Knowledge and Religion

Are your spiritual expereinces real?

I let the discount run a few days into August. So you can still take advantage of our special discount on the e-book “Making Your Wisdom Come Alive.” See the link below:

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Also if you have friends that might be interested in Self-Knowledge tell them about www.light-up-your-life.com. Now back to the blog: Bernard wants to know how you can tell if an experience of God is real or just the play of imagination.

Hallo Michael,

In my meditation today I found myself starting with a prayer ‘to be in the heart of God’. Almost immediately I was aware of a great peace and felt surrounded by love and a warm glow and had the experience of actually being inside the heart of God.

So my question is how does one differentiate between imagination and the experience of Self. Was the experience above just the play of mind/imagination or was it the experience of SELF.

                         Warm wishes,

                                Bernard

 
Hi Bernard and thank you for your questions. The beauty of this wisdom is that you will never be fooled again. You will always be able to separate the essence of an experience from the trappings surrounding it. 

You know that the feeling of being inside the heart of God with its peace and the warm glow of love cannot be wrong. In fact we are all connected because we are in the heart of God. The harmony of the universe comes from love, and this love is God. Here the love and harmony is so great that it is not even phased by birth and death, or the harmony and disharmony that we see. So love is not just your imagination; love is your core.

But for instance, if you just purchased a new car and then felt this love, you would know that the love had nothing to do with the car, right? Love comes from your essence and not from the objects that you see.

Now since you are more inward than just mistaking a new car to be the source of happiness, let’s say you have a vision of God and then feel peace and the glow of this love. You would know that the vision comes and goes. But the vision is a reminder of what you really are, and that is the thing that makes your vision seem so real.

In any experience, the forms will come and go, as well as your thoughts about the experience. But the essence, which is the sense of reality, remains. That is who you really are. 

One last remark: remember you are not aware of this peace and love as if it were a separate object. You know this in a more direct way. Here love and wisdom shine by their own light, without the need of a separate light.

You see objects like your mind, body, and even the thought ‘I’. You also see the experiences that you have. Objects come and go. But as the seer, the essence of consciousness and bliss, you remain as you always were, always are, and always shall be. You are the reality behind all that changes.

So you should know that you are never fooled by the experience of peace and love. In this experience God is pointing you to your essence. Although the experience will come and go, your Being will always remain.

Questioning is the weapon that destroys the assumptions that you are stuck in limitation. So if you have more questions about this freedom, how to experience it in your life, or how to free yourself from suffering or the feeling of limitation, ask here and we can explore and find answers together.

If the comment section of this blog doesn't work, please send your questions and comments to michael@ananya.com. To find out where this all leads, go to, www.light-up-your-life.com. And finally, if you enjoy these blogs please tell your friends.

Best Wishes,

Michael

 

How to meditate on this wisdom

It still is July so there are a few more days for you to take advantage of the special discount on “Making Your Wisdom Come Alive.” See the link below: 

https://www.mcssl.com/app/adtrack.asp?MerchantID=31684&AdID=322803  

Here is the last verse that we will discuss from Sankara’s poem on Self-Knowledge.

66. Like gold freed from dross, the jiva (person) has all his limitations burnt away by the fire of knowledge bursting into flames fanned by sravana, manana and nidhidhyasana (hearing, reflection and contemplation) and now he shines forth by himself.

Sankaracharya
From “The Collected Works of Ramana Maharshi
Translated by Arthur Osborne
©Sri Ramanasramam,
Tiruvannamalai, S. India

Often I get asked a question like: How can I meditate so that I can experience fully the Self that I already am. In this verse lies the key to finding your own Self-Nature through meditation.

By knowledge you find out that you are the gold and not limited to any of the forms that gold may take (dross) like rings, bracelets, cups, and crowns. As the forms are created, last for a while, and then get melted down, the gold remains the same. No matter what the forms seem to be, the gold is the reality and value behind the forms. You are that gold.

This is similar to when you learn that that you are not limited to the forms that you see, but that you are the all seeing, everlasting Consciousness that’s aware of these forms. When you are curious and want to know the meaning of these words, you have lit the fire that will burn up your apparent limitations and leave you free.

So what do you do in your meditation? You fan these flames by reading and listening to these pointers to truth. Then you reflect on their meaning by asking such questions as: What does it mean that I am not limited to an object that I see like my mind, body and even the thought ‘I’? Exactly how am I free from them? What is my true nature anyway?

