5.1 What is the process of attaining the final and absolute stage of enlightenment?

 

The transcendentally awakened mind witnesses this with a serene, tranquil clarity. The analysis of the nature of reality is completed by practice of the transcendental yoga taught in this chapter. Step by step you will learn, from direct intuitive experience, that this and that are now, have always been and will always be, inseparable.

 

In reaching this stage in your meditations, you have been supported by the profound intuitive conviction that reality is an inherent unity. Step by step, in chapter 4, you came to understand the underlying unity of all things. Now, in chapter 5, you will learn to experience this unity directly.

 

With the intuitive certainty of the transcendentally awakened mind, you now have the unshakeable conviction that there is a final stage of enlightenment. Know as a certainty that, with a last sustained effort, you will experience directly, in and for yourself, the final and absolute nature of reality. The process of enlightenment is now so advanced that it has become virtually inexorable; it is now only a matter of time and practice, provided you maintain unwavering determination to reach the end of your journey.

 

Firstly, you will recognise through direct intuitive experience that this is entirely a mental product of that. You will recognise that the world is the materialised and illusorily externalised thought process of the one mind, which alone is. You will learn simultaneously to participate in and transcend this thought process – that is to say, you will learn to participate in, and simultaneously transcend, conditioned existence.

 

Secondly, you will recognise that there is no difference at all between this and that, except ignorance of the nature of reality. You will understand through experience that this and that are different states of the one, inherent unity. Witnessing this from the real and absolute viewpoint of that, or experiencing this from the relative and illusory individual viewpoint, are simply two sides of the same coin.

 

Thirdly, you will experience all things as one. This and that are inseparable. ‘You’ and ‘I’ and everything else will be known and experienced in their real and absolute nature as an inseparable, all-embracing and infinitely harmonious unity.

 

Finally, according to your nature, you will come to the end of your journey. If you are of a religious and devotional inclination, you will become at one with God. If you are of a secular and analytical inclination, you will realise the unconditioned state.

 

Regardless of whether you are secular or religious by nature, the potential for good, afforded by your journey and your effort, will have been significantly wasted if you regard enlightenment as a prize you have attained for your own benefit. The fully conscious component of reality, the fully enlightened person, is an empty vehicle driven by an unseen hand, a selfless tool devoid of individual volition and dedicated to the enlightenment of all others. At one with reality, motivated by infinite compassion for the suffering of others, act according to your intuition to heal, to help and to enlighten.

 

 

5.3 How do you set about identifying this as that?

 

Up to this point in your meditations, you have viewed this from a relative perspective, located and rooted in this. Even with the awakening of the transcendent aspects of mind, you have still experienced conditioned existence within the restraining constructs of the ten conditions. Know as a certainty that for the rest of your life you will continue to experience this from a relative viewpoint – after all, like everyone else, you are only an ordinary mortal person.

 

Know also as a certainty that, as a result of successful completion of this meditation, your perspective on this will in addition simultaneously reveal the absolute nature of this. Practice of this meditation marks the shift in your consciousness from abiding only in this, to living in this while knowing and experiencing it as that. Know as a certainty that you will experience this from the absolute viewpoint of that – like everyone else, you are an incarnation of the universal, all-embracing mind; in religious terms, we are all children of the one God.

 

All of this, every part and aspect of the eternal process, arises, occurs and ceases to exist as the thought process of that unfolds. All of this, in its implicate and explicate aspects, has reality only through the workings of the thought process of that. From the absolute perspective of that, this is known and experienced in its true nature; once re-union with God has been attained, the world is known as It is.

 

Understood with the transcendent serenity of mind in its unconditioned state, this in its totality is known as the manifest form of that. That expresses itself, in its fulness, as this. That is formless yet gives shape, meaning and purpose to this.

 

This and that are intertwined, indissolubly and eternally. Conditioned existence cannot be understood in its true nature without experiencing it with the mind in its unconditioned state. God and the world are ever one, united in a loving embrace.

 

This and that are of one nature, two sides of the same coin. That thinks this, manifests this and experiences this, whilst simultaneously transcendentally witnessing the whole process. The thinker and the thought are one and the same.

 

This is that, subject to the constraints of the ten conditions. The joys and horrors of this are the result of the corrective reaction of karma to individual and collective thoughts and actions. Karma shapes the lives and minds of countless components of this across space and time, evolving this as a whole towards recollection of its original nature as that.

