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21st April 2022 04:50
Link to Post #2861
Avalon Member
Re: The Higher Self and transcendent experience, including OBEs
I believe there are already several threads on the Forum regarding The Hero's Journey. I would like to very briefly interpret that journey in a slightly different way here. That's because it so happens this is also the soul's (true) journey, over and over, throughout all of our life. (I suggest that's why we like to watch movies or plays or read novels or watch TV talent competitions and so on -- to remind us of, and also to reflect from a distance on, what we ourselves are really doing.)
Practically all that we believe we know is built out of what's in our collection of memories. All of that is (precisely) our conditioning. Yes, some of our conditioning (such as professional skills) may quite often serve as a good thing. But life is also continually confronting us with so many critical situations or intense problems to which our conditioning and our education has no answer, at all. Like the hero forced to journey far out of his comfort zone, our mind once again throws its hands up, so to speak, unable to see any reliable way ahead. And yet, like the hero, we obviously must take a blind leap of faith at this point, knowing that the mind will probably not be so lucky as to now somehow hit on the right answer by accident.
Welcome to the world of the soul, where the unknown becomes a very joyful place to adventure in. This is where the mind finally stops searching, because navigating the unknown is beyond its capabilities. Like the hero, it's only when the mind has put everything aside completely, letting the consequences be damned, that the momentum of all the conditioning, of the whole world of the known, can come to a complete stop. The end of all that the mind thinks to be permanent (yet which is all impermanent). The dark night of the mind (and not of the soul, despite what St John of the Cross may have said). Only then does what the intuition, the soul, (holistically) sees and creates as the obvious but novel and ingenious solution, come shining through or bursting forth. This is why the soul is sacred.
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24th April 2022 06:14
Link to Post #2862
Avalon Member
Re: The Higher Self and transcendent experience, including OBEs
As far as I can tell, I have experienced, or know, or know of, certain things or phenomena which are timeless (and also beyond space -- i.e., apparently beyond, or not chained to, physical space, nor any location in it). That means they're right in "soul territory". These have been, and remain -- at least in my memory and occasional experience -- in certain ways the most lovable and wonderful and uplifting and important things or phenomena of all. Hence I am moved to try and understand these things a little better intellectually (in addition to celebrating and enjoying them in other ways too).
Because I suspect I didn't find them totally by accident, I believe a little attempted retracing or reflection on how I came upon them shouldn't hurt, along with a little conceptual analysis of their foundations and implications. This may sound just too abstract or "intellectual" for many. But for me, it's also an excuse to bask in a different way in the glorious memory of them. And yes, that could lead to attachment to them, but it could also shed light on possible new lines of approach.
For present purposes, I'll start from the assumption, which Vedanta and ancient Taoism both apparently make, that Spirit (or the supreme Self or Way) is the fundamental underlying or all-permeating reality. There's nothing else, not even "nothing" in the nihilistic sense of Western atheists and materialists. I'm also assuming here (based on my own direct vivid experience that this is so, and also for simplicity) that Spirit in itself quite transcends Time and Space. This would mean that Spirit then merely makes use of the descriptive value of those notions (Time and Space) where appropriate, but that they aren't fundamental "components" of Spirit itself.
After all, we can fully understand what physical space even is only by seeing it as based on the notion of "extension". And that notion is broader than just a physical one, and therefore it must be a spiritual or mental one! That's because all change or movement (in any sense, not just the physical) is based on our having the prior existence of such "extension". And in fact (as you can see when drawing back from the physical), extension must be a spiritual notion, because the mind (and the mind-plus-emotions) itself needs a (subjective as well as objective) mental "space" (or "extension") to live in, which in turn can only be granted and created for it by the Spirit. So, then, what extension actually is is Self's or Spirit's containment
of the entirety of the actions of its own Energy.
Beyond all manifest space-time there exists (there must exist! because we are spirit) a timeless "space" (for lack of a different and better word) that's "larger than the largest and smaller than the smallest", as the Upanishads state, meaning it's beyond all measurable dimensions. It must exist because how else are we even able to stand back and consider "everything in space-time"? And beyond the dimensions of space is -- guess what? Dimensionless space? Or call it Consciousness if you like. But certainly, this is the "Self" described in the Vedas, that holds the entire universe in the small space or dahara akasha within the higher) heart center (or, if you like, simply "the heart"), that the Vedas say contains all time and the entire universe.
This, in turn (if you've given me enough rope that you've accepted the plausibility of all this so far) naturally leads us to a Consciousness (higher than any type of Mind) which would e.g. regard our past, present and future in one view, containing and not contained in them, not situated at a particular moment of Time for its point of looking (out or in, or both).
But now we've gotten inside of the Divine worlds, which may seem even more "far out" than the view up to this point, and also more paradoxical. So I'll stop at this point. I think that's more than enough hopefully mind-bending truth for now. And of course, I need hardly mention I do realize that the main thing anyway is to experience the glorious beauty of the soul and of the Divine and not worry too much about how exactly to describe exactly what it really is.
Last edited by TraineeHuman; 24th April 2022 at 06:23.
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27th April 2022 22:18
Link to Post #2863
Avalon Member
Re: The Higher Self and transcendent experience, including OBEs
The soul naturally exists at a dimensional level higher than the mental, astral, and physical worlds. (And therefore, of course, it exists quite beyond what many might consider to be nearly all the qualities that make them the individual they currently are.) Accordingly, around the time of birth it takes on and then moulds a new mental body and new astral body to go with the physical body and the couple/family dynamic it has chosen to enter. Then, after physical death, these eventually will be discarded (after some years or (in the case of the mental body) usually after centuries). The soul, however, is timeless (that is, unless or until it chooses to merge into something higher).
