GOD COSMOS AND ENLIGHTENED WAY

MAN

      With birth we are handed over to parents or others in the family who nourish us and protect us from hazards of nature,  anyone or anything threatening our survival. We are brought up in an environment surrounded by other biological life and a physical world governed by the laws of nature. We learn to master movements and coordination of the body in order to fit into the scheme which nature has thrust upon us. We fight with the bacteria and the viruses, as well as the insects and animals which threaten to do harm.  Thus we grow under the protection of the guardians and learn to take control of our own  security ourselves. Those, who do not receive protection and fail to learn the methods of survival, perish. It is what we call nature.

       In order to survive and protect one`s life and secure the chances of the progenies to grow who can continue  life in the next generation, one needs to learn the methods to acquire food, build shelter, fight diseases and  overpower the animals and creatures preying on life. Methods are passed on from one generation to the next. Some new methods can be discovered by using individual ingenuity and intelligence, which can then be handed over to the future. Thus knowledge and learning move from generation to generation. They form the foundation of education which help people to master the challenges of meeting the basic needs. These knowledges and educations are rooted in the climatic condition, landscape and biological resources on which life depend. Those who become unsuccessful to acquire these knowledges and educations will fail to secure the ground for survival.  

       So the basic needs condition the main foundation of life. Drive to meet basic needs generates competitions among individuals as well as groups. Self-interest, and then the security of the group which can strengthen the fulfillment of this self-interest, are the main modes of operation for most human beings. This is the main matrix of activities which form the qualities of life for most beings. Happiness become synonymous with security for oneself, one`s family and the group, to which one belongs, as well as success in the competitions with others. All life are destined to follow this route of  nature.

 In harsher condition of competitions, and  tougher environments, which require more efforts, ingenuity and work to survive, and  in a society with less opportunities to access knowledge and information, life becomes tumultuous. Unless protected by hereditary wealth and power all life, in a way,  are to different extent exposed to such tumults. This constitutes the first level which defines the reality of life.  One may call it a realm of suffering.

     By being born, one can not escape this “suffering”, this battle and struggle to remain alive. This sets the stage for the formation of ego-bound self  who is mostly interested in self-preservation. This self-oriented ego carries the imprints of the landscape, environment, social group to whom one belongs . It also reflects the library of knowledge and information which one may have been able to access during one`s upbringing. Thus a person becomes a mirror of the world which has molded his/her life. The external world becomes internalized according to the abilities of the mind to interact with the physical and biological spheres. Thus the will and ego takes the leading role in conducting the affairs of life.  

      In the next level when security and survival are guaranteed, mind wants to know why all these battles and struggles? Why living and dying? Why things exist and who has set the physical and biological world as they are? Is there anyone who has created life and set all to function in this way? How multitudinous is the living world? How do all living and non-living creatures relate to each other?  Some minds are able to construct views and concoct answers to these questions. Thus philosophy and religion come to play roles. People with  opportunities of leisure and association with power become the bearer of philosophical and religious views. They institute rituals and practices and thus leads to the formation of a culture. With it the society sows the seeds of growth of political power. The ideas of what is good and bad for the society evolve. The moral introduced in the society becomes a mechanism by which a handful of people may enjoy wealth and power and consolidate rights over resources and maintain hegemony  of power over the population. In the name of Heaven fears are planted in people. Ignorance of the people regarding the nature of things, are exploited in order to perpetuate deprivation of the weaker members of the society. Only those who are informed, and have  enough opportunities to doubt and challenge the ideas and thoughts, which form the cultural backbones of the society, can introduce new order for the future generation. Thus cultural evolution may occur and power may change hands.

       However, majority of human beings easily conform to the institutional powers which can provide security  of living. They find comfort in seeing that someone else concoct a world view, or religion and put in place a system to which all members of the society needs to submit. This way they wish to maintain an order  advantageous to one`s own interest. They look for opportunities through the cultural channel which may ensure security and ease of living. By accepting beliefs and faiths of the community people seek to safeguard themselves from the wrath of any supernatural power (in case it may exist!).

