by Da Free John If you are thinking, the separate "I" is already the
basic presumption of your existence. But if there is simply
bodily activity, or bodily existing, the separate "I" is not
necessarily presumed and operative. The Secret of God-Realization is in the transcendence of
the separate "I," which is the conceptual reflection of the
contraction of the total body-mind into separation from the
All Pervading Transcendental Identity (or Divine Self
Condition) and withdrawal into confinement by the illusion
of independence as a limited, defined, and knowable
psycho-physical self. The Western Way (or the Way of Divine Ignorance) is a
process of self-transcendence, or ecstasy, generated in the
specific terms of the seven basic stages of human
adaptation, growth, and transcendence. Each stage presumes
various disciplines of a personal, moral, and evolutionary
kind. But these are secondary to the fundamental or
conscious process at each stage. The conscious process is
the process which is generated from or at the most
fundamental level of awareness itself. And, at each stage,
that process is generated as intuitive understanding and
immediate transcendence of the self-contraction (or the
suggestion of independence and limitation that arises every
moment as experience, or the states of the body mind). The fundamental consciousness does not create or generate
experience. Rather, experience is an apparent modification
of the fundamental consciousness. Psycho-physical states are
nothing more than electronic fabrications made by a seeming
transformation of the fundamental consciousness or Radiant
Being. If psycho-physical existence is, in any moment,
presumed via identification with the body-mind in itself,
then experience, thought, and action become a drama of
self-seeking in the midst of mortal and absurd threats to
existence. However, if, in any moment, the self-contraction
of the body-mind is transcended, even physical existence is
Realized to be a transparent moment of Immortal Divine
Existence. The various expressions of the conscious process that
appear in each of the stages of the spiritual Way are all
moments of the same process of self-transcendence, ecstasy
in the Divine, or transcendence of the contracting,
limiting, and defining power of psycho-physical experience.
If in any moment you simply indulge patterns of mental and
physical experience, you fall into the moods and limits of
Narcissus, the separated and threatened self. If, however,
the conscious process is generated in the instant of the
arising patterns of body-mind, both mind and body are
transcended in Divine Communion, or Inherence in the Divine
Condition. In each moment in which the conscious process is
generated, states of mind and body become open and
transparent, and there is only the direct intuition of the
Real Condition, which is always already the case, whatever
seems to be arising as experience in any moment. In the initial stage of spiritual practice, the conscious
process takes the basic form of simple emotional surrender
of the body-mind into the Radiant Divine, Who "lives" the
body-mind and the world. This simple practice (commonly
associated with the surrender of attention into the Divine
via the Name), when associated with basic personal and moral
disciplines, makes possible the transition from the merely
vital and lower mental adaptations of the first three stages
of life to the heartfelt disposition of self-surrender,
which characterizes the fourth stage of life and all later
stages. The simple practices of surrender and Remembrance are to
be engaged within a pattern of daily formal devotional
exercises, but such formal exercises are themselves to
provide a base of concentration from which the conscious
process of surrender and Remembrance is exercised more and
more as a constant or moment to moment activity. And in any
moment that the conscious process is exercised, the
conventional pattern of mere identification with and
indulgence of states of mind and body is interrupted.
Instead of merely thinking and acting as a search for
fulfillment and release of self, the fundamental being is,
in this manner, involved in self-transcending Communion with
the Radiant Divine. Therefore, as maturity in this conscious
process develops over time, a positive equanimity begins to
characterize the body-mind. Obsessive thinking dissolves in
the profound Fullness of Radiant Being. And the bodily
individual becomes spontaneously active as a direct
expression of the Divine Life-Impulse. As such, the body
becomes a form of Light, or Life-Radiance, expressed as a
harmonious economy, full of love, bliss, and delight. When such maturity begins to acquire the body-mind, the
verbal aspect of prayer in the fourth stage of life begins
to be naturally transcended. The Name gives way to tacit
Communion, and the struggle with personal and moral
disciplines is replaced by easeful responsibility and
equanimity. Then the devotee is ready to enter the esoteric
order of the Church, wherein the conscious process and the
evolutionary practices of higher human growth develop in new
ways. The Secret of practice is this: In every moment, instead
of merely thinking and acting, engage the conscious process.
If you do this moment to moment, the self-contraction will
be constantly transcended, the mind will become deeper than
thought, and bodily existence and activity will become
balanced and spontaneous. Of course, moment to moment exercise of the conscious
process is not natural or possible at the beginning, but as
you mature and become stable in regular and daily formal
practice, the conscious process will extend itself more and
more easily into all the moments of ordinary experience. Don't punish yourself with practice. Develop your
understanding through study, and gradually and progressively
adapt to the personal, moral, and formal exercises. Do it
simply, easily, from the heart, and you will inevitably grow
beyond yourself. Return to Conscious
Process - Outline edit
"The
perfect among the sages is identical with Me. There is
absolutely no difference between us"
Tripura
Rahasya,
Chap
XX, 128-133
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