What we call “physical” is just small clusters of energy vibrating in a dense manner. Energy has no boundaries, but each physical form we see does have “visible” boundaries due to the “condensation”/clustering of energy – this is the play of duality in the midst of non-duality. The term “non-duality” is the crux of a lot of spiritual teachings (they call it Advaita) and it’s a pointer towards the inherent oneness of everything, basically it’s to make your mind understand the obvious truth that everything is inherently made of same energy – call it any name you want, I would just call it life-energy. It’s not complex to understand this, in fact it’s the most primary “physics” of life. However, the problem in becoming too focused on the “concept” of oneness (trying to be all light natured) is that there is a tendency to start trying to avoid the realm of physicality which is inherently a domain created for the experience of separation (dark nature) – everything in the physical is visibly separate with boundaries and unique characteristics, it is so for a purpose. It’s about integrating oneness and separation, expressing/enjoying the realm of separation from a place of inner oneness/wholeness (thus integrating light and dark nature).
As soon as we enter the realm of physicality it’s natural to forget our “non-physical” truth (though the connection is never lost), simply because it’s no longer “visible” to our perception – we start perceiving through our basic sense organs, which are nothing but “little machines” which are designed to interpret vibrations of physical nature (denser vibrations), they are not designed to sense non-physical vibrations – our awareness can become totally enamored by these senses, and thus lose touch with the wisdom coming from non-physical connection. Beyond these basic sense organs we have what can only be called “non physical” sense (every physical cell in your body has a non-physical connection) – intuition, heart-wisdom, inner guidance, inner inspiration, inner voice, are terms we use to define the “non-physical” inputs that we sense within us, the inputs coming to us from our non-physical realm/intelligence. The more you connect with the space of being the more available you are to the non-physical intelligence.
(As a side note: There are people who have some developed glands, like the pineal gland, that acts as a sense organ to see the “non physical”, which basically allows for some abilities which we call “psychic” reading/vision – but this ability by itself does not mean that one is balanced or is in touch with one’s inner wisdom, it’s just an ability to see non-physical vibrations and some people are meant to have it as part of their journey)
The “non physical” realm is as real as the physical realm that you see, in fact the non-physical realm is always the ground of creation, the platform that creates the physical through its intentionality. You as the body is not separate from you as the non-physical consciousness stream that birthed this body through its intentionality. Nothing can just manifest randomly, because life-energy requires a fuel/force to condense into physicality and this fuel comes from the “intention” that was the driving force for that creation. So who are you in the non-physical? What was your intention that created this body? What was your perspective for creating this body?
What’s the purpose of physicality?
Consider a space of zero physicality, there is just life-energy in its stable state – this state lacks any form of movement, it’s just a calm space which is alive but not moving. It doesn’t know anything about itself, except that it’s what it’s is, and it’s all there is. So, this life-energy is just stable, balanced and whole, but since it’s all there is, it has no clue what stability, balance or wholeness really is – just like you can’t “know” what sweet is unless you compare it with sourness. If sweet is all there was, you can experience sweet all the time but you won’t know what sweet is because you never tasted sourness, and without this “knowing” there can’t really be a true appreciation of sweetness. Life-energy being already whole cannot appreciate its wholeness, because that’s all it ever is. In order to know wholeness, it would need to become imbalanced in someway and then return to wholeness from this journey of imbalance, thus “consciously” knowing what wholeness is and thus consciously appreciating it. It’s a very simple logic.
In order to experience this journey, of imbalance to balance, it needs a “platform” to conduct this journey – it’s very similar to creating a platform for a video game, the platform being the “terrain”, or landscape, where the character plays the game. This platform is what the cosmos is – including a planet like Earth with its nature (brain-less forms like foliage and minerals). An intention creates a “stream” of consciousness, and this stream is created permanently, it can’t die anymore – because anything once created cannot be destroyed it can only keep changing forms. Several streams of consciousness get created from different intentions for “life forms”, or living beings, to incarnate on these platforms like Earth.
This pre-occupation is eternal – different journeys as different streams of consciousness and thus different experiences of coming to a balance, it’s very fascinating for it considering that life-energy by itself can never be harmed because it’s just energy, though it can take a temporary physical form and have an experience of being harmed as a part of understanding wholeness.
