To: K-list
Recieved: 2000/10/07 10:14
Subject: [K-list] The Role of Consciousness
From: Bob Vincent
On 2000/10/07 10:14, Bob Vincent posted thus to the K-list:
Hi All,
I'm still fairly new around here, so pardon me if I am bringing up a
subject which may have been discussed at length in the past.
We spend a lot of time here talking about our objective experiences
with K, and strategies for dealing with the excesses we might be
enduring at any given time. That is all for the good, for dealing
with K involves many practical issues, often directly related to our
ability to function in the world. In that sense the discussions here
have a certain urgency, as they should. Yet I feel something
fundamental, something important, has been left mostly uncovered in
the discussions, at least since my arrival a month or so ago.
The question is of the role of consciousness in all of this, the
subjective side of who we are. We did touch on samadhi
(transcendental consciousness) some weeks ago, but did not get much
into the practical benefits of the presence of this in relation to
navigating the up's and down's of our K journey, or in navigating the
humdrum of daily living.
It is no coincidence that Hillary's study on K triggers places
meditation of various types near the top of the list as a K trigger.
It is also no coincidence that Sannella's work involved analyzing
some of the extremes of K awakenings, many which were induced by deep
meditation. The purpose of meditation in most traditions is to
cultivate the silence of our innate inner awareness into daily life.
This inner silence is our primal state, that which precedes all else,
the fountainhead of all existance and all experience, that which is
the experiencer in us, that which is never undone by any relative
event, the proverbial "rock" which Jesus encouraged his followers to
build their lives upon. Interestingly, with the cultivation of deep
inner silence comes two things- The activation of K, often as a
gradual awakening in step with the emergence of silent awareness into
everyday life. And also, perhaps most importantly, the inner stabilty
to observe and withstand the storms of change brought on by an
awakened K, as well as the storms of everyday life. In short, as we
become the silent witness we not only awaken K, but we are in a
position to observe the metamorphosis with detachment and intuit the
measures necessary to cope with it.
Obviously what has just been described is not everyone's experience.
It represents a "normal" (or ideal) scenario, if there is such a
thing in human spiritual evolution- The emergence of absolute bliss
consciousness, naturally giving rise to K awakening, its symptoms and
its ultimate fruition. What is often seen is something different- K
symptoms prior to the emergence of absolute bliss consciousness- a
premature birth as it were. What I have been wondering ever since I
got here is whether meditation is an appropriate prescription for K
symptions, given that cultivated inner silence is both the natural
state from which to experience K (along with everything else), and
also a primary cause of the acceleration of the K experience. I have
often said "no" to this prescription for others having K difficulties
(even though deep meditation is my primary path) because K symptoms
are often aggravated by meditation. So how does one find the inner
silence to move forward in an already awakened K scenario? There is
evidence that an awakened K alone will ultimately give rise to
absolute bliss consciousness. For example, this was the case in the
journey of Gopi Krishna, but he had to go through many years of hell
to get there. Are there easier ways to directly introduce the bliss
of silent awareness into the lives of those who are in the thros of K
awakening symptoms? It is a pretty important question, given
what the role of the evolution of consciousness is in the overall
scheme of K awakenings. It seems to me that sooner or later absolute
bliss consciousness has to arise in every K awakened individual. The
question is, How and when?
I wonder what others' experiences here have been with meditation and
the rise of the silent witness from within, both prior to K awakening
and after it. It would appear to be an area where discussion of the
practical benefits would be worthwhile, given the fundamental
characteristics of consciousness in the overall K process. Would
anyone care to comment on this?
My perspective on this is that the cultivation of consciousness has
been primary both in the awakening of K and in the conduct of my K
journey. It also appears to be fundamental in terms of the increasing
permeation of the sense of self going out into ever broader vistas as
the K experience expands over time, i.e., a direct correspondence
between K expansion and consciousness expansion. The relative
experiences themselves, glorious or not, seem to be of less
significance than the gradual emergence of a sort of blissful
universality of self. To me, this is the fruit of the K journey, the
gradual unfolding of consciousness (self) to an eternal cosmic scale,
gradually transcending habitual dependencies on the temporal
existence of this world.
Just some thoughts thrown out in an attempt to stimulate discussion
on the practical role of consciousness in the overall K journey.
Peace,
Bob
http://hometown.aol.com/bobvincent
_/970938884/
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