God is a fountain flowing into itself St Dionysius
In the light of the mirror of you,
the universe observing itself through consciousness.
Roger Penrose
Who has prepared this evening meal? asks the seeker. A man, responds the sage.
Dost know his name? asks the seeker. Not I. His name is not spoken.
He is more silence than speech.
He is above name.
What food has he prepared for
this feast?
Himself, no less than himself, says Meister Eckhart.
The moral is that those who live the life of
the five senses never taste this
food.
Meister Eckhart
What I describe here, everyone can check out for
themselves in their own inner lab:
In self-reflective stillness, the sensual
experience of the inner body imiedeatly grows. Just being quiet and focusing on one's inner self
can work wonders.
At the forefront of the exploration of
consciousness lies an endless expanse of bewilderment. Every time we cross its
frontier, we are met with a new level of perplexity, a series of endless
mysteries behind the mysteries. Yet, it is precisely in this space of mystery
that something profound can occur. When we redirect our curiosity from its
natural outward trajectory to an inward exploration of itself, we may be able to
develop an expanded state of abstract awareness and consciousness.
This shift is not easy, however, as the
human mind is primarily designed to focus on the external world and ensure our
physical survival through the intake of calories. Our subjective 'I' is not
naturally programmed to look at itself, to observe its own inner workings.
Therefore, exploring the depths of consciousness requires utmost sincerity and
vigilance. We must commit ourselves to the task of inward exploration, even when
it is difficult, and when we are met with resistance from our own minds.
There are all too few who are fully ripe
for
gazing in God's magic mirror. Meister Eckhart
The restless and outgoing mind can however be
tricked inward through the process of meditation. When you close your eyes and
ask yourself, Who am I?, the
knowing of not-knowing
intensifies. Initially, a sense of bewilderment arises as the 'I' asking the
question dissolves through the very act of questioning.
I am certain
as I live that nothing is so close to me as God.
God is nearer to me than I am to my own self;
my life depends upon God's
being near me,
present in me.
So is he also in a stone, a log of wood,
only they do not
know it.
If the wood knew of God and realized his nearness
like the highest of the
angels does,
then the log would be as blessed as the chief of all angels.
Meister Eckhart
Consciousness is everywhere, but
it is not conscious about itself being conscious. Hence the real
fun begins in a human being with the extraordinary capability to
know God, which in my interpretation of Eckhart is equivalent to
self aware consciousness.
When you look for yourself, you dissappear
There is nothing to understand. Papaji
Meister Eckhart suggests that to see God, we must
become blind. This may seem paradoxical, but it points to the fact that the ego
cannot look at itself without spiraling into annihilation.
When we direct our attention inward,
an unknown something observes itself. This activates an infinity function
where
the
solid conscious observer instantly melts into fluidity, so that the one asking,
Who am I?, ceases to exist. We are only our 'I' as long as we look away from
ourselves. Consequently, we vanish each time we try to catch ourselves directly,
and without a subject capable of understanding, understanding becomes
meaningless.
Not knowing is in this sense wisdom as opposed to knowing which creates
knowledge.
When Awareness is directed against itself,
a feeling of not knowing is created.
When Awareness is going out,
knowledge is created. Nisargadatta Maharaj
Thus, the question Who am I? dissolves, and we, like a rubber
band, snap back to our normal equilibrium of being a solidified 'I'. However, this
new 'I' is
different from the older one that just one second ago tried to get a glimpse of itself. As we know
from quantum physics, we cannot observe anything without changing it. We cannot
even remember something without changing our memory of it. Therefore, the
disappearance of 'I' during introspective self-examination creates a spiraled
transformation, where a new 'I' contineously replaces the old 'I'. The relay of "Who am I?"
is now in the hands of the next 'I' in the race towards a black hole of
continuous death and rebirth.
How to see God? To see Him is to be consumed by Him
Ramana Maharshi
Ego cannot look at itself in God's magic mirror,
without spiralling into anihilation. However pure consciousness in its
essence can do so and even thrive. In the micro ego-death of self enquiry, a more intense awarens is
born. The strange and wonderful thing is that as the
not-understanding and dissolution of solidified subjectivity intensifies during
this investigation, so does the abstract consciousness experiencing it. Through the loophole of
increasing curiosity-driven awareness of not-knowing, our consciousness expands
in both quality and quantity.
Atman and Brahman Let me in this context repeat the lessons from the chapter
What is
Consciousness.
