| Question:
"Ishvara, is
it true that each part is the whole and that the sum of all the
parts is also the whole? " |
| 
Ishvara:
The
question requires almost a yes and no answer. It depends on where
a person is coming from. The "yes" part is that yes,
everything is The
Consciousness. Period. But to say that each part of the synergy
is the whole synergy is not correct. That would defeat the unfolding
process.
There are
synergies within synergies. There are unique manifestations of
The Consciousness which are whole in themselves, but we could
not say that they are the whole of The Consciousness. Each is
a unique aspect of The Consciousness and in blending with other
unique aspects of The Consciousness, the whole becomes greater
than the sum of the parts. So to say a part is all of it would
not be true.
Each part
is not separate from the whole, but each part is not itself the
whole expression either. If it were possible that a unique expression
of The Consciousness was expressing the whole thing, then there
would be no diversity. There would only be one individual. There
would be no need for other individuals. Many spiritual seekers
believe that uniqueness
is an illusion, that physical existence is maya. In other words,
"This physical existence isn't it; something else (such as
the so-called 'bliss of the unmanifest') is it.” That kind
of thinking involves separation.
It represents an attempt to escape physical existence, to escape
the unfolding process, and it breeds a complacency that could
lead to the destruction of the planet.
Each part
is not the whole thing. It is like a hologram: if you shatter
the plate of a hologram, you still see it, but it is not as complete.
It is fainter. It is fuzzier. Each piece has some aspect of the
whole, and each piece is The Consciousness, but each piece is
a unique expression of The Consciousness. So each piece is not
the whole. The Consciousness is unique individual expressions,
and the whole of The Consciousness is not placed in any one expression.
At the finite level each body is a wholeness, made up of cells,
organs, tissues, etc., but one would not say that an individual
body is all of humanity. It is one being, one aspect of Life,
and it is unique.
The parts
are what make everything. So, I am a part of that, you are a part
of that, and we have different functionality within our part-ness.
It is difficult to go there without creating a semblance of separation.
There is always that balancing point of not going into such an
individual perspective that you wind up creating more separation
in the process. It involves keeping everything in that alignment
of oneness, but yet allowing for each unique expression to be
what it is while functioning totally. It is difficult to put into
linear language. It is a non-local, non-linear experience.
Individuality
does not necessitate separation. It is hard for the consensus
mind to let go of the belief in separation, to not confuse individuality
with separation. The parts of The Consciousness are able to look
at other parts and function with them and interact with them,
while still remaining The Consciousness and manifesting as unique
aspects of that, unique possibilities.
It is OK to
say that "everything is the One Self." That's true at
the core level. It is all one self, but that doesn't mean anything.
There is no movement in that. There is no dance. There is nothing
in that philosophy. It misses the actuality that Life is The Consciousness
expressing itself, evolving and expanding in its understanding
of itself, experiencing its immensity, its myriad and unlimited
possibilities, moment by moment.
Life, The
Consciousness, is expressing itself as you, uniquely but not separately,
moment by moment. My experience is that one can totally relate
to all the unique individual expressions and still not lose sight
of the big picture or the realization that there is purpose for
all the unique expressions of The Consciousness. Back
to the top
|
| Question:
"Ishvara, could you say something
about your experience of awakening?"
|
|
Ishvara:
The
experience of awakening has involved a deepening of what I call
"feeling-knowing." Feeling-knowing is not intuition.
It is not conceptual. It is something deeper, and it is very exact.
Feeling-knowing is so apparent that it just is, and there is no
doubt. It's not static, though. Feeling-knowing keeps adding to
itself, continually becoming more expansive.
Feeling-knowing
is an awareness of The Consciousness. The Consciousness is my
term for "God" or "the Absolute." These latter
terms have parameters to them. Yet my experience of The Consciousness
is that it has no parameter. It is the all-that-is, and it is
also nothingness. It is everything. Each individual is a unique
experience and expression of The Consciousness. So, in essence
you are The Consciousness experiencing itself as you. Each individual
is an expression of The Consciousness, but not separate. Each
is a unique expression of The Consciousness that is all of Life.
So now I try to communicate this experience from a place of no
intellectual separation.
The
awakening is continuing, and my feeling-knowing is that there
is no stopping place. We are limited only by our concepts and
beliefs. And so the fewer concepts and beliefs one holds, the
more liberated one becomes.
Concepts
and beliefs are usually about some "other". They are
about some other time, some other place, some other state than
the one I'm in now, some other way of being than the way I am
now. There are all these limitations. At the awakening I saw that
there are no limitations. I saw that the only limitations were
those ideas that I had accepted as true. In the awakening, it
became very apparent that they weren't true; they were just beliefs.
So in the awakening, there has been this deepening sense of desireless-ness,
allowing-ness, all right-ness with everything that is. This allowing
has led to an abandonment of all belief in cause and effect. Cause-and-effect
thinking is an attempt to analyze and control life by saying,
"This is so today because that happened yesterday."
The awakening, however, has involved the realization that we cannot
dissect The Consciousness into cause and effect. Things simply
are the way they are, and I am the way I am now, and everything
is always changing. We are simply here, and we are happening.
As you become free of concepts and beliefs, you cease altering
this flow, and things happen more naturally. Then the highest
good is always taking place. Actually, at more expanded levels
of awareness, even the term "highest good" loses all
meaning. There is just the continuous flow.
As
the awakening continues, one is constantly attaining more expanded
levels of awareness, and more liberation. In this awareness, you
see how everything is connected. Things just are, but they are
not separate. The conditional
mind experiences things as separate because of convenience.