And finally since these words cannot really define the nature of the consciousness and bliss that you are, you leave these words behind and let the Self reveal itself by its own light.

You then realize that you were always the Consciousness that lit up the universe, your mind, and body. The notion that you were stuck in form was a mistake cured by the fire of knowledge. Returning to your true home, which is undivided Consciousness, you return to that which was never born and never dies: the home that is the substance of the universe itself. By the fire of knowledge you have found the reality that’s behind the world, and in reality you find your freedom.

Scattered throughout this blog you will find these verses from Sankara’s poem on Self-Knowledge. If you are new to this meditation on Self-Knowledge and want to find out more about it, just look through the archives and find these verses. Sankara explains Self-knowledge very clearly. Alternatively you can read, "Making Your Wisdom Come Alive," and get step by step instruction that shows you how to find this sparkling freedom. Below is a link so you can take advantage of our special July discount.

https://www.mcssl.com/app/adtrack.asp?MerchantID=31684&AdID=322803

Also if you have more questions about this freedom, how to experience it in your life, or how to free yourself from suffering or the feeling of limitation, ask here and we can explore and find answers together.

If the comment section of this blog doesn't work, please send your questions and comments to michael@ananya.com. To find out where this all leads, go to, www.light-up-your-life.com. And finally, if you enjoy these blogs please tell your friends.

Best Wishes,

Michael

Looking from the eye of wisdom

Now our newly revised e-book, “Making Your Wisdom Come Alive,” is on the web. It is expanded and every part of the book is updated. All of the pictures are in color. In about a month a printed version of the book will be ready with black and white pictures.

When you purchase this book you really help to keep our web-site, www.light-up-your-life.com, and this blog up and going. If you want to take advantage of our special July discount on the e-book, click on the link below. 

https://www.mcssl.com/app/adtrack.asp?MerchantID=31684&AdID=322803

Also we do not have a big advertising budget. So if you tell your friends it really helps us.

But now for the fun part; we can get back into our blogs again. So here is one of the final verses in Sankara’s poem on Self Knowledge.

65. Only the eye of Wisdom can see the Omnipresent Being Consciousness Bliss, but not the eye of ignorance for a blind eye cannot see the sun.

Sankaracharya
From “The Collected Works of Ramana Maharshi
Translated by Arthur Osborne
©Sri Ramanasramam,
Tiruvannamalai, S. India

The aim of Light-Up-Your-Life.com, “Making Your Wisdom Come Alive” and this blog is to point you to your true identity. Standing here you can see things the way they really are.

As you can see from this verse, the way things are is remarkable. At the very same place that you thought there was a limited mind and body, it turns out that there is “Omnipresent Being, Consciousness, Bliss.” This is really your natural state. It is both ordinary and extraordinary at the same time.

It is ordinary because it is just what you are, no more and no less. It is extraordinary because from here you get to see the source of the universe itself. If you want a hint as to how profound your own identity really is, it is by the stillness of your being that you that you recognize the things that change. If you were in motion as well as everything else how would you even know about change? It is because you are  still Consciousness that you know change.

However, few people stop and contemplate the stillness of the seer. They look right past this stillness, identify with the mind and body; as a result they assume that they are changing too. By returning to the stillness which they are anyway, they find the Consciousness and Bliss that was never created and will never be destroyed. It is always present; you find it by standing there ― not as a separate thing. This is the meaning of the eye of wisdom.

So what is this “eye of ignorance?” It is overlooking the seer of all that changes, and assuming that you are limited to the objects that you see. Standing as a state of mind it appears that you change along with everything else. It feels that you are caught in the ups and downs of the ever-changing body and mind. When you are centered here you only get a partial view of life and rarely get to enjoy Consciousness and Bliss that you find in your natural state.

If you look for that which is always there with the assumption that it is an object, separate from you, you will miss it. That’s because the eye you are using to find you own being is too limited. The assumption of limitation is the eye born out of ignorance of your own self-nature.

But fortunately ignorance is a substance that can easily be overcome by self-knowledge. In knowledge you will find that the eye of wisdom was always there. You just looked right past it. But now with this knowledge, you will be able to settle back into your real identity and from there see things the way they really are.

You will see that it is not really objects that make up the substance of the universe. It is Omnipresent Being, Consciousness, Bliss the subject. In your natural state, you were not created and you will never be destroyed. You discover this because you are the eye of wisdom and nothing else.

I hope that this raises many questions in your mind. The key to self-knowledge is to not assume that limitation is the normal state. When things don’t feel right it means that it is time to question limitation and look deeper.

