Pure Consciousness: The Last Frontier

What you wrote here, Aurelius, is beautiful beyond words. It is Consciousness Awakening unto the true nature of Itself. Such awakenings, rare in so-called “ancient” times, occur ever-more frequently now. Before long it’s likely that Awakenings unto holistic, pure awareness, such as the one reported here, will become the norm, rather than an exception to the rule, as conceptual awareness gives way to the arising of Pure Awareness of the Whole – a new “level” of Awareness coming forth in humankind.

Initial awakenings, however, because they are so new, are often somewhat veiled, as a consequence of our deep-seated, longstanding identification with conceptual Mind. Consequently, in the aftermath of Awakenings unto that which is beyond conceptual, the egoic mind-of-self inevitably intervenes and conceptualizes what has just been holistically realized from within. One then proceeds to describe the “vision” that occurred in the same terms that one has customarily used before. Thus, the notion of “me” as a separate entity remains, as "I" describe “my” experience, “my” journey,” and “my” vision of what just occurred.

My purpose in pointing this out is this: if one continues to remain open to all possibility then a single “vision” will not likely end there. Highly enlightened teachers – such as Jesus, for instance – in whom a sort of “grand mall-like” Awakening occurred, find themselves wandering in the “wilderness,” if you will, for some time thereafter, as the process of Awakening is ongoing for the rest of their lives. Opening to this process allows for the possibility that the mind-of-self be set-aside and eventually be done away. This process of laying down self thus allows for Thy Will, rather than “my” will be done.

This being said, please allow me, if you will and per your request, to point out where egoic tendencies of identification with the “me” remain evident in the declaration you posted here. This is done, not to discredit this moment of Awakening in any way, but to point out what typically remains as an impediment to evermore Awakenings of “Pure” uncorrupted Awareness to the point one might begin, as did Jesus, to live ever-more fully in a state of “NOW” as a true Son of God – to use an ancient phrase.

Please also know that as I write, I will endeavor to avoid words and phrases, whenever possible, that overtly imply duality, even though all words are conceptual, therefore dualistic by their very nature. I do so to point to that which is Whole (as best one can), rather than dualistic, because in the end one realizes, as you also point out here, that the universe is not as it seems to the conceptually thinking, dualistically interpreting human mind.

I am not responding to your post, therefore, with the intention of nit-picking every word or phrase (even though it might sometimes appear so), but rather as a catalyst for further insight to arise, knowing that questioning every ‘thing’ is a means to opening evermore doors. Saying this, I’m suddenly reminded of Paul’s (Saul of Tarsus) Awakening when it is said that he “heard” a voice declaring, “it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.” It is in this vein (as “pricks”) that my comments are intended here, in hopes of shining yet more Light on your already shimmering prose.

The following is a more detailed response:

AURELIUS WROTE: "The Universe is always whispering to us."

JCT RESPONSE: Perhaps better said, "whispering in and through us," as "we" are not separate from the Universe. The word "to" implies duality, as in separate entity, and no such entity exists, except as created and interpreted by the conceptually thinking Mind.

AURELIUS WROTE: "Most of the time we don't hear it because we are too busy with other things."

JCT RESPONSE: Perhaps better said, we are much to identified with "things," and thus ignore (remain ignorant of) that which is beyond "things."

​AURELIUS WROTE: "One of the advantages of being sick (yes, there are a few) is that some of the outside noise and static..."

JCT RESPONSE: Noise and static arise from within and not from without. There’s no such “thing” as “outside” one’s self because there is only ONE Consciousness arising within the universe as a Whole.

AURELIUS WROTE: "... goes away and you hear what the Universe is saying more clearly."

JCT RESPONSE: Yes, but there is no separate “you” hearing the Universe. Rather YOU (as in ‘One Consciousness’ YOU) are made more fully Aware of what is already here/now.

AURELIUS WROTE: “I found out a few days ago that I am missing chromosome 13. That probably seems like an odd, random fact until I also tell you that 50% of people with Multiple Myeloma are missing chromosome 13. When the doctor told me I was stunned for a moment because I really thought my disease was due to environmental issues involving hurricanes and old buildings.”

JCT RESPONSE: One universal Truth that might be be realized with greater clarity here is that all “things,” including species and disease, arise from within, not from without. As previously pointed out, there’s no such thing as “outside” one’s self. Consequently, no “thing,” including disease, arises or appears outside of that which is already fully integrated with the Whole. Therefore, there is no reality “outside” of the species of life, only Source expressing through Life its many faceted experiences we call life, as perceived, conceived, and interpreted by the human mind.

AURELIUS WROTE: “Suddenly, I was faced with the fact that I was meant to get this disease from before I was born.”

JCT RESPONSE: Yes, in the sense that you were born this way, and that is so.