Consciousnes in its abysmal essense does not expand, neither in quantity nor in
quality. Consciousness belongs to another dimension where such terms from time
and space does not give any meaning. What expands in clarity and quality is the
part of the human brain that somehow is able to recreate a simulacra of the
primordial ground.
In India, since ancient times the individual human soul has been called
Atman. The universal soul was termed Brahman. In this context it
would give meaning to view Atman as a brain derived simulacra of ding an sich.
In this context, I envision Atma-consciousness as
a time-space 'copy' of the absolute space-timeless primordial abyss. Individual
human made consciousness can be compared to a soap bubble,
whose thin and ultra-transient membrane reflects the sky.
Atman in Brahman
The black hole of the soul When the human created space-time created simulacra consciousness in such a loop begins to chase
its own tail, wakefulness accelerates in intensity. It can be illustrated by the
acceleration of gravity and breakdown of traditional natural laws that happens
in front of a black hole. I do believe this is more than a mere analogy. The
cosmos is consisting of reuse of mathematical algorithms on all levels from the
infinite small to the infinite big. We are in this sense a mini galaxy with a
black hole in our soul. We fear the hole as death and at the same time we are
attracted to its attraction. The brain-derived possibility of Atma-consciousness
in feed-back singularity falls in love with the grand attractor abiding in
ding an sich. This is the needle
point where death and life meet in a dance room beyond time and space as we know
it.
This is what Meditation is all about: to make Atma-consciousness aware of
Brahma-consciousness in an expanding self-referential loop with the potential capacity
to end in a singular state of explosive conscious not-understanding.
In this context, the following statement from Meister Eckhart gives 'sense':
In unknowing knowing shall we
know God.
He further states:
Had I a God whom I could understand,
I would no longer hold him for God.
Eckhart rarely uses the the term consciousness.
Among the Western mystics, the singular state of consciousness has been termed 'God'. God is
in my view nothing but a projective concept of a rare state of being within man's own event
horizon. God abides in the complexity of the human brain as super consciousnes.
Let us sum up. The 'variability' of consciousness is, at its core
is a result of the human brains ability to enter an intensified state of self
referentiality. The first looped stage is when consciouness becomes aware of
itself in wakefulness.
Mystics from all times and places have
experienced something that so far have been out of reach of comon man, occupied
as he was with the algoritms of survival. Meister Eckhart states:
When the spirit turns from all
things
becoming into the not-becoming....
Then the void shines into void.
On the narrow
path of describing consciousness as experience, I would now declare that there
is a state of concentrated consciousness where it becomes self-aware
in being able to experience experiencing.
THE OUROBOROS STATE OF CONSCIOUSNESS I call this state the Ouroboros state of consciousness
The Ouroboros state can only happen in highly advanced and complex biological
brain structures with an extended capability of
self-referentiality.
The ouroboros state of consciousness begins where the snake is
feeding on itself. It is the autophagy state of
mind, where, as Meister Eckhart states, man becomes his own meal. It happens
when consciousness goes into a feed back mode. Human Consciousness as a
Fedback Loop Where the attention goes, the prana flows. In introspection
consciousness is becoming aware of consciousness in a loop. This
is why the introvert question of who am I, is devoid of answers.
It creates a feedback loop where the entity that puts the
question dissolves. In this state one basically loses the
connection to the outside known world in the same way that a
microphone in feedback is not able to amplify what it normally
is designed to do, like a speech or a song. When information
dissolves behind the event horizon of the black hole of
consciousness, an abstract subject-object-less wakefulness as
such arises.
A healthy soul in a healthy body
If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, infinite.
W.Blake
In this context, I would define the term,
enlightenment, as a singular feedback of Consciousness into Consciousness. Here
Rumi's polishing of the mirror becomes mandatory. Consciousness and it's
time-space correlate in the form of the capability of high quality experiencing
is necessary for Consciousness to reach a point of no return in order to enter
the state of a singular feedback.
A dull and low quality of attentive consciousness, will not be able to reach the
point of no return.
The possibility of being conscious about being conscious is most probably a
feature that only can evolve in grown-up humans and some of our primate
relatives.
The child pictured above is conscious, but it is
still not being conscious about being conscious. Maybe there is, as Annaka
Harris discusses in her book, a pan-Consciousness present in all matter.
However, this Consciousness is not self-aware. A trained meditator will often be
awake in even slow wave sleep. However only when he wakes up into being aware of
being aware he can have a glimpse of the fact that he was aware of being aware.
