Alexander's Email:
Hey Gary,
I have been engaged in this spiritual "work" for many years and around 2017 discovered you. I must say I'm very fond of you and Rich and admire your intellectual maturity, clarity, and simplicity. :)
So, I took on the
self-enquiry practice very seriously and it helped me overcome some very
negative mental habits I had. I got rid of the internal monologue and
established a more or less mentally quiet state. But, then I
discontinued the practice, thinking that was it. I have been thinking
about this again and wanted to get a few thoughts from you - as they
might be what I need to get through to the last step.
1.
My first question is: is there something higher than this (this
relatively quiet, thoughtless state)? In other words, if I keep at the
practice will I lose a sense of identification with "me" and morph over
to a state of "universal I" where I feel this as a real and true
concrete reality? (I also want to emphasize the importance of this being
real and permanent - not just a temporary thing or a case of mental
projection.)
2. My second question is what your
experience is with the out-of-body experience. Are you familiar with
Robert Monroe or William Buhlman, do you have direct experience with it
yourself, and if so what do you think? The Buddha himself had a
cosmology of a vast multidimensional universe, with devas, demons, and
ghosts, and the Maharshi himself makes references to the OOBE and a
locale there, and I was interested how you might connect this to
nondualism.
3. From here I was interested in
your thoughts on the after-death state. If one dies in a state of
nondual consciousness, after death one would go on to the formless (?)
reality, which the Buddhists and Hindus called Nirvana or sama-samadhi
correct? And this would be preferable, apparently, to the after-death
state of "heaven"? What do you think?
4.
And my last question is your thoughts on reincarnation. I read one post
of yours which surprised me as I recall you saying you didn't believe in
it. Is this true and if so can you clarify (and perhaps give your
reasoning / experience)? What do you take as that which is
"reincarnated" - is it a summary of our actions, a spirit, a self - or
do you really not subscribe to it?
Thanks, Gary, and keep up the great work you are doing!
Gary's Response:
Q1. Yes, if you restart and continue diligently with your self-i(e)nquiry, you will "lose
a sense of identification with 'me' and morph over to a state of
'universal I' where I feel this as a real and true concrete
reality"..."real and permanent". your stopping self-inquiry is very typical.
The blogpost "Self-inquiry vs the egos/Is - how it works - the neuroscience" describes how self-inquiry is a battle between the "antis" and the "pros" for continuing the process.
How
far one gets is determined by which group of Alexanders (there are
hundreds of them) assembles the largest constituency at any given time
as the process unfolds. It is a battle between the increasing clarity,
positive experiences and decreased suffering of the "pros" against the
fears of the "antis" with this terrifying (to them) loss of their
numbers and power.
It
is a battle between the desire for an end to suffering against the
fears which are encountered. How far the process goes is defined by
that balance.
As
the post explains, this is how all of our decisions are made "off line"
in the "elephant" part of the brain which has 500,000 x the computing
power of the conscious, "on line", "riders", whose chattering back and
forth has no real meaning.
On
Q2, never heard of Monroe or Buhlman. Have heard of what folk believe
that Buddha said, although virtually all competent linguistic scholars
state that we have no idea what Buddha actually said. This is covered
in the aforementioned "Why Buddhism is True: The Science and Philosophy
of Meditation and Enlightenment".
On Ramana's experiences, yes have read about them.
Re
personal experience, yes, it happens, logically, as one progresses.
"i" have been sitting on the ceiling of the Zendo during a Zen sesshin
and watching what was going on below, for example. As to relating to
"nonduality" as one becomes more clear on the perception that "i am not
this body", it is an obvious conclusion. This was covered in my latest
book, "Evolving Beyond Thought: Updating Your Brain's Software".
On
Q3 and Q4, it is a religious fantasy to believe that "you" go to
heaven, Nirvana, Hell, Heaven or "reincarnate" as some improved version
of yourself w/a little more work to do. The best book on this is
Wright's "The Evolution of God". The blogpost "no sin, no karma, no good deeds, no bad deeds" deals with some of this.
Since you have found Rich's and my dialogues to be useful, the blogpost "Predestination, free will, control and the illusion of time" covers this, particularly the latter parts where we discuss the Higgs field and "She".
As
mentioned in other venues, as there is less and less of "i", there is
nothing left of any consequence to be retained that hasn't already been
incorporated "real time" into the aggregate "learning" for benefit of
Her evolution, so that "ripple" in the Field is just absorbed into the
"Field of Universal Consciousness/Her".
This
is true for "everyone", whether they do self-inquiry or not. The "i"
is an illusion that all humans have...there's nothing really there as
our neuroscience and personal experience can confirm.
Going
forward, as you know, there are lots of resources, all free in some
format. There is a lot there, which begs the question of how one
decides which one to listen to. IME, the "right" resource at that time
will "feel" different from all others. The blogpost "Feeling your way to nondual awakening" can give some helpful tips.
It is important to keep in mind my oft-repeated theme of none of us being in control of "these lives".
Ramana Maharshi and Albert Einstein discovered the same thing:
Questioner: How did you make your amazing discoveries?
Einstein replied: "I claim credit for nothing. Everything is determined, the beginning as well as the end, by forces over which we have no control. It is determined for the insect, as well as for the star. Human beings, vegetables, or cosmic dust, we all dance to a mysterious tune, intoned in the distance by an invisible piper."
Questioner: "Are only the important things in a person's life, such as their main occupation or profession, predetermined, or are trifling acts also, such as taking a cup of water, or moving from one part of the room to another?
To which Ramana replied:
"Everything is predetermined".
Ramana Maharshi and Albert Einstein discovered the same thing:
Questioner: How did you make your amazing discoveries?
Einstein replied: "I claim credit for nothing. Everything is determined, the beginning as well as the end, by forces over which we have no control. It is determined for the insect, as well as for the star. Human beings, vegetables, or cosmic dust, we all dance to a mysterious tune, intoned in the distance by an invisible piper."
Questioner: "Are only the important things in a person's life, such as their main occupation or profession, predetermined, or are trifling acts also, such as taking a cup of water, or moving from one part of the room to another?
To which Ramana replied:
"Everything is predetermined".
Trust this is useful.
stillness and letting go
gary