AURELIUS WROTE: “The missing chromosome is a mutation, and not inherited, so I was specifically chosen for this journey.”

JCT RESPONSE: What “you” ARE is NOT a separate entity, nor is Source from whence you were born separate from “you.” So there is no “choice” or “journey” for any separate entity to make or take. One might say, there’s an experience of unfolding that occurs in all Life – like a flower blooming – but even that falls short of the Whole Truth when it comes to insight into the nature of the Whole of Creation. The words “choice” and “journey” are expressions of duality – this versus that and here versus there. Consequently, these notions of choice and of journey are, like all other notions of separateness, concepts of Mind and illusions of ego; the ego that identifies with the idea, the feeling, and the sense of what seems to be (to the ego, at least) the experience of “me” separate from “them.” But there are no separate entities or individual experiences – only Source (or God, if you prefer) experiencing the “world” through a life we call “you.” In this case, Source is experiencing life minus chromosome 13, but otherwise life similar to all other life “experiences” occurring everywhere in the world in this moment, NOW.

AURELIUS WROTE: “This epiphany caused an amazing vision in which I saw the whole Universe spread over space and time and how everything was (IS) interconnected with everything else.”

JCT RESPONSE: In such a moment there is no “I” looking at a universe separate from “you,” but rather, an Awakening occurred, much as one wakes from sleep, momentarily revealing or unveiling that which is beyond concept; a “level” of insight and understanding beyond “what people here adore,” as the ancient Vedic saying goes – the word “here” pointing to concepts that people ‘here” adhere to, as conceived and interpreted by the conceptually thinking Mind.

​AURELIUS WROTE: “Nothing is random.”

​JCT RESPONSE: Therefore, not chaotic, but purposeful.

​AURELIUS WROTE: “Time is an illusion and everything has already been written.”

​JCT RESPONSE: Written, but not fully expressed in this moment now, which is why one continues to write.

AURELIUS WROTE: “Just because you are on chapter six does not mean that chapter seven doesn't exist yet. I think this hypothesis is also supported scientifically.”

​JCT RESPONSE: Scientifically speaking, I cannot say this is true. Perhaps you’re aware of some discoveries of which I am not? In any case, such a statement might be accurate regarding the teachings of awakened Sages of both ancient and modern times in whom similar realizations to that which occurred in “you” likewise showed or appeared, confirming what is being pointed to here, which is a “level” of Pure Awareness beyond concept, image, feeling, and thought that is just now awakening within humankind.

​AURELIUS WROTE: “The Universe is very orderly and predictable from everything we understand.”

​JCT RESPONSE: The physical universe is only “predictable” to the extent that manifested creation is under Law. Physicists are able to describe these laws mathematically, which means they’re predictable to the extent possible, as conceived by the Mind of man. Universal Law is superseded, however, by potentialities that are endlessly available and everywhere at once at the moment of Creation, which is ongoing, dynamic, and occurring eternally NOW. This POTENTIAL not only allows the universe to unfold and evolve in a purposeful way, but also allows for Awakenings to occur within that which Consciousness creates. Not “your” consciousness or “my” consciousness, but the Consciousness that permeates the universe as a Whole. Consciousness is beyond measurement, beyond concept, beyond anything that the laws of physics will ever be able to describe.

​AURELIUS WROTE: “If all of the billions of people on this planet were constantly making random choices then the Universe would be a lot more chaotic.”

​JCT RESPONSE: This statement suggests that people do NOT make “random” choices, does it not? Which logically follows a previous statement that “nothing is random” in the universe or in other words, things don’t happen by chance. I only add that the world seems more chaotic than it otherwise would be if people didn’t falsely identify so much with the egoic self – if that occurrence did not take form and shape in the way it does.  The key point here, however, is that people do NOT make “random choices,” which might be an indicator that PEOPLE do NOT MAKE “CHOICES,” as is commonly believed, at all.

​To see this more clearly, another question one might look into is, “who or what made choices prior to the appearance of humankind?” Humans are said to have appeared six million years ago, give or take, or 13.7 billion years after the Big Bang. So who or what made “choices” then, prior to the appearance of humankind, through more than 99% of evolutionary time? Consider the possibility that no entities have ever made “choices,” including humans, then or now. Why? Because there is no such “thing” in the universe as a separate “entity,” therefore no entity to make a separate, individual “choice.”

