We have been investigating the mysterious nature of self in our prior lessons, and we will continue our investigation again in this lesson. Self is so important to us in our Course of Mysticism. For as we stated before, without self nothing exists; all is chaos and oblivion! Stop and think for a moment; if you did not exist, would anything else exist. It is like the Zen koan about if a tree falls in the deep forest with no one around to hear it, does it make any sound…or taking the koan further, does the tree even exist? The answer is that nothing exists without self-experiencing. St. Germain, one of the invisible/formless masters, has said many times “everything is personal”. He means by this, that for anything to be known, understood, and experienced, self must be present. Therefore, all life is personal and individual.

Let us go back and review some important things that we have brought to your attention in these past lessons about the nature of self. You will have noticed that we have not said or used the word “soul” very much. This is because the whole mystical experience is based upon unity, and unity is oneness of consciousness with the Absolute Reality. When we divide and separate a thing to understand it, we have a tendency to think about that thing as a totally separate and individual thing and as having a separate life of its own, so to speak. To really know and understand something, we need look at it as a whole, and study its various relationships within itself. For example, if we want to understand totally our bodies, we can explore its various parts, like the heart, the arms, the blood, and so on, but we always know that these various parts of the body, are not separated, but have functions and relationships with all the other parts of the body. We know, that the body is one whole thing with many functions. So in this light, we are studying self as the whole. Soul, ego, mind, life force, matter, and so on, are all “functions” of self. You are probably saying to yourself, “ I can see how soul, ego, life and mind are functions of self, but I cannot see what matter has to do with self.” Do you remember the lessons about space and time, and how they are illusions, but are needed for self-consciousness, or mind? Ponder upon that lesson, and meditate upon this fact: The whole material universe is but an extension of self.

We also have been stating, that self is dual.” The realized self” is the part of self that we are always aware of in various degrees. This awareness consists of knowing that “we are”, and that we are separated from our environment and from other self’s. This is the “subjective” level of the realized self; consciousness of consciousness. The other part of the self is the “no self”. The no self is the exact opposite of the realized self, and in most people is unconscious to its other part. Its main function in life is the storehouse of memory from the experiences of the realized self. But within this no self, are many sub personalities that have been imprisoned there by the judgment of the realized self. I will not elaborate upon this, because Alice has some wonderful information and exercises about sub personalities on the Plotinus site.

The no self is that part of self that we encounter when we dream and enter into deep meditation. Our inspirations and intuition come forth from the no self. The no self is also responsible for the unconscious functions of vital life force in the body, like the beating of the heart, digestion, elimination, breathing and so on. It is the sub conscious mind.

Through the no self flows all the consciousness of Absolute Being. Therefore, it is thru the no self that we find oneness and unity with the Divine; that which we call, “Cosmic Consciousness”, or Absolute Reality.

We could call the realized self, the light self, and the no self, the dark self. They are the: Yang and Yin of Confucius. The Atman and Brahman of the Hindu. The Ba and Ka of the ancient Egyptians. In the Kabala, the dark self corresponds to Ain Soph, and the light self to Kether, the Father. And on and on…

Let us look at self from the Hindu viewpoint.

Hinduism’s fundamental belief is that the nature of the Absolute Reality is consciousness and that “Brahman”, which means true consciousness, is the true nature or essence of all that exists. The human experience of Brahman (true consciousness), is called “Atman” and is characterized by “satcitananda”, which is the experience of being conscious, or self-consciousness. Although, no distinction is admitted between the Brahman and Atman, using the two distinct terms implies a difference. (Remember, what I told you about the mystic philosophy of dividing and separating, and looking at things as one whole thing? This is the key to understanding this paragraph.) The Hindu goal in life is to realize that we are “Atman”, and that Atman is our true nature. And since Atman is Brahman, realizing Atman is no different than realizing that the ultimate reality of self is Brahman. So if one distinguishes between consciousnesses calling one Brahman and the other Atman, this is illusionary and causes the recognition of a false or separate self.

Hinduism employs the term “pure consciousness” for Brahman-Atman, and uses the term “reflective consciousness” for everything that man experiences as an individual self.

This will conclude the lesson of this week. We are soon to end our investigation of the nature of self, and will then turn our attention to the “Genesis of Self” via the Kabala. Dianah and I have been studying the Kabala thru various means for a long time and we will be sharing our knowledge of it with you.

EXERCISE

We talked about the no self in the lesson this week. So, we want you to perform the following exercise to find your master within. The master within will be your guide on your life’s journey to ONENESS WITH THE ABSOLUTE REALITY . . .When you are ready to begin your journey, have someone read these instructions to you or print them off and read them with a pause at each step designated by . . .to allow the visualization to present itself to you.

Close your eyes and relax . . . In your mind's eye see or sense yourself projected into a natural scene . . . See a place unfold before you, as if on a screen, a place which gives you a strong feeling of warm, comfortable, peaceful, relaxed safety . . . It might be a setting at the seashore, in the mountains, by a lake, in a meadow, etc. . . . Just get a sense of what the general area is like . . . Keep your eyes closed and take time to allow the details of this scene to pass through your mind . . . Allow your awareness to encompass the colors, textures, shapes, spaces, forms, sounds and general ambience of your place . . . When you have noted the details of this inner sanctuary of the mind, get a sense of or begin to see a pathway emerging near where you are standing. Notice that off in the distance it blends with the scenery . . . Sense yourself walking along this path . . . As you look down the path or off into the distance you become aware of a radiant, blue-white glow which is moving slowly toward you . . .As you approach it, it gradually becomes transparent . . . Now the outline of a human form takes shape, although light continues to emanate from it . . .

Slowly you see some garments covering the figure of this human-like form . . . As you and this figure come closer to each other, the details of the face, hair, eyes, bone structure and stature of this being become clearer . . . You now are aware as to whether this being is masculine in appearance and energy or feminine . . .In a warm, friendly manner this being approaches you . . . When you are quite close, you reach over and swiftly peel off the face as if it were a mask . . . Observe what is there ...If, under the mask there is a face which is frightening to you, step back and demand that the being leave your sanctuary, then mentally let go of it . . . Return to the path, walk along it and again see the radiant, blue-white glow beyond you. Slowly move toward it, repeating this part of the process . . . If, after the mask is pulled off, the face remains essentially the same, this being is your guide who now approaches you and placing an arm around your shoulder, leans close to your ear and whispers softly, "I am“... Now hear the name being spoken . . .Receive the first one that comes.

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