The feeling of limitation and suffering is caused by the assumption that you are standing in a place that is too limited for you. When you start to question suffering, your assumptions falls apart. Then you are left with your natural state of freedom. So continue to question and if you need help stepping out of limitation you can ask here and we can explore together.

If the comment section of this blog doesn’t work, please send your questions and comments to michael@ananya.com. To find out where this all leads go to, www.light-up-your-life.com. And finally, if you enjoy these blogs please tell your friends.

Best Wishes,

Michael

Where does reality come from, anyway

Now our newly revised e-book, “Making Your Wisdom Come Alive,” is on the web. It is expanded and every part of the book is updated. All of the pictures are in color. In about a month a printed version of the book will be ready with black and white pictures.

When you purchase this book you really help to keep our web-site, www.light-up-your-life.com, and this blog up and going. If you want to take advantage of our special July discount on the e-book, click on the link below.

https://www.mcssl.com/app/adtrack.asp?MerchantID=31684&AdID=322803

Also we do not have a big advertising budget. So if you tell your friends it really helps us.

But now once again; we can get back to your questions. So here are some more comments and questions from Bernard:

Hallo Michael,

   Thank you for that message. I see that I am always getting trapped in my own imagination and stories and in this way keep separating myself from my own centre of awareness. You keep bringing me back to that awareness and the recognition that I am not that which I am aware of. It’s quite astonishing how I keep slipping into the mind space again and forget that I am the process of awareness and not the mind with its thought and images.

     The thought that in deep sleep only the mind disappears but not awareness ….could you please expand on that. It gives a totally new slant to the process of awareness as I am not aware that I am asleep. If dreaming occurs then this is still the mind dreaming and awareness is aware of the dream. If dreaming stops then can awareness still be present even if  awareness is not aware of itself……….as I write this the thought comes up that awareness cannot be aware of itself. In deep sleep with the mind out of the way then what happens to awareness. Is there nothing else to be aware of? If the mind is no longer present (death) then what kind of awareness is present?

 

                      Thanks again for this conversation.

                                   Bernard

 

Hi Bernard, 

Thank you for your further questioning. The thing to recognize is that when you notice you’re trapped in imagination, at that very point you are free. That’s because you are no longer standing as a thought in the mind. You are standing in your natural state of Awareness.

Here you can also see that the whole time you were pretending to be entangled in your thoughts, you were really free. You did not just create your freedom; you just recognized what was always true.

The sign of this freedom is that you were aware of the one who appeared to be trapped. He wasn’t you at all. He was just a thought in your mind. The mistake was taking the character in the story to be you, which allowed the whole story to develop.

This is like a man thinking he is a purple kangaroo. When his teacher said, “Sir, you are not a purple kangaroo, you’re a human,” he started to struggle with his mind. He said, “I am trying to return to being a human, but I always come back to the purple kangaroo. How can I get rid of the purple kangaroo?” His teacher said, “You were always a human. You were never a purple kangaroo.” At that point the man found his freedom from the purple kangaroo.  

So if you can just step out of self judgment, you can learn this most valuable lesson from the “traps” that you seem to run into. You are not creating a new identity. You are just returning to what you always where. In fact it is because your nature is freedom that you experience limitation as suffering. The limitation you experienced was taking a thought in your mind to be you.

Now for the second part of your question: I am glad that you are questioning if Awareness can be Aware by itself or if it needs another Consciousness to sense it. And of course here is where words fall short. As soon as I say find your awareness, you posit yourself as the one outside awareness, looking for it as if it were a separate object.

That’s why I use words like, it is your center, or direct experience, or your identity. All of these words point to the fact that you know awareness because you are awareness, not as a separate thing. Awareness shines by its own light, without the need for a separate light to experience it.

Then the next question comes, when the world and mind disappear something very significant must happen like a big bang, right? This assumes that the sense of reality that you experience when you see your mind and the world, comes from the mind and the world itself. But the thing that makes the world seem so real is your awareness of it. This means the sense of reality comes from you and not from the world.

That’s why when you slip into the dream state and the waking world is gone, it feels like so little has really changed. Reality is still there but now it’s projected onto the dream world. For instance if a dream character asked me, “Michael, don’t you miss the waking world with your family and all of your friends?” I might reply, “What are you talking about, this is the waking world!”

That’s because in the waking state, the waking world seems real and in the dream state, the dream world seems real. But the one thing that remains constant is the sense of reality. That’s because reality comes from you. 

