Self Imposed

Consciousness

Mar 21

It’s pretty easy to acknowledge that the world in which we live is not a world birthed from consciousness but unconsciousness.

This isn’t a problem when you understand that unconsciousness is a part of the evolutionary process, as the spirit moves slowly through the crusts of ignorance, ignorance being a singular term that serves as an umbrella for all forms of human unconsciousness. There are too many of those forms to list.

It’s also pretty easy to acknowledge that we have little knowledge of the rationale of the cosmos to create the opposite of itself in the form of ignorance and all forms of human unconsciousness. Because the mind is so deeply rooted in material and mental reductionism, it’s hard to convince the mind about a concept that states that the process of evolution, particularly your own unique, individual evolutionary process, as the divine seeking to realize itself in physical form. But that’s exactly what I’m trying to do and to say. Because truth is never expressed in the negative, what other purpose could there be? The infinitesimal number of problems on the planet sure doesn’t support this idea.

In addition, there doesn’t seem to be any particular purpose or meaning to this magnificent play other than surviving, seeking pleasure over pain, comfort over suffering, life over death.

The variations are so immense that a deeper meaning and purpose to the game of life are completely hidden from view.

If the things I speak about are true, then you would have no choice but to accept the truth that the creator of the variations lies hidden in the variations themselves…and that includes evil.

If one examines that thought itself, that the Divine, God, the Absolute is hidden in the physical form, it could be rightly argued that apparently the Divine, God, the Absolute, must not have known what he or she was doing, and if he or she did, he or she could have done a much better job of creating the forms in which to hide. But that is because you do not know the purpose or meaning as to why it would do that.

The variations are so immense that a deeper meaning and purpose to the game of life are completely hidden from view.

If the purpose was explained to you, you would shrug your shoulders and say to yourself, “Oh, of course, now, I see.” Knowing the meaning and purpose would exempt you from having to understand the physical form itself. No matter what the physical form did or said, you would understand why it’s doing what it’s doing.

If you understood the meaning and purpose, you would no longer base your understanding and as a result, your behavior, on what you physically saw through your sense of sight. You would base your understanding and as a result, your behavior, on what you saw through your sense of knowledge and wisdom. You’ve done this many times in your life. When a child misbehaved, you saw through the misbehavior and saw the child for who the child really was, not through the eyes of judgment but through the eyes of love. Now, while they are not exactly the same thing, the example I provided does prove that you have acted before not through reaction and sensory response but through a greater “seeing,” a greater realization.

What you see with your eyes is only the appearance. The unconsciousness, the ignorance, is only an appearance. However, it can nonetheless be a pretty painful experience everyone on the planet has experienced.

If the idea, the hypothesis that the Divine, the vast consciousness, the creator of the physical world has created a multitude of forms with the purpose of realizing itself in physical form, to cause the spiritual to find its way in physical form and to transform the physical form into the form of the creator that created it, then whatever it was that happened, whatever event you experienced, it would make perfect sense. In fact, you would begin to operate not out of your senses but out of your being. Nothing would be void of meaning and purpose. You would see God, the Divine, the Supreme, the Absolute, all around you…even when the transition of death was occurring.

In the meantime, you face the tremendous obstacles of the unconsciousness of the physical mind and body. In the past, the mind and body have warred against one another, have created division and pain in its dealings with the world. Under these conditions, the mind would become an instrument of that new knowledge and as such, would begin to teach the body new tricks. It would see stress as the signal to relax, to let go, to know that everything that was happening was happening for a reason, that what was happening was fulfilling a specific purpose, and probably a purpose that while unknown to you, could be accepted because you would know that nothing is void of meaning and purpose.

I can’t stress enough to you that the mind cannot not respond. It cannot not remember and consequently, try as you might, struggle as you might, you end up working with the same old information, creating the same old outcomes. It is realization, knowledge that causes the mind to change. Because knowledge and consciousness are functions of being, not doing, you realize that to fix the world, to fix others, you have to fix yourself and the only way to do this is through an acquisition of new knowledge and wisdom.

