u/pastorcuthbert

Finally Awakened...

The first condescension of light is when we see it as our own enlightenment, buddhanature, tathagatagarba, illumination, awakening et al. Seeing it makes one identify with it calling oneself a buddha, enlightened being, an awakened one or any such title and it is rightly so.

At this event one comes to instantly know truths about emptiness, dependent origination, connectivity to name a few. I had prior insight on emptiness, the groundless-ground, dependent origination, non-arising, interconnectivity but it truly transformed at the dawning of this light. Without this event, these insights are experienced incompletely and as such cannot be applied.

The Mind Illumined...

The second condescension is when it illuminates our mind making the entire multidimensional universe appear as a gigantic glasshouse. The mundane thought streams are replaced by streams of intuitive information that may appear anywhere within one's awareness and the intellect is also expanded. At the same time the light unites with our etheric body transforming it into a body of awakened light whose radiance floods consciousness making one see the universe in its composite parts without any need for deconstructing/destabilision.

The Body Sanctified...

The third condescension is when the light illuminates the physical body. The body starts to take up the characteristics of this light in such and such a way that it can mimic the original characteristics of this light. One's view of the composite parts of existence are conglomerated into a vivifying display of light as if the entire universe were this very light.

With the influx of this intelligent light, the physical body begins to submit to its laws and we have read of some of the great european saints that levitated, had stigmata and whose bodies upon death exuded energy, perfume, strange liquids and even relics.

Some say that enlightenment makes one omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent and omnivalent but I do not agree with this. It is like a smartphone that's able to access the entire internet but that doesn't mean the entire internet has been downloaded onto it. So we have access to a vast pool of power, knowing, presence and valency as far as our enlightened capacity allows us. Bare in mind that our capacity for radiance grows provided we tend to it which makes enlightenment just the beginning.

The light that awakens can easily be distinguished from our own luminous clarity in the following ways:

Our own luminous clarity produces the dream-like experience in both our gross and etheric spaces. We can only stay aware of one dimension at a time. It's either your awake of this physical world or your body is asleep with your luminosity shifted into your etheric body for the dreaming experience. This produces a dreamlike experience on both ends. The light of awakening however allows us to experience both of these realities simultaneously.

The light of awakening can be worked with as a substance and a non-substance whilst it retains its nature of being none of these. Because it shines, it can be focused to increase perception, it can be transformed into energy and made to flow in our etheric vessel system and it can even be made to be feel like a gross substance. Our luminous clarity cannot be worked with, it just exists as a natural part of our being.

The light of awakening is self-luminous whilst our being is not self-luminous. Our beings native luminosity comes from the light of awakening just as the moons light comes from the sun. Infact the knowingness of being is a function of the light of awakening.

When the light-energy of my awakened nature began to shine in my awareness, I saw reality as completely nondual, completely one and impossibly separable. It is like looking at an immensely beautiful crystal that is:

Reflective...

This Reality is able to reflect objects making them appear 'real'. I can see the reflection of myself, this body, this figure, this human person that moves around the earth. My reflection is not self-generated; it is very much dependantly arisen.

Translucent...

This Reality is a conduit of the awakened light-energy shining through it effortlessly making me see it's translucent nature. Most would call this emptiness because of how transparent reality is. To understand emptiness thoroughly we should take a look at the crystal. To be empty is completely different from emptiness; a diamond is not empty but it has the characteristic of emptiness because it it is light-reflective. Emptiness feels like total clarity here and everywhere else through and through.

Solid...

This Reality feels solid and can be interacted with. From the realm of light the crystal is non-solid due to the nature of that light but from the realm of matter it is very much solid.

Rainbow-like...

I can see a rainbow constantly shining within this one reality. It is the five elements (maybe more) wonderfully and intelligently mixed without contradiction. It is tangible and workable from the body of light but intangible and invisible to the body of matter. The rainbow is not self-generated; the elements do not produce themselves.

Structured...

This Reality looks like it is supported by a structure and everything about it is structural. These lattices form the interconnectedness that makes everything within Reality connected to each other.

How then can a single crystal look like two different things? Seeing a dual reality is nothing short of miraculous!

As always, I am learning and wanted to share an insight I had of the above mentioned koan.

Initially

I thought that one hand clapping meant awareness and manifestation are one. There is no reflection, just manifestion. So my view was skewed to just manifestion and that could have led me to the sexy yet subtle trap of nihilism.

Presently

Recent realisations have let me know that the two hands are actually heaven and earth (unmanifest and manifest). As Sengzhao says, Therefore, heaven, earth, and I have the same root; the myriad things and I are one body.

