Shifting From a Thought Based Reality

A non dual recognition has the potential to trigger massive shifts, on the level of consciousness.

So much of these shifts are discussed quite thoroughly in non duality satsang. What makes it difficult to point to them, is that these descriptions give the mind a way to control the awakening process…which, in reality, is uncontrollable…and also not describable. It’s like describing the taste, smell or feel of something to someone.

In today’s blog I’d like to describe the shift from a thought based reality to one in which life is no longer seen through, navigated, or attempted through thought..I call this the crumbling of the separate self, de-conditioning, the falling back into no self, or simple…awakening….awakening from the world of thought, which is also a world of form. The world of form (or separation, “you” and “me”) can only be maintained through thought. Therefore, the entire fictional world of the “me” is manifested based on thought.

When the world of thought is woken up from, the world of the me is also woken up from. And the world itself is woken up from.

The truth is, that this is a totally messy, dark, and intense shift. It is not a pleasant one in terms of pleasure and pain. But this difficulty singularity resides on behalf of the “me”, the world of thought itself. It is dualistic. Yet, this shift is a necessary aspect of the expression of consciousness on this path.

When we say the world “crumble” or “dissolve” or “to awaken from”…in spiritual interpretation this is actually seen as a positive shift. Yet, in the true sense of a non dualism, it is neither good or bad. It is the ending of any interpretations of what this shift is in and of itself. It just is what it is.

As soon as interpretation arises and the mind tries to unravel and understand what it is that is shifting exactly, it starts to experience excruciating pain. This was exemplified by both Jesus and Buddha on their enlightenment journey, as both were tested by the devil, or demons right before their initial egoic dissolution into the Truth.

Additionally, pain, or resistance to this process arises, simply because abandonment of the old world, the world of thought, is not actually wanted by the mind. Because it is the loss of the illusive sense of power that is crumbling, and being resisted.

So, what are these demons and devils? They’re the subconscious aspects of the mind, which have long driven the thought based reality of the separate self. Collective and ancestral traumas, as well as individual and egoic tendencies begin their unraveling.

On the human level these shifts become very evident, as people, places, environments, and relationships start to loose their meaning. The Self stops trying to navigate these forms, and the resulting mind basically goes crazy. This insanity is the egoic loss of identification, personal meaning and the end of playing roles that once led to a false sense of psychological security.

As the whole apparatus is dismantled, there can be a massive stuckness, depression, and confusion on behalf of the self that is dying. But it must be understood that nothing is actually being lost. In fact, it is the substrate of the Light or Self itself that is being remembered. These dark energies are simply reminders of the eternal, indestructible, nature of Being as they are often followed by periods of great release, clearing, and surrender.

As the mind tries to maintain its old life, it will find it at one point or another, impossible to do. The only and absolute landmark, or road sign, can be one that reminds one into a continual surrender into the Self. And in fact, the Truth is there really is no going back.

Once the awakening process has started…it will follow through to completion.

"It is helpful to remember that neither truth nor enlightenment is something to be found, sought, acquired, gained, or possessed.

The Infinite Presence is always present, and its realization occurs of itself when the obstacles to that realization are removed. It is, therefore, not necessary to study the truth, but only to let go of that which is fallacious. Moving away the clouds does not cause the sun to shine, but merely reveals what was hidden all along.

Spiritual work, in other words, is primarily a letting go of the presumably known for the unknown, with the promise by others who have done it that the effort is more than well rewarded at the end."

From: “The Eye of the I: From Which Nothing is Hidden” (2002), Chapter 8: Beyond Causality—The Spiritual Direction, p. 117