corresponding vibration, in the subtle world. So the process of real personal magic is a system of belief, concentration and intense detailed visualisation.
There are other forms of unconscious, kinetic activity that seem to be triggered, by a person’s devotion to a ‘God Form’. For example, I have seen ash, and ambrosia manifesting on pictures, and fruit, in temples and people’s homes. So much so, in some cases, that a container had to be placed underneath. There is also ‘Spirit Activity’, as well, of course.
What I mean by planes, are the different main divisions of consciousness, according to the Ancient Wisdom. There are infinite permutations but there appear to be certain levels.
There are seven astral planes, the lower four, of which could be regarded as somewhat difficult, Pretalokas or Hell Realms. They are occupied with mishapen ghoulies, unevolved humans, animals, and non humans. All the lower humans live here, after death; criminals, drunkards, pedophiles and those with intense, unresolved hatreds and desires. They cannot satisfy their desires, so they learn from this frustrating experience. The Earth itself, as a lower plane, is a ‘Hell Realm’, and there is much astral imaging here. For example the dark, subdued lights in bars and clubs, echoes the dark, dim light of the lower astral. So does much of the negative activity on the planet.
The three, higher planes, of the astral, are what we commonly call ‘Heavens’, and are more pleasant and happy. All these planes involve Beings having a recognisable form, albeit created by their own thoughts.
Above the astral level we have the mental planes, the lower four of which have form and every thought produces a living picture. The higher planes consist of blissful, living energies and colours, and in that way are without accepted human form. They are amorphous energy and light shapes, so to speak. Only the most advanced spiritual beings advance to the highest levels.
Above all these astral and mental planes, and suffusing them, is the ‘Consciousness’ itself, or what some would call ‘Immanent God’, or the Goddess. Above that is the inexplicable ‘Transcendent’.
The Ancient Wisdom teaches that, the Transcendent, projects a creation, which It is not involved with. Like a dream I suppose. This creation has a basis, a ‘Unified Field’, or Akasa, (Unitary Principle of Matter), which is suffused with and is Consciousness. The Energy, or Prana, (Unitary Principle of Energy), at this stage is, in a perfect balance and equalibrium. This is why one could think of the later, manifested universe, as even a hologram, for conscious energy is the ground.
However at certain periods it starts to manifest, and gain attributes. The perfect state is the ‘balance’, and it includes the potentiality of mind, and intelligence. The two other states enter, ‘active’, which is dynamic, and has the potential of force and activity. Lastly there is the ‘dull’, which allows condensation to matter, inertness, destruction, ignorance, inactivity, sleep and death.
These three form all the infinite, computations of matter and energy, as they interact. Forming all the energies, waves and particles or the ‘Creation’. This progresses to the ‘opposites’, light and dark, joy and grief, action and reaction. This commences with vibration then radiation and ends up with condensed energy or matter. The tradition is that the vibration is ‘The Word’, OM, or Shabda, which is described as ‘Sound’.
This leads to the question of; What is death? Sankara, a great philosopher of ancient times, says it is a separation from our desires, or
something similar to that. So it is a
transition of consciousness that’s all, a transition of where the consciousness
focuses. The fear and pain come from
the loss of friends, family, attachments, and things we love.
When one dies, one moves initially to the ‘Border Plane’, and one would retain a recognisable form, and in many cases, some consciousness of one’s situation. After some time, usually a few days, a ‘swoon occurs’, and this form is also left behind to disintegrate and the soul entity moves on to the Astral. This is called the ‘Second Death’. Moving from the Astral would also entail, another ‘swoon’, and the disintegration of the Astral Bodies. In fact, moving up all the lower planes, involves swoon and dropping of the corresponding shell, on moving up.
So called ‘Evil Descents’ come from the lower four planes of the astral, which are nearer to this material plane. Hence all the human desires and emotions are highlighted. They are nearer to the human attachments and desires of this physical plane. Because ‘beings’, who dwell in the lower planes have no desire for spirituality, they strive for egoistic dominance and power over others. Many of them are adept at moving between these lower planes and really have no desire to move any higher. These are the beings that become the Demonic Hitler, Stalin and others. Many can shape-shift and bi-locate.
( I was following, one particular teacher in India, who on more than one occasion, manifested in my own house. On one occasion, I was starting to prepare for meditation, when my dog ‘pointed’, at something. I looked at where he was looking and a subtle form took shape. This was my teacher in India, who I thought was a ‘Divine Descent’, but eventually turned out to be something else: a Rakshasa! This happened to myself and to my daughters, on several occasions.)
