SOUL SEARCHING

Self, Soul, and I came to a agreement that it is all about “me.” So what was the argument all about to begin with? br /br /A search requires an intention and according to the vigor of one’s intention, so is the strength of the seeking. The soul has a concomitant characteristic with consciousness and therefore, is the product thereof, but only in name as it pertains to humans. Through the gateway of the mind, one develops increased awareness of the world inside and outside. In this process, consciousness is set free and the soul is born as a concept (in linguistic terms) of attraction. There is an intrinsic unconscious knowing of a “watchman” within, a witnessing or cognitive faculty at the fundamental bases of existence. It is therefore important to keep in mind the idea that reality is “one undivided whole,” while at the same time practically or cognitively speaking, accept that our mind senses a world of “otherness” We start the journey from a dual perspective, but with a lingering yearning to summaries diversity into one singularity.br /The word yoga means unity and as such, refers to a state of ultimate oneness or monism. We start fragmented and with a split personality and end with a realizing, that everything exists because “I” exist. The truth reveled (after such discovery), is that there is no second to the one that bear the existence at the soul level, which means, that it is linguistically none-communicative, that the ultimate reality is impossible to explain realistically. It has to be “self” realized (which is the actually meaning of the spiritual term “self-realization”). Let me clarify here that I use monism and yoga synonyms. It could be argued otherwise, but my intention is to make a connection between the two terms. Those who practice yoga know what I mean. In meditation, there is no room for differentiation when the mind gets absorption into pure-consciousness. Hence, the yogīc method involves sublimination of generalities into an absolute sense of wonder in which the journey fulfill itself. br /All journeys need a preliminary originator to enthuse the onwards trust. It is no difference in this exploration. Everything needs a medium through which the process unfolds. The media here, of course, is your psyche. Did you know that the word soul and psyche are considered synonyms in western literature? I agree conditionally to such interpretation. It should be clear by now that the soul is not a destination to be reached or a location to be found. It is what evolves the process into itself. The Sanskṛit word ātman relates to consciousness, or more correctly, a state of untainted awareness. Furthermore, it needs to be mention that there is a distinction (theoretically speaking) between mind (mānas [Sanskṛit-“to measure”]) and the soul. The word ātman does not necessary translate into the English word soul, but it is generally used so in literatures. The ātman signifies “unmodified consciousness temporally reflected as “unit” consciousness. It is through this “unit consciousness” that the mind exist as a temporal servant. br /It is important to bear in mind that brain, mind, and consciousness are not three different things. They are one process, one system in constant transformation. By pouring milk into a mug, the milk takes the shape of the mug and we call it a mug. Similarly, by pouring pure consciousness into a vessel, it takes the shape of the vessel (which again is measured, analyzed, and named by the mind and then transformed (through knowledge) back into consciousness, and so on). Whereas the universe is an objectification of mind-stuff (chitta), life, is this process in reverse, from gross to subtle. There is a tug or war, a dynamic conflict between these two processes, but eventually one succeed over the other and the wheel turns.br /Matter is objectified mind/energy or bottled-up consciousness. Every material object therefore, is highly compacted energy longing to be discharged. This existential oomph will under favorable circumstance turn on itself and become vitalized energy or life (prāṇāh). Energy and consciousness are like two sides of a coin. They are inseparably, but realistically for unit being, has to be approach subjectively in two ways. Existence is two faced, if it was not, who would be there to argue otherwise? Subjectivity is a developmental, but so is objectivity. A newborn child sees no differentiation but as subjectivity develops, the world split in two. Knowledgeification of objectivity is life’s essential drive through which matter get purifies and absorbed. br /Essentially, (and it should be contemplate) there is no universe outside, or reality outside you. Everything is and always has been subjective. Actually, the concept of internal/external is an oxymoron that should be replaced with one unified descriptive word. In Sanskṛit, the word chitta come to mind. Dualism may be practical and useful in our daily lives, but eventually, and gradually it will be abolished through knowledge assimilation.br /As we have seen, the process is consciousness-mind-brain and then, brain-mind-consciousness. All this is just a process of energy usage and transformation from one form into another. We know this from thermodynamics and other laws of physics. Through knowledging something (remember, knowledge is consumption, similar to that of food consumption, turning an organic material into energy for physical maintenance), energy releases its frozen form and converts back into consciousness. Nothing is ever lost or gained in this process as “everything ends up equal to itself.” It is a dance of energy, which the Hindus call the rasalila of Krishna or the tāṇḍava of Śiva. There is life and then the universe came to be, without life who would verify its existence. Without a witnessing counterpart, who is to tell its story and describe its forms? Without sentient beings, there would be no one there to enliven it (the universe) and the strange thing is that without a cognitive faculty, there would be no reality. We can truly say that at its initial base, it all takes place within the brain of the beholder. br /We are all trapped in an illusion of an inside outside duality, a mental construct extremely difficult to surmount. We are conditioned, and practically so, to see things as separated from ourselves, the me and the others. The entire purpose of yoga is to escape this prison of minds and become free from these conceptual distortions. The word ātman can be broken down into three words, an (to breath), at (to move), and va (to blow). This is why in Ṛig Veda ātman is referred to as “the breath of the God [consciousness].” In other words, ātman is the breath of consciousness in which all things lies/depends. When we start to awaken from the long slumber of materialistic encapsulation, the first sign is the birth of “conscience.” With the birth of conscience deception becomes intolerable and deceit impossible. Truth starts to stare straight in our eyes and with nowhere to hide, we start disciplining our action. It is at such a time that one start to surrender and submits to the process of enlightenment (soulful education). It is here we realize that reality is in the mind of the beholder and with the beholder absent, reality change in an instant. Without conscience to purify our action, the internal journey becomes impossible. br /The mind is a “measurement instrument.” It is like a mental grasping (knowing) machine consuming everything in its path. It is a cognitive operational process of defining the/a world, analyses it, and then digests its essence as in “understanding” (understanding does not take place in the mind, the final consummation of knowledge into pure consciousness). In this progression, knowledge purifies matter and as a result sets the knower free, a freedom that comes at a great cost to the knower. The fact is that eventually the knower turns on himself and tries to assimilate (know) its own entitetic existence. The ensuing battle leaves only “one” left standing, the all-prevailing witnessing consciousness (here, there is no you or me, no name or form, it is all just raw potentiality). The knower gets consumed by its own desire to know leaving only pure-awareness in its wake. A clean sheet of consciousness (is a clean sheet of potency) is at the bases of all phenomenons ever happened. With the knower gone, potentiality has reached its crescent point (symbolized as the dot and the crescent over the OM sign) and brakes into spontaneous combustion of creativity and there it is born anew, and so the samsara kept pulsating through eternity. A happening has to have a medium and the medium is also the happening, but in the process appears temporary objectified and so on. The story forever unfolds and the mystery never truly known by the knower. But, lets comfort ourselves with the knowledge that it is impossible “to be” nothing, just as nothingness “cannot be claimed to exist as a concept.” Meditate on that and you will be wise.