Then when you slip into the deep sleep state where all of the worlds and thoughts are gone, you barely recognize that anything has changed. That’s because the sense of reality is still there even though all of the objects are gone. That’s why people are not afraid of deep sleep. In fact they enjoy it and crave it. And when they wake up they know if they had a good night’s sleep or not. That knowingness comes from awareness. 

One place where people sometimes notice this state of no object is when they are in the hospital under the influence of anesthesia. When they wake up from an operation they may feel that something very profound was there, but they can’t quite put their finger on it or grasp what it was. This is non-conceptual awareness. 

If this doesn’t make sense to you now it’s ok. The waking state is a perfect place to practice and wake up to the nature of reality. Just return the sense of reality to its source. 

If you find that there are certain thought patterns that tend to draw you back into limitation, recognize what they are. Right now these patterns may seem so much apart of you that it’s as if you don’t see them. When you finally do see these patterns you will take the sense of reality right out of them. The seeing and the releasing are one and the same thing, not two different motions.  

The last pattern to go is the sense of a separate I that can stand apart from Awareness. With this gone there is nothing left for you to do.

As for death, practice now while you can consciously release limiting frameworks. While death will release the sense of 'I' that you are used to here in the waking state, it will not destroy your belief in limitation. You have to do that consciously. Without limitation, the transition from life to death is no transition at all.

I am sure this will raise many questions in your mind. Here questioning is a good thing. We take so many things to be normal that aren’t normal at all. So questioning is the process of retuning reality to its source, which is existence, consciousness and bliss, free from any limitation.

And if you need help, ask here and we can explore and find answers together. If the comment section of this blog doesn't work, please send your questions and comments to michael@ananya.com. To find out where this all leads go to, www.light-up-your-life.com. And finally, if you enjoy these blogs please tell your friends.

Best Wishes,

Michael

A state of mind is like the shoe that doesn't fit

Now our newly revised e-book, “Making Your Wisdom Come Alive,” is on the web. It is expanded and every part of the book is updated. All of the pictures are in color. In about a month a printed version of the book will be ready with black and white pictures.

When you purchase this book you really help to keep our web-site, www.light-up-your-life.com, and this blog up and going. If you want to take advantage of our special July discount on the e-book, click on the link below.

https://www.mcssl.com/app/adtrack.asp?MerchantID=31684&AdID=322803

Also we do not have a big advertising budget. So if you tell your friends it really helps us.

But now for the fun part; we can get back into our blogs again. So here are some comments on questions that Bernard asked. If you read these questions and our comments, you may find that you had that question too and just didn't realize it.

Hallo Michael,

Today on my walk in the wilderness I had further questions arising around the subject of awareness and whether there is something beyond awareness.

I can see clearly that both the objective world and the subjective world of emotions and thought are all illusionary. That awareness is my last tenuous hold on what I can call ‘self’ or soul.

When awareness is gone as in deep sleep then I disappear as an entity. It seems possible that with death awareness may also disappear.

If that happens then I can understand that any centre of self or soul will also be gone and that I become one with God. I can understand that God is not human or has any centre, that the great infinite is beyond anything and may not even be ‘aware’ because there would be nothing to be aware of.

I am stuck in a dilemma now.

Firstly awareness is the very thin link I have to anything that can be called a centre of self. I am reduced to awareness when everything else seems to be illusionary.

If I could give up awareness then I would disappear into the great infinite. All incarnations would stop and my journey would come to an end.

I realize I can’t just give up awareness unless death or suicide is the only way but this does not seem to be true listening to those that have already gone there.

So I am stuck with staying with awareness and perhaps a ‘big bang’ will come along and take me beyond this.

There was a moment in my meditation sitting next to a river and listening to the sounds around me and then letting myself go deeper into the meditation where the sounds around disappear that there seem to be a choice between the wonderful world of nature and feeling really good within myself and my awareness of being and thinking about letting this all go and becoming God. That which is infinite does not have a sense of self or even awareness because there is nothing to be aware of…………..and I asked myself what would I choose ………….the world with all its ups and downs, the great and small, or to disappear into the unknown where there may not be love, joy, wonder or anything ….just the infinite without any sense of self.

In that moment I chose to come back and open my eyes to the beauty around me.

Perhaps one has to be in a place of absolute low, depressed and the whole world falling down around us to choose to go to the very deepest place possible ….that is where no sense of self remains, not even awareness. Perhaps the total world destruction is taking us all to the place beyond awareness.