What is shape-shifting? The process, as I understand it, from a yogic point of view, is of thought. We all travel out of our physical bodies, while we sleep, but to many of us, there is no memory of this. Sometimes we may just mistake it for a dream. However a person with this siddhi, or yogic power, can do this consciously. This involves two different methods entirely. First of all there is the bi-location effect, where a person is seen miles from where they are. This is the famous Doppelganger, or the etheric double, which really isn’t a separate body or sheath, but part of the physical body manifestation. It is a form of shape-shifting, but it is the same image and it is in a subtle form. The other type of shape-shifting, is where the form is more solidified, to appear as a normal physical body. This can be done for different periods of time depending on the person. Some yogis have the ability to shift to numerous bodies, and some can take a different form or forms altogether. It all depends on mind control, and the abilities reached in previous incarnations.
. To be able to demonstrate this in multiples manifestations, at the same time takes a lot of yogic ability. Many spiritual yogis have this power but it in itself is definitely not a sign of spirituality. Anymore than riding a bicycle is. As most of the planet’s population have come up from the animal, and mixture world, they do not have the ability to perform shape-shifting or other psychic feats. That is, it is not in the subtle, memory bank of their past tendencies and abilities.
To make this a little clearer, it necessary for me, to explain the concept of bodies and their sheaths. In the Ancient Wisdom, there are three bodies; material, subtle and causal. These contain several sheaths, each more subtle than the other. The more one penetrates the mind, the more one has control over the lower sheaths and matter. All is One: However each kosa fades onto the next, a bit like a rainbow's colours fade into each other.
1.) The Food Sheath. The normal human physical body. This is what is known as the ‘Material, or Physical Body’. (This is one of the reasons, why some mystics are vegetarian, for it lightens the vibrations the body is composed of.)
2.) The Vital Energy Sheath. This is connected with all the human attributes and weaknesses, and energises and heats the body.
3.) This is the normal Lower Mind:-
4.) The Awareness Sheath. This consists of pure and integrated awareness, or Higher Mind.
These sheaths 2, 3, and 4, make up the ‘Subtle Body’.
5.) The Bliss and Causal sheath. The seat of Human Potentiality. This sheath is experienced unconsciously in sleep, or consciously in some meditations. Beyond this is the Universal Consciousness, ‘God/Goddess’, which blissfully, suffuses all the other sheaths, and is the ‘Ground’, of everything. This is the Universal Soul. This is what is known as the ‘Causal Body’.
Depending on which level, or combination of, the
person is operating at, at the time, so is the interpretation and
function. So working at level 3;
An answer or interpretation would be different from level 4.
Those that
shape-shift between planes, however are still only operating at the lower mind
level. They may even touch on the
higher mind, but misuse it to perform so called miracles on the lower planes of
mind. For all is energy and it may change in form but cannot be destroyed, by
man at least.
In some past life experiences I observed ‘my body die’, several times, but it was like watching a silent movie. I also have experienced being out of my body, consciously. One time observing my body as it slept, only returning for my inner clock told me that it was time to get up. Even though we all ‘Astral Travel’, when we sleep, some consciously, some unconsciously, or mistake it for dreams, as mentioned.
However on several occasions I have visited with people close to me, who have died. First of all I talked to them almost quite normally whilst they were on the Border Plane. Although, they could move around, so to speak.
On one occasion I was ‘talking’, with an Aunt who had passed over and she had visited some places we were talking about and returned with questions.
After a few days, about a week, of many conversations with me individually, with my daughter individually, ( My daughter is extremely sensitive and sees, and hears the spirits), and with us together, there was a change. She did not seem to answer me. So I went into a specific kind of meditation that I use on these occasions. I shall call it ‘Mind travel’, as opposed to the popular Astral travel, which is limited. I learned this from a subtle yogi, whilst I was in India. It enables me to cut through the lower planes, so to speak. I went looking for my Aunt and could not, at first, find her on the vital plane. I was passing misshapen ghoulies, and all kinds of animals and beings, on the way, then I found her. She was hanging there dead with her mouth open, it was just her, now useless, vital form/shell. So now I knew that she had gone through the ‘second death’ and moved on.
With some more, meditation , I or my mind moved up to higher planes, which were quite blissful. I was looking for her and I suppose visualising her. I ‘heard’, her voice and she said that she didn’t look like that, and it was my mind creating that construct, as a tool, to communicate with her. She was happy and in some kind of learning situation, but it was above the lower planes, where people take on forms similar to their last earthform.
How could I do this? Well I think there is probably some ‘past life’, experience here and of course present life meditation. Where with concentration one penetrates the levels of the astral and mental.