Once the mind forms the addictions to mental, physical, and emotional patterns, it then uses itself and when I say mind, I mean mind, body, and emotions, it uses its machinery to fulfill those addictions. What it fears, whether it is real or not, it attacks. What it loves, whether it is real or not, it seeks to own. So, there’s a vicious cycle, what we refer to as the closed-tape-loop that cannot be penetrated by using the same resources that created it in the first place.

Thus, thinking is not a by-product of truth but is a by-product of illusion, of make-believe but not knowing it is an illusion. You see where I’m going with this. Suffice it to say that you’ve got your work cut out for you. It turns out that thought is the enemy. And it can take a lifetime to get out of your mind.

So, think of it this way: your mind and all its content, all its beautiful thoughts and all of its ugliness, is a veil of sorts; it’s a con artist and a very good one.

But it says little, if anything, about you. I believe with all of my heart that the illusion of which the mystics and the sacred texts speak is not the world itself but what you think about the world. Where does what you think about the world come from? It comes from your mind. But you are not your mind.

The mind contains the gross instincts that all human beings possess…the ugliness, the willingness to harm, to betray, to lie, to steal. To hate, to dominate…but even then, the mind meets the barriers and obstructions created by other minds. How in the world can we not see in the pandemic as we move into the last quarter of 2020 that the greatest virus we face as humanity is not the pandemic but the division of the mind itself? We can’t even agree on whether or not to wear masks and I’m not going to get started on that.

As Aurobindo says, “Mine is the labor of the battling Gods,” the battling Gods being the forces of dark and light that have been inseparable companions since the beginning of time.

Both of these conditions seek to destroy the other or at least to resist the other, each of them seeking dominance… but no matter what level of success it enjoys, it can only enjoy that dominance for so long for Truth is not expressed in darkness and yet, darkness will always contest the Truth…so, the great churning, the great evolutionary process continues to unfold.

This constant ebb and flow of life create a great sense of meaninglessness for many people, not to mention the wearing down of the human spirit. This meaninglessness translates into a denial of existence itself which translates into a dysfunctional mind. Now, bear with me. The problem is not the pandemic…the problem is you…the problem is me…for it is we who are dysfunctional and divided and in those circumstances what else can be expected but pandemics?

The outer is a mirror image of the inner and it doesn’t make any difference whether it is an individual or a nation. If you want to understand the pandemic, you have only to look inside of yourself and that is why I say the future of humanity is the future of the individual and the future of the individual is dependent upon individual transformation which cannot occur through the mind. But again, you are not your mind.

Physical existence itself, the fact that you exist, doesn’t just imply but substantiates some form of power, some form of intelligence, purpose, and a will behind that purpose. And if this is true, and how could it not be, then, what is the goal of that will? Is it dysfunction, despair, raging wildfires, pandemics, racial injustice, instability, and human misery because if it is, then stop listening to this build a bunker.

But, of course, that is not the will that lies behind human existence…but it can serve no purpose of discussing human existence unless we solve the riddles of your existence and that is why the work of TruthSpring is predicated upon individual transformation. In every human that exists lies the presence of the conscious force and will that created it. No matter what you do or what you have done in the past, that force, that will, not yours but the will of the divine that lies inside of you, is always at work and there will come a time when you will be given the opportunity to decide who and what you are.

If you choose to ignore that opportunity because you are afraid of what will happen to you, the consequences of remaining the same can be so damaging that they will haunt you for the rest of your life. Granted, that point of transformation can take great courage, to take responsibility for your circumstances and yes, it can be such that your life can drastically change in an instant that results in great fear and discomfort by having the courage to change or you might be unlucky enough by not choosing to change that your life remains overwhelmingly the same.

On the night of June 11, 2005, Mike Tyson would fight his last fight in which he lost against a third-tier heavyweight whose name was Kevin McBride. It’s a remarkable scene at the end of the fight as he’s being interviewed, it’s obvious that his life has changed but it is a change that he’s going to, as it appears in Toback’s 2008 documentary, Tyson, embrace instead of deny.

Tyson’s dysfunctional past is well-known and the damage he did to himself and others was well documented. I am using Mr. Tyson not as a prime example of a role model but as an example of tragedy, pain, unconsciousness, and success that ultimately is given an opportunity to change. We’re going to pick up in the documentary at the end of that fight in the center ring following his loss to McBride.