​Entities are an invention of the human egoic Mind. They are concepts that divide what is otherwise an integrated Whole into illusionary parts. Consequently, what occurs, I suggest, is the ego, in its ignorance, presumes IT is in charge, thus “doing” the “choosing” when in fact, “choice” is a function of Consciousness Itself, occurring Here and Now out of the POTENTIALITY of ALL possibilities in any given moment of evolutionary time. So the ego, resulting from a strong identification with a conceptualized self, only presumes to be in charge when in fact it is not. This is pointed to in the ancient teaching, not “my” will, but Thy Will be done. This teaching, I suggest, does not point to an egoic choice, but simply states the fact of WHAT IS actually and universally SO. As a consequence of over-identification with conceptual thought, however, the ego merely “thinks” that its will is being done, as an imagined separate entity, when in fact THY WILL is being done instead.

​AURELIUS WROTE: "But if we are simply playing parts in a great novel then what is our purpose in creation?"

JCT RESPONSE: “Our” purpose in creation, as with all creation, is simply to be as open as possible so that the highest or greatest potential, whatever that might be, can evolve, unfold, or arise from within, or perhaps better said, can evolve, unfold, or arise within that which Consciousness (or God) creates.

​AURELIUS WROTE: “In my circle, a common way of thought is that each of us is a spark of the Divine Consciousness…”

​JCT RESPONSE: Yes, but it would be well for us to leave it at that and say no more, as in “Thy Will” be done. After that, what is there to say beyond living in the NOW?

​AURELIUS WROTE: “…and that through many incarnations we are evolving back to the whole by realizing our divine nature and shedding our egos.”

JCT RESPONSE: The problem with this statement, depending on how one reads it or “sees” it, at least, is that it seems to suggest that “incarnations” occur in connection with “you,” as a separate entity, as in RE-incarnation, until, at some time down the road “your” ego falls away. Tis true, incarnations occur constantly, even NOW as I write, but one incarnation is not a RE-incarnation of another entity, for no entities exist separately anywhere (as if in a separate place), whether in this dimension or the next. Entities, as has already been said, are an invention of Mind – a product of ego due to over-identification with the concept of “me.” It is EGOIC IDENTIFICATION that needs to fall away in this life here and now – not only in “your” life, but in all life, and not in an imagined life hereafter.

​As was previously pointed out, absent the concept of time there is no time, and I would add, there is also no other place, such as a hereafter separate from “me” now. So absent time or place, where do RE-incarnated egoic entities reside when they’re not “here?” The problem with the notion of RE-incarnation, one might see, is that it’s seen and understood from the point of view of “me,” as separate from “you,” which we are saying here has no validity beyond a concept of Mind. Thus, an “obstacle” to deeper insights into the integrated and functional Wholeness of Creation remains, declared as “I,” “we,” “me,” as if there is such a thing as an “I,” “we,” or “me” who RE-incarnates through place and time, from one conceived dimension to the next.

​And if we simply use the word “incarnate” instead of “reincarnate” in our commentary have we negated the problem? I suggest not, because the “shedding” of ego occurs only as all aspects of the notion of the egoically generated “I,” “me,” or “we” falls away. And the ego generally falls away when one realizes what “I,” “me,” and “we” are NOT. And what “we” are NOT is an entity reincarnating through space and time. In THAT “seeing” one then realizes that which we ARE. In a phrase, one might say, that Awareness is what we ARE and Awareness is NOT an object, thing, or entity that is “seen.” Thus, that which we are NOT is an entity separate from that which we ARE. Only in moments absent egoic identification with that which we call “self” does the Divine spark of Pure Conscious Awareness shine through.

AURELIUS WROTE: “It sounds good and enlightened but upon reflection I do not find it to be the pure truth. Our souls are never disconnected from The One and never lose their perfection.”

​JCT RESPONSE: Just as ALL is woven together and thereby integrated as ONE, so also the Soul of man is ONE Soul, not many – not “your” soul as an “entity” and “my” soul as a separate “entity” – but the One Soul of ALL humankind. And the One Soul never is, nor has ever been “disconnected” from the One Source of ALL, or ever “lost” perfection, as the ONE SOUL is perfect just as it IS. Consequently, “we” do not perfect multiple souls, but the perfection of the Soul of humankind, as a Whole, is perfect just as it IS.

​AURELIUS WROTE: “Our egos in each incarnation are simply costumes that are discarded at death. A whole new ego and set of characteristics encase the always perfect soul at the next incarnation according to the new role we will play.”

​JCT RESPONSE: This suggests – although it's not crystal clear, given what has previously been written – that the ego is not an “entity” that reincarnates over time and, if so, I concur. To say “our” ego, however, usually implies that “we,” as separate entities and separate egos, continue to play “roles” from one incarnation to the next, as in a RE-incarnation of “me.”

The ego, as with every “thing” else, is neither an object nor an entity, such as “you” or “me,” but is a process of conceptual identification that occurs in human beings. All humans experience ego to varying degrees, and all in the same way. We are either highly identified with concepts, thoughts, feelings, and the “objects” of the world that arise from within, and are therefore considered egocentric by nature, or we are not. Additionally, like all else, the egoic process is ONE process, not many, as is often mistakenly believed or implied.

