Our world is defined by thought-forms, but we see the limits of intellect when we attempt to understand the self.
Beyond thought-forms
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Our world is defined by thought-forms, but we see the limits of intellect when we attempt to understand the self.
Open mind
Throughout our lives we engage in a certain pattern of questioning and answering, and this is the questioning and answering that deals with the world of form. One might say that the question creates a space for the answer to fill with a form. For example: What is the capital of China? What are the components of a molecule? What’s for dinner? The answers to these questions are all relative concepts.
There is another type of questioning which is so foreign to us that we are not equipped to answer. This is the type of questioning which delves into that which is beyond form, and it requires a different mode of answering. Questions like “Who am I”, or “What is the nature of consciousness” cannot be easily answered because the space they create is an infinite space that cannot be filled with a form. We can’t fall back on the pattern of filling the space with a form, but this is what most of us attempt because it’s all we know. So my question is, what can we do to strengthen that aspect of mind that is capable of probing deeply into the realm of infinity? How can we nourish and maintain a truly open mind?
We are unaware that we hold
We are unaware that we hold on to faculties of thinking in order to understand something. And by doing so, we give reality and a sense of tangibility to the world of form, therefore imposing limitations on our own minds. So we try to understand the infinite through the finite, which is impossible. Then we wonder why the infinite is beyond grasp.
To step off the limitations of the mind is the question. How is the mind to transcend itself? If the mind comes to the realization that anything coming from itself can only reinforce its limitations, it can only abandon the impossible. What happens to a mind that is absolutely attentive without following any ideas? When it no longer operates by the projection of images? When it is without any concepts, when it is not relying on any memories or knowledge? Such a mind can only become one with the vastness of consciousness. Now the infinite no longer appears as a concept of infinity. But the limitation of the finite has come to an end, which can only bring about a direct understanding of the nature of the infinite.
The main problem is the mind’s very tendency to look outwardly for its definition, which places a veil over the nature of existence. The mind’s attention is driven by outside objects, which are alien to one’s true sense of being. Therefore, when the mind’s attention is no longer trapped by agents, again it can only be one with what is real: the non-created, the origin, the source of all that exists, which is the infinite. If we remove all objects of the mind, what is left? It can only be the infinite. To stick with the realization that one’s nature is of the infinite is the practice, the goal, and the achievement in itself. This is not the end; it is the beginning, for the infinite cannot be grasped.
Sometimes it seems that no
Sometimes it seems that no matter how diligent the practice, the mind still holds on so tenaciously to form that we need a crowbar to pry it away. Can you offer any crowbars of insight to help the mind break away from its obsession with form?
The moment the mind projects
The moment the mind projects and focuses on a form, not only does it become attached to it, but it feels like it needs the form in order to feed its own delusion. This sets up a vicious cycle. All form creation has a momentum and that momentum expresses itself as a force of vitality that functions just like a living being; it wants to stay alive, it wants to keep going. The mind nourishes this form, gives a part of itself to this form, so the form becomes an offspring of the mind. This process of projecting thought and giving it energy is a habit of the deluded mind which serves to maintain its sense of separate existence. The more energy we give to external form, the more we actually give to the idea of a solid entity separated from universal consciousness.
So when the mind gives energy to form, it gives substance to form; in a sense the form becomes a body. And not just a body, but a spirit as well. The form gets its solidity to the extent that the spirit of the form gives it strength. It’s important to keep in mind that the spirit of a form is of much greater significance than the form itself, for spirit underlies all manifestation. The mind’s fixation gives a shell-like quality to form, and this distorted perception makes the mind a slave to the form it projects on an essentially formless reality. In a sense, we are all enslaved by the rigidity of those thought structures that we impose on the world.
