Wisdom of Consciousness

Our karmic debt is over the moment we decide it is over. It is a mistaken notion to think that we have to suffer. It is even more ridiculous to think that someone else can pay our karmic debt for us. It is also foolish to think we can pay our karmic debt by giving money to someone, similar to paying a fine for a traffic violation.

We are free souls. That is what we have always been and will always be. We have to make up our mind to realize this Truth. To do that, we need to do some demolition work and tear down the walls of our ego. Mental renovation is necessary. When we reform our own mind with wisdom it will no longer form the wrong ideas (misconceptions).

The mind becomes deformed by bad habits. Bad habits cripple the mind by making it weak. If the mind remains crippled it becomes deformed. We cripple our mind when we make lame excuses for our weaknesses and shortcomings. We shortchange ourselves when we don’t change for the better, here and now.

If we want to be truly free, then we have to decide to be free right now. When we have made up our mind to be free, then nothing can break our resolve to remain free. Nature will inflict its punishment on the body (for our past actions), but this body, after all, belongs to nature. The soul (ATMAN) is distinct from this.

The “resolve to remain free” means making up our mind not to repeat the mistakes of the past, or the mistakes of yesterday, or the mistakes of the last moment. It means living in the freshness of Consciousness and not getting stuck in any mental image. This is something we learn by practice, and the more we practice the better we get at it. Nothing improves without effort. The mother of success is good effort. The mother of failure is the whorish mentality that “I don’t need to make a commitment, because I am free to do whatever I want.” You are free to do what you want, but you are not free from the consequences of what you do.

A person who doesn’t make up their mind to do the right thing is going to do the wrong thing. Doing the wrong thing will always result in painful consequences. Since everyone wants to avoid pain and suffering, everyone should make up their mind to do what is right. Knowing right from wrong is not difficult if we haven’t messed up our mind by over-thinking and under-doing. We should think in short sentences and back up our understanding by undertaking good work under the guidance of the Wise.

To listen to the Wise we have to be humble (we have to drop our ego). The Wise help us train our mind to listen to our higher nature. They help us to become truly independent, truly free. Our addictions and dependencies are created by our own wrong choices. Likewise, our freedom (from ego and mind games) is established by our right choices. The Wise teach us to choose for ourselves and not let our ego make our decisions for us.

The answers are found in the Wisdom of Consciousness. We find the right answers when we ask the right questions, and we discover the Truth when we remove the covering of ego and ignorance. When the Truth is realized, we are free and our karmic debt is finished.

“I know nothing.”
Another says, “I know something.”
That ‘something’ is nothing.
Even nothing is something.
The one who says, “I know nothing” also knows something.

“I know.”
I know what?
“I know I know.”
This is gross ego.
“I know.”
This is subtle ego.
“I am.”
This is ego, plain and simple.

Simplify it further.
“All is, I am not.”
More simple is this:
IS.

The pure state of ‘Isness’. . . .
neither this is, nor that is.
Just Is.
Justice.

Is (‘isness’) is Just.
Just-is Is (only ‘isness’ is).
Justice.

Where there is ego, there is injustice.
Where there is no ego, there is only Justice.
Just Be.
Be Just.
Be egoless, just ‘is.’
Justice.

OM

Either we can be happy or we can be in our ego. It is one or the other. When we are in our ego we are beside our self with fear (anxiety) and doubt. Dismay soon follows.

When we are united with our Self, there is neither any anxiety or doubt. There is peace, and that peace is for real. It is not the result of stimulus and response. The real peace comes from deep within when the mind is established in divine Wisdom.

When actions are done to appease our mind and ego, we lose peace of mind. Some people never find a moment of peace because every moment they are chasing after their whims and mental images. Such a life is hell and in hell there is no happiness.

Hell is the curse of ego and its cause is Ignorance. This is why it is so necessary to remove our ignorance. If we do not remove it, we are going to make our life hellish. Ignorance is perpetuated by ego in the form of arrogance and stubbornness. One can be educated but still very ignorant of one’s real nature due to one’s obstinate ego.

This is where the necessity of a good teacher comes into play. To learn we have to be humble; but before we can learn we have to be taught, and to be taught we need to have a teacher. Good teachers (of Wisdom) are hard to find because they are not very much in demand these days. Most people want to be told what their mind and ego want to hear. Most people want to validate their ego by fulfilling their images.