​AURELIUS WROTE: “So that brings me back to the question, what is our purpose in creation? It was revealed to me…”

​JCT RESPONSE: It was revealed IN you, was it not? This “vision” or INSIGHT – as I prefer to call it – did not appear “to” you through the senses, did it? Rather, it arose and appeared from within. Thus it was and is much like an Awakening from sleep. Rather than a vision or occurrence that appeared “to” you from outside of your self, it arose from within.

​AURELIUS WROTE: “… in a moment of clarity that we are the eyes and ears of the Divine.”

​JCT RESPONSE: YES, well said! So, no need to separate “you” from the Divine because in Truth, you ARE THAT. As this statement implies, the real ‘YOU’ beyond the veil of entity/ego “you” is simply AWARENESS of that which is consciously expressed into the world through the eyes, ears, bodies, what-have-you, of ALL manifested creation, rather than through “you” as a unique separate entity. Thus, ALL expressions are the same in this Light: they ALL arise out of the One Source of ALL that IS and express into the world through that which Consciousness creates. Another way of saying this is, “It's God’s world, and not our own.”

​AURELIUS WROTE: “Cosmic Consciousness needs our eyes to see the beautiful mountains and oceans it created and our ears to hear the ecstatic harmonies that resonate throughout creation. God is No-thing but stillness, pure love, joy and obviously a creative energy. It needs our senses to perceive and enjoy what it has created.”

​JCT RESPONSE: YES, so no need to speak of “I,” “me,” “we,” and “us” as separate entities anymore. For as you say, it is God’s “play” and not our own.

​This is not to say we are mere puppets in God’s play, however, as is sometimes said, which implies a separation of the puppet from the puppeteer or director of the play. But rather, we are a direct extension, one might say, of God, the enactor of the play. And our only function or duty, so-to-speak, is to ALLOW the action and dialogue to arise and express from within absent ego coming into play and thereby getting in the way.

​AURELIUS WROTE: “We are interconnected in a symbiotic relationship between The One and Creation.”

​JCT RESPONSE: Beyond a “symbiotic relationship,” which again implies separateness –why not simply, “WE ARE GOD, SO GET OVER IT,” as enlightened teacher and author, Jeff Foster has been known to say.

​AURELIUS WROTE: “So play your role with the skill and gusto of a Laurence Olivier. Be the best You that you can be and always accept your fate. It was already written by the best author around.”

​JCT RESPONSE: This speaks to an essential teaching of Eckhart Tolle, as regards ALLOW. To allow requires that the ego NOT be “in play,” so the universe can unfold just as it wants to and should, without ego getting in the way. But beyond the “mind-state” of ALLOW please also realize that in Truth there is no “you” allowing that is separate from that which is allowed. So in this Light one might say, drop the “role” that has been culturally imbued and draped over the Real YOU and simply BE as you ARE, a true child of God; born of God, living Life as God in the manifested universe absent ego getting in the way. BE THAT ONLY, and all will be well.

​AURELIUS WROTE: “And never, ever walk by the color purple in a field without admiring it.”

JCT RESPONSE: A lovely sentiment, indeed, rightly pointing to the idea of living in the NOW. This brings your commentary full circle, which is generally a good thing for a writer to do. But if we look closely, deeply at this statement we might learn from it, too. In this Light, what if, for example, as one walked by the field, the color purple went unnoticed and therefore un-admired? Would that be okay, too? If it’s God’s world and not our own, who are we to judge? After all, if God is truly ‘looking” out these eyes it would seem that whatever occurs is right for the moment, wouldn’t you say? So, judge not and then, as St. Francis pointed out, “do as you please,” but only if such pleasure arises naturally, absent judgment getting in the way.

​Please don’t take what’s been written in this response as an indictment of your beautiful and insightful work. For it is clear that what’s being pointed to in your commentary refers to an Awakening unto that which is beyond concept and thought. That alone has far more value than any words written here.

Given a request to reply to your commentary, this response is intended to be a catalyst for Awakening unto ever-greater Awareness still. Thus, one comes to realize that notions of “I,” “me,” “you,” and “we” are egoic illusions of the conceptually thinking Mind, attachments to which, in the end, must finally fall away. Absent illusions of Mind, ever greater clarity might instead arise, as the “walls” of the egoic “me” begin to weaken, crumble, and fall away.

Enlightenment, when all is said and done, is more about realizing what “you” are NOT than realizing what YOU or the universe IS. In the absence of “me,” all is revealed in good time, for as Jesus pointed out, “your Father [already] knows what ... ye have need of [even] before ye ask.”

                                                                                                                                                      Namaste,
                                                                                                                                                      jc tefft