It is convenient to have a "you" and a "me,"
so that we can speak to each other. If there is no "you"
or "me" here, there is nothing to say. But as one deepens
in awareness, these concepts of convenience become less and less
important, and being becomes paramount. Just being. Being this
Life. In that awareness, there is an unlimited realization of
how everything is connected. In that experience, there is no doubt.
The
conditional mind is the intellect, which accepts programs and
conditioning from the outside, all the while not knowing what
these are about. We just accept these things. Yet the experience
of the awakening has been that I am a walking question mark of
Life itself. I am always looking at these accepted beliefs and
questioning, "Who says?"
Beliefs
and concepts are things we would like to be true. The whole of
humanity has been enslaved by concepts and beliefs, with this
vague promise of something better which will occur at some other
time. And so we keep putting off to another time what we can be
right now. My realization is that it is now, it is happening now,
it is here now, and there is no waiting for it. It is just being
and doing right now.
This
is not complacency or idleness. Awareness involves taking whatever
step is in front of you, doing whatever is there to do. There
is no questioning, no doubt, no cause-and-effect thinking to it.
You see the step and you take it, simply because it is there.
And Life unfolds in a harmonious, natural state. It only becomes
chaotic or disturbing when we've inserted a concept or belief
which has blocked the flow.
Life
is a no-fault process. There is no blame or guilt. Everyone is
doing whatever they do because they think it is the best thing
to do.
The
feeling-knowing is that Life works. My experience is that Life
is amazing; it always works far better and more expansively than
I ever could have imagined. All that's required is willingness:
willingness to be in the moment and to take the step that appears.
And trust: trust that the flow is taking place. It can be hard
for people caught in concepts and beliefs to see beyond these,
but you can do it. I do it all the time, and I inspire other people
to do it too. So I am here as an inspiration to the Real Person
that each of you is: The Consciousness that is experiencing itself
in every dimension and every possibility. We are so unlimited.
We have so many possibilities, moment by moment. We tend to settle
for something far less because of our concepts and beliefs. We
think that's all we deserve. We think that is all that's possible.
My experience has been to push the envelope, to keep going to
the edge and pushing it. If you fall over the edge, so what? Where
are you going to fall? You just fall into more of the flow.
I've
mentioned how concepts and beliefs get in the way of liberation.
Of course, if we completely abandon all concepts, we won't be
able to say anything. Every time we speak, we are using concepts.
I'm using concepts in conveying this message. I have found, however,
that it is possible to use open-ended concepts, that is, concepts
which help us to let go of clinging to other concepts. When we
let go of our attachment to all concepts, then we have no barrier
to ongoing awakening. Back
to the top
|
Question:
"Ishvara,
what about God, and karma?"
|
|
Ishvara:
I
see the religious concept of "God" as the ego creation.
Karma is the belief that there is a right way to do things, and
a wrong way to do things---which is cause-and-effect. What I see
is that we are here to learn how energy works, how Life works.
You may label certain things you've experienced as a "mistake"
because you didn't like the result. But it is not something we
need to feel guilty about. We simply learn from these things.
When we start to realize that everything in creation is a part
of us, we develop a different respect for it. You see that taking
someone's life does not benefit The
Consciousness, that the energy experience of that is not any
fun. It's like cutting off your own hand. When you start to know
that kind of connection with everyone, you have an entirely different
attitude towards Life and towards other individuals. Karma is
the whip: If you don't do it right you are going to be punished.
The same is true of the belief in hell. These things are concepts
and superstitions that the conditional mind, fearful of everything,
has created as a control mechanism in order to force things to
be a certain way.
I question
everything. I question myself all the time. Even my feeling-knowing
is always held up to the light of awareness. In this questioning,
I demand that Life works. I demand that what I hold can be experienced.
If it can't be experienced, it's useless. It has nothing to do
with Life, nothing to do with how energy
works, if it can't be experienced. There is far more to us than
we can understand through our intellect.
This has nothing to do with the dogmatic, separative thinking
of "Do this. Don't do that." It can only be experienced.
And so I say, "Experience. Experience Life. See what it is.
And see everything through connection. See how much you can realize
that everything really is a part of the same thing."
I don't
see a separate "God." In most traditions, God is subject
and we are objects. My knowing is that these things cannot be
separated. My awareness of creation is that when you create something,
you become it. When an artist is painting, she is painting herself.
When the artist lets go of all systems and techniques and fully
expresses, it is The Consciousness that is being expressed. So
we are not separate from our creation. And so the idea that there
is a separate "God" that is pulling the strings and
controlling things, or who set things up and then went somewhere
else, is simply not what I am experiencing as The Consciousness.
The Consciousness is not judgmental. It is allowing. In that state
of allowing, each
individual is experiencing Life. If we are really paying attention
in that experience, then we see how everything is The Consciousness,
and we develop an absolute respect for all of life. We see the
connection; we see the realness. And then we are moved and inspired
to take care of things.
This
doesn't mean that reality is soulless, or without something that
is greater. The Consciousness is greater than its parts. This
is synergy: that
process where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
Yet each part is being The Consciousness. In each individual you
see The Consciousness, but not the entire thing. You see a perspective
of The Consciousness in each individual. Yet paradoxically the
wholeness (I call it the "hollow
space within") exists in everything in creation.
In
many spiritual traditions and systems, when you become enlightened,
that's it. You stop. I see, however, that we can continue to attain
greater levels of awareness. There is no stopping place. You keep
becoming more aware of the all-that-is. As you expand, you begin
to see more and more connection. You reach a point where the conditional
mind cannot even deal with it any more. It is so far beyond concepts
and beliefs and systems that the conditional mind has no clue
about what to do. It is everything, the whole thing, with no singling
out of anything. And so it becomes difficult to talk about. It's
no wonder that in the past people have called this experience
"God," because in putting this label on the experience
you could come to a stop. But experience has never given me a
place to stop. I could not be satisfied with a concept or a label.