The meta-awarenes of being aware will emerge gradualy as we grow up. A
human being is, in this respect, a concentrated rabbit hole of self-awaring
Consciousness. We are self aware oases in the vast delicious dessert of primordial unconscious
Consciousness.
What is the mirror of consciousness made of seen
from the Atma level? It consists of neural feed back connections between brain
cells. A mirror is a feed
back mechanism.
The human sensory PA system A phenomenon that can illustrate introverted attention in
singular feedback is an amplifier connected with a microphone
pointed at itself. When the microphone is busy sensing extroverted sounds
like a singers voice, the system fufils the purpose it was
created for. However, if a sensitive microphone comes too close to the
loudspeaker it is connected with, an explosive sound like a howl will emerge.
The singularity of sound feeding into its own
output radically
overwrites the normal functions of the system. As sensory bio-feedback we
function quite similar to this
self-oscillation process.
Actually a professional PA system is
designed not easily to go into a feed back mode. Even professional stage
microphones for live concerts are designed with a certain dullnes towards
subtler weak sounds in such a way that
a feed back is prevented already in its birth. Evolution has for sure made the
same mechanism for our senses, in order to prevent us from the stand and
stare mode when we were supposed to hunt for calories.
Creating a feedback loop between a microphone and speaker requires three key
components that are similar to a meditative feedback loop:
•
Firstly, the microphone needs to be placed near or pointed towards the speaker.
Similarly, we need to get close to ourselves and direct our attention inwards by
shutting out external distractions.
• Secondly,
the input sensitivity of the amplifier must be turned up. Similarly, our senses
need to be sharpened and attuned. We can only achieve this heightened inner
sensitivity through intimate and vulnerable honesty. • Thirdly,
when the output volume of the amplifier is turned up, there may be a sound
feedback. The greater power outlet of the amplifier is comparable to the outlet
capacity of a healthy and strong person. When we have an excess of healthy
physical energy, with an abundance of chemical-firing neurons, we may find
ourselves in various states of flow, even in external situations like running or
dancing. This form of feedback is more prevalent in young people.
Within this spectrum, there are basically
two meditative extremes. One pole
consists of sensitive introvert people, and the other of people with lots of
outgoing
energy.
Visual feed back Another type of feedback loop can be observed when a camera is pointing at itself through a monitor screen.
Below is a video clip that illustrates a
dynamic version of an accelerating introverted loop. The loop in the video is
created simply by pointing a video camera at the TV screen it is connected to.
The fractal, singular, and kaleidoscopic patterns are created by the handheld
camera constantly amplifying its own signal. Tiny movements in the camera create
unpredictable and dynamic changes, all leading towards the Great Attractor of
infinity.
Isn't it thought-provoking that such a simple act as pointing a camera
at oneself can create such surprising and complex phenomena?
Self referential Amplification through the five
Gates of the
Senses The mirror and the microphone provided
us with illustrative examples of light and sound feed back.
In the human body the awarenes of inner sensations and feelings
is the first to get activated. Once you close your eyes, there
is an instant and automatic rise of abstract sense based
awareness within the body. Sense amplification is the first step
into the meditative self-referential space.
An Indian Saint once shared with me that his first
groundbreaking enlightenment experience began
with an itching sensation on the top of his head. As he sat in
front of an enlightened Master and looked at him, the feeling
grew until it consumed him and he lost all sense of time, space,
and body.
As a general rule Introspective self referentiality happens
first through the close and intimate registration of body
sensations. From there on it can happen through all the five
sense circuits. One can in meditation commonly hear sounds and
observe light phenomenons. Even taste and smell can in rarer
cases get activated.
Thoughts are sounds Even the thinking mind can be triggered into a self-referential loop.
Repetition of a mantra, where a syllable, a word, or a sentence
is repeated mentally or even loud ad libitum, is a sound-based
meditation. In this repetition, the cognitive meaning in the
thoughts vanishes, leaving the meditator with pure sound.
Thoughts, in essence, are sounds. Even the initial "Who am I?"
meditation is essentially a thought-based technique that
collapses the cognition of thoughts.
It's important to note that the quality of self-referential
amplification depends on the quality of attention given. Dull
and low-quality concentration cannot reach the point of no
return, which is necessary for consciousness to enter the state
of singular feedback. An attention interface that is too
obsessed with chasing external objects will only meet with
boredom when looking inside.