 

As a result of meditating one-pointedly on these teachings with a transcendentally awakened mind, the true nature of this becomes clear to you. As you have been taught-throughout this Implicate Technology teaching of the clear setting face to face with reality, this is the manifest form of that. Understood in its true nature, this is that. In your true nature, transcending outer form and difference, you, everybody and everything else are that.

 

Before completing your journey to enlightenment, pause to survey this from the perspective of that. That witnesses this with a profound and serene detachment. Follow the meditations to explore the three-fold nature of transcendental witnessing.

 

This three-fold nature is the expression of the highest, purest and simplest state of consciousness within conditioned existence. To the monotheist, it is the three-fold nature of God; to the Hindu, it is Sat-Chit-Ananda – Being, Consciousness and Bliss; to the Buddhist, it is the first reflex in conditioned existence of mind in its unconditioned state. Within the framework of Implicate Technology, it is the three-fold nature of transcendental witnessing.

 

By this penultimate meditation, you are learning the three-fold nature of your own experience in its purest of conditioned forms. The transcendentally aware mind witnesses this, knowing and experiencing it as that, with clarity, wisdom and delight. Live your ordinary, everyday life knowing the ecstatic bliss of transcendental witnessing, without the need to express your inner experience through outer sign.

 

The person who has realised these highest teachings of Implicate Technology, through direct intuitive experience, has no need to shout aloud the good news. Regardless of outer form, the life of a fully enlightened person is dedicated, with unremitting inner perseverance, to helping all others to attain enlightenment. The primary means of achieving this is action, not words.

 

The enlightened person loves this with a simple, direct and entirely spontaneous humility. You now exist to serve others by helping them along the path to enlightenment. Express your love and compassion for this through direct intuitive Action.

 

The first reflex of that, in conditioned form, is transcendental consciousness witnessing this with clarity, wisdom and delight. Witnessing what is, the fully realised transcendent mind is only one meditative step from realising mind in its unconditioned state. It is a matter of personal preference which of these two ultimate realisations you choose as your final goal.

 

For some, particularly those who are religiously inclined, realisation of mind in its purest conditioned form of transcendental witness is experienced as re-unification with God. For others, particularly those who experience the spiritual path as a search to understand the nature of reality rather than as a search for re-union with God, the goal is not reached until mind in its unconditioned state is realised. Both realisations are the final and absolute stage of enlightenment, experienced and expressed from different viewpoints.

 

That is clarity

 

That, in its purest conditioned form as transcendent witness of this, is an awareness of utter clarity. That is an experience of clarity, untainted and unblemished by any form of desire. That witnesses, but does not participate in, desires of any nature for any object, whether it be tangible or intangible.

 

That simultaneously transcends and witnesses the ten conditions structuring the development of its manifest thought process. That is untouched by fear or desire, untouched by any weakness or limitation. That simply is awareness of what is, untainted by any form of desire.

 

That is wisdom

 

In its first reflex as transcendent witness of this, that is an awareness of pure, clear wisdom. That is aware of the necessity, form and purpose of the ten conditions. That witnesses this clearly, knowing the true meaning of what is experienced.

 

The wisdom of that is an awareness of this in the context of the movement of this towards re-union with that. That is the consciousness that this unfolds in an endless, unified and harmonious movement towards recollecting that it is that. That is the wisdom to witness this, knowing the nature and purpose of what is.

 

That is delight

 

Untainted by desire, aware of the nature and purpose of what is, that witnesses this with delight. The horror, the pain and the suffering of this, the joy, the hope and the happiness of this, are all known in their true nature. Understanding the true, final and absolute nature of everyday life, that witnesses with delight the unfolding of this.

 

All experience is only real relative to the one who experiences. When sought in a yogically disciplined manner, the individual, the one who experiences separateness, cannot be found. In the final analysis of the mind enlightened through practice of yoga, all experience is unreal – it is known to be of the nature of a passing dream.

 

All suffering is only real relative to the one who experiences. Mind in its fully realised transcendent state of unsullied witness knows intuitively the inherent unreality of what is experienced as suffering. That delights in the true nature of what is.

 

Witnessing this with clarity wisdom and delight, the transcendentally awakened mind comes at last to experience the inherent unity of all things.