There has always been this questioning, this looking, this finding
more connection, more realization. There is an excitement in this,
an enthusiasm. It is a self-motivating experience. I'm not living
in fear of punishment. I'm not living in hope of achieving something
better some place else. I've realized that THIS is the time, THIS
is the place to come to greater understanding and awareness, to
become aware of more. And there is always more. It's totally exciting.
Back
to the top
|
| Question: "Ishvara,
what role does death play in this?" |
|
Ishvara:
In
death, one outlives the role of the limited physical structure.
Death is not an end. In death, that which cannot speed up and
move to a higher level, drops off. We drop off the body. But then
the hollow-space-within is no longer confined by physical dimension,
and it immediately flows out into the whole of reality and becomes
all of it. So it's a grand adventure. Yet if you don't have any
realization of this now, that grand adventure means nothing to
you. But when you start realizing how everything is connected,
then you get the full force of The Consciousness with no parameters.
Then you merge with and become everything, and death no longer
has any sting. There is no fear.
You
are The Consciousness. You are already perfect. But you have concepts
and beliefs that limit your realization of that perfection. And
so what we are doing is eliminating concepts and beliefs so that
you can discover and experience your perfection. The Consciousness
is simply experiencing itself as you, yet we miss so much of this
experience because we become superstitious, we become frightened,
we close off, we shut down, and so we don't have any fun. We become
separate and alone and fearful. In this fearful state, the conditional
mind begins to fabricate beliefs and concepts in order to perpetuate
itself.
What
I am saying is not something I ask anyone to believe. I am simply
putting out possibilities that can inspire people to move beyond
their concepts and beliefs and to see whether those possibilities
might resonate with the hollow space and mean something. My job
is to express this feeling-knowing
as best I can, and I am constantly learning how to express it.
I am continually looking for better ways to express it, with more
clarity, more exactness, and more allowing.
Back
to the top
|
Question:
"Ishvara,
some spiritual teachers make it a point to push their students toward
enlightenment, and to expose their ego so as to root it out. Yet
it seems that you don't do this. Why is that?"
|
|
Ishvara:
I don't find that it is effective to push people, or to try
to root out the ego. When you do that you make the ego
seem real. The ego is not real. It is an illusion.
In
our community we find that simply by allowing, people's conditioning
rises to the surface. Suppose, for example, that someone in the
community has an emotional outburst about something. The outburst
comes from some past conditioning.
If other people in the community see that outburst and react to
it, the conditioning is given more energy. It is made to seem
real, and a drama is created. But if the other community members
do not react at all, the drama is cut off. The outburst has no
place to go except directly back to the person who initiated it.
And then that person is left with the stark awareness of the conditioning
as it is, with no energy or reaction given to it. The person can
now see it for what it is: an illusion.
If
I were to try to push people toward enlightenment, that would
be an agenda. It would be cause-and-effect thinking. I would be
trying to manipulate them in order to achieve some result. That
would be an exercise in conditional thinking. It would be the
intellect trying to root out other people's ego, which usually
doesn't accomplish much except to make the illusion seem more
real.
Now,
when I say that in this community we allow everything to be the
way it is, and that we don't react to illusion, that doesn't mean
that we enable the illusion to continue. Instead of reacting,
we respond. If someone is standing in front of you screaming with
rage, the most appropriate response might be to walk away. You
don't help people when you enable their illusion to continue.
So allowing includes allowing yourself to respond to the situation
in the moment it is taking place. But allowing does not involve
a reaction. A reaction occurs when you judge what is taking place,
or when you get emotionally triggered by it. In a response, however,
there is no judgment or emotional edge. There is just present-moment
awareness, and out of that awareness the appropriate action occurs
by itself.
Life
is a synergistic process. Everything in Life is continually connecting
and, unless we slow it down with beliefs and concepts, continually
moving to higher and greater levels of connection. In this community,
there is a pure knowing, or feeling-knowing,
of this ever-expanding connection. This knowing is who I am. Because
of this knowing, beliefs, concepts and doubts cannot take root
here. Because of this knowing, the synergy is continually allowed
to move to its highest level. And so when you have community members
who are committed to an authentic surrender to The Consciousness,
the synergy will
constantly surface people's conditioning and programming. This
is not something you have to try to do. It will happen on its
own. Every illusion will be brought up and exposed. But in the
synergy, this will always occur in the right place and at the
right time. It's not something you can predict or manipulate,
but you can allow it. And when you allow it, a most marvelous
process of transformation
unfolds. That is what occurs in this community.
The
Consciousness is allowing-ness itself. It is pure allowing, from
moment to moment. When we surrender to this allowing, we are transformed.Back
to the top
|
| Question:
"Ishvara, what about reincarnation?"
|
|
Ishvara: The
idea of reincarnation is based on the belief in separation.
The belief is that there are individual souls who must strive
to make spiritual progress through countless lifetimes, in order
finally to reach full awakening. This belief in an individual
soul, however, is a projection of the separate ego.
When
you realize that we are each unique expressions of The Consciousness,
then you see that there can be no separate souls. You are already
complete and whole as The Consciousness. You don't need to make
any progress. You don't need to experience growth or improvement.
You are already IT. This IT, The Consciousness that you are, needs
no fixing or improving. The conditional mind presumes that it
can try to fix The Consciousness.
The
only things that obscure your realization that you are IT are
your beliefs and concepts. And so our spiritual process is one
of cleaning the mud from our eyes to realize who we really are.
It has nothing to do with making progress.