       However, this is only a part of the human nature. We also sing, dance, decorate our homes, build places of worship and culture with art works and designs. We put together pieces of woods, strings, metals or animal skins  to create instruments of music. We  develop rules about how sounds can be arranged to reflect the harmony of nature  and “mind” (called music). We stage dramas describing our inner world of  emotions where hate, deception, brutality etc.  intermingle with love, compassion and sacrifice, for example. We write and make voyages in the abstract world where only thoughts can penetrate and access the mystery of something we call a transcendental world.

       With these activities different realms of consciousness unfolds in our life. Culture becomes elevated from the so-called nature`s drive to  an ethereal non-physical realm.  We know that the birds can sing, animals can dance and many animals can show strong emotional life. Anyway, we distinguish ourselves from them by our abilities to express ourselves through languages, sounds, visual images and physical movements and gestures, which can trigger feelings and imaginations which are not felt, heard or seen before. We can “create “worlds whose reality is purely mental - very similar to the process of dream. These mentally created worlds can bring  inspirations, happiness and joy which give directions about meaning and purpose of life. They may elevate the mind to seek far beyond the realm known through perceptions, and conceived through arguments based on reason. Here mind transcends the realm  of the nature.

       This elevated world points to dimension of existence beyond the events in physical space and time and the biological sphere. It is the source of the creative life. A spiritual being, who remains unseen, casts its “shadow” in the world through words, sounds of music and movements and gestures. This spiritual realm is beyond the realm of science and the laws of the natural forces. By existing in the physical space and being embodied in a biological body an unphysical and supra-biological being incarnates in us. Though we carry the biological traits of the animal kingdom we belong to a transcendental sphere beyond the realm of nature.

       This spiritual being is free. Its only constrain is that it takes abode in our biological body  which moves in the world while remaining enchained in laws. Will to live and will to survive are natural urges of the biological body which mirrors the world and creates the will to  exist. Beyond this will bound to the instincts there lies the realm of the creative urges. Through artistic, literary, musical activities we communicate the messages of the spiritual world.  The “language” and form of communication depend on the nature of the biological body because biology (understand as genes) creates the basis of the  “language”  with which we communicate.  The form of communication vary according to the capacity of the brain to receive and express the messages of the non-physical world. Here lies the idea of the existence of individual soul, where the spiritual realm manifests differently following different biological bodies receiving and transmitting the nature of the non-physical world. Through the transfer of genes the brains abilities to communicate about the spirit world  are handed down to new generations.

       However, the spirit has no language of its own. It does not have any form discernible to knowledge and reason. We know about its existence only through its presence in the world i.e. our brain. We are all connected to the same spirit world, which is not biology, or physics, or chemistry.  By coercing the body and depriving life of freedom in the world one can only stop the channel of communication of the spirit with the world. Still it exists as freedom to overcome the conditioning imposed by the physical and biological world. The cultural activities are mostly the expressions of this freedom of the “soul”.

       These cultural activities can take innumerable varieties following the capacity of the brains to receive and transmit the spiritual power and the freedom which life expresses through individuals. Those, who are coerced to live without freedom and enslaved in the needs and necessities of survival, have little opportunities for cultural activities beyond what is imposed through religious and economic institutions.

       Culture is a navigator of freedom. How far one may navigate depend on the biology of the brain and the freedom one may enjoy beyond the captivation imposed by the necessities. People with more leisure and wealth are usually the bearer of the cultures in the society. They possess more time and resources to dispose in pursuit of freedom of the “soul”. People possessing power and wealth often become the mentors of cultures in the society.

       As I have said, culture is multi-dimensional and can be innumerable in varieties. It starts from the tribal and the folk culture  of economically backward societies in remote places on earth, to contemporary cultures belonging to the most advanced economies of the Western nations. People in different societies are coerced in different ways. Freedom in different societies are manipulated by using different methods. In all cases the mentors of cultures seem to be the same i.e the group controlling wealth and power. In societies where political and economic power reside in the hands of  the religious people the culture is dominated by religious dogmatism and coercion. In societies where the power resides in the hands of the market monopolists the culture becomes consumer oriented, The main focus of the consumer culture these days is how to increase the strength of the market and the potential of making profits.