This state of singular feedback, which I define as
enlightenment, occurs when consciousness is amplified into
consciousness in such a way that it comes close to the
singularity. The capability of high-quality experience in
consciousness and its correlation with time-space is necessary
for consciousness to reach this point.
Two forms of meditative feedback In a regular meditation session, most of us will only experience a
full-blown explosion of pure consciousness in rare cases.
However, less can also do. When turning inward, the level of
feedback intensifies, not enough to go into a singularity but
enough for us to feel blissful and relaxed. The Indian called
this state Sat Chit
Ananda.
The synaptic dance of the
Ouroboros
The ancient symbol of Ouroboros, the serpent eating its own
tail, represents the cyclical nature of life, and in the context
of neurochemistry, it can also represent the continuous feedback
loop of signaling chemicals in the brain. When we meditate, we
can experience a range of feelings from relaxation to ecstasy,
which can be explained by the activation of the brain's
signaling chemical circuits. In this sense, life's purpose could
be seen as the pursuit of a cocktail bar of signaling
substances, each with its own unique effect, such as serotonin,
dopamine, GABA, acetycholine, DMT, and many others. With up to 200 different
chemical neurotransmitters keeping the party of life going, the
possibilities are endless.
Psychedelics and meditation Interestingly, people who use entheogenic substances often report profound experiences of eternity and
divinity. This is because these substances increase the
sensitivity of the brain's five input circuits, resulting in an explosion of
a multitude of self-referential feedback loops. The similarities
between meditative and psychedelic experiences is rooted in the
world of feedback interfaces. In both cases, sensory impressions
are intensified to the point that a singular feedback loop is
inevitable, leading to visions and experiences beyond the
ordinary. THE DARK INNER SPACE AND THE
TENNIS BALL
The body is much rather in the soul
than the soul is in the body.
Meister Ekchart
When you delve into the depths of
meditation, you'll encounter a myriad of internal sensations
that swirl around within your body like clouds. Some of these
feelings are familiar, like love or worry, while others remain a
mystery, nameless and incomprehensible. Even the sensations you
know well become increasingly enigmatic the closer you examine
them. That's where my chapter on
Meditative spatialization
comes in. Here we'll take a closer look at the space that
contains these feelings and investigate the stage upon which our
inner demons and gods act out their roles.
Inner spaceholding In a state of deep meditative attention, the sensations and
feelings you experience are all contained within an inner space.
This space is felt subjectively inside your body, and as your
focus spirals inward, the dark space that holds these feelings
becomes more conscious of itself. The feelings and sensations
grow more intense, but so too does the container that holds
them. Without this expansion, you'd be overwhelmed or even
traumatized by their sheer intensity. However, during an ideal
meditation or even a psychedelic journey, this space can grow in
size, intensity, and clarity, all in accordance with your level
of concentration.
This next statement is crucial: as you approach the vertical
self-referential singularity, the space can expand to such an
extent that, as Meister Eckhart put it, the body is more within
the soul than the soul is within the body.
Picture this: I remember the first time I felt like I was truly
inhabiting my own body. But in a heartbeat, my entire perception
shifted, and my body became this tiny little speck in an endless
expanse of space. Suddenly, the feeling of being in a body
vanished altogether. It was like a tennis ball turning inside
out, an absolutely mind-bending realization that permanently
changed how I saw the world.
This incredible experience is what happens when short-distance
senses, which occur within the realm of awareness, transform
into a field of light and sound that expands into conscious
darkness. And when you finally reach the singularity, everything
- even light and sound - disappears into the void of pure,
unfathomable nothingness.
God's exit is his entrance.
He broke in to let us out.
Meister Eckhart
It's wild to think about, but it's true: the way in leads out.
This journey takes you from a physical sensation to a limitless
expanse beyond anything you could have ever imagined.
OUROBOROS CONSCIOUSNESS IS THE GOAL OF LIFE According to the sage Niargadatta Maharaj, a cigar dealer
from Bombay who couldn't read or write, the purpose of existence
is to expand, preserve, and protect consciousness.
This phenomenon of consciousness
expansion is a natural consequence of complex self-referential
systems, and in biological systems, the more complex the system,
the greater and more intense the consciousness it reflects.
The human brain, with its immense number of internal connections
that surpasses the particles in the universe, is currently the
most complex system we know of. Because of its complexity, human
consciousness is the most sacred thing that exists. It is the
most advanced phenomenon that time and space can create,
representing the impossible longing of Atman for Brahman, and
vice versa.
In this sense Atman is the son of God.