To really learn we have drop all our images. Once we do that, it becomes very easy to be happy because we no longer have false conditions and expectations.

True happiness is natural because it comes from our real Self. If we want to be really happy all we need to do is be our Self. It is not possible to be in our ego and also be our Self. It is not possible to be happy unless we are our Self. Either we can be happy or we can be in our ego.

Religion is “surface-level” worship of God; it is “skin-deep” spirituality. It is strictly ornamental. Ornamental “religious” worship will never impress your Higher Nature upon your mind.

People read about, talk about, write about, and think about “Higher Consciousness,” the “Supreme Being,” “GOD,” but it is impossible to realize the Truth without raising our consciousness by leaving our ungodly thoughts and actions and surrendering to the Supreme Self.

The real spiritual work is not for show; it is for life. Our spiritual depth is revealed in our daily existence. If we are deep human beings we will not be attracted to the shallow things of life, like shallow conversations with shallow people caught up in shallow personality.

The first shallow person we get caught up with is our own small self. When a person is in love with their own personality they are deluded. They are also deluded if they hate their own personality. In other words, if we are taking our personality too seriously it means we are not serious about our spiritual growth. Spiritual growth means to “raise consciousness” (our own as well as that of others). If we are not raising consciousness we are indulging in shallow personality, and that indulgence is going to show in our vibrations.

People who are living on the “surface level” of life always have shallow vibrations. Because they are not tuned to higher consciousness they are unable to harmonize on the deep level of Divine Wisdom. Only when people come together and share divine wisdom do they truly prosper on every level (mental, physical, and spiritual). People who only share mind games are always losers, even when they win an ego battle. People who share divine wisdom are always winners because their minds are not ruled by ego. Wise people listen to their higher nature and keep their ego in check.

“Keeping our ego in check” means we are not indulging in shallow personality; it means we are not relating to others (and our self) on the surface only, instead, we are seeing the spirit self, the essence. Our spirituality is not skin-deep, but reaches into our heart and soul and is manifested in our daily existence.

The time is here to be liberated, to be free. The time is here to go beyond the mind and its images. The time is here to be real, to be fulfilled, to be complete. The time is here to realize our True Nature. That is what this life is all about. It is not all about satisfying our feelings and desires. It is not all about becoming successful in the world—it is about learning to take a loss gracefully.

You see, everything will be lost in time. Time devours everything. Nothing escapes the jaws of Time. Time is never on our side, but if we are on the side of Truth we will go beyond everything—including Time.

True love is rooted in Truth. Like truth, true love is timeless. It has no beginning, no middle, and no end. True love is not based on the past or the future, or even on the present. True love is founded on Eternity.

Ideas are clothed in language, but true love is naked, it has no words that describe it. True love is experienced only when we leave all our images.

Wherever there are images, there are expectations. Where there are expectations, frustration is sure to follow. And where there is frustration there is anger and despair.

Love has no image, no expectation. But this Love is not the love of the world. The love of the world is a fabrication of the mind arising out of the mind’s own limitation. The mind cannot perceive the truth so it fabricates its own; the mind cannot find true love so it imagines it.

The love of the world is based on the mind, on its impressions, tendencies, and attitudes. The love of the world is just a drama, it is just an act, it is not for real, it is not forever. The love of the mind only lasts as long as the mind clings to it.

The mind clings to that which stimulates it, and it calls it love. That which repels the mind, the mind calls hate. The love and hate of the mind are the two sides of the same counterfeit coin which can only buy us pain and suffering.

True love is born out of commitment to That which is eternal, to That which is Real. When our commitment is ‘one without a second’, we begin to experience true love, we experience the highest, indescribable feeling. That feeling arises from Love. Love does not arise from the feelings of the mind. Love arises from commitment.

Any commitment which is based on the feelings of the mind is a commitment that is unstable. That commitment is little more than a whim of the mind. Some whims last for a few days, some for a few years, or even a few decades, but every whim comes to an end.

To find true love the mind must be disciplined, it must be contained. If the mind is allowed to follow its whims, then the truth will forever elude us. Where there is no self-restraint, there are no boundaries. Where there are no boundaries, there is no definition, no real conception and no clear perception. The mind that is habituated to wandering outside (in the world of objects) loses its objectivity and cannot be directed inward.

What we are seeking is within ourselves. That Absolute Love, that Fulfillment, that Supreme Happiness is within our own being. It is time to realize the Truth.