Heaven is causality or what we may call non-physical dimensions. The earth is the gross expression of the four elements simultaneously existing with the fifth which is ether/emptiness. It is only one realm (though appearing as two) because it exists within space. But the non-elemental realms are considered to be heaven or other realms other than this one. These non-gross realms are more than one in number because they do not exist in space but rather in 'time'.

With the sun shining, heaven and earth are one, being non-dual in nature and therefore giving an understanding that the earth does not arise from heaven bringing complete gnosis into non-arising and making it (nondual reality) appear complete. The sound is enlightenment; the coming to know of this instantly. When you hear the sound (if it can be heard) of heaven and earth being one then you are enlightened. It is neither skewed towards the manifest or unmanifest realities.

The aim of this koan is to produce instant enlightenment.

Is like a golden glory that shines like the brilliant sun. The sun that has come to shine fully when the clouds no longer obscure it, but when the cloud cover returns it's light still shines forth.

Enables us to see reality as it is as far as our eye can see.

Is like finding an ancient and beautiful but dusty golden statue at a flea market and immediately knowing it's worth. Everyone around sees the dust obscuring it's truly golden nature and think it is worthless like the other statues. Buy this one and clean it up.

Is like returning to child-like innocence. I literally feel like I have become a little child.

Feels untouchable. It is a radiant, radiation, always expressing its rays, always giving its light. It is as if it has 1,000 faces and 1,000 arms. These are just it's countless expressions and it's countless rays of giving respectively.

I think it can be likened to giving birth because once I beheld it, it's as if all the memory of my previous practice didn't happen. I know it did, but it feels like it didn't. Mother's tell me it's as though they forget about their previous labour and pains during the birthing process.

Is already enlightened. It holds the potentiality of our true state of being which is and has always been enlightenment.

Brings awakening. Without this, we risk falling into the dark pit of nihilism. When a goat enters a pit and requires saving, it will usually thrash at the one trying to pull it out.

Is like a wretched beggar we bypass and occasionally give change. But when we look closer, we come to an astonishing realization that that beggar was us. We call him back home, let him have a bath and a meal then catchup!

It is the missing piece to the puzzle of enlightenment. You have all the pieces, you just need that one piece.

Is not the mind. It should not be confused with the luminous clear mind. It is not one's original face/IAM before birth. Infact my experience is that the luminous nature of the clear mind is from the radiant tathatagatagarba.

Heaven and earth have the same root; the myriad things are one - Sengzhao

Not a religion because it is its own priest and it's own sangha. It is not a path but we have to walk one to get to it. It is not a person but the one who realizes it becomes the tathagatagarba.

Simply is and it resides in everyone and everything.

You have the tathagatagarba, you just haven't taken notice of it yet.

Is as common as grass and as rare as gold.

Cannot be reached through reading yourself into it, you have to search and find it. Unfortunately, literature doesn't do due diligence in explaining what exactly the tathagatagarba is but it tries to to explain what it is like. It can be found through grace and faith, at least that's how I found it. I confess that it was neither my knowledge, effort or skill that brought me to this.

We are like royalty in this world that have been given countless indulgences of the six senses. But we have to give up this temporary throne of carnality in order to begin our journey into realizing the tathagatagarba.

Appeared in glimpses as if outside of myself but when it's dawn came, I realised it was always here.

And no, it is not a taboo to say you have encountered the tathagatagarba.

The following as are my other posts are from personal experience and I try by all means to avoid any theoretical back & forths. But I also stand to be corrected as this is a field I believe we are all students of. This is also not my view from the standpoint of my faith.

I believe enlightenment has everything to do with the concept of the 'morning star' which it is recorded that the buddha had seen & experienced awakening. I am of the opinion that the morning star is the actual buddha nature and should not be confused with our original face before birth. Our original face is bright and luminous but it is not self-luminous and radiant like our morning star. Infact, the luminosity of the original face comes from the morning star just as the moon's light is a reflections of the sun. A user named xabir mentioned in one of his articles that IAM is not buddhanature.

The morning star also known as the divine spark, the super consciousness, the genius/daimonium, ones innate buddha nature, the higherself, atman, spirit, solar being, the interior sun to name but a few. Each and everyone has a morning star but it isn't perceived just as we do not perceive our original face and the noself nature of our perceptive life. We also have to discover this morning star to bring the dawn of awakening to our reality. With this in light, pun intended, I do not believe that realization of our presence-nature is an awakening. Rather, I believe that it is just a realisation and when the morning star arises, awakening happens .

