THE ILLUSION OF SELF-IDENTITY

 

Venue: Virtual Symposium 12.12.2020, held by International Foundation for Spiritual Unfoldment and the American Meditation Society

Public talk (live Zoom) entitled 'WHAT IS' by John Jaish Lamb - a transcript, lightly adapted following question-time

 

Basic premise:  "The 'small i' in man is subjected to all kinds of illusions and the greatest illusion that the 'small i' could ever create for itself is the illusion of self-identity" - Preatam, UK79/15

N.B. >'Preatam' = Gururj Ananda Yogi (1932-1988)

The title of today’s talk is 'What is'. This means what existence actually is. It also means: answer the question ‘what is Isness, or pure consciousness'? I’ll add to that, ‘can we lead ourselves to perceiving it’? The answer, before we start is ‘Yes, we can lead ourselves to it’, so let’s get to the how.

For newer meditators in particular, or if you don’t comprehend the whole jigsaw of the Universal teachings, we need to throw in viewpoints from different angles, to make understanding easier if possible. With satsangs we need truth of course. it’s always truth that leads us to the truth – in our case unravelling the dilemma of not being able to realize whole truth

And, we want to be capable of passing on the truth - the pure teachings - to others (if we get involved as teachers). This is vitally important, as I see it, because the newer and younger students will soon be carrying Preatam's message forward.

Not all meditators will want to achieve liberation – or self-realisation as we often call it – but the nub of the teachings we’re promoting is liberation so it is always prioritised. For those who prefer attachment right now, after meditating for some time the mind usually picks up on the sense of the pointlessness of this illusion – and that there’s a satisfactory alternative right here within our grasp.

I set a priority for myself, years ago, to recognise that the Teachings are far and away more critical than the Techniques. Techniques are easy to understand and we can tweak them to our own satisfaction. But we have been attracted to yoga in the first place to bring our inner self to a commanding position over our outer selves. This has occured because of an inner a desire for liberation. The techniques start us off and help to build fearlessness and the strength to change our perspective, which we know is essential in eliminating the confusion we have as well as eliminating suffering for the individual.

I’ll interject here: if you don’t know how the word suffering translates into what we’re doing with our lives, take a look at the 4 Buddhist seals. Lion’s Roar on the Internet is a good place to find the reasoning.

The foremost question truth-seekers have is: "Why are we in an illusory bondage, acting as if all this is real?" We're in a spiral, leading to nowhere, because what we see around us seems to PREVENT us from knowing what actuality is.

So let’s look at what we really are.

I like to quote Einstein because he's so well known; he stated the truth of what we are in 3 extraordinarily precise sentences: "It's all just energy - and that's all. Match the frequency of the reality you want and you cannot help but get that reality. It's not philosophy, it's physics." We'll look at the physics in a moment to see how this can help to guide us.

First, we are told we do know 'what is' already - our whole consciousness knows it - but we’re shielding it from view. We repeat this unendingly, as a fact we've learned, But we need to translate it into experienceable knowledge. (remember, Preatam says repeatedly IT is experienceable, it needn’t remain just a theory).

As I’ll try to show in a moment, I am not here. You are not here.- because this is an illusion. But it looks like there's something here. And we definitely have the impression there’s a me who has things. So can we solve this puzzle by finding a missing link?

We are told by the Masters, our misinterpretation of WHAT IS is the sole cause of our suffering. And that's correct because we interpret with a mind that can never know IT. So how do we interpret correctly - in a way that will clear the confusion?

I personally think there’s a missing link – for bringing us quickly to realisation. Preatam asked us to employ ABSOLUTENESS in our outlook. What is it? In Preatam’s 1^st talk in UK he appealed to us to employ absoluteness - to fire our efforts straight to the target of where we want to be – full consciousness.

Putting it into context here, meditation is a tool we need; mindfulness is awareness of what is here and now (the sharpening process); absoluteness moves us on from these practices (which should not be dropped of course) to appreciation of our greater consciousness.

Preatam used the analogy of the London to Manchester journey via the motorway rather than the back lanes. Mindfulness is the back roads. Once we have driven them and get to know there’s a motorway, get out there and use it.