We need to get to the heart of the matter, and the matter is this: are we going to be free in this life, or are we going to keep postponing our happiness? Are we going to be happy, or are we going to remain in our ego?

The tendency of most people is to blame their problems on things outside of themselves. They forget this simple fact:

We are the problem. We are the solution.

Here is the crux of the problem:

The things we know we should do, we don’t do.

The things we know we should not do, we do.

That’s where the problem lies with all of humanity.

The problem is really this simple, but we want to make it more difficult. Basically, we do not want to change. But change is inevitable. Either we are changing for the better or we are changing for the worse. There is no such thing as the status quo. If we are not improving, we are deteriorating. If we are not learning more, we are forgetting more.

The more we forget to do what we know we should do, the more obstinate becomes our ego (false identity). If we waste our life making excuses for our shortcomings we will never get to the heart of the matter and we will never find permanent happiness.

Postponing changing for the better is self-deception.

The cure, or remedy, for foolishness is to drop our ego and embrace Wisdom. Ego is false identification and ignorance is false perception. False perception persists so long as one’s false identification (ego) remains. If we let go of our images (dogma, bias, and false expectations, and, especially our self-image), which are the crutches of our ego, our ego will fall and we will stand clear (i.e., the mind will be open and free).

“The mind is like a parachute, it only functions when open.”

When the mind is open and free of images it functions very well and we no longer make fools of ourselves. Otherwise, we become dysfunctional and try to fool ourselves into believing what is unreal is real, what is false is true, what is temporary is permanent, and what is detrimental to our well-being is helpful.

A fool is one who believes in his (or her) small self ego. In other words, a fool is one who is defrauded by one’s ego (false identification). Until we are perfectly clear, some false perception will persist and some self-doubt and foolishness will remain. When we are absolutely certain about our Real Nature and who we are, then we have nothing to prove or disprove to anyone because we have nothing to prove or disprove to ourselves.

This does not mean we will not help others to understand, but this help will be done as a “matter-of-fact.” In other words, it will just be the natural expression of our real nature and not the expression of our ego. When I say that it is a “natural expression,” this does NOT preclude the use of methodology and organized effort to create understanding (i.e., the spreading of wisdom).

“The wise learn from the mistakes of others, but a fool doesn’t even learn from his own mistakes.”

If we point out the foolishness of others while holding on to our own ego and images, then we are double-fools. We should see the mistakes of others so that we do not make those same mistakes ourselves, but we also need to see our own mistakes.

To see our own mistaken identity (EGO) we need to drop our images and open our minds to the wisdom of consciousness.

Why are human beings unhappy? Is our unhappiness because of others: because of something someone has said or done? If we are “undone” by others, then we must ask ourselves: “Who or what is “undone’?” (Who or what is in turmoil, and why?)

The only time that we are set off is when we are not really ON. Being “on” means being connected to our real nature. When our thoughts and actions are aligned with true reality (with the Essence of Consciousness) we cannot be disturbed by temporary unreality. If we are truly ON, then no one can turn us on or off; we are never excited or depressed, instead we are established in the Essence of our being.

These are not just words or concepts, or ideas; this is REALITY, this is the essence of our being. Unless we experience the essence of our being we will remain in an unsteady state of mind. Unless we know the Truth directly, we can never know the true meaning of this life.

Knowing the Truth is not something we learn from books. One can only know the Truth by knowing one’s own self, and one can know one’s own self only by knowing the Truth. One can never arrive at the Truth by chasing after images of ego (false identification). Ego is cut off from the Truth, and all images of Truth are born out of ego attempting to know the Truth. But the Truth can only be known when the ego is dropped. Unless ego is eliminated, one will remain caught up in images and self-delusion, and will never realize the Truth.

The Truth is crystal clear. It requires no interpretation, it only requires direct experience; hence, it cannot be filtered through the mind and ego. How does one love? One just loves. When one is truly “in love” one does not “reason” whether or not one should love. True love cannot be “figured out’, and neither can the Truth be “figured out.” Unfortunately, few people really know True Love; they only know the love which is born out of the mind and expressed through emotions. Emotional love is mental love; it is not true love. True love is the natural affinity of the soul with infinity. That is, your own being is eternally connected with the Supreme Being, and that inexplicable affinity is experienced as love. That true love is born out of Truth, and like the Truth, it too is absolutely clear (pure), undistorted, painless, imageless, beginingless and endless. Any “love” that is short of this description, is not really love, it is just a figment of the mind.