                  Bernard.

Thank you for your comments and questions. I often talk about the discovery of awareness as being a surprise. That’s because it just doesn’t fit into your concepts of what Awareness is supposed to be. For that reason, the best way to know awareness is by standing there and knowing it directly. Have the patience to let Awareness reveal itself by itself.

The thoughts in your mind are too limited to get a true view of Consciousness. When you try to capture it in your mind, like taking a photograph, you are only getting a partial view. That’s because thoughts only describe a small portion of what you actually experience. For instance the thoughts, "I am there," or "I am not there," do not apply to your natural state.

So when you think, “What do I have to do to get there? Do I have to get completely depressed, destitute and commit suicide, or will there be a big bang with complete destruction that will get me there?” know that this is the mind babbling about something that it just doesn’t understand.

When you think in terms of opposites, such as having the choice of either enjoying nature or delving into awareness, it is time to inquire. What is that ‘I’ that seems to have a choice? Is that you or is that just another thought in your mind? Is there really a state called nature that can pull you out of awareness?

When you experience the birds singing, are you experiencing something outside of your self, or are you experiencing the beauty that’s in your heart already? And if the sounds of the birds disappear does reality change? Question like this, and you will find your point of view switching from a state of mind to standing as reality itself.

You will see that while both the objective world and the subjective world of emotions and thought are illusionary, as Awareness they are real. Here no thought, emotion, or object can possibly stand apart from Awareness. This means that when you think you are experiencing the world, you are really experiencing Awareness.

In fact one of the definitions for Awareness is one without a second. So right in the midst of your everyday experience, without doing anything special to your mind, you are already the Awareness that you seek. Endeavor to discover how this is true. Once you see this you will never again identify with a state of mind, as you identity is really the still Awareness in which the thoughts rise and fall.

If you feel that you have to line up your thoughts, or still your mind in order to experience Awareness, you should know that before you do that you are already Awareness. Instead of trying to impersonate awareness with your mind, just return to your natural state. After all, you’re already aware of your thoughts, aren’t you?

Remember, the real promise here is that you can find lasting freedom. This cannot possibly come from a state of mind that can change and disappear in an instant. In reality, you are so free that no state of mind can possibly apply to you. Since it isn’t dependent on a state of mind, nothing can snatch your freedom away.

Just continue to recognize the difference between a state of mind, and your state of being. Soon you won’t even have a choice. You will naturally remain as you really are. Also continue to question suffering and limitation until there is no place left for it to stand. 

Limitations feel like limitation because it is too small for you. Only the freedom of your own self-nature really fits. By questioning limitation, you will find where you stand even now, and remain there forever. 

And if you need help, ask here and we can explore and find answers together. If the comment section of this blog doesn't work, please send your questions and comments to michael@ananya.com. To find out where this all leads go to, www.light-up-your-life.com. And finally, if you enjoy these blogs please tell your friends.

Best Wishes,

Michael

 

Ultimate Awareness

We now have a completely revised e-book, “Making Your Wisdom Come Alive,” on the web. It is expanded and every part of the book is updated. Also, all of the pictures are in color. In about a month a printed version of the book will be ready with black and white pictures.

When you purchase this book you really help to keep our web-site, www.light-up-your-life.com, and this blog up and going. If you want to take advantage of our special July discount on the e-book click on the link below.

https://www.mcssl.com/app/adtrack.asp?MerchantID=31684&AdID=322803  

Also we do not have a big advertising budget. So if you tell your friends, it really helps us. 

But now let’s get to a question, asked by Bernard, on the nature of ultimate Awareness and how you can know if you are there.

Hallo Michael,

Thanks so much for your feedback to my questions.

I understand that I am awareness and not my mind or my emotions or my body but I am not sure that there is nothing deeper than my awareness. I say this because  while I sometimes get lost in thought and awareness is ‘in the background,’  there are times when awareness is gone such as when I am in deep sleep and not dreaming. Then I am really dead not only to the world but even awareness is no where around. How should I know that when I really do die that awareness will also disappear in which case awareness itself must be an illusion.

As I meditate on this the following comes to me. If awareness is a window with the ‘soul’ looking through then if the window is covered by a blind(sleep) or the glass shattered( death) then the soul as it were moves on and everything it saw looking through the window is no longer there and has no reality.  While that is a nice idea how can I know that this is true and not just a story I have conjured up .