Absoluteness is a commitment to bringing in a truer perspective - in every waking moment if we can and not just now and then. And we all know Preatam lamented he was blue with us sometimes for not 'going a bit faster' to get to the prize of self-realisation. I got a very strong feeling he was saying ‘why haven’t you employed absoluteness sufficiently, haven’t given it your all’.

Without the commitment to firing straight at the target, we're going to fall short of realisation just now. In many instances we truth-seekers may not be quite ready to 'merge' into pure consciousness but our candle is lit – and, according to Preatam, because we’re alight we can do it, THIS LIFETIME. Nobody’s excluded in this. We lit the candle of truth ourselves - everybody does, nobody does it for them - and, similarly, everyone can find enlightenment.

Now, if the missing link is performing more absoluteness, I also feel the seamlessness of the link is achieved in removing a blockage we inadvertently erect. I have found for myself we look for a formula that doesn't exist. We imagine we want to transform, travelling from here to there; from attachment, and lack of ammunition, to a state of all-knowledge. But there's nowhere to reach, no moving along a path. And, there’s no 'me' to whom I can direct instructions. All that is imagination. But what we’re chasing is closer to us than our skin. It just need translating. I use a more appropriate formula, of just 4 words. “Stop denying your Self.” I find this is much more ‘direct to the target’.

As another personal aid, I now use the word truthing in relation to my effort to overcome denial of what really is; what I really am.  I find truthing, as a word, sounds more inviting and more achievable than conscious effort or unconditioning, both of which amount to the same thing in principle.  

What I say to myself, all day, is “drop seeking and get on with truthing.” It gets me into action. I’m not telling others they should do this, just sharing what could be short cuts.  I’m still teaching myself the way home. I’ve come the long route and perhaps sharing experiences will shorten the route for others. Who knows?

‘Short cuts’ brings me to my next tip.

I found for myself I get more effective access to where I want to go, by following another of Preatam’s distinct directives: "Become your own Guru…." 

Obviously, we need 'constant remembrance' by us, at all times - videos & books etc. - as a reference to what the enlightened ones say. But I think being our own Guru ENABLES us, because we learn faster when we ask ourselves to answer questions. This way I definitely focus better. In effect it enforces a qhick deliberation of what we know already and a quick turn towards enlightened peoples’ teachings to correct any mistakes or lack of understanding. It’s a winning formula in my view. If you say ‘I couldn’t do that’, consider it's simply a case of ALLOWING (permitting) ourselves to be our own Guru and not judging “I don’t know enough yet..”

Now the physics demonstration. How can PHYSICS - the construction of everything - help us in the constant war with the mind?   I have found looking at the physics in an exceedingly simple way (everybody can easily grasp) can be incomparably helpful in appreciating we are energy and not solid matter. I find this solves misconceptions regarding the illusion in a far more direct way than anything else.

First, let’s recap on quantum discoveries proving we are 'no-thing'. Modern microscopes show us we are just energy. Even the smallest known particles today are shown to be 99.9999999999999% nothing (yes there are 13 - 9's here) and the other 0.00000000000001% is a proton flying around a neutron, NEITHER OF WHICH ARE SOLID either, but simply movements of energy. Einstein was correct.

Gururaj was correct too – he stated, using his own words, everything is one essence and it just coagulates in different ways appearing to be separate objects.

Since 2012 we fortunately have proof that the Higgs Boson is invisibly behind all this, causing matter (flying electrons) to appear as mass. I remember Preatam predicting this but he didn’t know of Higgs so he called it (for fun) - THE SHITRON. I called them the Fourways in little diagrams in Discover Your Subtle Self.

The Higgs is by far the most amazing discovery ever but it hasn’t hit home yet. It’s 4^th dimensional particles that are electrically neutral and the flying electrons get caught in them. Then the heat and light energy, which electrons are affected by, cause them to put up resistance.