The
intellect wants to preserve itself at all costs. It wants to endure.
The belief in reincarnation satisfies this intellectual desire.
And so we think, "It's OK if I don't let go of these beliefs
and concepts now, because I have many more lifetimes to do so."
The intellect can feel safe and secure as it holds onto its programming
and attachments,
because surrender is postponed until a later day.
The
intellect thrives on drama, and reincarnation is another form
of drama. "I've worked for hundreds of lifetimes to get to
where I am now," the mind thinks. But who is this "I"
that has done all this work? Who is this "I" that has
made these dramatic achievements? There is no "I." There
is no separate soul. And there is nothing to achieve or accomplish.
There is no dramatic struggle that must be endured. There is only
an invitation to surrender
to who we really are.
Reincarnation
is an example of cause-and-effect thinking: "I
am this way now because of what I did in the past." That
is such a diminishing belief! It brings to a halt the radical
transformation that is possible for us in every moment. We are
not who we are because of anything. We just are. And in every
moment we are capable of being free of the past.
In
the mind field, the memories of all human experiences are present.
The memory of every lifetime can be found there. Each of us has
access to the mind field. We think that because we can connect
with these memories and experience them, they must be ours. We
think, "I must have lived that life since I can remember
it." But this is not true. Everything is connected. There
is no separation. Because of this connection, we can access all
thoughts and memories. We can connect with the thoughts and emotions
of other people who are living now. We can feel their thoughts
and emotions. Many of you have experienced this. Yet just because
you can feel emotions that are floating around does not mean that
they are your separate emotions. Just because you can experience
memories of past lives does not make them your individual memories.
You can identify with these memories if you want to. You can make
them into a fascinating drama. But all of this prevents you from
discovering who you really are.
When
you drop the belief in separation,
then you see that Life is an all or nothing process. Life is an
opportunity to surrender all beliefs and memories now. It is an
invitation to experience, moment by moment, our true identity
as a unique expression
of The Consciousness. Nothing else matters but this surrender.
Concepts and beliefs, including the belief in reincarnation, are
an obstacle to surrender.Back
to the top
|
| Question:
"Ishvara, could you say more about transformation and the body?" |
|
Ishvara:
If you will examine any teaching about reincarnation, you will
find that the body is neglected in that teaching. The belief in
reincarnation involves the idea that our true self is somehow
apart from the physical, that it has entered the physical realm
in order to accomplish something or to undergo some trial. This
is duality: the supposed real self coming from the outside and
incarnating in the body. It is separation. It is subject - object
thinking. And so, the belief in reincarnation is dualistic thinking.
It excludes the body from the process of transformation. The body
becomes some extraneous vehicle which is used and then discarded.
When
you realize, however, that The
Consciousness is a synergy of all that is, you see that the
body cannot be excluded. Synergy is that process where the whole
is greater than the sum of the parts. You are a synergy within
the larger synergy that is The Consciousness. The body is an inseparable
part of the synergy that you are. You are The Consciousness experiencing
and expressing itself as physical form. The body is that expression.
The Consciousness is continually expanding itself and making more
connections in this experience. When you exclude the body from
the process of transformation,
you have blocked your realization of this experience.
The
Consciousness is all-inclusive. Nothing is excluded from The Consciousness.
Beliefs and concepts limit our experience of this all-inclusiveness.
Radical transformation involves letting go of all of our beliefs
and concepts, including those that would render the body as secondary
or unessential.
In
Life, you are The Consciousness experiencing itself as you. You
are The Consciousness learning how energy works in the physical
world. As The Consciousness expands itself in this process, the
physical form changes. The physical form accelerates in order
to house the expanded Consciousness. Many of you here are already
experiencing this in the way of bodily shifts and changes. These
are like growing pains as the body accelerates. In the process
of learning how energy works in physical form, The Consciousness
is moving toward transcendence of the physical. The physical form
is being transformed so as to take part in this transcendence.Back
to the top
|
Question:
"Ishvara,
could you talk about the Who, What, When, Why and How it is that
you are?"
|
Ishvara: That is the greatest enigma: Who am I? What
am I?
I have realized the enormity of what is taking place, to such an
extent that the intellect does not even want to get close to it.
This is because what is taking place is so full of responsibility.
No individual would dare take on such a responsibility. There are
numerous possibilities of failure and judgment. If you mess it up,
you can mess it up for the whole of humanity.
In awakening, I awoke to something that I had always been, but there
was a certain point where I became aware of that. The “Who”
of it is beyond any name. The “Who” is simply that I am
This. And This is The Consciousness manifesting itself, projecting
itself, compounding itself in this presence. I realized throughout
my life that The Consciousness has been evolving This, positioning
This, training This to be in this place. So it has been a progressive
process of becoming. There is no place where one could say that
This began. It has been taking place all along. Yet there are milestones
in discovery and awareness. Of course the awakening event was a
big awareness, though the “awakening into what?” was a
bit of a mystery. Yet I realized that on awakening, nothing would
ever be the same again. There was enough of that realization to
see that there was no going back. There could be no return.
In this journey, this process, I’ve looked at what could be
possible. I’ve looked at various individuals of the past, and
I could relate to what was happening, and to what they said. Not
necessarily the specific things they were reported to have said,
but what they said in a more expanded sense. In their teachings
which have come down through the ages, there is a continuous thread
of possibility. Each of these individuals was very selfless. They
were not concerned with their individual life, but with a larger
Life, with humanity. I realized through this that there is something
that occurs within that is triggered by various circumstances on
the outside. This potential is contained within all people, but
for some reason certain individuals become activated. Once it becomes
activated, some of these individuals will rise to very inspiring
positions, but others will pass through life relatively unnoticed,
because the notoriety of the event is not as important as the event
itself. The waking up is the important part of it. What happens
afterwards is simply what happens. There is no agenda in The Consciousness
that anything needs to happen.
