Eastern philosophies suggest that while the divine is permanent, the phenomenal self is nothing but an extension of the 'unknown' true self
Mindful awareness is the most persuasive therapeutic entity that exists within each of us. It supplements and propels every function and process of our body. It jazzes-up our normal healing processes with a gush of healing energy that directly influences every bit of illness. It works in tandem with medical treatment. This leads to nothing short of what we call as 'gentle' cure - while presaging the flowing impact of our growing spiritual consciousness that includes everything in us. This also encompasses our thoughts, thinking, tissues, cells, or anything that you'd relate to - within and outside of us. It reverberates our belief - not just a feeling, but a revelation that each of us has in full extent. For our own and also everyone's good.
The whole idea - which is the 'unitive' state and/or the ultimate objective of heightened consciousness - is embedded in our astonishing, or enduring, self. It relates to a precise form of self-experience - which embraces just about everything, except for what is called the 'egoic' state.
Let us attempt to separate the chaff from the grain. Just think of the self, or consciousness, as a newspaper cut into a circular shape. This represents the self. It leaves the egoic state with no 'space,' because its centre connects to the divine. This is where the door of consciousness opens up to what may be referred to as the divine 'empty' centre - beyond which there is nothing but nothingness. You may think that the metaphor is more than a little complex. Well, the fact is it is not as complex as you'd think.
In the 'unitive' state, we may have no trepidation for the extreme; we embrace every challenge that is thrown at us. The reason being the 'unitive' state enables us to experience the 'suspension' of our deepest feelings, thanks to its closeness to the divine centre. Besides, when the challenge is not overwhelming, the 'unitive' state drives us to seek and meet challenges that are covert. This state does not, in any way, seek emotional protectionism - it calms the ripples, if any, of our distress. It flows like a river into the divine centre and merges with it. This leads us to a state of harmony - unlike the egoic state, which most often takes refuge in emotional angst.
Everything we experience of the self happens in the 'unitive' state - with, or without, our understanding. This does not, of course, represent the true self, because the true self is the cryptic connection that exists between the divine and the phenomenal, or unique, self. It is also 'that' aspect of consciousness that stands somewhere 'in-between' the godly and the extraordinary self. It does not tell us the 'what' of things; it tells what that is 'that' of all things.
The credo really gels well with meditation, because it expands our awareness, from the gross consciousness, as philosopher Ken Wilber puts it, into subtle states of consciousness, the causal, and finally, unitive and non-dual states of awareness. Wilber suggests that 'that' ultimate non-dual, unitive state is, indeed, a feeling of a fundamental identity with everything that's arising, moment to moment to moment and feeling connected with our own infinite self, our own truly timeless, space-less, infinite ground. It connotes a breath-taking presence, also oneness and radiance; it is what the Sufis call 'supreme identity' - the identity of the soul and the divine. "This identity, that being one with everything, that works really well with the three, two, one shadow process, is in the shadow work; you're working with your finite self, and becoming one with things that were split off your finite self. You actually feel, in the process, that you are becoming one with approximately that you have split off. You feel the expansion of your individuality and your responsiveness, and just of the fixed self. You're making the restricted self greater by taking back its approximations. Just think of it - in meditation, you're taking the limited self and having it, in its totality, to become one with everything that is ascending."
To highlight the refined simile, again - the spherical newspaper with its divine empty centre. There's something that we should now look out for - through our mind's eye - the truest 'true self' enveloping our inner threshold. If only we keep our mind's eye fully open and listen to the enthralling call of our inner voice, we may slowly feel it 'tapping' our 'resident' (un)consciousness and connecting our entire being to our divine consciousness. As the English novelist, playwright and Nobel laureate, John Galsworthy, said, "Life calls the tune, we dance." This is nothing but a conscious philosophical paradigm - to think of the 'unitive' centre as a fixed glow, the overwhelming flame of compassion, or love, which envelops us and the entire cosmos.
This is also the lofty truth - yet, what needs to be underlined is the divine is not as indistinct as is the popular opinion, thanks to the fuzzy impression that it creates in our mind. The phenomenal self is not unfilled ambiguity. Eastern philosophies suggest that while the divine is permanent, the phenomenal self is nothing but an extension of the 'unknown' true self. The reason is simple - there is a certain divergence between the divine and the phenomenal self in terms of one's 'empirical' existence.
This brings us to the final truth - that the divine is not just energy, or power. It is the godly element that 'drives' us to experience not only the divine entity, but also its spiritual pre-eminence - one that signifies the infinite cadence of our unconscious self and our eternal quest for our truest true self. To paraphrase Carl Gustav Jung, 'the plumber of the conscious,' our (un)conscious self is nothing but the all-encompassing radar and compass of our true self, or state - the fundamental element of our truest self and mindful awareness.
Nidamboor is a wellness physician, independent researcher and author