The living beings are endowed with a “brain” which is basically the most crucial part of creating the journey of imbalance, the brain is designed to be polarized, being created as a survival machine, and thus move out of an experience of wholeness – the brain polarizes dark nature and light nature of life-energy, and can thus become imbalanced towards dark nature and light nature separately. This capacity for separation is what creates the imbalance and thus starts the journey of imbalance for the stream of consciousness that incarnated as a body. This stream of consciousness will eventually come back to balance, through this journey, by consciously integrating the imbalance of dark and light nature, thus consciously balancing the mind and experiencing/knowing the state of wholeness. From this understanding of wholeness, this stream of consciousness comes to a conscious balance, after that it carries on with other intentions coming from this perspective of balance, it does not “disappear”. Though I’ve been stating “stream of consciousness” as some third person, I am actually talking about us – each of us is a stream of consciousness.
To have a general sense of this “non-physical” perspective is important to ensure you have a picture of what’s going on, instead of feeling that you’ve somehow ended up in some whacked out thing called life. You are just a stream of life-energy that’s actually moving towards coming to a “conscious” balance. An exasperated mind would question (with a plethora of choice cuss words) the purpose of going into imbalance, in the first place, and go through suffering, only to come to balance again , but such a mind does not see this logic from the non-physical perspective – the beauty of the experience of coming to a “knowing” of, and living, wholeness consciously instead of just being unconsciously whole.
A conscious movement towards balance
A large part of coming to this place of inner wholeness is to gain an understanding of the mind and no longer be a “prisoner” to its fear based movement. You cannot experience wholeness and be a prisoner to the mind’s negativity at the same time – it’s about transcending the fear based influences of the mind, consciously. The mind/brain plays an important role in this journey of moving from imbalance to balance because it’s the aspect that helps create the experience of imbalance – that’s was the very intention behind the creation of “brain” based living forms. It’s important to understand this role of the mind in helping you “know” wholeness consciously by integrating its imbalances/negativity through an aware understanding. You are not being judged or tested, you are not being punished, this is just your own personal journey as a stream of consciousness, it’s a journey that will inevitably come to conscious wholeness – and all the understanding/knowing that you gather from this journey towards balance will be with you forever in your non-physical nature. You’ve possibly been gathering understandings for many life-times on this Earth and this life-time could well be the culmination of these understandings bringing you to a conscious balance.
Some people, especially the ones who get hooked on Advaita teachings, can get so obsessed with the “concept” of oneness that they start using it as a crutch to avoid physicality, their constant argument is – “Everything is ultimately one so why bother”, this can become an excuse to start defending imbalances/conflicts within oneself by taking refuge in the concept of “everything is fine”, this is an end of honest awareness, and this defeats the very purpose of having an understanding of oneness which was to assist in releasing some limited beliefs/perceptions, in the mind, created by false ideas. The understanding of oneness is just one of the understandings to help you move towards finding conscious balance – don’t use it as a crutch to start defending your right to be imbalanced. It’s only your own authenticity that will serve you in making this journey towards inner wholeness, you have to be honest within yourself to sense your imbalances, to sense if you are enslaved to any fear-based influence of your mind. No-one outside you can really know 100% what’s inside you, only you can meet yourself completely and it’s your responsibility to be honest to yourself – it’s only a fearless honesty that allows seamless growth towards wholeness.
These last few lines caught my attention.
Hello Sen ,
I am trying to understand what you are saying above ,it is very interesting. You say its the intention of the non-physical “being” to create the imbalance and then slowly progress towards balance. But who is this ” being” . Its existing , so maybe there is somebody superior to it, maybe some other being created it. Whats confusing is how it all started in the first place.
Regards
Amit.
Amit, the space of life-energy can be called “one being” but in this space several streams of life-energy can emerge everytime there is an intention or a desire that arises, and from these streams new streams can emerge based on intention, and so forth. Each stream, once created, can further create new streams based on the intentions that happen in it. Once a stream gets created it’s forever, it can’t die so – so obviously there are some streams which are much older and some streams which have been born relatively new, what you can call old souls and new souls.