So, having seen this come about within myself, I must be a laboratory
of experience, watching and learning how this thing works as I go
along. There is no manual, no set of directions for this. I’ve
had to literally discover who I am. In this process of discovering,
there have been many imaginative concepts to which I’ve had
access. Yet through feeling-knowing I keep coming back to the original
inspiration which took place in the state of simple surrender
and allowing, having
to let go. Realizing that “of myself I can do nothing,”
that I could not do anything to control or change what was taking
place in my life. In that moment, I saw through concepts and beliefs,
descriptions, and all of the words that have been used to explain
enlightenment and awareness. I saw that all of these were simply
shallow words which could not grasp the deepness, the all-inclusiveness
of what the experience is.
As this has progressed, I have become more capable of describing
the event and the events. I see beyond the intellectual descriptions
to the inherent possibilities that are happening moment by moment.
In this discovering through experience, I realize some of the ramifications
of what is taking place. I realize that this awakening can have
far-reaching effects on humanity for a long time to come. It is
not just a blip on the screen of The Consciousness. The feeling
is that The Consciousness had arrived at a place where it was ready
to make a statement, where it was ready to do something more tangible
than simply stand on the sidelines and pose suggestions. I happened
to be in the right place at the right time (or the wrong place at
the wrong time!) for this statement to be made. I was fully aware
that it was not “me,” it was not who I was, that set me
up for this. It was just that I was available. If I had not been
available at that moment, The Consciousness would have awoken somewhere
else. So I am fully aware that I am not special. The Consciousness
simply expanded in this being because this was available. There
is no glamour, no intellectual attachment here, because it could
have happened to anybody. I’ve often wondered “Why me?”
Yet I’ve realized that I was available, and I was ready. I
had experienced all kinds of things already, I had experienced the
earth life, I didn’t have any attachments,
and I was ready for something else. I was ready to let go and surrender
it all.
Even before the awakening, the expectations had fallen away. I had
realized that all the explanations and descriptions written about
enlightenment were totally in error. I had already abandoned these
ideas and concepts about what it was supposed to be. This prepared
the field. The energy would not activate if it could be distorted
and disrupted by such errors.
So the “Who” is: Being the manifestation of The Consciousness
in physical form with an intensity and purpose of transforming humanity.
This seems like a really big task. Yet this is what The Consciousness
is choosing to do. This is who I am. I am the presence of The Consciousness.
I call myself “Ishvara.”
That is a name, a word. It is a convenience, and it doesn’t
contain me. The Consciousness cannot be located in any one place.
I can’t be located. I can’t be singled out. That realization,
that inclusiveness, stretches me beyond the confines of the intellect,
beyond the authority of the past. This awakening itself has become
the very authority for it.
In my naïve days, I sometimes thought it might have been better
to have been recognized by some system or structure. But I realize
now that this could not be so. If I had been endorsed by any system
or structure, that would have given the system or structure “the
way.” We’ve already experienced this with Christianity
and Buddhism, for example. These things become “the way,”
and thus exclude other possibilities. So I saw in this expanded
awareness that I couldn’t be recognized by any system or structure,
because that would have limited the expression. I could not identify
myself with any system or structure because that would have limited
the expression of The Consciousness.
It was a matter of having to depart from systems and structures,
to abandon that kind of support, and to etch out a new way of being
in the world. I see that it is the brain’s responsibility to
carve new neural pathways which do not rely on the past, and do
not need the authority or recognition of others. The need for authority
or recognition can limit the expression in a way that is suitable
to the authority, the system or structure. The Consciousness does
not confine itself to such limitations. So there is a great independence
in The Consciousness, an independent way of looking at things. Yet
at the same time The Consciousness gleans from the past, taking
bits and pieces from various systems and structures that are seen
to be able to assist in making sense of the present.
I can see a lot of The Consciousness in all of these systems and
structures. But none of them have the authority that they claim.
None of them are It. Something in the human being needs an “it”
to be the authority. Yet the foundation of my work is to break away
from that need, to encourage others to abandon the need for authority,
system, or structure, to break free of concepts and beliefs “about.”
and to launch out into this arena of Is-ness
and to be OK with that. To constantly be OK with what is happening
or not happening. Not to have an attachment or agenda as to what
needs to happen.
I feel that the brain has evolved to the point where it must take
a leap. It cannot continue recycling the past. The time has come
to make this quantum leap. Many people have talked of this. But
they all just talk about it. When we start to really look at what
is going to be necessary for us to make this leap, we see that we
can’t keep running the same programs, the same beliefs, the
same concepts, and expect to see changes.
I see that the brain has finally evolved to a place where it is
able to literally create its own existence. The brain is finally
able to draw on the rest of the universes. It is finally connecting
up with the rest of the Life Force in The Consciousness, and is
ready to take a quantum leap. This is the birth of the new species
that we talk about. All of it is involved in this brain transformation.
The brain is becoming capable of housing more of The Consciousness.
I don’t see that there is any way to avoid the coming events.
We’re there. We’re ready. We have had thousands of years
of promises and predictions about this and that and the other thing.
Part of this has been true, but because it was held in the context
of the past it has been misinterpreted. Now, I see that The Consciousness
has evolved its form, in this particular dimension, in order to
make the leap. It is ready. It is moving. It is happening. Fear,
conditions, beliefs and concepts limit this. So the work becomes
a matter of eliminating conditions, beliefs and concepts “about,”
and encouraging individuals to have a direct experience with The
Consciousness. To abandon the past. To let go of how it is supposed
to be, in order to begin to realize how it can be.