                      Have a great weekend,

                               Bernard

Hi Bernard,

Thank you for questions. They show your desire to experience what you know. Generally when we want to know something we stand apart from it and observe it. For instance, if we want to know the nature of a planet like Mars, we use a telescope and observe it and then record our findings. We are the seer and Mars is the object that we see.

But what about when we want to know the seer of the things that we observe? What instrument can we use to observe ourself? The seer is Consciousness. We cannot stand apart from what we are and observe our self-nature like is was an object. That’s because the thing that would attempt to stand apart is just another object, and not the seer. An object is too limited to observe the nature of Awareness.

To stand as the mind and attempt to see Consciousness is like the planet mars attempting to see us. Now we know that this is ridiculous, because Mars is just dead matter, and dead matter cannot see us. But our mind is also dead matter. It is Awareness that sees the mind and makes it come alive.

To illustrate this, I often use the analogy of a computer. If we really valued our mind above all else, we would hope to become a computer, wouldn’t we? We would pray, “God, in my next life can I please become a computer!” But we all recognize that in a computer something is missing. A computer is not aware of its mind, and it is the awareness that we value even more than our mind. That’s because awareness is really our self-nature.

But what happens is that we look right past the stillness that sees change, and we mix up our identity with the objects that seem to be in motion. And thus we appear to take on the characteristics of the mind and body.

The problem with this is that we then seem to experience the limitations of the mind and body like old age, disease, and death. The mind and the body are too limited for us and so we appear to suffer. To relieve this suffering, return to your natural state of Awareness. 

But now we are back to the problem that I mentioned at the beginning. How can we become something that we can’t see? The answer is that awareness is self luminous; you know awareness because you are awareness. This is like the sun knowing light because the sun is light. That means that you do not need a candle to find the sun. In the same way you do not need a separate mind to illumine Awareness. You know Awareness directly because you are Awareness.

If you want to know Awareness, it is best to stand as the Awareness that you really are. Then from your direct experience you will know what Awareness really is. You will will not only find that you are free from your mind, you will find that you are free of the universe itself. You will finally find the identity that is the perfect size for you.

But by the very act of reading this article, you appear to be centered in the mind that you use to see these words and comprehend them. That’s why I recommend taking some time each day to let go of these words and to abide as the seer. It is not by the mind that you comprehend this article; it is by awareness. So return to your true center.

At first, you my have the sense that you are the mind visiting awareness. This is like visiting a different country such as India. It is nice while you are there, but you will come back to what you take to be home. In the same way you will have experiences of standing as awareness, but as long as you take your home to be the mind, you will appear to come back to the mind.

That is until you finally recognize that your real home is a mansion, and not the shack that you got used to living in. At this point there will be no returns to limitation and you are free.

So what are the signs that you are centered in the mind, and how to break free? First, when you feel that in deep sleep Awareness is gone. In deep sleep the mind is gone, but you are aware of that absence, aren’t you? Even when the mind is absent, as Awareness you are still present.

Now if deep sleep is too subtle for you, notice when you start to wonder, “What is the awareness that is aware of awareness which is aware of this awareness, etc?” This is sometimes called an infinite regression. But you are aware of this whole mental process, aren’t you? The whole time that you are wondering about the ultimate awareness, you are the ultimate Awareness, standing free of your thinking process.

Also if you start to posit many different things in the story look again. For instance when you say,

“If awareness is a window with the ‘soul’ looking through, then if the window is covered by a blind (sleep), or the glass shattered (death) then the soul as it were, moves on and everything it saw looking through the window is no longer there and has no reality.”

Awareness is not a separate thing constrained to a window. It is everything in the story and nothing, both at the same time. It is the soul, the blind, and the glass shattered. Just remain as the awareness that sees this story and let the story come and go as it wishes.

A better story is that you are the space that is in and through everything without the least separation. Fire can’t burn the space, water can’t wet it, the wind can’t blow it away, and there is nothing to shatter. Just remain here and be at peace.

And continue to ask questions until you are free. Freedom is really your nature ― not the limitations that you may seem to experience. So if you feel trapped in your world, or in your mind, just start questioning and you will find that your state of mind turns into your original state of Being. Here you are free.

And if you need help, ask here and we can explore and find answers together. If the comment section of this blog doesn't work, please send your questions and comments to michael@ananya.com. To find out where this all leads go to, www.light-up-your-life.com. And finally, if you enjoy these blogs please tell your friends.