Hi Sen,
I am reminded of the work by John Milton: “Paradise Lost” when I read this article- am I missing the point? I don`t know whether you are familiar with this work( we had to study it when I was at school- and it went totally and completely over my head then) Briefly it is about the fall of man- I don`t know whether this is a theme in all world religions- but it is in the Christian faith. “Felix Culpa”, it means sort of lucky or happy fall- that life(in the physical form- to use your language) is a means to discovering the truth.
It is written in highly figurative language, but it seems to be saying that to find “paradise”( ie consciousness?)you first have to experience the trials and tribulations of life- and I find it difficult to deny they exist- and through this experience you come to “consciousness” or paradise , as he would describe it.
Apologies to any scholars who may be among Sen`s readers if I`ve done John Milton`s epic a disservice. I`m kinda lost at the moment- a lot of what you say resonates with me, then I start floundering. I suppose nobody ever said this was going to be easy.
Stella, a fall as a means of discovering the truth is a pretty good description of the process of self-realization, and coming to conscious balance, through going into imbalance – from life’s perspective it’s a “happy fall” because it’s for the purpose of self-realization which brings a deep sense of appreciation for the self. I’ve not read Milton, but from what you’ve mentioned here it does look like he had a very clear understanding of this process.
Thank you so much for this post, Sen. I have been with teachers who have encouraged just dropping the ego. I had one teacher that said “get rid of the dog and you get rid of the ticks and fleas.” What I have noticed is that it looks like some people transend the mind and are so identified with being pure awareness, space, nondual or whatever you want to call it that they forget what it is like to be still identified with the mind with all its struggles. They down play the importance of mind. So, I guess my question is that when the mind is in a state of balance does it lose its identification as mind? Does it get out of that sream of consciousness you described? The understanding that you so clearly and simply express is a gift to the world.
Kay, it’s not about getting rid of the mind/ego, it’s about being free of the influence of its negativity so that you have the space to connect with your inner wisdom and live your natural expression without resistance created by the mind’s/ego’s fear/negativity. Ego is just the “I” structure of the mind, where it references itself – it has a very important role in exploring physicality, but it can get into a lot of negativity when one is lost in the mind instead of having some connection with their inner guidance or space of being. Once you have a inner balance, you can truly enjoy the mind, its thoughts, its imaginations, its creativity – its expression as a whole, you are no longer living in fear of it neither are you a prisoner to it, it’s about being able to work with the mind efficiently instead of being enslaved by it.
“You’ve possibly been gathering understandings for many life-times on this Earth and this life-time could well be the culmination of these understandings bringing you to a conscious balance. ”
wow, that was very powerful for me. I like the invitation to be honest with one’s self. I am still working on accepting being balanced, funny how balance was not a goal. Even though, throughout my life, balance appeared to be a gift. self-doubt disables my transitioning/transformation. In these writings you clarify for the brain and being. I have been following your writings since the beginning. thank you Sen.
Hi Sen,
Last night after a deep meditation I fell asleep. I dreamt of life after death.
What is your perception on what happens after one dies?
I found this post by Sen after asking myself the very same question. The attached video is astonishing. http://www.calmdownmind.com/what-happens-after-death/
Hello Ehsan,
http://www.calmdownmind.com/what-happens-after-death/
(Sorry I do not know how to link the articles on this site like Sen does)
This is a wonderful post Sen did a little while ago (I do not know how his understanding has grown since then), which can give you a perspective about death, and what comes after death. Also, the video at the end is definitely worth the watch.
I came around this article in the beginning stages of learning about awareness/total allowing. Also, from the article I was able to gain a greater perspective on who I actually am. The article for me gave me a clear and meaningful understanding about death and also resonated for me deeply.
Hope this helps!
what happened to that “life after death” post?
I cant get access to it.
I remember reading that article and was looking for it to read again, but seems like it no longer exist for some reason.
J, I tend to remove certain older posts that I find can give an ambiguous understanding, I can see that I am evolving in the way I present my understanding and from this place if I find that some older posts don’t feel well-rounded enough, I remove them. You can read the posts – a non-physical perspective and an individual journey for a better explanation on the non-physical aspect of life.