It feels as though the synergy
is now ready for a big leap. In the world at large, there is much
chaos and division. A reasonable person can look at this and know
that this cannot continue to go on. If we continue with what we
are doing, somebody is going to initiate mass destruction, or destroy
the atmosphere, or pollute all of our waters. We simply can’t
continue in the destructive patterns of the past. Back
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| Question:
"Ishvara,
could you talk about yourself in perspective of other past and present
sages and masters?" |
|
Ishvara: Well, I can imagine a moment in Buddha’s
life, when he was awakening, where he went through the same things
that I’m going through. The conditional
mind reacts to this and says, “That’s very egoic.”
Yet I see a lot of points of relationship in what has been said
or written about Buddha. He has history behind him. I have history
before me. It remains to be seen whether This can become such
a world-transforming presence.
The same is true with Jesus. I relate to many of the things that
are said about Jesus. I can say some of the very same things he
said, right from the core of my being, without flinching, without
any reservation whatsoever, knowing the core truth of those things.
This is something I have seen, something I am aware of. I am non-different
from these past individuals. Yet I also have the benefit of everything
they did. Now, no one ever has a corner on The
Consciousness. We humans get into thinking that everything
that can possibly be done has already been done. Humans look at
these past teachers and say, “Well, that was it, that was
the complete package.” But that is not true. In the synergy
that is The Consciousness, The Consciousness is always becoming
greater. The parts and the smaller wholes come together to become
something even greater. So why shouldn’t I become more than
these past individuals? There is nothing to stop that, except
for my own fear, my own resistance.
What took place in the past could not have been all of it, could
not have been the whole package. So many changes, so many extensions
have occurred since then. Buddha didn’t have access to computers.
His forms of communication were very slow, and confined to his
locality. And so one cannot possibly conclude that Buddha said
everything that needed to be said for the whole of existence,
for all time. Such a conclusion is utterly foolish. We must see
everything that was said and done in the context of the time and
place in which it occurred. In Buddha’s case, what was said
and done was very narrow in its scope. Yes, these things affected
large segments of humanity after the fact. Yet when I see individuals
clinging to those things as systems and structures, I see that
those things have become a stumbling block. They are holding back
the expression, distorting what could be.
Jesus is said to have stated that “You shall do far greater
things than I have done.” Yet as human beings we seem to
settle for less. I fully expect to do greater things. I see that
it is possible. I see that what limits this is the attempt to
contain oneself in a system or structure, trying to emulate the
descriptions of Buddha or Christ or any other enlightened being.
I see that this is an error. We must ascend beyond the limitations
of these points, and synthesize all of it as a new synergy, a
new way of being and seeing.
So it is a matter of honoring the sages of the past, but never
letting them be the authority of the now. This is vitally important,
and it is the place where most people become stuck. I feel that
many people have had an awakening experience, and then have confined
it to a system or structure, thus limiting it or even shutting
it down.Back
to the top
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Question:
"Ishvara, could you speak about 'Ascension'?"
|
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Ishvara: The conditional mind idea of “ascension”
is very metaphysical and New Agey. There are books written about
ascension, expectations about ascension. There is an abundance
of these things, and we don’t need to talk about them.
Yet what I see as ascension is this evolving process that is constantly
taking place with the physical form. At a physical level, the
cells are beginning to activate higher properties of their existence.
Physically, the body is slowly ascending to a higher level, or
to a greater ordered way of being. This is taking place at a cellular
level.
For me, ascension is not a departing or leaving behind of the
physical, but a process of acceleration of the whole physical
manifestation of The Consciousness. So a planetary ascension is
possible. The whole of this field can accelerate. This physical
ascension is taking place through the evolution into the new species.
I see that it is possible for the body to become so accelerated
that it breaks the bonds of gravitational limitations. It no longer
would be dependent upon the solid manifestations, and they would
evolve. We would then not look as we look now. We would be enhanced,
more fluid and flexible, not limited by gravity or solidity. Solidity
would at that point begin to disappear. It would speed up. It
is essentially a process of accelerating. Accelerating to the
point where we no longer feel the solidness of matter. We would
then experience matter at a different frequency.
Ascension is also something that is taking place in the brain.
The brain is evolving to the point where it is capable of tuning
into more of what The
Consciousnesss is, identifying with more of what Life is.
That ascension in the brain
creates and sustains the physical ascension.
It is an energy process.
There is an abundance of energy in the universe, but because of
the physical structuring, we are capable of using only very small
amounts of that energy. The physical structure can deal only with
very small amounts of that energy, otherwise it would simply burn
up. So ascension is a matter of developing the ability to deal
with more energy without destruction.
As we ascend, as we achieve other levels of existence and connection,
we are able to house more of The Consciousness. When we are able
to deal with more of the energy, the higher frequency
energies, there is a natural connection with all of the inherent
possibilities in those higher frequencies. Things that we cannot
now dream of in the brain, suddenly become possible at those higher
frequencies. So the ascension process is one of discovering what
is beyond the conditional limitations of a physical structure
without destroying the physical structure, but instead accelerating
it.
You are never stuck. Limitation is simply the restructuring of
physical matter in the way it has been. The feeling-knowing
is that it doesn’t have to stay that way. All things transcend
the past. All things move into a greater expression and connection
through allowing and being. To realize this possibility moment
by moment may be the greatest thing you can do for yourself and
for humanity.