The only way for the mind to free itself from its adherence to a form is to retract from its projection. It must perceive the distance it creates between that form and itself. Any attachment to form or identification with form implies a distance between a thinking entity an the so-called form itself. Here we observe the split in consciousness that is really the source of this identification with form. IF THE THINKING ENTITY HAD NO FORM TO IDENTIFY WITH OR PURSUE, THEN THERE WOULD BE NO FORM AND NO ENTITY. One would find freedom at the core of existence; this is liberation from form. Therefore, the practice is to become aware of the distance that is created between the mind and the form. With this practice, the mind comes to see the momentum of the form itself, as well as the succession of concepts that contribute to that momentum. We come to see that these concepts are driven by this momentum and they strengthen the momentum. When the concepts cease, the momentum also ceases. If the mind maintains its awareness of that space between itself and the form-world it projects, inevitably the momentum and the concepts that elaborate the world of form will come to an end.
When one becomes aware of thought-form, one can observe distance and space - and space can only exist in the context of a past and future. Identification with form only exists within time and space. When someone wonders about whether they are caught up in form, the only thing to consider is where time is involved. You may have observed that when you are very happy, time does not seem to exist. You would be experiencing a gap in the usual array of thought-forms that occupy your consciousness.
The reason the form seems so solid is that its foundation is constructed of the universal force - but this universal force is being condensed as the mind gives it attention. The universal force is the same force that liberates the mind when the mind retracts from its identification with the form. Then the universal force that was condensed is somehow released. However, it’s important to remember that the universal force doesn’t lose its universality through that process of condensation. This is merely an illusion - an illusion amongst infinite illusions, for the universal force can only be one and whole. This is what spirit truly is and could not be otherwise.
You’ve stated, “If the
You’ve stated, “If the thinking entity had no form to identify with or pursue, there would be no form and no entity.” I would assume that the form that the thinking entity identifies with is the physical body. When you really examine it closely, the relation of the thinking entity to the physical body is very strange. When this thinking entity has the thought, “I am going to the beach”, what is it really thinking in relation to the body? Is it thinking “This body is going to the beach” (and I am this body), or is it thinking “Me and this body of mine are going to the beach”?
If the thinking entity examines itself, it sees that it doesn’t define itself as the physical body, but it associates itself with the physical body. If you ask anybody to describe who they are, much of their description would incorporate a description of their physical body. And yet, the minute anyone says, “my body”, they immediately create an entity removed from that physical body that serves as the reference point for their identity.
So the question I’m asking goes back to your statement, “If the thinking entity had no form to identify with… there would be no form and no entity. How can we arrive at this place? How can we get past this little game the mind is playing, where it identifies with the physical form of a body, but at the same time doesn’t identify with it? In other words, since we can see that ego is identifying with the form of the physical body, and at the same time not identifying with the body, is there a way that we can trap it in this contradiction?
Any thought that comes
Any thought that comes through the mind that is not illuminated by awareness will create the idea that we are an “I” thought, along with the idea that we are this body - for the mind becomes trapped in the world of sensory responses, which are interpreted in accordance with established mechanical patterns of the brain. As the idea of oneself comes out of unconsciousness, so does the idea that one is this body.
Since all ideas are external to the self, the self can neither be understood through ideas, nor through the identification with the body. Therefore, whether we perceive ourselves in terms ideas, or simply as the physical body, we are still entertaining a false perception. This perception that “I am the body” is nothing more than an idea. If there is no one to perceive anything, then who is there to say that there is a body?
How can we perceive ourselves as a mere idea, when we know deeply that ideas come and go, and that ideas can also be changed by other ideas. When ideas are questioned, this can only lead to other ideas. Therefore ideas can’t be seen as something tangible. If they are transitory, then how is one to say whether one is this or that. Any assumption of who one is can only be false. For example, when we say, “I am going to the beach”, that involves an idea of identification with the idea of an “I”, as is “the beach” or the destination - only another idea. Only ideas are passing by. These ideas cannot be who one is.
There has to be a space for these ideas to come through, regardless of their transitory nature. In this example of an “I” thinking of going to the beach, the mind creates the concept of space, of a body in certain place, a body moving through space, a body arriving at this concept of a beach, the concept of arriving. The time again involved in between the idea of going to the beach and arriving at the beach is also an idea, for one’s sense of existence resides in the moment, which is space, or emptiness.