Because the soul is also aware of higher realities that are found in realms beyond time and space, its choice of what particular body and situation to be born in will most certainly have a definite and detailed and ingenious overall purpose. An aware individual will usually have or develop a very general awareness of what that soul purpose is. However, some details of the soul's purpose may remain hidden throughout one's physical life, for a variety of reasons.
Also, for example, in infancy (and thereafter) the new human being will develop an ego, in an attempt to cope with the pressures of the limitations that the physical world and interactions with others exert. The infant's ego (and hence, later, that adult's ego) cannot tolerate total accord with another, because to the ego, that would be to lose its identity. Usually the only exception to this in infancy is with the infant's mother (but not all the time, either, even with her). Notice how this opposition to harmony is in complete conflict with the soul's (and the Spirit's) natural agenda. The soul is always seeking to create cooperation and concord wherever possible. The soul is continually well aware of the need for it to make concessions or even sacrifices to bring about the best outcome for both parties in the end.
The above are just some of the reasons why the great majority of people will mostly only hear/"see" the soul "through a glass, darkly". But we are all evolving spiritually, and so it's inevitable that in some lifetime or other, after sufficient inner development, the soul will at rare times temporarily take over or dominate the mind in a benevolent way. I have temporarily experienced this myself in various ways. At a very advanced stage, though, I know that this can become permanent and full-time. The soul can, so to speak, descend permanently into the mind and genuinely transform us into something operating at a higher level of wisdom. However, this is very rare (so far).
Unfortunately, there exists a "psychic readings" industry and various traditions of part-time mediumship where, today, we see a plethora of would-be oracles of the hidden truths about what is really going on in individuals' lives. Trouble is, though, only a smallish percentage of the individuals involved have truly and permanently raised the level of their mind to that of absorption by the higher mind.
Allow me to explain more about the soul's situation. The soul has probably experienced at the very least hundreds of past lifetimes on this planet, plus who knows how many more in how many other worlds/planets. It's profoundly wise. But apart from its messages in the dreams it generously and tirelessly gives you every night, the truth is it's a huge learning process for your soul to successfully communicate much of anything else to you -- unless you've truly taught yourself how to listen. Unfortunately, the great majority of people don't teach themselves that -- not that it's easy to do. The soul keeps trying, but ... well, no-one's listening at the other end. I'm sorry if this sounds insulting, but for the soul it's a little like a world-renowned professor trying to communicate with a child who hasn't learnt to talk much yet.
Fortunately, there are methods for fixing this. I've already talked in a previous post about how to listen to the "still small voice". The other methods I know of would all be "advanced practices", but I'll mention them now just in case. In this thread I've already mentioned getting genuine "downloads". Also there's getting "visions", which are like full-color broadscreen movies lasting at least for some minutes. Trouble is, because these are truly "advanced" phenomena, you'll need to do some super-good and advanced meditating or consciousness-uplifting and then just maybe they can happen, sometimes. A possibly somewhat less "advanced" version is to learn to cultivate spontaneous experiences of "inspiration". Many professionally creative people try to use this. You can, for example, ask the question you want information about (or put the problem which needs to be solved). Then you meditate, but you need to rise to a high level, of overflowing joy and bliss. Then, not long after the meditating, you tune in again to the bliss, and out will flow plenty of good, high-quality information straight from somewhere deep in your mind.
Another method I know of seems to come only with considerable advancement in meditation, so that you've already at least had some kind of experience of the Divine worlds. You become aware of how your "subconscious" sometimes actively makes itself known to the conscious mind, usually in a wordless way -- though actually it will be your subconscious PLUS the super-conscious, which is the soul. This means you're in some way mastering how to "let the subconscious (and the super-conscious) in". Then you'll find (or, at least, I've found) that at rare but crucial moments in your everyday life the soul will sometimes briefly take over the conscious for a few minutes, for example to prevent thoughts about any topic except one, so as to rather unsubtly steer your mind in exactly the right direction that it should be looking at.
Last edited by TraineeHuman; 27th April 2022 at 22:20.
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2nd May 2022 07:47
Link to Post #2864
Avalon Member
Re: The Higher Self and transcendent experience, including OBEs
There is a recent thread on the Forum attempting to intellectually discuss the question of what is time (assuming that's a meaningful question, which strictly speaking I suggest it isn't, not quite, -- as I'll try to explain here "now").
Let's consider the findings of the great philosopher Kant (and by "great", I mean that in the world of Western philosophy, "modern" usually means "from Kant or after Kant"). He correctly observed that our mind's knowledge of what time it is always precedes, and pre-tags in advance, our mind's very act of perception of whatever event or object or circumstance we're looking at. Hence, it absolutely follows that time must be something that's altogether "in here" (in the human mind) and not "out there", despite what we may imagine. (However, it's also true that in a sense you could say our consciousness (which was lying "within") "expands outwards" for that moment, but not "outwards" in any sense of ceasing to be "within" us.)
So I agree with Kant (and Zen, and the Vedas, and so on): time isn't something we can ever know, or get to understand, by or through thinking, at all. In fact, all true knowledge (ultimately!) comes entirely through what we are, anyway. After all, you are (a) Spirit, or a soul, and nothing less. True knowledge is always a matter of realization. Yes, I know that word sounds almost like "creation of what's truly real". But all true knowledge, even of mundane things, is a matter of consciousness, and of the soul. The memory isn't what goes "click", any more than the movement of the clock hand is what constitutes time passing.
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2nd May 2022 08:27
Link to Post #2865