Hi sen,
you said, “You’ve possibly been gathering understandings for many life-times on this Earth and this life-time could well be the culmination of these understandings bringing you to a conscious balance.” i think you’re referring to the concept of rebirth (which i also do believe). my question is after gathering understanding and gaining conscious balance, what comes next? does it end the cycle of rebirth? (as in Buddhist perspective of enlightenment)
just wondering are headaches and body aches a by-product of looking within? last few days i have had a lot of headache mostly like a dense brick like feeling. feel like i’m arguing with my mind a lot too. prolly not good
Kenny, these bodily aches can come up as the past store up of negative energy starts getting released – it’s mostly the body adapting to a higher vibration by re-structuring its cellular structure. What’s needed is for you to rest more, relax more and not get overly concerned about these temporary aches – they will subside on their own as you stay in a place of relaxed allowing and your body will start feeling more vibration as it the store-up of negative energy gets released in layers.
Hello Kenny,
This is normal as part of suppressed energy getting released as you look inward (Sen has told me this as well).
From personal experience (i’m about three months into “Allowing the Release of Suppressed Energy” which is a post on this site http://www.calmdownmind.com/allowing-the-release-of-suppressed-energy/), I can say that you will experience different aches and pains and feelings in your body and in your mind depending on how much negative energy is being released and how much power you have in your awareness.
The first two months the releases of energy happened incredibly fast and were very heavy, my mind wanted to argue with itself, my body was very very tired, sometimes depressed, angry, old hatred came up, insecurities, and again it all came very fast. During the first heavier releases, my mind was arguing with itself, trying to protect itself mainly out of a FEAR of acceptance for what is (this was the negativity, resistance to what is), and the mind was trying to pull my focus back into the thoughts that came up. Then gradually overtime the releases become less intense and you don’t fear fear as much. You are able to allow the thoughts, the fear, everything it without trying to stop it.
Then once the awareness grows enough there will be no escape from what you feel. You become so aware of your brain’s thoughts and patterns, that even when your brain tries to escape and protect itself you even are aware that it is trying to do this, which is when there really is no escape and the “detox” of energy just continues as the awareness grows. As Sen said there are incredibly blissful periods but they are only temporary until the next release and clinging to the blissful periods will make the release more challenging.
What I found is to accept that a blissful period was there instead of clinging to it and thinking that “Now that I have this incredible bliss I am all better, free, happy…”. However, this was a mistake. The real ending to this process and the “detox” is when you can be “total allowing” of anything that you experience without having it affect your being, and without trying to keep it from affecting your being (this is when you start to really experience love/joy).
After the initial heavy releases it becomes far easier and things just become less and less painful for you. The awareness grows stronger and the negativity keeps losing its intensity/momentum and things begin to affect you less and less. You also grow, and begin to understand more about things. Sometimes the physical world will bring challenges to you as the process continues, but these challenges (if you are open to them and allow them) are really solutions to help you, growth and understanding. They will come in some incredibly clever ways, which for me, the mind could never have seen, but they will never hurt your being. It is incredible how this intelligent universe is able to take care of itself and get things done for you without much action on “your” part. Things that need to get done just automatically take care of themselves some how.
The key is to stay as “relaxed awareness” and allow everything to come, without having to change it or protect yourself. I had the same type of question for and he Sen once told me to allow these feelings, and pains in the body fully and completely. So these headaches, and what you are encountering with your mind you do not need to analyze, just be at a place of “relaxed awareness” and accept them, and overtime they will loose their momentum and you will gain understanding of your arguments. The first step to all of this is for awareness to become strong within your being and then when the “detox” starts to allow what comes through “relaxed awareness” and the rest will happen automatically.
Some Posts that helped me with this process are (Sorry don’t know how to link the article names):
http://www.calmdownmind.com/becoming-free-of-the-resistance-of-fear/
http://www.calmdownmind.com/seeing-beyond-the-brains-perspective/
http://www.calmdownmind.com/what-does-staying-present-mean/
http://www.calmdownmind.com/reaching-a-place-of-total-allowing/
http://www.calmdownmind.com/the-space-of-being/
http://www.calmdownmind.com/allowing-the-release-of-suppressed-energy/
http://www.calmdownmind.com/beyond-will-power/
http://www.calmdownmind.com/freedom-from-the-grip-of-negativity/
http://www.calmdownmind.com/reducing-mind-momentum-is-the-key/
Finally, I am only almost three months into this “detox” and the change is incredible. However, it is different for everyone and if you do not agree with something that I have said you do not have to follow it. Feel free to follow your own wisdom.
