Category Archives: T Ch 6

The four formless absorptions

T 6 The four formless adsorptions

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6 The four formless adsorptions

6.1 Exploring the enlightened state.

6.2 Transcending the illusion of separateness and difference.

6.3 That is infinite extension through infinite space.

6.4 That is infinitely conscious.

6.5 This is mere appearance, inherently dream-like and unreal.

6.6 Knowing this and that, go as karma bids.

6 The four formless adsorptions

 

6.0 Embark upon the four formless absorptions, knowing with the unshakeable certainty of direct experience that this is that. Become aware of the principles of construction of conditioned existence whilst living your ordinary everyday life. Without the need for daily meditation, explore and know the manifest form of mind in its original, pure and unmanifest nature.

 

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T 6.1 What are the four formless absorptions?

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6.1 What are the four formless absorptions?

 

Conditioned existence is the manifest form of God. This is mind’s original, formless and untainted nature locked in the relatively illusory and dream-like process of evolving back to conscious realisation of its original, formless and untainted nature. This in its entirety is the name of God, which no individual mind can encompass.

 

One by one, practice of these four absorptions peels away dependence on form, to reveal, to the enlightened understanding, direct intuitive experience of the formless and absolute nature of reality. Through increasingly subtle perceptions of the nature of the form and underlying structure of the process of conditioned existence, the true nature of the merely objective processes of reality becomes known. The reality of the apparently objective framework in which we live, the world of nature, is explored through these absorptions and traced to its formless roots in the absolute subjectivity of mind in its unconditioned form.

 

 


T 6.2 These absorptions are simply ….

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6.2 These absorptions are simply natural and spontaneous extensions and refinements of the fourth and final stage of enlightenment. It is as though, having scaled your way up a steep cliff, you arrive at the top to discover a vast plateau, and, instead of having to progress inch by inch, you can now explore huge areas with ease. These absorptions simply release knowledge of reality which has lain dormant in your mind; the plateau, the explorer and the act of exploration are, and have always been, an indivisible unity.

 

A characteristic of the fully realised mind is the experience of separateness and multiplicity as an illusion concealing the underlying unity of reality. The enlightened mind is primarily focused on the unity of reality; in religious terms, the enlightened mind is primarily focused on God. Such intense and simple concentration is the result of the sustained meditative practices mastered on the journey to enlightenment; except for brief periods of meditation to restore temporary disruptions of equanimity, you should have no further need of meditation.

 

To practise these absorptions, let your mind turn simply and naturally to the subject of each absorption. Allow your intuition to guide you as you explore the structure underpinning conditioned existence. Whatever knowledge comes to you in these absorptions, be clear: the manifest world of nature is simply an externalised and objectified aspect of the universal and all-embracing, original and formless mind of which you are a conscious and microscopic part.

 

 

 

 

T 6.3 Become absorbed in the base consisting of infinite space.

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6.3 Become absorbed in the base consisting of infinite space.

 

Witnessing the unfolding of conditioned existence with the unobscured clarity of the enlightened mind, you can transcend the relative and illusory perception of form. Every apparently separate person, place and thing is known to you in its true nature as a manifest product of the one and only mind in its unconditioned state. The ordinary everyday perception of the enlightened mind transcends mere appearances and intuitively apprehends the underlying unity.

 

With direct perception of the nature of reality comes spontaneous absorption in the flow of reality. The enlightened mind, aware of the karmic patterning which shapes and directs each moment, offers no resistance to the will of God. The futile conflict between individual desire and the flow of reality is resolved through unwavering acceptance of things as they are.

 

There are no choices for the enlightened mind to make. Knowing intuitively the actions to take, the enlightened person acts as karma determines. The enlightened life is lived in the effortless freedom of moving through the world while experiencing it as the manifest form of that.

 

The enlightened person pays no attention to apparent differences between self and others. All are known intuitively in their true nature as inherent equals, and all are taught according to their current level of consciousness. Underlying all appearance of difference is the one unified unconditioned mind; God alone is and all is God.

 

Leaving behind perceptions of form, resistance and difference, become aware of infinite space.

 

All activities, all experience, all things take place within the everunfolding context of the thought-process of the one universal mind, which forms, embraces and transcends conditioned existence. That, the Absolute Godhead, the Absolute Brahman, the Void, is outside of existence in its true and absolute nature. Only limited and conditioned things come into existence.

 

Existence is a conditioned and constrained construct of the one mind in its natural, original and unconditioned state. That devolves into conditioned form, as infinite extension through infinite space. The human mind, evolved by the far journey to the final and absolute stage of enlightenment into re-unification with that, becomes aware of the base comprising infinite space.

 

The infinite expanse of this is the conditioned form of that. Be still, absorbed in the base consisting of infinite space. Become aware of the unity pervading all of space and transcending all of time.

 

 

T 6.4 Become absorbed in the base consisting of infinite consciousness.

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6.4 Become absorbed in the base consisting of infinite consciousness.

 

Leaving behind perceptions of infinite space, become aware of infinite consciousness. Infinitely extended throughout this, the one mind is also infinitely conscious of conditioned existence.

 

(a) Each individual consciousness is a unique and equally valuable frame of reference through which that experiences and lives this. There are an infinite number of ways for mind in its unconditioned, nonexistent state to experience conditioned existence, across an infinite duration of time. All of conditioned existence is the living expression of that.