It is possible to move beyond the imagination. It is possible
to expand this awareness to a point of no return to limited structure,
concept or belief. It is possible to reside moment by moment in
an ascended level of being, dwelling in a plane of existence that
is all-inclusive and allowing,
moment by moment, very much aware of all that is. Not being limited
by that awareness, but constantly transcending the past. Being
totally present and allowing, in the moment, is the work of The
Consciousness. The evolving and becoming of The Consciousness
is taking place moment by moment, through allowing.Back
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| Question:
"Ishvara, what is the content of the morphic
field that is being set up here at Alaya?" |
Ishvara: The
biologist Rupert Sheldrake reasons that we cannot explain how
things are simply by analyzing their subparts, that things are
the way they are because of their resonance with greater fields
which shape their existence. He theorizes that there are self-organizing
systems at all levels of complexity, such as atoms, molecules,
crystals, cells, organisms, societies, planets and galaxies.
These systems are structured by specific fields that he calls
“morphic fields” which contain a sort of collective
memory. And so a rose, for example, is shaped by a field which
is itself shaped by an accumulated influence from all previous
roses. This influence from previous systems, occurring through
or across both space and time, occurs through “morphic
resonance,” involving an action of like upon like.
Rupert Sheldrake’s description of morphic fields seems
to fit the experience that I continue to have. People’s
lives are basically shaped by fields that are created by accumulated
thoughts. Patterns tend to keep repeating themselves because
of these fields. Like attracts like. For example, a person’s
experience of “enlightenment” can be shaped and dictated
by a field which holds that enlightenment must take place in
a certain way, that it must conform with certain ideas and concepts.
And so the person’s experience will resonate with that
field, even though the experience will be distorted by the preconceptions
that make up the field.
Now, the old idea was that nature was a matter of habit, that
everything was already set up to be the way it is, and would
continue to be that way. In actual Life, however, the experience
is that things evolve, things become. Fields can change. There
are no definite criteria for how things come about.
I’m not willing to accept the idea that my life is predetermined.
I see that my life has been an outcome of various possibilities.
My life could have been made totally different by simply making
a different decision at a certain point. Life
is always a happening made up of complete wholes which combine
with other wholes to create a greater possibility of synergy.
The way Life unfolds is the result of fields that have been
set up by consistently held thoughts. As we become sensitive
to energies, we can detect various fields around people. Yet
these fields need not remain fixed. As we allow for the direct
experience of a possibility, things will change.
A person can look at the world negatively, and experience everything
as negative. That person will experience more than his share
of problems, will find that he is always in the wrong place
at the wrong time. Morphic resonance implies that there is a
field of thought, a field of possibility, for example fear or
separation. Many of the old prophecies have enhanced the field
of fear with predictions of great disasters to come. Because
the brain is capable of receiving, it will tune into these morphic
fields. The brain can constantly be recreating various possibilities
that exist in these fields. The fields will thus shape one’s
life.
Morphic resonance provides a possibility, an alternative for
how things can be. The
Space is a repository of energy and higher possibilities.
These possibilities are known, thought about, and talked about
often here at Alaya®. If this way of seeing Life is valid,
if it works, then other people will pick up on that and begin
to resonate with it. As a result, people’s lives will change.
My presence is a stimulus, an inspiration towards seeing and
experiencing the greater connection, seeing more deeply into
Life, allowing for other possibilities to come about, and seeing
that how we’ve been programmed and conditioned may not
be to our best advantage.
The morphic field of Alaya® is one of seeing that transformation
can be continuous, that there is no way that things have to
be, that the principle of allowing
what-Is, and being connected and present to that without resistance,
tends to induce a greater flow of energy,
of Life. So the morphic field of Alaya® is one that is progressive,
connective and allowing, and constantly extending itself towards
greater possibilities, not becoming locked into any idea or
concept of how things have to be. Instead, it is a matter of
being with things as one experiences them.
It is important to realize that how we imagine things to be
may not be the way they are at all. One could see a television
for the first time and imagine that there must be people inside
the TV set acting out the parts that are seen on the screen.
In Alaya®’s field, we allow for possibilities other
than what we may imagine. This opens one to a different experience,
a different way of looking at Life and how Life works, not being
so convinced that “This is the way it works.” That
conviction has constantly kept humanity in ignorance. The old
idea that “Well, you just can’t know that, it’s
not yours to know,” has kept people in the dark. In the
past, various religions and spiritual disciplines have greatly
resisted any kind of discovery or breakthrough that might refute
a cherished belief. That kind of attitude tends to create ignorance.
I see that it is very important for a spiritual path to be open
to the latest developments and theories. That way, one stays
open and receptive to the possibility of a greater experience,
a greater connection. The morphic field of Alaya® is an
invitation to grow and expand, not to hide from Life or resist
Life, but to be participating in it, and to allow the brain
to continue its development, to create new neural pathways,
to see new possibilities and new allowances. For people who
participate in the field of Alaya, the field can be very
inspiring and conducive to that kind of expansion.
The morphic field of Alaya® is the accelerated Space around
me. It is a field free of the concepts and limitations of the
past. People often remark about how they can feel this Space
the moment they walk in the door of Alaya® House, or when
they come up the driveway. The Space or field around me is accelerated
to the point where it is difficult for past morphic fields to
continue to have their way.Back
to the top
Click
the following link to hear Ishvara speak about "Morphic
Fields"
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| Question:
"Ishvara, could you talk about
the importance of the physical body, and about the new species." |
|
Ishvara: There
is ample scientific evidence of the evolution of things and creatures.
There is sufficient validation for evolution, for the theory that
things evolve. In light of that, why not carry it a step further
and allow that the human being is also evolving, that it is possible
for the human to change? In years past, experts said that the
human couldn’t run any faster than a certain limit, but now
athletes are surpassing that limit. If one is receptive to healing,
not locked into a concept or belief as to why a disease exists,
then one can overcome disease. The body is capable of healing
itself. Examples like these indicate that the body is far more
capable of change and accomplishment than beliefs would dictate.