Take Care!
Tibrahi, thanks for taking the time to put in this response based on your personal experience with this process and your well rounded understanding of it. Much appreciated.
thanx guys . still alot of internal dialogue in my head i do ok just watching it . only seeing and not reacting but some “visions” are difficult to not attach to especially when they are violent or disturbing in nature
Thank you, Sen. Very insightful.
“living wholeness consciously instead of just being unconsciously whole”
This says it all.
Dearest Sen,
After finishing reading this chapter I realized that my eyes were wet. I stand up now and salute your wisdom. You are a beacon of light to all the people who visit your blog. Am sure many would agree with me that all who visit your blog. I am now into my 2nd month of allowing and can say i have made amazing progress and I often have that fleeting feeling in my heart that I will soon reach a state of wholeness. I have gone through so many highs and lows during these 2 months. its been amazing journey and i am enjoying the ride. Some pointers i was not able to get and it felt like a struggle because i was thinking with my mind. Once i let go..my being is taking over. The BIGGEST most HUGE change that came into me was the belief in religion. I was living a dark utter lie and held mortal fears about a hateful, angry, wrathful God for not doing his bidding. I feel a lot of anger and disgust welling up in me( i am allowing this) because I was fooled into believing so. I am FREE now so FREE. I hope I can help my spouse in this regard.
Earlier I asked myself the question : “DO I love myself?” and the answer came as NO!(this was because of some incidents that made me rooted in fear because of my wrong beliefs in religion). Now when i ask the same question, the answer is ‘YES’ (even though its in a feeble voice 🙂 But yes I am getting there.
You wrote in the chapter in June 2012 -A Deeper Understanding of Wholeness that a lot of humans will be getting wake up calls during that period . I realize with amazement that the biggest problem I faced in life started on 4th July 2012 and after suffering through it I stumbled to your blog on March 9th. Is this what you meant by a wake up call?
Also I asked you a question through the contact form. I hope you read it. I hoped you would reply but respect your time. I have gone ahead and discovered the fallacies about my religion. A small comment from you would help inspire me though ( keeping my fingers crossed)
I am sure you have heard this many times before but I will say it again and again. You are truly a Gem for bringing love/peace/joy into our lives. Will be back with more questions 😉
Ahlan: “…fears about a hateful, angry, wrathful God for not doing his bidding.”
I spoke about beliefs to a man I work with a year or so ago. He follows a major world religion, and chose this after years of searching. He said he preferred “divine grace” (being granted heaven in exchange for his submission) to “all that hard work”. It struck me that doing “all that hard work” is how I earn heaven (wholeness, balance) in my life. I own what I have become, and do not owe any other being for it. It is a choice of freedom and responsibility instead of submission. Good to hear you are taking your personal power back for your own growth.
Thanks Markus. Your words are encouraging.
I’VE GOT IT!!! OH MY GOSH I’VE FINALLY GOT IT!!! Thank you so much! You have know idea how many books and websites I have read trying to figure this all out. Reading your post literally knocked me back in my chair. It hit me like a ton of rocks. Oh how long I have been waiting to feel what you have made me feel. I FEEL WONDERFUL!!! I will be forever grateful for you Sen. “Seek and ye’ shall find”
I’m a little confused about why you would want to reach whatever you achieve through allowing and releasing in this lifetime if when you wake up from this dream, you realize who you actually are anyway? Don’t you learn more lessons from being pulled around by the mind?
Is it because like you said you get to experience “living wholeness consciously instead of just being unconsciously whole”? Or is it only to live this life free of suffering?
What about other people who live their whole life by the pull of the mind? When they die don’t they still learn the same lessons of life as people who are aware during their lifetime? And if so is that what you mean by if this doesn’t resonate with you, then to not worry about it?
Sorry if I seem like a moron for not completely understanding. A lot of the stuff I read from here seems to go over my head.
Caden,
Just because you die doesn’t mean you automatically know who you are. Sure there can be a release from the physical mind and body, but if a person has no consciousness of themselves at the time of death then they may continue to unconsciously incarnate into new physical forms still without consciousness of themselves. You don’t have to believe or buy into either idea that you do or do not “wake up” at the time of death, that’s up to you. But the one thing you can see is that you won’t won’t actually know the answer to what really happens at the time of death until you experience death. So in that sense it’s best to not cling to any expectations about future experiences until they they actually happen.
