This article if a compilation of
three talks by Da Free John (Adi Da Samraj) in October, 1982
on the subject of ‘The Conscious Process’. The Conscious Process MASTER: This is an essay for
the Three Ways book, or the Dreaded Gom-boo book, and this
new booklet. Also it seems to me this essay would be
appropriate to read this weekend at these occasions. I don’t
know how it could be done cause its quite long. But …
there’s not only the Mainland, there’s all of these other
Centers and so on. I don’t know how it would be communicated
to them. But if it could be, that would be useful to read it
before this sitting occasion on Saturday. Also this booklet that we’re
contemplating, you’ll all have to see how the Dreaded
Gom-boo book works out. Whether all of these recent
materials should be included in it, and then decide whether
its useful to select out some of these things to make
another booklet or not, I don’t know. So the new booklet is
just an idea, I don’t know if its useful. So this essay is called
What
Is the Conscious Process
(The Master reads the essay).
RAMANA Maharshi I mention him at the end of this
essay, “The mere “I” though is not now an indicator of the
Great One”. The “I” is Narcissus, more than a thought, but a
profoundly complex pattern of destiny. Now perhaps this
would remind you of the teaching of Ramana Maharshi, who
recommended to people, simply to concentrate on the “I”
thought and observe and intuit the consciousness, or the
condition in which that is arising. Well, for him, this made
complete sense. For him the whole force of egoity, the whole
force of the “I” had been transcended. And from the Advaitic
point of view, the “I” thought is a pointer to the Atman,
which is ultimately identical to the Paramatman, or
Brahman. In the case of lesser teachers, the
recommendation to concentrate upon the source of the “I”
thought would be considered to be a perfectly and sufficient
recommendation, sufficient for instant enlightenment,
Maharshi was not a fool, you see. He knew full well that the
ordinary individual, concentrating on the “I” thought,
feeling into, or intuiting its source, was still ego bound.
So therefore he presumed that this method was a sadhana, a
lifetime practice, that would gradually dissolve the force
of the ego. In other words he didn’t belong to the talking
school. He didn’t mean to concentrate on the “I” thought,
see that consciousness underneath that and realize that’s
Atman, that’s Puja Brahman, that’s Brahman and now you’re
enlightened, now go and be enlightened, you see. No. That
wasn’t his sense of teaching. But rather he followed the
traditional Advaitic approach in the general structuring of
his philosophy. He knew full well that the ego is a great
force, and that the “I” is the ego. But from his Advaitic point of view,
he thought a good technique for people, instead of
fulfilling the motivations of the ego, the motivations of
the “I”, to constantly fall back from the activity, and rest
in the Atman. Doing this over time, would purify the “I”,
undermine the ego, dissolve the ego. And eventually this
meditation would become self-realization. So it is implicit
in his teaching that the ego must be transcended. He’s not a
representative of the talking school. Also you should understand the
Maharshi did not presume the role of a teacher. People asked
him what he had realized, and what was it all about, and how
could they realize it and so forth. And he spoke in the
terms he did. He didn’t elaborate beyond that, all of the
kinds of associated means and processes and so on, which
would have to be communicated to people, if your going to
presume the role of a Siddha in their company, or counteract
a total teaching for their benefit. Now I’m aware of the fundamental
truth associated with Advaitism, and the teaching of Ramana
Maharshi. I’m also aware of the implicit realities that are
behind this Advaitic recommendation. Those implicit
realities or realities of the ego, are there to be undone,
there to be overcome. They can’t be overlooked. You cannot
reduce the Advaitic recommendation to the academic or
logical exercise of the talking school. And therefore I have
elaborated a complete teaching, that involves all of the
kinds of disciplines that must necessarily be associated
with life and practice if the ego, the force of “I”, the
force of Narcissus is to be transcended. And I have
established this practice in my company, and have accepted
the role of the Siddha in your company. So this produces a
much more elaborate culture of practice that is suggested in
Mararashi’s company, and is altogether outside the kind of
mediocrity that belongs to the talking school. But to consider further the
implications of this notion that you can trace the “I”
thought back to its source – in the case of the beginner,
the ego-bound individual, as I’ve said here, the “I” thought
is not merely a thought. It is the name for a whole complex
of existence. The “I” thought exists only in the plane of
waking consciousness. What about the rest of it? It exists
subconscious, unconscious, walking, dreaming and sleeping,
bodily, emotionally, and so on. Merely to trace the “I” thought and
feel the consciousness behind it, is not to be
self-realized, transcendentally self-realized it is perhaps
in Advaitic terms, to begin a kind of exercise that should
be associated with a whole life of disciplines and profound
practice, in which everything that is “I” would be
transcended, and the Atman would cease to be merely this
individuated consciousness. What you must enter into through
this conscious process, is not merely the consciousness
behind thought. That is simply attention. And attention is
the fundamental, or ground mechanism of Narcissus or the
ego, as it says at the beginning of this essay, quoting from
The Liberator: “Be Consciousness as the feeling of Being,
and Realize that it is Radiant Happiness.” This ultimate
intuition breaks beyond the framework of manifest
consciousness. It breaks beyond the framework of attention,
mere attention. It is associated with the most profound
intuition. It is not like a thought in any sense then. And
it is not like attention standing off here, next to objects,
viewing whatever may seem to be arising, witnessing whatever
may seem to be arising. It is more to be likened to feeling.