We need to know the Truth, and we need to love. We need to establish our mind in divine wisdom, in the wisdom that is manifested from Absolute Consciousness. We DO NOT NEED to revolve our mind and life around some “person’, or some “place’, or some “thing’. When we get wound up in our false identification (false ego), we are bound to unravel sooner or later. When we unravel we create our own little whirlpool and we get sucked into our own self-delusion and self-destruction.

We can become free right now if we recognize our own self-worth. Our True Self is ever free, undisturbed, and unmaligned. It is also unimaginable (it has no images). Images are worthless: they can only buy pleasure and pain, excitement and boredom, temporary happiness and misery. If we want to be truly free, we need to be true to our Real Self, which means simply this: we need to make our mind a sage, we need to make our mind the abode of noble thoughts and the fountain of inspiration. The Light of Truth shines in that mind, and when that happens, we are free, forever.

Excitement and boredom are two different sides of the same coin—the coin of duality. Duality is the quality of unreality. The happiness born of excitement is counterfeit; it is not real.

Why do we seek excitement? We seek excitement because we are dissatisfied, or we are not fully satisfied. We seek excitement because the mind is disconnected from the fullness of Consciousness.

What disconnects the mind from Consciousness? The lack of wisdom and the presence of ego cause mental disturbances in the form of dissatisfaction, restlessness, and boredom. The disturbed mind cannot reflect the Light of the Soul (Consciousness); hence, our perception is distorted and we are unable to perceive Reality.

Reality is this: we are FULL, we are FREE, we are PURE CONSCIOUSNESS, which is formless, imageless, and indestructible. Anything other than this, or anything other than the expression of this, is unreal. Unreality is a figment of the mind. The only thing real about unreality is that it is really unreal, just like a drama is really a drama and is not real.

The drama takes place in the mind. We are the script writers of our own mental dramas. If we don’t fill our mind with wisdom, the script is going to be incomplete and our life is going to be unfulfilling. “Filling the mind with Wisdom” does not mean filling it with dogma. Wisdom is always fresh and original because it comes from our Source, the infinite reservoir of Consciousness. Wisdom is the understanding of Reality and the knowledge of the underlying principles of the Universe, the backdrop upon which the Ultimate Reality is projected.

The Drama of Existence is an expression of Consciousness. The expression of Pure Consciousness is beautiful. The expression of the distorted perception of the mind is ugly and unreal. When we, the living Self, the embodied souls, fill our minds with wisdom and remove our false identification (ego) we are expressing the essence of being, our Real Nature, and this expression is beautiful.

We are here on this Earth planet to be the best that we can be, and the best that we can be is to BE OURSELVES. Our Self is Pure Consciousness and our work is to make our mind an instrument of Consciousness and not the tool of our ego.

When our mind is a tool of ego, we are fools and fools are never fully satisfied. Fools always want more of that which cannot bring fulfillment. Fools look for permanent happiness in impermanent things. Fools look for true love in other fools because they can never find it within themselves until they stop making fools of themselves.

We make fools of ourselves when we fool around in our mind and don’t make up our mind to be happy. We cannot be happy so long as we are in our ego. Ego makes us bored and drives us to seek excitement. Wisdom makes us aware, and drives us to seek enlightenment.

When one is firmly established on the path of Truth, the path of the Wise, one no longer falls prey to the duality of excitement and boredom.

What is the heart? Mind is the heart. When we ask, “What is the matter with you?”, the matter is the mind. It is the mind that matters. Matter is born from mind.

Some will object to this statement and will ask, “How can matter be produced from non-matter?” They have missed the truth. The truth is mind IS matter, only it is more subtle than gross matter. Mind is the heart (the essence) of matter. More subtle than mind is intelligence. Every particle of matter has intelligence—that intelligence too is subtle matter.

Then what is non-matter? Pure Consciousness (pure awareness) is non-matter. Pure consciousness manifests intelligently (intellectually), thoughtfully (mentally), and sensibly (physcially, via the 5 senses) through gross matter. It is the influence of pure consciousness upon the gross chaotic matter than excites matter to behave (react) intelligently. This intelligent reaction is manifested as the underlying organization and intelligence that we perceive in the universe.