On death, if one is a Christian, there may be
saints, other beliefs would have their own structures. According to mystic and psychic tradition
when one dies, one immediately checks in with the ‘Clear Light’, of
consciousness. If one is able to
recognise this then one merges and becomes liberated. Most have Karma that drags them down and they awake on the border
plane, just above the material plane.
They stay there for a time before moving up to their appropriate level
of consciousness. Where they stay until their karma runs out and they take
rebirth, or rather their ego and tendencies do.
I have done this a few
times, when necessary but strangely, when I think about it, ‘I’, was there
also, with these dead people, but I am not ‘dead’. My ego consciousness was moving its focus, out of my body to the
planes where it needed to go. Being
dead for most people means not coming back to the body at all. Luckily, if they are liberated then all the
planes of consciousness dissolve for them.
There is the body, mind and soul;
material body, subtle body and causal body.
Eventually the physical and subtle bodies disintegrate, but the causal
body remains......the food sheath, life sheath and mind sheath are impermanent.
The awareness sheath and bliss sheath remain, unless one is liberated. The awareness or intellectual sheath is
hardly touched on, by normal humans, and then for mostly materialistic
purposes.
The Awareness Sheath, as fully developed, is really an advanced being’s vehicle, like
a Jesus or a Buddha. This leads to
discussing other Divine Descents and their tasks and forms. The most complete, current, and ancient,
available scriptures on this subject are of course Indian. Although we have some texts, from Mexico and
Peru, and of course there is the Bible.
There have been many Divine Descents, or Avatars,
over the millions of years, and they all suited the time and place. That is the forms, of consciousness on the
planet at the time. The Hindu Puranas
mention numerous but there are ten, which are the most important. Many have animal forms, indicating they hark
back to the time when, humans didn’t naturally appear, as they do today.
Kurma Tortoise:
This may refer to a ‘Creation Myth or catastrophe, where knowledge needed to be retained. It also talks about a cleansing needing to be done in the planet’s oceans. Which were full of pollution and poisons, which may have been man made or even the result of much volcanic activity.
Varaha Boar :
A rescuing of the planet from the watery depths. He we have the first mention of the Sanskrit names for the Adam and Eve myth, Swayambhuva Manu and Satarupa. There is also a great struggle with early forms of man or demonic beings that could travel in the dimensions. Many of these demonic beings are pictured as being part human and part animal.
Narasimnha,
Man-Lion Mixture: Here we have the time of the great scientist Hiranyakasipu and the oppression of his, spiritually inclined, son Prahlad. It is obvious here, that we are at the time of many mixtures, judging by the appearance of man-lion.
Vamana Dwarf:
This again is about a war between good and demonic beings, or the war between Adamic man and the ‘Old Lilith type’, form. He we have indications of different sizes of man.
Parasu-Rama:
Axe-Rama: He came in the wars between the materialists and those that wanted to follow the ‘Law of One’, and spirituality. He defeated the ruling and military castes to achieve this. This seems to be a recurring problem, throughout time.
Rama.
His story is much loved and tradition gives his time to be about twenty thousand years ago. He was of the New Man and he fought many wars with those of the ‘Old Animal Man’ or Rakshasas, eventually defeating them in the form of Ravana of Lanka, a mysterious continent in the Ocean. He was helped by the bear mix people and the monkey mix people, led by their king Hanuman, who was said to be proficient in grammar and music.
Krishna:
He came to defeat the materialist again, and again establish the ‘Law of One’. He is said to have been born about five thousand years ago, based on the astrology and position of the sky, at the time of his birth. This was the start of this Kali Yuga or Age.
Buddha:
Perfect yourself so that you may aid others to
perfect themselves. He also came to show the way to end suffering.
Kalki:
Build the mansion of life on Truth, morality,
peace, love and non-violence. This is the Avatar supposedly to come, at the end of this age, in a few hundred thousand years, and usher in the new Sathya, Krita, or Age of Truth.
From some other traditions we have;
Osiris: Who came in Atlantis some 22,000 years ago to teach, and re-establish the One Truth. This spirituality was taken to Egypt by Toth, otherwise known as Hermes, and is essentially the teachings that Moses knew.
Jesus: He was the Avatar of Love and came to proclaim this Unity and resist the decadence of the Roman and other Empires. His teaching were essentially the same as the Ancient Wisdom.
Quetzalcoatl: He was the Avatar of the Americas, and is known by different names, in different regions. It seems there were other teachers, of the same name that came later, especially in Mexico.