What would have ever expected Tyson to respect his opponent, much less congratulate? What happened, I said to myself the first time I saw the documentary. Finally, I said to myself, what else can one do? Where else is one supposed to go? What else can one say? The worst had happened and you can’t change that. But you can change your future by having the courage to see a different reality and although it doesn’t erase the damage you or anyone else has done, the inner poise, the innate image, the psychic being, the soul, has been waiting for this moment its entire existence. It’s all that matters.

And that brings us, at last, to the topic of this message. As difficult as it is to believe, as impossible as it is to accept, there are no accidents and there are no coincidences.

Nothing is random and everything, down to the smallest detail, is under control.

It isn’t just an implication but a fact of existence, that even if you don’t understand it, even if you refuse to accept it, everything that happens to you is self-imposed. What has happened to you, you have done to yourself whether you recognize it or not. So, stop complaining about your fate and blame yourself for the situation, the circumstances.

You are the poet, the poem, the ink that writes the lines, the paper on which it is written. Everything is self-imposed and most of all, all of your pain and suffering is self-imposed for nothing has been to you. You have done it to yourself and the reason you want this to be true is because now, with this understanding, you have control. You are free to change your mind and you cannot behave appropriately until you do change your mind and perceive correctly. What you have drawn to yourself, as hard or unbearable as it has been, has been perfect for you and your growth but you are the ones who did it.

If it was the other way around, and your circumstances were forced upon you, your pain was the result of what someone else did to you, then you are and forever will be a prisoner and now, life has no meaning other than to survive. You chose the circumstances of your birth, your parents, the events that would shape your life but what you didn’t choose was how you would experience them, how you would perceive them for that is the curriculum of awakening, of realization of who you are.

In Aurobindo’s epic poem, Savitri, he says this:

“He is the Maker and the world he made,
He is the vision and he is the Seer;
He is himself the actor and the act,
He is himself the dreamer and the dream.
There are Two who are One and play in many world;
In Knowledge and Ignorance they have spoken and met
And light and darkness are their eyes’ interchange;
Our pleasure and pain are their wrestle and embrace,
Our deeds, our hopes are intimate to their tale;
They are married secretly in our thought and life.”
“He is the Maker and the world he made,
He is the vision and he is the Seer;
He is himself the actor and the act,
He is himself the dreamer and the dream.
There are Two who are One and play in many worlds;
In Knowledge and Ignorance they have spoken and met
And light and darkness are their eyes’ interchange;
Our pleasure and pain are their wrestle and embrace,
Our deeds, our hopes are intimate to their tale;
They are married secretly in our thought and life.”

Nothing can be done to the soul without the soul’s wishes for the soul is eternal and is the spark of the divine that lies inside of you. You are the one that has done this to yourself…but why? Because the circumstances contained the perfect ingredients for your own, unique growth and evolution. The circumstances, however unbearable they are, contain the keys to the doorways into greater being and greater knowledge and greater realization. They are not meant to hurt you but to empower you.

So, ask yourself, what is it you are failing to see in dealing with those circumstances? What are you missing? If it is true that you did this to yourself then why would you have done it? What is the buried treasure that is sitting right in front of you and once you acknowledge it, do you have the courage to embrace it, to use it for the ascent that rises above your rage, your regret, your shame, your fear?

I assure you that no matter how much you blame the other person, you can’t make them to be responsible because you are the one that has done this to yourself. It is all self-imposed.

And I know your mind cannot understand this much less accept this. But think about it…even if it’s not true even though it is…why wouldn’t you choose to see it this way? This way, you get to take responsibility, you get to be in charge of what happens next?

I was speaking to one of the teachers one time and I explained that I had been severely mistreated in a situation with a particular person. My teacher paused and asked me, “What did you do to make them treat you that way?” I knew exactly why they treated me the way did and so do you, so, stop pretending that you don’t know what I’m talking about. You created the event and drew those circumstances to yourself in order to grow, to evolve.

But could you grow and evolve by drawing a different set of conditions to yourself, conditions of overwhelming expansion, startling realizations about life and your beautiful Self, loving and life-affirming events? Yes! Of course, you can!