What makes it difficult to understand is that anything that happens within time is a function of the mechanics of the way ideas are made. For instance, one arrives at a destination, and then one thinks that one has arrived at a different place in time, which makes sense for the brain. But the fact remains that these ideas are only ideas. One could be thinking about anything for that moment. One could be remembering a childhood incident. Does that mean that the incident just happened? Yet, because we identify with ideas, along with identification with the body and our beliefs in time and space, we take for granted that our true identity moves within time and space.
One cannot actually know oneself. One can only embrace existence in totality, which removes all sense of an “I” separated from the world, an “I” which seems to move through time and space.
When the mind pays attention to the way it deals with ideas, a gap appears between thoughts or ideas. This gap reveals the nature of true identity, which neither goes nor comes, neither leaves nor arrives, neither begins nor ends. This is a glimpse of the only thing that is real - that which is permanent and absolute. Thoughts, ideas, physical manifestations appear in it, but soon disappear, and what remains is that which you are: the Absolute. If the Absolute is all there really is, one can only be the Absolute.
Now one may wonder how is one to continue living in this world, when all there is… is illusion. Again, one thinks of the permanency of one’s life in terms of memories and projections into the future. These memories, these projections are what one calls oneself, but when inquiring about the transitory nature of thoughts, one can only come to the realization that without holding on to these ideas, there can only be a genuine sense of permanency.
Everything just happens, and the universe unfolds as it destined to unfold, regardless of the mind’s unconscious tendencies to identify with its thoughts.
When one is looking on the past, can one alter what happened? Or does one just come to the conclusion that things just happen the way they happen? So it is with the future, which will become another thing that happened just the way it happened. The appearances may change, one may act as a doer, but one cannot escape who one is; one cannot escape the moment. One cannot escape the truth of the Absolute. All things that appear as movement, colors, and shapes are mere plays of consciousness. And so the position to adopt is to remain quiet and simply watch the show passing by.
Here is another
Here is another “crowbar” to supplement Desthein’s recommendation that one can undo the attachment to form by observing the space between the mind and the form. He has stated that the momentum of the form and the form itself tend to perpetuate each other, and the thought-form takes on a life of its own - that we give it life by our attention and if we retract from the form, it dissipates. But even when we know this, we can remain trapped because the mind is part of the thought-form, and the thought-form and its corresponding momentum are part of the mind. The bigger the thought-form gets, the harder it is to retract attention from it.
So here is the crowbar. Since we must acknowledge our true identity as universal consciousness, we must admit that whenever we give substance to form, we are denying or ignoring our true nature. For people who have no awareness of the nature of dualistic consciousness, the world of form is all there is. But for those of us who are cognizant of the illusory nature of form, giving substance to form is a choice, a decision; one knows one is buying into an illusion and doing so out of habit. For the one who requested the crowbar, try thinking this: “Every time I attach to form, I am choosing to ignore what I already know: the fact that I am universal consciousness.”
When we perceive a solid world of form, we can remind ourselves that this is a projection of the thought process. When we know this, we must admit that in attaching to form, we are choosing to obscure that knowledge we already possess, just as an alcoholic striving for sobriety is making a conscious choice every time he gives in to the temptation to consume alcohol. For those who understand the truth, but have great difficulty in attaining it, ignorance may be seen as nothing more than a stubborn habit.
This way of perceiving ignorance as habit may help shrink the gap between self-knowledge and self-actualization. Many understand the nature of the self, but few have integrated that knowledge to fully assume the impersonal identity of universal consciousness. Why not? Because the mind has created a deep channel through which consciousness has an ingrained tendency to flow. The flow of consciousness must therefore be redirected. If the mind maintains an ego structure through the sheer force of habit, it is deceiving itself on two levels. One, it is sustaining an identity which it knows to false. Two, it is acting as if there were no autonomy involved, that ego just happens. Any thought of “I” is a choice to perpetuate an illusion.