It is formless, centerless. It is not something separate, or
separable from objects. It is not interior. It is not
self-conscious in the conventional sense. What’s behind the
“I” thought is merely attention. What must be realized that
is far beyond the “I”, is the feeling or Condition of
Being. Transcendental Consciousness is the
consciousness of this feeling of Being, mere Being, Being
without qualification. The Being that is the Condition, not
only of the conscious self, but of all of its objects, all
of nature. When we’ve entered into that condition of Being,
when our consciousness is that fullness of being, then we
realize that it is Happiness, Self-Radiant Love-Bliss. It is
the Substance of the universe. It is That to which Maharshi
points in his considerations. It is That to which the
Advaitic tradition ultimately points. It is That to which
the Buddhist tradition points. In fact, it is That toward
which all traditions are pointing. But apart from the
Realization of it, all kinds of lesser conceptions and
perceptions and senses of it may substitute for
enlightenment. And so you cannot take heaven by
storm. There is no method of immediate self-analysis that is
equivalent to Enlightenment. Self-observation, self-knowing,
self-transcendence is a lifelong exercise. It never comes to
an end. It is always going on, always developing, there’s
nothing instant about it. The ego that is behind the “I”
thought. Its not the Transcendental Self. The Self is
Realized. Maharshi really enquired of
everyone, “Who, who, who, who?” Well, he said yes,
“concentrate on the ‘I’ thought. Well, who is aware of the
‘I’ thought?” Well, its the ego that’s aware of the “I”
thought. Its the individual consciousness. That’s not the
end of it. He would again say: “Who? Find out who.” Well; if
you persist in that, that becomes a whole life of
discipline. It even becomes the life of submission to the
influence of the Adept, quite naturally, quite
spontaneously. And that in fact is what occurred in
the case of his true devotees. And that is a form of the
ultimate question. Who is it ultimately that you are? Who
are you arising within? In whom is all of this arising, you
see. But its not a question with an immediate answer. Its
not really a problem to find this out. It is a process. It
is found out through a process of self-transcendence. His
questions are indicators of it. They are queries to help
people become oriented toward the profundity of
self-transcendence. And he had his peculiar way of doing
these things. And as I said, did not presume the role of the
teacher in the fullest sense, did not feel obliged to
communicate a total teaching. He appeared within the context of
traditional Indian society. For those who weren’t ready to
be awakened very directly in his company, he presumed they
would just go elsewhere, they’d find countless numbers of
teachings, and teachers and means and so forth. He was
simply certain that ultimately, all these ways would fulfill
themselves in Transcendental Self-Realization. So his
considerations are limited to this fundamental query, this
fundamental suggestion that what you must discover is the
Condition in which the self is arising. But to discover that
condition, you must transcend the self, not merely ask
yourself a question, not merely invert upon attention
itself, because attention is the ego. The “I” thought like
any other thought arises to the ego. The ego is what must be
transcended. Merely to put attention on the consciousness in
which the “I” thought is arising, is not to realize the
Transcendental Being. It is to make a gesture toward
realization. If you made that gesture those means,
ultimately you would break through the egoic limit, the
illusion that’s associated with attention. That is a
profound complete, if if occupied the whole of your life,
then by all of process. Now we do not … we consider the
same truth, this Realization, we do not consider it in the
context of a traditional society, with a long history of
involvement with the quest for Transcendental
Realization. And I have accepted the role of
Teacher, the role of the Siddha in the company of devotees.