       Though most cultures grow and operate within this framework, human beings, who enjoy leisure, may execute their freedom in their personal sphere as cultural beings. I shall mainly talk about these cultural activities.

 What is this culture all about? What is the aim of the freedom of the “soul”?  What are we all seeking to communicate to other human beings when we sing, dance, write poems, play music or create art works for example? Is there any deeper meaning than it being a way of socializing with others? Is it a way to share grief, sorrow or happiness and joy? Or is it a way to express that we are not  the creatures who can be understood by biology, chemistry and physics alone? Or, are we expressing through our cultural activities our relations with a “higher being”?

       May be, all of those to different extents! All depend on how the human mind, engaged in the activities, are oriented and connected to the multi-dimensional “reality” pertaining to the realm of the spirit. As said before, the individual orientations and capacities of creativity highly differ, partly because of biology and partly depending on the circumstances, which circumscribe freedom of individual life.

      Freedom of the “soul” may start by mimicking the world. It is an attempt to be a part of the greater world which remains outside one`s body and the perceptive sphere. We mimic sounds of nature, and create visual designs following what we see around. The movements we observe in water, air, lightening or animal kingdom form the basis of many folk and tribal arts. We try to copy the serenity of nature, or the chaos of the world as sounds of music. There are so many innumerable varieties. They all speak of the spectra of freedom  which animate the human “souls”.

       Beyond this creativity, which makes use of the perceptive elements, there exist higher realms which transcends the physical constraints of the world: Sounds never heard, images never seen appear through creative acts. The mind becomes the source of a new “reality” which exists outside the sphere of perceptions. Here we enter the transcendental realm. In this realm the unknown, the invisible, the incomprehensible existence, which embodies the power of all “souls”, may speak through sounds and words, or appear as “visions” in the mind through works of arts. In this higher sphere mind frees itself from the bondage of the physical state and the biological constraints. Through these higher creations one can hear the “voice” of the spirit which rests in all. This “voice” is not the “voice” which appears through the individual mind, but a “voice” of the cosmic mind which penetrates all that exist. At this stage culture becomes spiritual and cosmic in its content. Those minds, which can navigate towards this realm realizes that life on earth bound to the physical and biological world is a realm of suffering, delusion and ignorance. They seek to free themselves from this realm and instead wish to merge with the higher state where one is one with the whole.  This one may call the Buddha state.

       Note that Buddha is not a person, but a state of existence which can be experienced while one exists in physical body made of molecules and bound by natural forces. The body, which may experience such a state, is a Buddha body.  The freedom entrusted on the “soul” has the mission of achieving the Buddha body, and experiencing the Buddha mind. By willing to execute freedom of the “soul” in search the path of the Buddha body, and the Buddha mind we may pave the way to free ourselves from illusion and ignorance which all living beings may experience.

       Enlightened way is this path which may lead to attain Buddha body and experience Buddha-mind.

       Now my question is: How should we free ourselves and move along the enlightened path?

ENLIGHTENED MAN:

 

       By being born in the world and the will all human beings are bound to follow the forces working in the nature.  These law-bound forces cause things to act and interact,  create and destroy, and seek to build an arena where existence of the world and the will may continue in the same way in the future.  There is no other way but the way of life, death and regeneration which can sustain the order  which exists in this world of will.  To exist, one needs to interact and compete for a place for existence with already existing things around. Without destroying something, or reordering something else, no thing can find its place in the world. Moreover all things are in a flux. Things must appear and disappear in order to reappear again in another form in another place and time. This is the nature of things which define the existence of the world and the will. This nature of thing exists everywhere in all forms. So what you call “nature” is a natural consequence of the order which defines the realm of the world and the will.  It exists both in the non-living physical world and the living world of the biological life.