Atman is Jesus.
And so is, with the words of Eckhart, every noble and good
hearted person.
WHEN THE AWAKE AWAKENS
A man is a dream of a shadow
Σκις ναρ νθρωπος Pindar, Pythian 8.95f.
Wake up, people! Viewing human life as a
dream paradoxically requires a lot of wakefulness. I can't help but
chuckle when I see Jehovah's Witnesses standing on Torvegade in
Christianshavn, hawking their magazines with the oh-so-telling title
"Wake Up." Even the alcohol-addled Greenlanders seem more alert than
these dreamy folks, with their stiff body language and outdated 70s
outfits that, in my mind's eye, morph into snuffed-out gas lamps from
the 1800s. But maybe I'm the one who's asleep... After all, a tale from
India that made its way through Persia over a thousand and one nights
ended up becoming a comedy written by the Danish enlightenment
philosopher, Holberg. In it, the poor peasant Jeppe wakes up in the
baron's bed. In India, a beggar wakes up from his slumber and realizes
he's a Maharaja, a king, only to wake up again and realize even that
kingly life was just a dream. For ancient Indians, life was an illusion
teetering on the brink of a nightmare, and the ultimate goal was to
escape it.
And then there's meditation. When superconsciousness arises, suddenly
you realize that everyday consciousness is nothing more than a form of
sleep. You wake up, even though you thought you were already awake. At
first, this wakefulness is delicate and often fades after just a few
seconds. When it slips away, it's like falling back into slumber. It
is like waking, not up but down.
I've got a secret to share. Meditation is
the simplest thing in the world. Seriously. All you have to do is sit
and do nothing in an attentive state looking for everything and nothing.
But here's the kicker: when you let your mind wander like that in
effortless effort, you can be lucky to discover a vortex within yourself
that's based on similar math that creates black holes in the universe.
It's time to go after the Holy Grail. Drinking from this cup will
intoxicate you with the signal substances that instantly prove all those
philosophical musings about life's meaninglessness to be nothing but a
bunch of overblown hot air. All those book towers of fancy French
thinkers and dreary life insights spewed out by writing schools have
left me with nothing but dust on my brain and in my lungs.
But now I can breathe freely again. Sure, I spent 25 years as a high
school teacher - a noble pursuit, to be sure, but honestly, ten years
would have been plenty. If I would have spent the rest of that time, 15
years with a knife in my mouth, living on the edge in the wilderness it
would have been much better. But now I'm awake and free.
Wakefulness is when your consciousness becomes aware of itself, and most
of us are in that state most of the time during the day.
But superwakefulness? That's a whole different ballgame. As we saw
earlier, it's born when consciousness becomes aware of itself in a loop
that speeds up - ideally, towards infinity.
So do I really declare myself in theatOurorobus state? Not really -
rather something in between. However just a few glimpses of the super
-awake state will change your life for the better - I dare to say way
better!
So go ahead, dear reader. Close your eyes and plunge into your mind's
dark inner recesses.
In that darkness, your superconsciousness will awaken like a sleepy
giant, illuminating the void with its radiant darkness. Only those who
also dwell in the salvific nothingness of the black sun will be able to
recognize it. And as the quote goes, there's a world of difference
between the outwardly oriented ordinary consciousness, which sees the
world as divided into subject-object relations, and the non-dual
consciousness of the inner world.
NOTES
Two types of meditators Within this spectrum, there are basically two meditative extremes. One
pole consists of sensitive people, and the other of people with lots of
excess energy. Usually, the sensitive meditators will be introverted,
and the energetic meditators will be more extroverted. Both of these
types can go into meditative supervigilant self-swing, but despite this
important common gift, they often do not thrive in each other's company. The
sensitive meditator's challenge is to avoid narcissistic sensitivity. She
must be able to accommodate her vulnerability without going into reactive
defense. The energetic meditator's challenge is sometimes a lack of empathy,
and his challenge is not to use his abilities as a supervigilant energy bomb
for selfish purposes. In a gross generalisation we find the sensitive
meditator on the New Age scene and the outgoing meditator in extreme sport,
yoga and scientific set and settings. They tend to quantify their
meditation, telling themselves and others to count breathing on in and
exhales.
This new outgoing meditator is slowly replacing the old new age introverted
and sensitive meditator and this devellopment in a way showing how our
society embraces spirituality through the process of quantification and
commodification.
My ideal for a
modern meditator would be the ambiverted type on top of the bell
curve.
