Some Insights
January 31st, 2010 by Wayne (Wirs)
DEERFIELD BEACH, FL–As many of you know, I have been hanging out in “limbo” lately as I try to adapt to this “identity-less” state of enlightenment. Indeed, I’ve come to think of human consciousness as having three distinct levels: Hell (normal, personal self-centered consciousness), Limbo (after the personal self drops, but before full integration), and Heaven (after integration).
A couple of my issues:
- Where is my motivation? Since there is no “me,” why should I do anything?
- Though I tend to “rest” in Oneness, I seem to contract out of it when interacting with people. Do people like Eckhart Tolle, Adyashanti, Gangaji, Amma, etc. remain in the Oneness state all the time?
I sent an email to Nirmala about the motivation question and was surprised at how rapidly he responded. I was so impressed with both his answer and his free service, that I decided to offer the same, free email consultations.
Because of his background, he tends toward the Advaita-type responses (you are nothing/everything/pure awareness/nothing/everything)–where I am more the down-to-earth/artistic/appreciative type. I found his answer so helpful that I happily donated $50 to his work.
Here is my question and his response (sent via email about three days later and posted on his blog). I’ll write more about my insights when they solidify a bit more.
See Also: Adapting To
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February 1st, 2010 at 10:10 pm
Exactly. I’ve heard that level of integration called the Plateau. Living on that level myself. Personally, I don’t believe there is something called “Enlightment”. It seems like a concept that we would like to believe in, but personally, I have never met anyone there, even among some very advanced teachers I have worked with. It’s a very masculine concept….like getting to a goal, and dare I say ego driven. My experience of many years of “seeking” is that when the seeking for enlightment is dropped, life is, I am, and my deepest prayer is “thank you”.
February 2nd, 2010 at 4:27 am
Wayne,
The chakra system is a good basis for catagorizing states of mind. It can be viewed from many different perspectives. It can be understood as basic polarity between opposites of pure selfish and pure non-selfish. It can be understood as basic extremes with a balancing that occurs in the center (heart chakra). Or it can be understood as each chakra having a distinct energy. Your description of hell, limbo, and heaven would translate into: hell could be an imbalance of and emphasis on lower chakras, with also poor function on higher chakras, limbo is just not understanding what is being experienced, or shifting and unsettled expression/perspective, also without the imbalance/emphasis on the lower chakras, and heaven could be a full functioning chakra balance on all levels, healthy, with emphasis on higher chakras. Just an idea. Chakras are flexible, and based on centuries of insight into human experience. Also they are just another system that may or may not fit with your sensabilities so use it if you feel attracted I suppose.
Also, it seems that states of mind are still in the realm of experience, and as such will change over time, evolve continually, for the rest of your life. The peace that is permanent comes from a deeper source which is full recognition of truth. Truth is not based on moment to moment experience, it is permanent. The hindu tradition personifies this truth in the Self. Reside in the self, do not be swayed by the changing state of mind. Enjoy. I wish you well.
February 2nd, 2010 at 6:33 pm
@Carol: I too have mixed feelings about the word “enlightenment.” The ideal is “always in oneness” and I agree with you that this is more a belief than a reality. That’s why I like to define it as “dropping the personal self,” but I still have mixed thoughts about using that term.
February 2nd, 2010 at 6:38 pm
@Terry: Total agreement with you. “Truth” is permanent–there is no “you” just awareness. Everything else is impermanent, ergo, a “state.” That’s the ideal. Thoughts of course are needed in our day-to-day life and they pull us into a “state” of separation. From the point of view of the mind, thoughts are important. From the point of view of awareness, no biggie.