[Physics transcribed in purple. Skip it if not interested]
The solid object – so called – in my hands; if you turn down the light and the heat it disappears. At minus 200 & something degrees C, I can put my hand straight though this block of wood – and this, and this; everything [pointing all around]. So it’s only temperature and light causing this to appear solid. This means solid objects are all HOLOGRAMS, displaying resistance to temperature. I should repeat this sentence over and over again, which I do to myself every day. In truthing, recognise this truth first. We are holograms, not real people.

Let’s get even simpler by looking at the 2nd & 1^st dimensions instead of the 3^rd/4^th. (Showing all edges and faces of a cube are not present if the 3^rd dimension isn’t behind it).

 [click here for another article on this: 'The Illusion of Solid Matter Explained].

Look at the 1, 2 & 3 dimensional objects. The one dimensional is an imagination. It doesn’t exist on its own. It’s only possible to imagine it if the 2 dimensional square (face of the cube) is there. The greater reality always has to be present. The 2 dimensional shape is only possible - again as an imagination - there if the cube is there. The 3 dimensional cube is only possible because of the bosons in the background. The Higgs particles (4^th dim’n) is only possible to imagine if the space-time (5^th dim’n) is there. The 5^th dimensional is only imaginable if the 6^th (non-separateness) is behind it. Etc. Etc, up to 11^th dimensions, which is today assessed to be the 'boundary-less infinity'. This so called infinity is Isness. This is what we actually are. Everything is Isness and not fractions or separate items.

 

[We should remind ourselves here all dimensions are not spheres of reality; they are greater degrees of understanding - what we refer to as consciousness. Actually is the greatest amount of truth out there; multi-dimensional-ness. The boundary-less infinity is pure consciousness]

So, we have verified there is no stand-alone dimension whatsoever, until we get to wholeness – the one reality.

At best, every dimension is an idea. Preatam used a useful analogy - of us (so called) humans limiting our consciousness to the pretty colours in one face of a diamond, being attached to it and acting as if it’s reality. Whereas if we stand back, and allow consciousness - understanding - to improve, we get reality as the whole stone.

Relevantly, the Higgs particles are impossible to measure (because they’re beyond 3 dimensional instrumental capability) but they are slightly more real than this (what we see around us), meaning consciousness improves as we relate to more dimensions. These bosons are so many in number (uncountable) they are like a thick soup absolutely everywhere but don't show up in light. So we can think of ourselves to be thick soup in the thick soup. It’s not pure consciousness but it’s the next consciousness we can expand into - open our thinking to - a substance, much more an energy than separate individuals.

You might react of course, “There’s no way I want to be a soup’. That’s the mind being frightened of truth, just like a 2 dimensional character would reject ‘height’, because of lack of knowledge; lack of ALLOWING the understanding of a slightly better consciousness. You might have read the book Flatlands which depicts these 2-D characters bumping each other and refusing the greater consciousness (of height) for fear of losing what they already have. They can't conceive height would give advantages such as the ability to avoid other objects because they don't stretch their thinking to other possibilities.

[Next two paragraphs added to this article following question-time]

The Higgs discovery puts Galileo and Copernicus in the shade. They're the celebrities who instantly improved our conscioiusness from plate to sphere, regarding the planet we inhabit. The Higgs presence can't be seen; it doesn't react to light - but it's everywhere in a greater abundance than anything we've ever known before. Every minuscule dot of existence is crammed with it, in an indescribable density. This includes in every square millimetre of fresh air, every cell in our bodies and every solid, liquid or gas object - living or inorganic - in the universe.

What this means is ALL IS HIGGS. The objects we see are irrelevant, like a show; outlines on the face of the Higgs-substance. This is precisely the same comparison as the 2 dimensional 'face' on the cube. The 2D face doesn't exist as a stand-alone reality. And neither does the 'solid object'.

If we deliberate on this truth, we stretch our thinking so that our closed minds adapt to the availability of greater reality.  When we lightly move on, purely by imagination, from the limited idea of 'separate objects' we can sense there are always more possibilities to be to be encompassed, we have not considered previously. As for humans being a substance, there can be a more actual sense of being if we ascend to the consciousness-zone of the mega-particle (4D). It would encompass freedom from being restricted by edges; no resistance to movement; no ideas or attachments, no decay; no need for food; no hot or cold, in fact no troubles at all. And all we give up is a mirage, in which we are exceedingly limited in what we can do and fall forever short of the state of contentment desired.