So I have assumed the obligation to communicate the Way
fully, and to communicate its in the company of those who
will practice it, you see. So there is a difference between
my historical role and the historical role of Maharshi and
many others, as there was a difference between Maharshi and
his historical role and all kinds of other
teachers. The same ultimate truth is realized
by all free Adepts, and they communicate it in a particular
fashion in their time and place. Some aren’t very
communicative, some communicate in part only, some assume
the role of the Adept or Siddha in relation to devotees, and
some do not. Some function as the Siddha without accepting
the role of the Siddha. They are the Siddha by virtue of
Realization, and for those who somehow or other develop a
real practice, they make use of that though the Adept
assumes no personal responsibility. In your case there’s no
ambiguity about it however. I make this Teaching plain, I’ve
communicated all the details of its practice, I accept this
role in relationship to you, I’ve explained to you all of
the aspects of the process that takes place in my company,
and therefore its up to you, without any ambiguity, to
practice it as you will. If you will, then the kind of
process that I’ve just described in this essay, will develop
in your case, and you will see all the signs of it. If you
will not take it on, in the forms indicated in this essay
and elsewhere, then you may in some fashion be attached to
this Institution and this community, even have some
familiarity with me, but this does not necessarily mean that
the process described here will take place. The process
required your responsibility, for hearing and developing the
means of practice, which constantly, moment to moment bring
you into the sphere of my Influence. And you must maintain
that responsibility always, not merely occasionally when I
happen to be sitting with you, or when you happen to be in
my company, or when your in meditation or when you feel
good, or when you feel bad, but always you must develop the
full force of this profound practice. Adi Da Samraj talks about the difference between
traditional non-dual teachings and his revelatory Seventh
Stage teaching. A fundamental aspect of the Way is
the progressive recognition of the Spiritual Master. In
other words entering into that Company, the sphere of the
Spiritual Master’s Influence more and more profoundly. By
entering into more and more profound levels of recognition
of the Spiritual Master, beginning with obvious
acknowledgment of the Spiritual Master, as a Living Master,
but then going on to recognize and locate the Spiritual
Master as Siddha, as Siddhi, as that Influence, which is
directly present to every practicing devotee, in every
moment, not merely in occasions of being in the Spiritual
master’s human company, or being in meditation, of being in
an empowered place, or being in the community and so on, but
always. Those who truly practice begin to locate and
recognize and acknowledge this Influence in every moment of
life and meditation. it is always available. It is a
matter
of turning to it, of
acknowledging it, recognizing it, locating it, making your
practice into communion with that Influence. Therefore
allowing that Influence to transform the conditions of
existence that are arising from hour to hour, moment to
moment, not only in meditation, but in daily life. In daily
life all kinds of changes occur, all kinds of moods, all
kinds of circumstances, physical, emotional and mental
states, relations, changes in relations and so forth. Those
are just as much within the sphere of Transcendental
Influence, as any of the activities that occur in the
subjective realm of meditation. Therefore these also, you
will discover, remarkably, are constantly being changed, in
various ways by this influence. The Influence, or Siddhi that you
have entered into is the Power and Being in which all of
nature is arising. And therefore it has its effect on all of
the apparently objective conditions of your existence, just
as it has an effect upon the subjective conditions. So in
daily life, you notice this influence making changes, if
your sensitive and really practicing in this company, in
both the subjective and objective levels of your existence.
In meditation, you notice this influence more in terms of
the subjective changes and the effects this Influence has on
you immediate personal experience, you physical, emotional,
mental states, and those kinds of states that may arise in
meditation. You should also begin to notice how
this Influence is operative beyond the waking state, in
dreams, in sleeping, in every moment of existence. There is
a tradition in which Adepts have asked devotees, usually
advanced devotees, to to to sleep at night, with the
intention of entering into the Spiritual Master’s company.
Sometimes this instruction is given in very specific detail,
to go to sleep with the intention in the astral or dream
form, to go to a specific location, usually the Communion
Hall, or the place of residence of the Spiritual Master,
with full visual expression and so on, during the dreaming
time. Also with the intention in the sleep state, to be
entered into communion with the Transcendental Condition and
presence of the Spiritual Master, or the Consciousness, or
Being that is the Adept and the Divine. Well, devotees over the years,
frequently report random, unintentional experiences of this
kind. Similar experiences in fact occur even during waking
hours, various kinds of visionary experiences, of seeing me
in the meditation hall, or having some vision of me and so
forth, in a moment of activity. These are reported by
people. they also report all kinds of extraordinary dreams.
Now these dreams in general do not have anything to do with
me in the sense that I am personally, at the level of my
human mind and so on, aware that you are having these
dreams, although I very often am aware of them. But the fact
that somebody has a dream in which I appear to them, does
not necessarily mean that I would be able to tell them the
next day that I was aware of it. I may or may not be aware
of it. Or I may be aware of it in a difference form. Or I
may be aware of it in the same form. But most of the time I
wouldn’t be aware of it, there would be no reflection in my
waking mind of it. But this does not mean that the
experience if false. It can be falsified by the individual
who just uses it for his own self-glamouriation, to console
him or herself so they can feel they’re had some profound
experience. But generally the essential content of such
dreams is a feeling of entering into this communion, and
something about the meaning of the dream, will generally
have some pertinence, some significance that is real and
appropriate enough, worth remembering, worth allowing to
have some effect on you whenever it will. Therefore since this possibility
exists, some people might try this. You should feel free to
try this. These gatherings we have on celebration occasions
are something like this. People gather in Centers and
various parts of the world, at the same time I’m sitting
here with you all. And they prepare themselves through the
devotional occasion, and use my photograph as a way of
associating with me. They are literally tuning into me,
allowing themselves to enter into the sphere of my
Influence, personally. During meditation, or perhaps in
dreams, or some other visions afterwards, they may have some
sense of coming to some place where I’m sitting with them
and so forth. During that time of meditation, they may have
visions of it, of my being in the room with them, or them
being in a room some place or other with me. In other words the psyche may
function automatically to create some sort of association
with me that’s tangible. Whether or not that tangible
association has anything directly to do with my actual
physical location or not. It is simply a, it is simply
something that adds a dimension to the whole force of their
alignment to me. Read more on the Conscious
Process
a Beezone
compilation
after the reading of the essay the talk continues
Adi Da 2006