These Divine Descents and their stories, indicate a lot in the folk memory and scriptures. A lot about creation, periodic destructions on the planet, different types of beings that souls dwelt in, and finally wars between the Hybrids and the New Man.
I find the Rama story of particular interest, for it describes these shape-shifting beings, or Rakshasas/Nefilm/Ogres and their control on the planet. I believe that the Power Elite today are descended from these Rakshasas.
THE PERIODS, AND AGES
OF THE UNIVERSE.
It is helpful to
describe the ages of the universe and earth, when discussing unidentified
flying objects and aliens.
The records preserved in India, and elsewhere, I
feel, were preserved from the Mu or Lemurian Civilisation. India, at one time was probably contiguous
with the continent of Mu. This Motherland Continent was supposed to have stretched
from what is East Africa to Easter Island.
It supposedly founded Atlantis, India, Egypt, America, and other areas
such as Gobi, as colonies. I show these to illustrate the antiquity of the
planet and its ‘human’ occupation. I use the word ‘human’ to describe the
spirit and intelligence, rather than the bodily form, which varied
considerably.
In the Ancient Wisom idea, each Creation, or Kalpa, is called a Day and each Dissolution or Pralaya, is called a Night, of the Creator. The universe is supposed to have commenced about 15,757,969,000,000, years ago, approximately. Modern science has a date of 11, (at present), as opposed to 15, I believe.
A Kalpa last for 4,320,000,000, ( modern science says the solar system is 4.5 billion years old), human years, and is divided into 14 Manvantaras, or periods, of 71 cycles of Ages or Yugas. Every Kalpa has 1,000 cycles of the 4 Yugas.
Each cycle is of 4,320,000, human years.
The 4 Yugas are; Counting from the back.
1.) Sathya, Krita, or Truth, which lasts for 1,728,000, years.
2.) Treta or Third, which lasts for 1,296,000, years.
3.) Dwapara or Second, which lasts for 864,000, years.
4.) Kali, Age of the Destruction, and quarrels, which lasts for 432,000, years.
The Kali Yuga is our present one and it only started, about 5,000 years ago, so it has a long way to run. It is an age of spiritual decline and eventually civilisation itself will decline.
In the Sathya, or Krita Yuga, people were gigantic in size, perhaps as tall as twenty feet, and lived for hundreds of years. As the Yugas, or ages, progress, humans become smaller, and longevity is reduced. So that at the time of Rama, twenty thousand years ago, they had diminished to about twelve feet tall. (Skeletons this size have been found in Peru, Europe and America). Until down to the present time, man is usually no more than six feet tall, and only lives up to about one hundred years.
So it is, that man will completely decline, living only twenty years or so, be only three or four foot tall, and there will be much horror and violence on the planet. People will live in bands, like tribes of monkeys, and in fact will have regressed. Eventually the planet will be subjected to catastrophes, the population will be almost wiped out, and the cycle will start again with the New, Sathya, Krita, Yuga.
So there have been approximately three to four
Kalpas, or Ages, since the Astral Descents, that became human, have been on the
planet, and two Kalpas since the descent of Adamic man. This is enough time for many civilisations
to be wiped out, and for man to be almost destroyed, time and again. This is no doubt why they find, machined
tools in lumps of coal from deep in the mines. This coal having been laid down
millions of years ago. There is nothing
new under the sun, so to speak.
. ( The Maya of Yucatan, Mexico also had a system of time periods, going back millions of years. The present one is supposed to end in December, 2012, and is tied to cycles on the Sun.)
U.F.O.s
So where does this leave the U.F.O.s? Well the lower astral planes contain many dimensions, and it is possible that these visits are from there or perhaps even different planets. In fact the material and the immediately associated, lower plane could contain infinite forms of beings. What I am saying, is that some are subtle manifestations of some kind and others are technological. Perhaps interdimensional or from parallel universes. However I am strongly convinced that many are actually ‘visits’, from different time periods on our own planet. That is from our future and from a very dim and distant past.
I am somewhat familiar with the ancient Hindu texts, and they refer to different land masses, which have sank and civilisations, that have disappeared. They also refer to advanced technology, where flying machines, as big as cities existed. So it is not necessary to absolutely posit the theory, that all ancient advanced technology came from aliens. These writings, of course, being originally a verbal record, were laid down after the event so current imagery is used, to try and describe the incidents. For example a flying machine that is called a Pushpaka is described as a flying chariot.