I've noticed that a great amount of information out there skews enlightenment towards the great earth; the mirror is pointed to manifestation and it is just manifestation, just this. This is less than partial in my opinion because it only gives a little understanding as to what reality really is; one is able to see part of the manifest reality but the unmanifest aspect of reality is undiscernable and indescribable to them.

When one's original face merges with the morning star, presence-illumination happens, as if one's eye has been awakened and it appears that manifestation including one's own consciousness is illuminated inside-out. It becomes radiant in such a way that that light can shine on/in the consciousness of others. It isn't just luminous presence, it is now illuminated and radiating presence, enlightenment, buddhanature itself. One sees dependent origination with their naked eye, one is able to see the buddhanature in others and in all things. Previously in presence, one just saw themselves in others and also in other things, but now you see their own innate buddhanature.

And this awakening is also a key advantage if one is a teacher or has the aspiration to teach. This is because one is able to transmit this light to others self-nature giving them the much needed information and resources they need to turn it into realisations. Of course conditions, willingness, faith and practice are needed by the receiver of the transmission.

Now when this happens, one has become the buddha because there will be an identification with this illuminated & radiating presence. The selfing mechanism doesn't just go that easily especially when something extraordinary like this happens! We will have to 'off' the buddha we have become and that is to put an end to grasping and idolizing it as some form of loftiness. Actually, buddhahood doesn't make one greater than others, it just makes us become everyone and everything's servant in as far as we are allowed to serve.

And yes, the dog has buddhanature... An enlightened woof!

Realizing our original face can happen through practice or by the Lord's grace. We can venture into self-inquiry to find it or the Lord through his power can make us realise it without our assistance.

Our original face¹, original identity, soul or self is naturally devoid of any specific likeness and is therefore open, formless, void and non-substantial. Therefore the goal of our spiritual journey is to be transformed from that initial openness into the very image and likeness of the Creator and we grow from one glory to another increasing glory into this likeness².

To achieve this, we have to rely on the Creators instrumentality to get there without which would produce a totally different result. We should understand that the instrumentality given is specific to each one and there is no general case that works for all. One may have an orthodox spiritual director and another may have a pentecostal businessman as theirs. One may be a member of a large church in order to learn and grow whilst another may be part of an online community. Just like plants, our growth needs and environment may differ³.

When we are authentically baptised in water we join the Lord Jesus Christ's body and when we are baptized in the Holy Spirit we are joined to his spirit⁴. This leaves one office of the Holy Trinity which is the Father and that is where our soul¹ comes in; when we have walked bodily and spiritually in complete obedience to God our open face is gradually transformed into the likeness of God's Image as a potter transforms a lump of clay into a jar. When this process is complete, the jar is ready to use and the Creator can pour himself into us and this is theosis. As Jesus said Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.

1... Jeremiah 1:5—Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.

2... 2nd Corinthians 3:18—But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

3... 1st Corinthians 3:6—I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.

4... John 3:5—I tell you the solemn truth, unless a person is born of water and spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

There comes a time when it feels like we have exhausted the entire framework of enlightenment and what remains is what seems to be the refinements. This is a classic case of grasping onto the vehicle that brought you to your destination and not actually stepping out into freedom. When you have reached your destination and are still within the vehicle, there's this sense that there's nothing left to do and there's nothing more to achieve. In actual fact, stepping out of the car reveals a whole new world of activity.

Maybe it doesn't matter what vehicle you used to get here but at some point your going to need to step out of it. This is what is called 'offing' the buddha. Really, we're not offing anybody, we're just letting go of the vehicle that brought us here. We have spent so much time in the vehicle that we have mistaken it for our self. It was our refuge and we got to know the other passengers so well that they had sort of become family. You had become the buddha, the buddha became your self. Let's settle the driver and exit the vehicle.

Settling the driver

The law of Karma does not just allow us to walk away. There is some way we have to karmically settle the driver so that we exit the vehicle without any karmic challenges. This is where you find an individual offering public teachings, another opening an ashram, another doing charity work, another sponsoring the work, another joining the priesthood, whatsoever 'fee' the driver quotes. Realisation here is very important so that we can pay the quoted fee and be on our way. We should by all means avoid assumptions as to what that transport fare would be.

Exiting the vehicle

Once we're done settling the driver, we exit the vehicle and bid farewell to the driver, the passengers and the comfort that the vehicle gave us. Now there is no buddha, no sangha, no refuge whatsoever. Instead new world of activity opens up to us and we are free to explore it. We aren't looking at the world through the cleaned out windows of the car but have now begun to directly engage with manifestation... This is the True Suchness, the birthing place; all that we had been through before was just preparation for this. This is only the beginning.