The Higgs particle will at some stage be renamed. Bosons are of course the smallest particles in the 3rd dimension. Higgs 'particles' are much more refined than particles as we know them - and won't actually feel like a soup! [Ed: That's because, although I call the soup 'thick', it is of a far less dense construstion than particles and offers very little resistance. For the reason Higgs are not particles or bosons so i refer to call them Higgs-presence].

Just a word of advice here: the mind can’t align with greater reality – it can sense there is something else but doesn’t have the capacity to become something more real. When you get the idea of something greater - meaning improving your consciousness - (this might be in meditation or in ordinary activity) you can put yourself into that quiet space beyond the mind and let the 'me' be gone. Let IT be what it is and don’t get the mind involved. Isn’t this an open secret that every meditator knows? We are simply what we put our attention towards.

It’s perspective we need to change and that’s what will bring us realisation, as Preatam often said. Don’t bring anything else into play. The mind wants to bring in other projections, memories and ideas in order to lead us up the garden path.

‘Is truth attractive’? The mind says, “NO, the truth is the finish of me”.
Gururaj: 'Man doesn't want to adapt himself to truth so he molds the truth to suit his own needs.”

But by accepting the physics - no point in arguing with it - we have  improved our consciousness; got MORE consciousness and each little bit more counts towards liberating us from this constricted weirdness of the mind. We are in fact re-activating the energy of all possibilities, letting go of ancient thinking, which has kept minds closed for millennia, restricting us severely.

Yes, we need to guide ourselves away from restricted thinking. The more we bring in all possibilities, the closer we get to whole consciousness, when ‘me’ is replaced by REAL I. That’s when we become totally satisfied, without the idea of being a holographic 'thing who has things who matters in an existence / evolution’.

Some of what I’ve said is in this little book – 5 Sattvic Keys. If you don’t want to download it from Amazon for £1.99 there’s an abridged version at BMS.com > Meditation > Keys to success.

The Sadhguru clip I recently noticed: 'Pay attention to the inner nature of who you are; You can become really meditative. Not just sit silent with your eyes closed.  Decide: Is it a fashion-cum-pleasantness or an endeavour?' We need to make up our mind ‘am I determined to shed this problematical oddity and become REAL?' If no, keep meditating and / or keeping good company until perhaps the ‘wondrous existence of just being, without suffering or problems’ beckons you.

Preatam appealed to us: "Do it now / Don't leave it / You've brought yourself to the door; walk through it! These opportunities are rare!" But it’s up to each of us to make any decision in life, isn’t it?

Preatam also used the analogy of a coin to elucidate on his statement "There is no you and I". "A coin has two sides and the more you align with the idea you are the essence, and not you the person, the more you'll choose (say) heads instead of tails."

This brings us full circle - it's exactly what Einstein (or somebody other than me) said; 'choose the frequency of vibration you wish to be your reality'. It’s purely a choice – and not a ‘doing something to get yourself into another state’, as I’ve said. We change our perspective by heightening our vibration, which follows from expanding our conscioiusness, which happens as soon as we let go of the worn out ancient concepts.

To raise the frequency of one's vibration we can bring in Limitlessness - open the mind - think 'all possibilities'. Right-brain thinkers do this all the time. They don't believe what they learned in terms of facts and they don’t need to achieve or be like someone else.

If we get used to thinking all possibilities, by enlivening our right brain, we’re on the road to liberation, which is simply the end of that which requires an answer. Refusing to stick to traditional thinking increases the pace at which we can let go. When we do it, we realise there's no such thing as a person who matters / has things.

I sincerely hope within the Gururaj family - and elsewhere - everyone finds improved consciousness is improved life. And it's achieved very simply; by recognising what’s really going on here and refusing to restrict thinking to that of the dark ages. We’re here for one reason only, to improve consciousness - which leads directly to liberation, away from the continuous fallacious thought process.

Otherwise we get to the end of life thinking, “ What was the point?”

End of talk