 

 

 

5.5 Now that the far journey has ended, survey and secure what you have won.

 

The far journey to understand and experience the true nature of reality is over. Begun long, long ago, the struggle to end your ignorance is finally and irrevocably over. You know who you are, and you know the true nature of what you experience during each moment.

 

In Implicate Technology teaching this is called the clear setting face to face with reality. Transcendentally still and clear, you experience reality as it is, directly and without ignorance or illusion. Reality is that, this is that, you are that.

 

That relative and illusory component of mind which comprises your individual mind has been transcended – so much so, that the purity of original mind is no longer tainted and corrupted by individual choice. Your whole psycho-physiological system has become a driverless vehicle, a tool for the use of that. Transcendentally serene and clear, your mind and body is, from the point of view of your inner experience, an empty shell devoid of volition.

 

Acting as a direct expression of that, you no longer have a propensity to act in such a way as to incur negative or positive karma. Your ordinary, everyday state of consciousness transcends the karmically reactive system. The lesson of reality has been learnt.

 

Although your mind may be free from the influence of karma, provided you maintain transcendental serenity, your body is not and cannot be free. Your body is a product of karma and that karma must be experienced. That is to say, your body must experience ageing, suffering and death according to its destiny.

 

In addition, you will be subject to the vast aggregations of individual karma, incurred across waves of incarnations, shaping cultural and global history. An enlightened person can be swept up in events every bit as much as an unenlightened person. Being enlightened does not exempt you from AIDS, terrorism, nuclear war, race war, economic deprivation or any other event of life.

 

Yet whatever may be the destiny of your body or your time, your mind has irrevocably won freedom. You may temporarily drift or fall from the state of absolute clarity, wisdom and delight, but you cannot lose what you have won. Any drift from direct experience of the absolute can only be temporary – Jesus’s agony and doubt on the cross, ‘My God, my God, why has thou forsaken me?’, was only the momentary result of a transient set of conditions.

 

If you do slide back into the karmically reactive system, then karma will guide you back into the enlightened state of mind. You have no need any more to practise meditation daily. You are now capable of living in meditation, although occasionally you may need to meditate formally to regain inner serenity.

 

The experience of mind in its unconditioned state at first seems bland. It feels, at first, like an infinity of stillness devoid of qualities and interest. This is simply due to unfamiliarity with the unutterably inexhaustible source of all forms of experience.

 

As a result of the initial impression of blandness, you may be tempted to retrace your steps along the path – simply because there is more apparent richness of experience, and more familiarity, in the events of the past. Resist that temptation; learn to maintain your consciousness in this new state of mind, just as you did at the beginning of samadhi. Although demanding at first, it will rapidly become second nature to remain in the unconditioned state.

 

The key to maintaining the final stage of enlightenment is to keep the mind in its natural state. Steadfastly remain in the qualityless stillness, transcending all conditions and all forms of mental activity: such as memory, anticipation, analysis and all forms of emotion or thought. Simply experience that, mind in its natural and unconditioned state, knowing that such experience is inexpressible and incommunicable.

 

Witnessing this with clarity, wisdom and delight, know that you are no different from anybody else. Knowing the nature of the illusion that is objective reality, be guided by karma as you work to help others along the path. Live for the service and benefit of others, according to your intuition.

 

As you work to help others understand the true nature of their experience and their suffering, always direct them towards overcoming the limitations they place on their own minds. Crippled by some combination of selfishness, stupidity, lust, greed or fear, the unenlightened person unknowingly limits the possibility of a fulfilled life. Treat each person uniquely and respect their limitations and weaknesses.

 

Explain to others only what they are capable of understanding at the time of explanation. Your goal is always to help them take the next step along the path. There is no hurry – this, with its ignorance and suffering. will last for an infinite length of time.

 

Witnessing this with the unconditioned clarity of that, know that conditioned existence and its inherent suffering are both unreal. Ignorance gives suffering the illusion of reality. Yet this is no game or pretence, and until the last unenlightened person knows that from direct intuitive experience, the endless cycle of birth, ageing, suffering and death will continue.

 

Time, ignorance and suffering last infinitely long, yet have only relative reality. The process that is conditioned existence will continue to unfold for the duration of time, witnessed and experienced by the absolute and only mind which embraces and transcends mere existence. Now that you have attained enlightenment for your psycho-physiological system’s individual mind, your greatest contribution to the general good lies in helping others along the path towards release from suffering.