It’s inevitable however, that one goes through this process at one point. The mechanics work like this. In an unconscious state your mind basically has all the control and it’s like you just run on auto-pilot without having the freedom to make any real conscious decision. The mind continues to gain momentum and usually ends up creating imbalanced realities. As you become more conscious and aware of the imbalanced realities (and the imbalanced momentum inside you that created these realities) they then turn into the need for a wake-up call (http://www.calmdownmind.com/heeding-your-wake-up-call/), which forces a person to enter into consciously releasing the imbalanced momentum through the state of allowing (where you surrender to whatever happens).
A good analogy for the state of allowing that has been used is that you can imagine the mind is just running on fuel (this is like the old momentum which includes thoughts, emotions, bodily pain, overexcitement, etc.), the state of allowing does not put any more fuel into the mind which allows for the mind to run out of fuel. Once the state of allowing has allowed the person to release most of their momentum, gain space from their mind, and have a sense of inner freedom a new stage sets in where you get back to living (what Sen refers to as the return of focus stage).
You are right about the fact that just living by the mind can indeed help people gain skills and life lessons, but the state of allowing is not about really gaining life lessons. Although many life lessons and realizations do happen when one goes through the process of allowing, it’s mainly about releasing the imbalanced momentum so you can get back to a free and whole way of living. It’s better to first allow all the mind’s momentum (thoughts, fears, emotions, body pain, over excitement, clingyness, etc.) to come down until there is a sense of freedom from the mind and an openness towards life. Then the return of focus phase begins where learning about life and gaining skills and knowledge (including your preferences) really comes into play. Once the return of focus stage begins the journey is more directed towards consciously developing balance in your mind and in your life, staying true to yourself, and becoming grounded in reality (what Sen discusses as a dark natured trait where one sees the ordinaries of life).
“Realizing who you actually are” has it’s place as well, but the deal is when most of the momentum is gone and you are conscious enough there is the realizing of yourself anyway, in fact you loose the sense that you need to find out who you are. Ironically, though if one realizes themselves while they have a lot of mind momentum, they still have to go through a phase of release (even though they know they are not the mind) and allow the mind’s momentum to happen (this is what is referred to in spiritual teachings as “letting yourself burn in the fire”, else they only resist the momentum and it stays with them. You can see how the statement “letting yourself burn in the fire” represents the same thing as the state of allowing.
Finally, just a quick last comment. Physicality is a great tool that can be used in order to help a person “wake-up”. It gives the non-physical side something to compare itself too and know itself through comparison. It’s like how would you ever know the shade without the sun as compare it to? If everything was just shade you couldn’t become aware of it. Also, id say the main aspects of being whole includes, inner freedom. an inner balance reflected as, an openness towards life, being grounded in reality, and making conscious choices where you stay true to yourself.
The thing about “follow what resonates with you”. It’s more about if you want the truth about something, without knowing what the truth may be or what you will receive by following up on a resonating feeling. You don’t have to follow what resonates with you, it also sometimes takes some courage when the mind is strong to do that. The best thing is not to blindly follow what resonates, that’s just like blindly following someone telling you what to do. But rather learn how to work with yourself and your reality to make decisions consciously. That may include following what resonates or not, but the main thing is you are at a point where you have the freedom and openness to consciously make decisions. For example, I have never really been able to get into “follow what resonates with you”. I know it works for a lot of people and that’s fine, it’s just not a way that I choose to live by. That being said, I have learned to contemplate what my gut is feeling (in addition to knowing the light and dark sides of my decisions) and choose whether or not I want to follow my gut feeling or not, understanding that if I follow my gut I may not know where it ends up. If you feel that the process of allowing is not something that you need to take up on at the moment, then you don’t have too. It may come back in the future, it may not.
You can read these posts for more perspectives what was discussed in this reply:
http://www.calmdownmind.com/faq-on-the-state-of-allowing/
http://www.calmdownmind.com/awakening-transcendence-and-the-return-of-focus/
http://www.calmdownmind.com/awakening-transcendence-and-focus-part-2/
http://www.calmdownmind.com/taking-decisions/
http://www.calmdownmind.com/the-foundation-of-openness/