Best Wishes,

Michael

The meaning of eternal life

We now have a revised e-book, “Making Your Wisdom Come Alive,” on the web. It is expanded and every part of the book is updated. Also, all of the pictures are in color. The printed version of this book is also ready. It has black and white pictures.

When you purchase this book, you really help to keep our web-site, www.light-up-your-life.com, and this blog up and going. For more information go to:

wisdom.light-up-your-life.com

Also we do not have a big advertising budget. So if you tell your friends it really helps us.

While this blog will jump around quite a bit, "Making Your Wisdom Come Alive" provides more of a step by step approach to finding your Self. Starting with your everyday experience right now, it guides you to your limitless being.

But now for the fun part; we can get back to our blogs again. So here’s some comments from the next verse on Sankara’s poem on Self-knowledge.

64. Whatever is seen or heard cannot be different from Brahman. True knowledge finds Brahman to be Being-Consciousness-Bliss and One without a second.

Sankaracharya
From “The Collected Works of Ramana Maharshi
Translated by Arthur Osborne
©Sri Ramanasramam,
Tiruvannamalai, S. India

One definition of Brahman is one without a second. What this means is that nothing can stand apart from God. It also means that God does not have parts. God is one homogeneous being. That’s why I often say that you know God because you are God. You cannot know God by pretending to stand apart and looking at God. In fact even this pretending cannot be anything other than God.

Nevertheless if you pretend to stand as a separate mind and body, you are standing in a place that is much less than you really are. When you stand as a mind and body you are putting on special lenses. These lenses make the whole universe, which is really just you, look like it is outside and separate from you. Instead of this one substance which we call Consciousness and Bliss, there appears to be many thoughts and many forms.

Now you don’t need corrective lenses to fix this problem. Just take off your limitations like clothes that don’t fit, and you will see things the way they really are. You will not only see all of the objects in the universe, you will see the substance that they makes them up; that substance is Consciousness.

As an example the substance of a pot is clay. Pots are made and pots are broken; but all the while the  the clay remains the same.

The same is true for bodies, minds, and worlds. They swirl with birth, growth, decay, and death. But the substance that recognizes theses changes remains the same. You are not a form. You are the still, omnipresent Consciousness. In reality the forms that you see are just Consciousness too. They are made out of the same substance as you are.

But when you overlook this still Consciousness, and take yourself to be limited to a mind inside a body, it appears that you are changing, caught by old age, disease, and death. However, when you return your identity to the source you become the stillness that know the changes, not a changing form. From here the whole universe also partakes of your form. Remember nothing can stand apart from God.

To get in touch with this Consciousness, notice the part of you that’s surprised when you look in the mirror and see that the body has changed, the part of you that against all the evidence that you see, feels that you have not really changed, and that you are not really going to die. When you investigate this part, you find that it’s not a part at all, it’s just who you really are. It is the still consciousness that was before the world was, and will remain when the world passes away.

Yes, when a person dies we often think that the world remains but the person disappears. That may be true for the person, but when you notice that your real identity is the Consciousness that sees the person, things look different. From here when the body passes away, the word passes away but you remain, just as you always were. That’s because the sense of reality comes from the seer of the world, and not from the world itself. Therefore reality does not pass away when the world passes away. Reality remains the same and that’s what you are.

This is the meaning of eternal life. If it is really eternal, then it cannot be created, and it will never be destroyed. So all you have to do is discover what is here right now. When you find the substance that makes the world seem so real, you will know what you really are.

Returning your identity to this still consciousness, you get to see the meaning of this verse directly,  right from your own experience. The world is not made out of material; the world is made by your knowledge of it, and that knowledge is Brahman or God. You are that Brahman. So don’t take yourself to be less than you really are.

This is not something that you discover with your mind, which tries to stand apart from God. You discover this by the power of your own being, consciousness, and bliss, where you are God. Standing here you get to see things the way they are.

I hope that this raises lots of questions in your mind. That’s because when you question what you think is real, you are on the verge of finding out what reality is in itself. It is simpler than what you can know with your mind. You know reality because you are Reality.

And if you need help, ask here and we can explore and find answers together. If the comment section of this blog doesn't work, please send your questions and comments to michael@ananya.com. To find out where this all leads go to, www.light-up-your-life.com. And finally, if you enjoy these blogs please tell your friends.

Best Wishes,

Michael

The pill that cures old age, disease, and death

The revised “Making Your Wisdom Come Alive,” is going well. We have two versions. Yesterday I uploaded the revised e-book with color pictures. It has a clickable table of contents, and book marks so that you can easily navigate throughout the book. We also have a paperback book version with black and white pictures, coming out soon.