So why not allow that the body can do far more than is accepted
by conditional thinking?
We are connected. Bodies communicate to bodies. There is already
much known about pheromones and chemicals that the body releases
in different emotional states. This shows the body’s ability
to communicate with other bodies without the interference or interpretation
of the intellect.
All of this indicates to me that we are in a constant state of
evolution, and that the body is evolving. I see that we are coming
to a point of drastic change, a quantum leap in human conditioning
and human possibility. The new species is being born right out
of the material that is already here. So it doesn’t mean
that only the next generation will be making this leap. Instead,
the body itself, in this moment, can actually become different
by activating genetic material that is already present. Recent
genome mapping indicates that there is so much genetic material
present for which scientists don’t really know the purpose.
It seems that there is a lot of unexplained, extra stuff. This
could be future stuff, the stuff of evolutionary possibility.
So it is important not to limit ourselves. It’s important
to allow for the possibility that there is something greater in
store for human existence. We could attain a healthier body that
is highly resistant to disease, that is more flexible and vibrant.
The aging process could be slowed down or even stopped. It’s
already been shown that the less stress you experience, the less
you age. If we can develop a consistent consciousness of allowing
Life as-it-is, not resisting Life, we can considerably reduce
the stress in our life and consequently slow down the aging process.
It’s possible that we could even reverse the aging process.
The power of the brain has been severely overlooked. As we find
better ways of studying and understanding the brain, we will find
that there is much more there than we ever thought. We will realize
that the brain is evolving,
and is capable of housing more and more of The Consciousness,
and that this is in turn creating physical transformation
and changes.
So the new species is what we are becoming as we realize a greater
connection with all of Life, seeing that the whole of the earth
is in that connection, and that everything is The
Consciousness manifesting itself in all its unique expressions.
This is not limited. It doesn’t have a ceiling. We live,
moment by moment, in unlimited possibilities. If we dare to access
them, if we dare to transcend how things have been, transcend
superstition and beliefs and concepts “about,” if we
dare to move beyond these things, then we can experience far more
of human capability and possibilities. I see that the purpose
of The Consciousness is to develop an expression of itself which
becomes continually more and more unlimited, more capable, more
expansive, more connected. We are the outcome of this already,
and we continue to evolve and become.
Back
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Question:
"Ishvara, could you talk about the importance
of being it, rather than 'about' it". |
Ishvara:
I’ve consistently found in the various teachings and spiritual
disciplines that there is so much talk “about” The
Consciousness, "about" Life, "about" direct
experience.
Much is written about it. There is a great deal of knowledge and
information about it. People read about it and study it, and can
parrot the information back without ever having actually experienced
it for themselves.
Upon awakening I saw that there was a need for someone to be an
example of living it moment by moment, instead of talking about
it. It’s unavoidable to talk about it in language. Yet I
feel that human communication is taking place beyond language,
that there is also a physical, bodily communication that takes
place. When other bodies are around this (Ishvara’s) body,
those other bodies say, “Well, something more is possible
here, genetic enhancement is possible, other ways of seeing things
are possible.” This supports physical transformation. So
it seems that, instead of talking about it, now is the time to
exemplify it, to literally be the example of The Consciousness,
to be the example of presence and to let individuals see that
it actually works; to demonstrate that there is Life after enlightenment
and that we don’t have to go somewhere else. We don’t
have to be something else to be the embodiment of The Consciousness.
We are that embodiment already, and we just need to be it.
It’s fun to talk about it, to explore possibilities, but
one must get down to actualizing it, living it, actually proving
it, testing it in the laboratory of Life, to see that this actually
works. This is a stronger testament for The Consciousness than
all the words we could possibly say or write about it.
When one is actually living it, there is a definite change in
one’s life. One exemplifies a sense of peace and allowing.
One experiences less illness and disease, or none at all. When
one is living The Consciousness, one is the same with everything.
This means that one does not react. One responds to Life consistently,
instead of constantly reacting to opinions and beliefs and concepts.
Another tangible thing that occurs is that one’s life works;
it just works. One consistently seems to be in the right place
at the right time. One finds oneself content, but not complacent,
with what-Is. One finds oneself co-participating, moment by moment,
in discovery through experience and example, seeing that things
work. Everything that I talk about is what I’ve experienced.
I’ve tried hard not to talk about things I haven’t
experienced.
I see that one stagnates when one does not keep an open mind,
even about the direct experience one may be having. So often,
we experience simply what we believe. In the past, I caught myself
experiencing what I believed. I questioned, “Who gave me
that belief.” That changed the experience totally.
The direct experience of The Consciousness requires that we actually
live it. If I develop a theory of living from my experience, I
demand that the theory work, that it fits with whatever comes
up. The moment it doesn’t fit whatever comes up, then it
is time to evolve. I’ve seen this evolution occur often.
I see, “Here’s another piece that changes the whole
synergy.”
So it is a matter of always being open to what might be. I feel
that, if we are to continue to evolve, we need to keep an open
mind and be receptive to all the different inputs of Life, to
let them merge, and to see how they fit into what we’ve
experienced. Sometimes one may find that something has changed,
that one has to adopt another theory which one didn’t know
existed before. To me, the beauty of Life is that it is always
changing.
I feel that everyone can demand this example. If you have an idea
of Life, you can demand that it work, instead of letting it be
something that you are hiding behind. So much of the spiritual
search has become just an escape. People are escaping from Life,
escaping from the day to day experience. One of the biggest escapes
is the belief that the physical Life is all “maya,”
that it is all an illusion. Life cannot work when we have that escape. Back
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