Mind & Happiness 111

[back from hospital]

Our “sleep” of “self-forgetfulness” is imaginary, but from the perspective of our Mind, which is a product of it, it appears to be quite real. That is, so long as we feel our self to be this Mind, we cannot deny the fact that we do appear to lack clear Knowledge of our Real Self, as a result of which the “knowledge” of our self that we now appear to experience is confused & uncertain.

This lack of clarity of true Self-Knowledge is what Sri Ramana describes as “self-forgetfulness”. He also describes it as a “sleep”, because sleep [Dream & Deep Dreamless Sleep] is a State in which we forget our normal Waking self.  Just as in our everyday sleep we forget our present Waking self, so in our primal “sleep” of imaginary Self-Forgetfulness we seem to have forgotten our Real Self, which is our ever-wakeful,

Consciousness of our own essential & infinite Existence.  So long as we experience this State of imaginary Self-Forgetfulness, we do not experience our Self as we really are – that is, as infinite & Absolute Existence, infinite & Absolute Consciousness, & infinite & Absolute Happiness.

Instead we experience our self as a finite & relative Existence – a Person who seems to exist now but apparently did not exist before his or her Birth, & apparently will not exist after his or her Death, a person who sometimes rises as this finite & relative “consciousness” that we call our

Mind, & sometimes subsides in the state of relative un-consciousness that we call Deep Dreamless Sleep, a Person who experiences only finite & relative Happiness, mixed with equally finite & relative un-happiness.

In the state of relative un-consciousness that we call Deep Dreamless Sleep, we do not experience our self as a Person, but simply as our own happy Self-Conscious Existence. Though in Deep Dreamless Sleep we do not actually experience any form of relativity or finitude, from the perspective of our present Waking Mind we have to say that Deep Dreamless Sleep is only a relative & therefore finite State, because it is a State which we seem to enter & from which we seem to rise repeatedly.

Therefore, though Deep Dreamless Sleep is not finite in itself, relative to our other 2 States, Waking & Dream, it does appear to be finite.  Since Deep Dreamless Sleep is a State in which our Mind has subsided, it transcends our Mind, & hence it cannot be defined categorically as Existence either finite or Infinite, or as Existence either relative or Absolute. From the perspective of our Mind, Deep Dreamless Sleep is a finite & relative State, but from the perspective of our true Non-Dual Self-Consciousness, “I exist”, it is our Real & Natural State of Infinite & Absolute Existence, Infinite & Absolute Consciousness, & Infinite & Absolute Happiness.

What we actually experience in Deep Dreamless Sleep is only our Non-Dual Consciousness of our own Essential Existence, “I exist”, so as such Deep Dreamless Sleep is a state devoid of any form of relativity or finitude. What makes Deep Dreamless Sleep appear to be a relative & therefore finite State is the rising of our Mind in the 2 truly relative & finite states of Waking & Dream.

The above themes & 2500 pages more are freely available as perused or downloaded PDF’s, the sole occupants of a Public Microsoft Skydrive “Public Folder” accessible through  www.jpstiga.com 

short-cut: http://sdrv.ms/YPOgkX or http://tinyurl.com/nnyyr58  link directly to free E-book PDF files

www.jpstiga.com/

http://jstiga.wixsite.com/nonduality/

Different blogs (but with graphics) are available on:

http://www.blogger.com     as  “Being-as-Consciousness, Non-Duality – new & final version” with link:

http://Being-as-Consciousness.blogspot.com/

“There is no Creation, no Destruction, no Bondage, no longing to be freed from Bondage, no striving for Liberation, nor anyone who has attained Liberation. Know that this to be Ultimate Truth.”

–  the “no creation” school of Gaudapada, Shankara, Ramana, Nome – Ajata Vada

 for very succinct summary of the teaching & practice, see:  www.ajatavada.com/

[A brief note of explanation – this Blog is entitled “Non-Duality & Science”, & so the more Science oriented pages (from what I like to think of as a “comic book”) have been posted there, while other chapters have been posted in the other Blog noted below. Science is a mental discipline that attracts some worthy admirers & participators.  Some of these, too few, are good prospects for the ancient teaching introduced here in many ways.  Otherwise certain Science topics like the Anthropic Principle, reinforce the general Theism which is a good idea in this materialistic age. A few other topics in Science, such as the Copenhagen II – Max Born – Von Neumann – Wigner model of Quantum Mechanics, are worthy entries to the extent that they introduce Consciousness into the physical Sciences. All that aside, the real topic here is the pinnacle as Advaita Vedanta, Non-Duality – that pinnacle being Ajata Vada, No–Creation. The great Teachers of the same include Sri Shankara & Sri Ramana Maharshi.  Both would support Theism in general & adaptations of Vedanta, such as Vishishtadvaita Vedanta – Qualified Non-Duality, for those not making headway in Ajata Vada, their present course of growth might be better served with a temporary involvement in Qualified Non-Duality. The scientist who perhaps best expresses the influence of Qualified Non-Duality in Science, for instance, would be the quintessential “New–Age” Quantum Physicist, Amit Goswami. And so to that source, & the Quantum Activism he currently advocates [with a 1–course  degree program], along with more than a half-dozen good books & former participation in the controversial What the Bleep movie, to him I extend enthusiastic endorsement, for that Qualified Non-Duality described in the context of Science.  I do not stand so much “with him”, as much as nearby saluting his good work. Again, as here, a goal is inserting Consciousness into Science & “saving the World.”]

also:  Most of this material will be long searchable via “John Stiga” etc, on the “Wayback Machine” Internet Archive.

Also related to these topics, there are now 8 Kindle books on “Amazon.com”, reference-able by the author “John Stiga”, each indicated as non–copyrighted, public–domain, & priced at the minimum $0.99 each.