If you want to learn more about the e-book, use the link below. It also allows you to take advantage of a 20% discount, good to the end of the summer.

https://www.mcssl.com/app/adtrack.asp?MerchantID=31684&AdID=322803

Now here’s another great question from Bernard. 

Hallo Michael,

             You are right and I understand clearly that standing in the place of awareness where stillness and peace is always present just as in the centre of a tornado while the noise and change is happening all around. If I move out of that centre then I get swept up into the chaos of the wind and what it sweeps around.

Nevertheless in the world of illusion where people come with their problems and ill health and pain I am still called upon to help and make changes in their world of physical matter .I guess the best I can do is still stay in that quiet centre and do the best I can from that place and not worry too much for the consequences. The moment I worry about the consequences I find myself in the chaos and no longer in the inner place of peace and tranquility.

So yes I think I am finding it easier to just stay centered and withdraw my interest in the world as a phenomenon of importance. Today on my walk in the wilderness after the storm with very much evidence of destruction and renewed growth at the same time I was aware that being centered does not mean withdrawal because there was such a light and love all around and I realized that the centre is everywhere and therefore stillness and awareness is everywhere also.

       Best of light,

               Bernard   

Hi Bernard, thank you for your comments. The meditations that you describe are perfect and right on track. See that the stillness and awareness is everywhere. It is the stuff that the universe is made of. This peace is not the opposite of storms and earthquakes. It is also not the opposite of the intensity of life, and the struggle to escape death. 

As you see this, you will notice that there is not really a separate world out there, with the sole purpose of pulling Bernard out of his meditation. Yes you are the eye of awareness, but in reality there is no tornado out there, waiting for Bernard to make the slightest mistake so that it can suck him back into the chaos.

If fact the definition of the world as chaos is just a point of view; it is an assumption. Change your point of view and things are in perfect harmony. You often notice this when you walk in nature. But you have described times when you connected with your patients and there you also felt the same harmony.

This harmony springs from your identity. When you stand as the limitations of the body and mind, then it appears as if you are seeing a separate world. But you already know that you stand as the awareness that sees the body and the mind; you also know that what you see you are free of.

As awareness, you are everything. There is nothing that is separate or different from you. There is no outside and there is no walls in awareness. This is like the space in the bowl seeing that it is just the space that's in and through everything; it is not limited to the bowl. When you find your freedom from that which divides us, you see that which has always united us.

So if you see the world as the world, it is illusory and it is in constant motion. But when you see the world as awareness it becomes real. That’s because the support of the world is awareness. You can discover this by noticing the quality of seeing. The objects may change, but the quality of seeing them remains the same. That’s because the quality of seeing springs from awareness. 

The good news is that awareness does not depend on the presence of the world. As you fall asleep the world disappears and a new one rises up called the dream. In the dream everything is also just your awareness. To the dream character the dream looks real. But when the person in the dream investigates his own identity, he finds that he is nothing but awareness. That’s when he wakes up.

As you continue to shift out of limitation and find your identity as this freedom, you will see that the world can disappear, but you don’t disappear. That’s because your presence did not come from the world, and it does not disappear when the world disappears. From here you will see, right from your own direct experience, what it means to be free from death.

You will also see that when you heal yourself from death, you will be doing your patients the best service. The power of your being will be the pill that cures them from the affliction of old age, disease, and death. 

However if you are called upon to help your patients physically, do the best that you can. You already know that you are just one of many factors that go into healing them. So as the storm did not destroy the harmony of the forest, the results cannot destroy the harmony that makes up the essence of the person. Notice this and be at peace.

One last thing, I often talk in terms of practice. But the freedom that I talk about is here now. That’s why in an instant you can wake up and be free. Don’t assume that you will have a long and never-ending practice. Without a separate I to identify with, who could possibly backslide; without a separate world, where could they backslide to?

With that being said, feel free to continue questioning until you are free. Questioning is the weapon that destroys limitation. In questioning you find the freedom that is always there. This freedom was not created when you were born, and it will not perish when your body passes away. This freedom is what you are right now. If you need help, ask here and we can explore and find this freedom together.

If the comment section of this blog doesn't work, please send your questions and comments to michael@ananya.com. To find out where this all leads go to, www.light-up-your-life.com. And finally, if you enjoy these blogs please tell your friends.

Best Wishes,

Michael