‘We beheld in the sky what appeared to us to be a mass of scarlet cloud, resembling the flames of a blazing fire. From this mass many blazing missiles flashed, and tremendous roars, like the noise of a thousand drums beaten at once. And from it fell many weapons winged with gold and thousands of thunderbolts, with loud explosions, and many hundreds of fiery wheels. Loud became the uproar of falling horses, slain by these missiles, and of mighty elephants struck by the explosions. With cries of ‘Oh’ and ‘Alas’, the wandering army seemed on the point of being annihilated. Those terrible Rakshasas had the shape of large mounds stationed in the sky.’ From the Ramayana. Believed to be 18,000 B.C. approx.*
“ A blazing missile possessed of the radiance of smokeless fire was discharged. A thick gloom suddenly encompassed the hosts. All points of the compass were suddenly enveloped in darkness. Evil bearing winds began to blow. Clouds roared into the higher air, showering blood. The very elements seemed confused. The sun appeared to spin round. The world, scorched by the heat of that weapon, seemed to be in a fever. Elephants, scorched by the energy of that terrible weapon, ran in terror, seeking protection from its terrible force. The very water being heated, the creatures who live in the water seemed to burn. The enemy fell like trees that are burned down in a raging fire. Huge elephants, burned by that weapon, fell all around. Others, scorched, ran hither and thither, and roared around fearfully in the midst of the blazing forest. The steeds and the chariots, burned by the energy of that weapon, resemble the stumps of trees that have been consumed in a forest conflagration. Thousands of chariots fell down on all sides. Darkness the hid the entire army…..And the cool winds began to blow. All points of the compass became clearer and bright. Then we beheld a wonderful sight. Burned up by the terrible power of that weapon, the forms of the slain could not even be distinguished.’ The Mahabharata. C. 3,500 B.C. According to the description of the sky, in the texts.*
The Ramayana and the Mahabharata are Scriptures which include the Avatars Rama, and Krishna and are read by all Hindus. Translations are readily available, as they are currently studied in most Hindu Temples. There are many other scriptures besides these of course. India is a treasure house of this sort of thing. No wonder Jesus studied and spent so much time there.
( In these various scriptures, a form of sound waves is talked about, as being the method of propulsion for flying machines. Even the atom, or Anu, is described, along with all kinds of mathematical formulae. It is no coincidence, that Einstein and Oppenheimer read these old scriptures. Particularly some Puranas, or ancient sacred myths, and the Atharva Veda, which is full of all kinds of scientific formulae.)
It is said that, aeons ago, the Emperor Hiranyakasipu, overcame the knowledge of all matter,was a great scientist, and could manipulate matter completely. In other words he had knowledge down to the finest sub atomic structure or ‘Unified Field’. So great in fact that he had ships that could travel to the stars. Legend has it that he could travel the area of the ‘Pole Star’.
According to scripture, it was the time, of the sixth Manvantara of the present Kalpa/Age, or a couple of million years ago!
Perhaps the universe was seeded by the human beings of that time, and now they return to their original planet for visits. In other words, perhaps, we are being visited, by people who have the same ancestors, although they have evolved differently, over the couple of million years. They may have even returned and conducted experiments, and genetic engineering. Producing hybrids again, even though millions of years apart, from the first hybrids on this planet.
It is not hard to believe that a technology, such as that, could time travel as well. Even Stephen Hawking, probably the world’s greatest physicist, says, that he no longer opposes the theory, of time travel, anymore. So perhaps some of the differences in appearances, of the visiting aliens, is due to different time periods, on the planet. Some are similar in appearance to us and others appear to resemble humans but with some attributes atrophied. Such as powerful physique and hair, which would be unnecessary in a highly evolved civilisation. It is not too much of a stretch, to theorise that humans with millions of years of advanced technology behind them, would look different. It is actually easier to accept that hypothesis, than to believe that the same conditions on Earth, have happened elsewhere. Many planets have been discovered recently, as many as thirteen locally. It is quite likely that pyramids and structures, built by Earth people, and others, from Hiranyakasipu’s time, will have been built there.
The odds, in infinity, is that earthlike conditions exist, of course, even randomly, for there are many, probably, oval shaped universes. And there is the fact that technology can tailor environments, if it is advanced enough.
So we have the periodic Pralayas, or Dissolutions of the universes. Which subsume everything, including the subtle worlds. The proton is itself determined to decay. So each new universe would develop differently, but would carry the tendencies from the previous manifestation. Hence the tendency to make discoveries in science and technology.
The Ramayana……Sage Valmiki.
The Mahabharata…..Sage Vyasa.
*,**, ‘Understanding Mu’, Hans Stefan Santessan. Pp 102-104, Paperback Library, N.Y. 1970.