In my last post I talked about these glimpses of awakening we all experience. When we are very constricted (most often because of fear) we experience oneness. When all of our attention is intensely focused in the present moment, we are experiencing our true nature, the oneness that we are.
The divine “all that there is” knows nothing but “all that there is.” Words can’t capture something that is beyond or before words. Still a pointer to truth might be “God only knows God because God is all there is and there is no other.” When we use the word “God” there are so many concepts and perceptions that have conditioned us into a certain way of thinking. We’ve been told all our human temporal lives that God is a being outside of us that comes to the rescue or punishes based on our performance, behavior or beliefs.
Our minds are a manifestation of the divine that can’t comprehend anything that is outside or beyond what our minds are capable of comprehending. Our minds are a biological tool for survival. But we aren’t our minds. We are the eternal divine “essence” that manifests in and as a human form with a mind. We enter the realm of the spacial and temporal to experience the formless as form. Consciousness manifests as unconscious (body/mind) to experience an awakening of consciousness.
Along the way, consciousness experiences a myriad of manifestations of itself. Consciousness willingly looses itself to a fantastic journey of discovery. The dreamer forgets it is dreaming and believes it is a character in a dream to experience the dream as something other than a dream. Even birth and death are experiences of consciousness that are really illusions of the dream. Consciousness is not born nor does it die
(The word “it” is a pointer. God is not an “it” or a “being” or any “thing” that can be described by forms or concepts or ideas. Limited language from a limited, perceived-self can’t possibly describe the unlimited source of the limited self. The dimensionless can’t be described by a dimensional creature. We dimensional, limited, illusory persons can observe the evidence of the source but can’t witness first hand the source. The source made our seeing possible. An eyeball can’t see itself.)
Still we are aware. We are awareness that becomes aware of awareness. This is the awakening. This is the divine purpose either in this form or another form. This universe is awakening to itself and is designed to make that awakening possible. We see clues all over the place.
One clue is a Supernova. Have you seen a picture of or heard of a Supernova? Here is an artist’s rendition.
Here is what Wiki says about one type of Supernova:
Very massive stars can undergo core collapse when nuclear fusion becomes unable to sustain the core against its own gravity; passing this threshold is the cause of all types of supernova except Type Ia. The collapse may cause violent expulsion of the outer layers of the star resulting in a supernova, or the release of gravitational potential energy may be insufficient and the star may collapse into a black hole or neutron star with little radiated energy.
When the ego is constricted or constrained or squeezed, it will respond. The ego’s job is to respond to conflict in order for the biological unit to survive. Consciousness focuses its attention on the form and through the form. “God” can’t help but willingly give “himself” to the identity of form because “God is love.” The dreamer looses himself in the character of the dream. Like the prodigal son story, the father willingly gives himself (his inheritance and identity) to the son so the son can take his journey of discovery to find himself as the son of the father.
(See how language can be so confusing but the pointers are there in plain sight?)
When the ego or the false self or the illusory identity is constricted the response is to either grow stronger as an ego (the sun is still resisting the gravity within) or the ego will collapse (gravity wins and a Supernova is born). Many who have awakened did so as a result of great tragedy or trauma or fear or collapse of their egoic identity. The stronger ego will continue the cycle until it collapses (maybe in another life or just prior to physical death). With the collapsed ego, awareness emerges through the physical form as the “light of the world” Jesus described.
Moments of intense attention (like the tiger’s lunch) brings our body/mind/ego close to non-existence from where it came. We come to the door and can go through or can continue to resist. The temporal life of the world of forms is continually shaping and squeezing and constricting the egoic false identity until it collapses. When we come close to the door, something happens. We get a glimpse of the awakening. We get a glimpse of our true self.
There is a silver lining generated by this Supernova. When we get a glimpse, when we roll over in the bed because of the dream, we are waking up. When the dream is nightmare we might even call out for someone to wake us up. When we come to the door we CAN walk through willingly.
This is what the great mystics and Sufis and gurus and masters (like Jesus) have been trying to tell us. We can lose our life (the egoic illusory identity) to gain our life (eternal life of awareness). We can be “born again” as Jesus said. We can be “born of the spirit.” We can “carry our cross” to lose our attachment to the false self. We can let go of the illusion and embrace truth. We can follow the way and have faith in the truth of “what is” and embrace the life that is our true nature.
We don’t have to “go Supernova” in a catastrophic way. We can enter through the “narrow gate” and find “the kingdom of heaven.” We don’t have to follow the “path of destruction” to find eternal life. It is already here and we are already it.
Dying to live is nothing more than waking up. It can be like a Supernova experience as a result of being squeezed by the gravity of a temporal life or it can be as simple as walking through the door. Since I’m flowing with metaphors, I’ll add child-birth almost always comes with some pain. The pain is often what is experienced in the letting go of the illusion. We’ve been so conditioned to believe so many ego derived concepts, it can be difficult to let go of our way of thinking or “repent” as Jesus said, but the alternative is a Supernova.
Yay God!
Lance
alancetotheheart 