       However, existence can transcend this law-bound world  by following the movement and evolution of the will. The laws , which move matter in space and time, may appear unsurmountable in the world. However when will emerges in the world in its higher form it can act upon the material world and reorder the movement and the substance of the content. This will then ascends to form a realm of the mind, from where it can project power over the physical states of things. With this power of the mind one may learn to control the movement of the forces which shape the world surrounding one`s physical body. One may learn how to avoid and circumvent events which follow the blind forces which move along destined paths. Anticipating where the things may end, and what could be the expected result, the mind may take guard against undesirable events.

       Mind is a source of freedom as you have explained and a navigator in the sphere where the world and will churn the process of creation and destruction. More the mind ascends towards the higher path, more one can free oneself from the dictates of the law-bound world and the blind urges of life, which appear as needs and necessities of survival. More power of the mind may also mean more abilities to tune with different realms of existence outside the ones which are defined by the experiences gained through perceptions and the urges of the will appearing at lower animal stage. Higher the tuning, higher becomes the experience of the reality of the world. So-called spirit world, which you have described, is an upward journey in this process of tuning. The physical and biological world appear as the instruments with whose help one may tune to a world which is not one with the physical and biological world themselves. The realm of the mind and the spirit is invisible, imperceptible and outside the grasp of instruments which can detect events in time and space. It is outside the realm of science and scientific analysis.

       Evolution of the mind to higher stage means a state of existence from where one can access higher experiences of  “reality” , which is immersed in subtler and subtler layers of consciousness  lying in the realm which can not be known by science. One should know that this invisible world exists, though science may not be able to confirm its existence by using the methods it applies to ascertain the existence of things. It exists as the fundamental substrate behind all beings. All minds are able to tune to this spiritual source. The way one tunes to this spirit world defines the stage of  ascendancy of the mind in the world.

       The power to tune with the higher consciousness is reserved to those who are oriented towards the higher sphere. A person who craves to ascend and seek to orient oneself to the higher realm can develop this capacity with practice and concentration of the mind. Those who have been able to free the mind from the blind laws of things and overcome the urges of the will which keep man tied to the destiny of things can practice mental trainings to achieve the higher evolution of the mind.

       For those, who  remain immersed in the fate-bound churning of things and engaged in the struggle for survival in everyday life, it is difficult to practice the way of the monks and the sages. However, by avoiding the world where competitions thrive, conflicts and wars rage, and people seek personal freedom by depriving others of freedom, one may practice the way of the higher life. Knowing that while standing in the middle of a battlefield one can not seek tranquility and peace, one should not possess any illusion of experiencing the transcendental  life while one remains attached to the instinct-bound world.

       Those, who seek the higher world, must know the nature of the existence which I have described. Being informed about the existence of the invisible realm, from where all experiences arise, if one orients oneself to the higher sphere, one may achieve a transcendental experience of living. However in order to achieve this goal one needs to learn and practice the way one may tune the mind to the higher spheres. For that to be possible one would need a teacher and a guide.

 However, there exists not one way. There are innumerable ways and paths through which one may connect to the higher spheres. Music, arts, poetry and songs are some ways, which make use of the elements of the world bound to perceptions of sounds and visions.  In the abstract world, where mind operates without referring to the perceptive world, like the realm of mathematics for example, one may access the invisible and the imperceptible transcendental world through symbols and structures of logical thoughts. Monks seek path of meditation as their ways. Every mind can be trained to develop abilities to pursue the higher sphere in some specific direction. Brains develop these abilities with exposure to creative acts, or in surroundings suitable for meditation.

       Only the enlightened minds can move in the world and the will, which is being churned by disturbances of events where animal instincts dominate, without being drawn into it, or being touched by the happenings around. By knowing the nature of existence and why things are as they are, and how things evolve and move, and why things happen as they do, the enlightened mind can remain tranquil and  is able to meditate  in an awakened state about the existence of all as parts of the whole. He/she can hear “sounds” which can not be heard by the ears; he/she can see things which can not be seen through the eyes; he/she can imagine about shapes and forms of things which may not exist in the world  known through the experiences as projections of the world in the mind. Enlightened mind is the source of sounds, words, visions and thoughts which belong to the realm which can not be accessed by an ordinary human mind. In a fully enlightened state the mind can transcend to the realm which can only be experienced by minds who are blessed by God.

