Tag: nature of reality

What is cosmic consciousness?

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What is cosmic consciousness?

If it’s “just” a direct experience of all of cosmos being one and consciousness, then that’s inevitable when we notice our nature.

To ourselves, we are consciousness. And to us, all of existence happens within and as the consciousenss we are.

That’s how it always and already is. And when we notice, then it may appear to us as all of cosmos is the consciousness we are. It’s all one and consciousness. And we may call that Spirit, the divine, God, Brahman, Big Mind, and so on.

Does it mean that all of existence IS consciousness? That it has the same nature as me? Maybe, but if I am honest with myself, I know I cannot know for certain.

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tagged: consciousness, cosmic consciousness, nature of reality, who and what we are   

Recognize nature of reality and illusion

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Here are some phases I see in my own process:

First, recognizing the nature of reality. A though may say that Spirit recognized all as itself, or that consciousness and it’s content was recognized as the same. It was an awakening out of identification as a separate object. Out of identification as a part of content of experience. Out of identification with words and images which previously created the experience of separation. This happened uninvited and early in life, before the “ego” in a psychological sense had formed in a mature way. (Some would say a little too early, but life obviously didn’t see it that way.)

Then, recognizing the nature of illusion. I am still in this phase, and for me, this includes exploring the nature of illusion through different forms of inquiry. How is the experience of separation created? What happens when there is identification with and as certain words and images, certain viewpoints? What are the consequences? How is it experienced? (For many, this phase goes before recognizing the nature of reality, or the two go hand in hand.)

Along with this, there is a more stable meeting of what’s here. A more stable meeting of any experience, as it is. The two previous ones makes this a little easier. This is also a building of capacity in meeting what’s here. And inquiry can certainly help. Is it true it’s overwhelming? Is it true these words, these images, these sensation can harm me? What words and images are stuck to these sensations? How is it to examine these, so I can feel the sensations as they are, recognizing them as just sensations?

And through this meeting of what’s here, more and more of what’s previously unmet, unfelt, unloved and unexamined is met, felt, loved and examined. At some point, many of the largest chunks have been met, felt, loved and examined, although – I assume – there will always be more to met, feel, love and examine.

So there is a recognition of the nature of reality, a recognition of the nature of illusion, a more stable meeting of what’s here, and of more and more of what’s here being met, felt, loved and examined, and all of these go hand in hand. There is no end point for any of these. They happen here and now. It’s fresh. And a thought may say each of these keep opening up and reveals more of itself. A though may say that life (reality, Spirit) keeps revealing itself to itself.

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tagged: autobiography, inquiry, nature of illusion, nature of reality, phases in awakening   

Returning home

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When there is a global recognition of the nature of reality, a recognition by the field of experience as a whole, it’s a step in returning home. And this is just the first step of a journey that may well be without end. More of who I am join this journey, there is an exploration and invitation to become more familiar with how to live from this as a human being in the world, the nature of reality keeps revealing new layers of itself to itself, and there is an increased familiarity with the nature of illusion as well which also keeps revealing new layers of itself.

This more thorough realization and living of the initial recognition is aided by the recognition and realization of the nature of illusion.

And more of who I am join this journey by surfacing with a wish for liberation and a return to rest and home. These aspects of my psyche, these subpersonalities, may have been formed within the previous worldview of the appearance of a me that needs protecting, and still operate within this worldview. These wish to return home as well, and seek the light of the global field of awakeness to do so. And they may return home through being met in satsang.

As Pamela Wilson says, they used to protect me. Now, the invite me – as a human being in the world – to become a sage.

tagged: home, inquiry, nature of illusion, nature of reality, satsang   

Nature of reality, nature of illusion

moe Leave a comment

I keep coming back to this:

Realizing the nature of reality.

As with so much, the nature of reality can be noticed as an “other” or as what I am – the “I without an “other”. Often it’s first noticed as an other, perhaps with glimpses of it as what I am, and then – over time, through experience – there is a gradual shift into it comfortably, easily being recognized as what I am.

And what’s the nature of reality? This too has layers and facets. It’s all – the whole field of experience, this world, what appears as you and I as humans – as presence, love, intelligence. It’s all as awakeness. It’s the capacity for all of this, capacity in it’s form of awakeness, presence, love, intelligence.

Realizing the nature of reality is ongoing. It’s reality noticing itself in it’s many aspects and layers, revealing itself to itself.

Realizing the nature of illusion.

Realizing the nature of illusion is also multifaceted and has many layers.

The basic one is that our conventional experience of the world – as a me here in this human form, an I as this observer and doer, a world out there with many beings and objects – is only true to a certain extent. It’s real to us because we take it as real. It appears real to us only to the extent we don’t recognize it’s true nature of presence, love, intelligence, awakeness, and the capacity for all of this. And it appears real because we take our images and thoughts – about ourselves, the world, others, God – as real. We take our mental overlay as real, true and solid, which makes this layer of interpretation and labels appear real, true and sold. It makes this overlay of images and thoughts appear as if it was reality itself, the world itself.

Taking this further, we can investigate the many intricacies in how this happens. What happens when I take this specific image, this specific thought, as true, in this specific situation?How do I live my life? How do I relate to and treat myself and others? What happens with the emotions? What other images and thoughts come up? What happens in the body? How would it be to recognize it’s just an image, a thought? How would it be to live from this recognition?

And this too is ongoing. It’s reality exploring how it temporarily creates a world for itself, takes it as real, and perceives and lives as if it’s real. At some point, this may have been seen through sufficiently so our images and thoughts tend to not have so much hold, and yet, even here, some may in some situations, perhaps especially when old wounds are triggered. There is always further to go.

tagged: nature of illusion, nature of reality   

The nature of reality, the nature of illusion

moe Leave a comment

In Dying Into the River of Existence, Adyashanti briefly mentions realizing the nature of reality, and the nature of illusion.

The distinction fits my experience.

Realizing the nature of reality is to realize all – without exception – as awakeness, love, presence (God, Brahman), and it can happen spontaneously and in a flash.

Realizing the nature of illusion is to recognize how illusion is created from innocently taking mental activities (images, thoughts) as true, and although recognizing this in a general sense may happen in a flash (as a by-product of realizing the nature of reality), realizing it – embodying a familiarity with the intricacies and ins- and -outs of it – can take time.

Realizing the nature of reality may happen before there is much or any insight into the nature of illusion. In this case, it may initiate a process of becoming more familiar with the nature of illusion, whether there is a conscious intention to do this or not. Realizing the nature of reality may also happen after the nature of illusion has been studied and explored for a while, and realized to some or a great extent. It may happen after a period of thinning the veils.

For me, as for many others, realizing the nature of reality happened spontaneously and in a flash, and before there was much insight into the nature of illusion. It did reveal the nature of illusion in a general sense, and the process of becoming more familiar with the nature of illusion – and embodying it – is ongoing, as is clarifying and embodying a realization of the nature of reality.

tagged: adyashanti, nature of illusion, nature of reality