Pointing out is like giving someone a GPS coordinate or location on the map that will be implanted in their spirit to guide them to specific destinations interms of realisation. It can be performed by anyone and it is an excellent tool if you are a teacher or have an interest in sharing nondual truths with others effectively. But we should understand that pointing out is more of a spiritual act than a mental or physical one. Here are two important principles you can add to your arsenal for efficiently dispensing nondual truths to others:

Maturation of spirit

A matured spirit is likened to a tree that produces fruit that others can reach out, pick and enjoy. The tree doesn't only give fruit but it also offers shelter. It is like a clean flowing river that nourishes those that air either travellers needing a quick drink or have come to stay. The mature spirit can point out to others and it can be experienced as glimpses, insights and even full blown awakenings. The more you become proficient with your spirit, the more ways open to you to imparting wisdom and light unto others.

Conditionality

Pointing out relies on conditions without which will not produce results in the receiver. Pointing out in the absence of necessary conditions is like trying to plant corn on solid concrete. But when the conditions are right/ripe, that corn can grow to a point of maturity and it too can continue the work of replication.

Besides these key points...

At times ones mature spirit can radiate insight, openings and empowerment to receivers by them being in proximity to them either on site or online. This is because our spirit is not bound by the laws of space and can function at any distance in time.

Some paths avoid investigating the human spirit and will usually rely upon other spirits not related to the human matrix for this work. The practitioner practices rituals intended to make themselves empty for a spirit to dwell in them, these are called deity merging practices in general. And so the spirit that has come to reside in the person can point out through the practitioner and it becomes the guide for those who have chosen to receive it.

Realisations can be put to practical use. One such realisation that I frequently use is emptiness. Objects may be said to be empty and anything that is inherently empty can be filled.

Let's take oil for example, though the oil is a physical substance, it may be said to be inherently empty by default. I can put light into that oil turning it into what we call holy oil. This can be done with other objects too. This is what makes icons, relics and even haunted houses peculiar.

What is put inside the object doesn't dwell in the objects form but rather in the objects emptiness. This is why a massive spirit can dwell in a very small statue, why an individual can host a legion of demons and also why an entire witchcraft coven can hold meetings in a small plantain tree. Most importantly, this is why we can be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Let it be known that our capacity to be empty can grow increasing the measure of God's Spirit in us. Though we can be filled with the Holy Spirit, His measure depends on our capacity and that capacity depends on sacrifice.

Experiencing the witness state happens much quicker than we would like to imagine and we become witnesses to every single appearance from the perceived vantage point of awareness. I would like to share how much easier it to shift from the witness state into boundless awareness.

As we feel and know awareness is here, we can begin to investigate where precisely it is and we do that by observing where impressions appear within our awareness. There is a kind of 'impact' that impression have upon awareness that we are to look for and it is in varying degrees; some things do not bring any impression upon awareness whilst others leave a lasting impression. Our goal here is to trace where precisely these impressions occur within awareness.

What we are really grasping is not awareness or appearances, but rather the impact between the two. This is where the grasping is, this is where the selfing happens. Here is what may be expected:

1 Boundless Awareness:

Awareness will start to feel boundless and all-encompassing. You will feel as though everything moves and has its being within this boundless awareness and you will feel apart of it.

What we need to understand here is that no matter how boundless and objective our experience of awareness is, it will always be subjective because the person right next to you won't be able to feel what you are feeling.

2 Law of motion:

Because we have the idea that awareness is boundless and all-encompassing, we note that everything is constantly in motion. Heraclitus once said you never step in the same river twice because it is not the same river and you are not the same man. Everything is constable changing, shifting, moving and as it moves, so does the content of our awareness. Pay attention to the motion within awareness to loosen the strength of grasping, contemplate the transience of appearances.

3 Nondual Awareness:

The 'line' between awareness and appearances will now seem to be non-existent. Not that it was all of a sudden erased, but rather that you all of a sudden realized it never existed to begin with. There will no longer be a grasping onto impressions as they will no longer feel distant, separate and apart from you anymore, they will feel connected to you as one seamless display of happenings. Everything will feel connected, it is just One. Awareness is one hand and appearances is the other; when the grasping onto awareness against the backdrop of appearances is released, you will come to know that the impressions or the sound of two hands clapping had always been performed by just one hand all along.