       Know that there exists godly realm above all realms. It is neither the realm of the world, nor the will, or the spirit. Though all realms rest in God, “He” can not be known by any mind unless God reveals “His” mystery through a state of existence of God-Man. Christ is such a state.  It is a state of consciousness which bridge the realm of God to the realm of the human mind.

      From the state of “Christ” to the unawakened state which exists before mind begins to seek its freedom from the law-bound and fate-bound world, all are parts of the existence which move in the world and the will animating the living and the non-living world.  

       An enlightened mind, wherever he walks, sees many realms  which crisscross his path. He can choose to enter and exist any realm without being imprisoned in the realm where he may choose to enter. He is aware of the “illusion” which are created by the mind when he enters a realm, and knows the way to exit such illusory spheres. He traverses all realms without being attached to any particular one. He is a wanderer,  who moves across different realms of consciousness, experiencing life which exists in its multitudinous forms and colors. He is the guide of those, who seek to explore the vastness of life and the enormity of wonder which exists by spanning the darkened world to the most enlightened sphere. He does not look at anyone with hate or animosity. Knowing why things occur as they occur, and being aware of the circumstances which may have drawn different life in their courses of sufferings, he bears compassion to all beings and seeks to help the captives of illusions to get out of the realms where they may remain entrapped. He brings the messages of the higher world to those who are ignorant about it, and prescribes ways to move towards higher paths.

 Be enlightened and bring enlightenment to your fellow human beings.

MAN:

       O enlightened One! I wish to know why things exist the way they are? Why is the world sunk in different realms  starting from the unawakened life to the sphere where  one may realize the existence of the most enlightened mind? Why do so many species, so many levels of consciousness exist? Why darkened world remains fate-bound when  the higher world is free from the laws of matter? Is there any meaning behind this enormously varied states of existence? Is there any direction towards which all move? Or, do all sink and rise from higher to lower, or lower to higher states without leading to any specific destiny which the whole may follow? Is God drawing all to rise towards the enlightened spheres and then hurling them back to the darkened unawakened state? What is the truth behind this multiplicity of movements bringing ascendancy and fall? Do there exist God and anti-God (Devil), who are operating in tandem as the powers conducting the movements of fate and freedom of all?

ENLIGHTENED MAN:

      Born of  the world and  the will all must move as destined by fate and the laws of nature. It is the only way by which things can exist. Things must be annihilated before things can be created again. The forces which bring annihilation of things are seen as the forces of the dark; the forces which help to create things are often conceived as the forces of light. The light and darkness are inseparable partners who maintain the existence of things as we observe. So light must sink in darkness to rise again. It is also similar to the world which we call mind. Mind can not radiate and remain outside the sphere of the law-bound world without falling back to generate the darkened realm. The world can not remain free of laws and still exist as we see it existing as the world and the will. For the world and the will to remain as it is the so-called darkness needs to return. If all were free to escape the realm of laws, or had the power to change the destiny-bound world, there would be no world  and  no will.

      One can ask what is the necessity for the world and the will to exist? Why not everything is no-world and no-will, and why not all exist as pure transcendence which has no form, or  counterpart in the perceptible world? Why not all are merged with the realm of God? What is the necessity of existence which is not one with the realm of God?

 Once born in the world and the will one can not understand why God, and why the world exist. God is foundation of all and at the same time He is not one with the world and the will. Man can never understand why this separation and union because in the world of will there is no way to describe the nature of God. An enlightened One knows God as the foundation of all existence, though not bound to the realm of the world and the will. The enlightened one submits his will to the Will of God and works in the world as willed by Him. Submit your mind to the Will of God, and follow the enlightened guide who may show you  the paths to experience the presence of God in life.

      When someone will ask the way to know God,  advise him or her to work as the foundation of the world where God moves with him or her. Ask them to direct their minds towards  the higher spheres and seek guidance from the enlightened mind.