Advaita Post 09-13 -

Year No. 9 13 (September 10 2008)

An introduction and talk in Gouda May 14, 2008 – 4:
The further unfolding of the sensory non-duality

You write somewhere that at a given moment the”I am” disappears. How does that relate to the openness?

The thought 'I am' is the first and last quality of self-being. You can experience that that also can disappear.

All the qualities that can be experienced, can become universal. In that way they become continually more subtle and at a given moment just disappear. This is true also for the final qualities of sat-chit-ananda: being ‘I’, consciousness, bliss. Can you really experience that? I don’t mean theoretically, by talking, but go there in your own experience. Notice that an ordinary experience can develop universally and that in that universal sphere there is still an enjoying “I am”. If that [universal] quality is really allowed to thrive, the “I am” becomes increasingly rarefied and entirely disappears.

Is that then beyond the non-duality?

In the process of experiencing, there is first a development of non-duality in the observer and the observed. That “situation” directly becomes universal. Within that there is still an undifferentiated “I am”. From there emerges the non-duality of “I am” and That in which it disappears.

But if there aren’t qualities any more, then isn’t there any more bliss?

The last quality is that of infinite goodness. Just let the depth remain open.

When there is an impulse towards genuine openness, there arises not only a horizontal non-duality, but also a vertical openness in which the absolute stands free As qualities appear, the absolute also remains present.

That I don’t understand.

As space you'll surely understand it. What you see here in space, is included in the larger space. This space is not any different from that larger space. You can become aware of this area as part of the large space. This can mirror itself so far that you become aware of the absorption of the large space into the origin. That origin can remain in experience. When something appears, it appears therein. The phenomena arise from that origin and disappear within it once again.

The manifested and the unmanifested are one whole.

Yes, thus let the unmanifested remain open in ordinary experience.

But there is no person who sees the manifested.

No. There is indeed no person any longer who opens himself and sees the unmanifested. The unmanifested is not present in the actuality of ordinary experience.

Do you mean that the unmanifested is knowable?

It is not known in the ordinary way of knowing, not in the way in which the word “know” is normally used.

Is it recognized through intuition?

That, too, is also a word the meaning of which is too connected to a particular psychological function. I use the word “being-experience” to indicate it as a kind of experience in which the experiencer also is. Normal experience and knowledge always have a subject (I know) and an object (that). When both merge there is a non-duality which has the tendency to resolve into something inexpressible.

Actually it is comparable with your body awareness, because in that there are certain parts that are still not present in the consciousness, and other parts that are.

For that being-experience I often refer to the body, because within that the non-duality can be directly seen. You recognize the non-duality easily in the experience of your own body. Therefore, it’s good to begin with that, since it’s something concrete. We also do this in yoga. Your body has a subject-aspect and an object-aspect, an “I” aspect and a thing aspect. Yet they go together. As you dive within there is a non-dual being-experience, that unfolds universally, simply because there are no separations any more. Then the whole cosmos is your body.

Be careful with this physical approach though, because you're frequently still in your head and there is also the separation with your legs, and so on. The pattern, your body image and body scheme is persistent. If you really return to the direct experience of the merging of subject and object, the pattern can simply disappear. Let yourself relax. Then you’ll notice it very quickly.

Can you experience that?

I'm still with that enjoyment that we were talking about. I can’t articulate the question. Something isn’t clear ...

Go re-examine see how it is.

Something was enjoyed. And in that field of enjoyment there is something that thinks it can posses it. But it is pure illusion that an “I” is there.

Yes, and the breakthrough is then immidiately the great joy. For from the ego‘s position you enjoy only a small part.

The moment that you become aware of it, that you have been projecting a separated thing, then you're free from the illusion.

Yes, hopefully with that then you are ready to be free from limitations.

What I was referring to now is letting the inner development that is within enjoyment continue. In the experience itself there is a development towards the universal non-duality. I saw recently how babies receive the breast. You can immediately see that they enjoy it, one hundred percent. There is no separation, no “I enjoy this delicious milk." Find that space within yourself. Then you can let the experience unfold. Then, only the non-duality remains clearly present.