 

(b) Matter is an aspect of the universal mind which forms the background against which the individual consciousness experiences conditioned existence. The world of nature functions as the merely objective framework within which ‘I’ live ‘my’ life. Illusorily perceived, understood and experienced as objective reality, the natural world provides an external frame of reference to the relative individual consciousness.

 

In the transcendental state necessary for this second formless absorption, matter is known as the direct manifestation of mind in its first conditioned reflex of clarity, wisdom and delight in what is. Although everywhere suffused with potential for consciousness, matter is the primal and inherently unconscious expression of that in this. This arises as matter, which unfolds and develops according to the inherent explicate and implicate laws, as the thought process of that unfolds and develops.

 

(c) Arising from matter, sentient life came into being as the condition of time unfolded its power. Sentient life and inanimate matter have a common source in mind in its formless and unconditioned state. Originally, sentient life was one with matter, experiencing intuitive understanding of the inherent unity of all of conditioned existence.

 

With the passage of ages, sentient life lost its harmonious realisation of the inherent unity of this and that. As sentient life became absorbed in conditioned existence, rather than in the awareness of this and that as being eternally and indissolubly intertwined, ignorance of that and desire for this grew hand-in-hand. The frame of reference for consciousness shifted gradually and imperceptibly from that to this, and the illusion of the separateness of people and things became dominant.

 

As ignorance of the nature of reality grows, the law of karma comes into effect. This is in the process of evolving spontaneously, across the ages, towards conscious re-unification with that. The cycle of individual birth, ageing, suffering, death and rebirth unfolds endlessly, until ignorance is overcome and reality is known in its true, final and absolute nature.

 

T 6.5 Become absorbed in the base consisting of nothingness.

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6.5 Become absorbed in the base consisting of nothingness.

 

Leaving behind perceptions of infinite consciousness, become aware of nothingness. Experienced and known with the fully enlightened mind, this is known in its true nature as relative and so lacking in absolute reality. Nothing which exists, nothing in conditioned existence, has any absolute reality.

 

That is pure ‘I-am’-ness; mind in its absolute state is expressed in religious terms as the being of God – I am that I am. That is devoid of conditioned quality or activity, being pure, clear, serene, unconditioned, free and blissfully self-aware. In our true nature, each one of us is that and that alone.

 

Any aspect of life which is not experienced as that is relative, and so unreal and illusory; God alone is, and everything which occurs is God. Underlying all of life is its inherent emptiness or nothingness; God alone is the doer of activity – our minds and bodies are but vehicles for the divine will. The suffering in one’s life seems real when experienced from the relative, individual and separate viewpoint. The unreality of life’s terrible suffering is only understood once it has been witnessed from the absolute viewpoint.

 

In the same way, the nothingness or void underlying life can only be experienced and understood from the absolute viewpoint. The transcendent and divine nature of life’s ultimate emptiness is found in the enlightened experience of everyday life, knowing that the individual focus of experience is ultimately non-existent. From the absolute point of view of the transcendentally realised mind, conditioned existence is known in its true nature as mere appearance, given the illusion of substance and reality by unenlightened ignorance of its dream-like nature.

 

Despite the unreality of the world when experienced from the absolute point of view, the undeniable suffering of countless individuals continues as long as they remain locked in relative and unenlightened perspectives. Unreal as this suffering is, enlightenment is the only refuge from the endless cycle of birth, ageing, suffering and death. Implicate Technology is only one of many, many valid paths to release from the suffering inherent in conditioned existence.

 

When in the highest states of yogic awareness of the nature of reality, the enlightened mind is untainted and undisturbed by its own or another’s suffering. Perceiving the universal and all-embracing compassion suffusing the world, Act so as to ease the world’s pain. Teach the world to know the true nature of reality, with respect and tolerance for the relative validity of each model of reality.

 

 

T 6.6 Become absorbed in the base consisting of neither perception nor non-perception.

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6.6 Become absorbed in the base consisting of neither perception nor non-perception.

 

Leaving behind perceptions of nothingness, become aware of neither perception nor non-perception. Reality known through the senses is not different from transcendental, trans-sensual being. This and that are ever one and indistinguishable; God is the world.

 

From the relative point of view, this is undoubtedly tangible and real. From the absolute point of view, conditioned existence has only relative and illusory reality. From the perspective of the fully enlightened person, either or both of these points of view can be experienced as true.

 

This understood and experienced as that is absolutely real. The world understood and experienced as the will of God is absolutely real. The universe is real if perceived as Brahman. The Samsara is real if experienced as Nirvana.

 

The illusory temporal, conditioned reality is real if understood and directly experienced as the manifest form of absolute, unconditioned reality. Fully enlightened, serene and clear, this is known to you in its true nature as the moment-by-moment expression of the infinite harmony of that. There is no distinction possible between God and the world –  they are one and the same.

 

Fully enlightened, knowing through experience both the relative and absolute nature of conditioned existence, understanding the unity of the relative and the absolute, you live now as a conscious part of the universal purpose. Great in yourself, one with that and one with this, live your life without individual and self-willed purpose, fulfilling the karma of your body with humble acceptance. Knowing the divine nature of ordinary everyday life, go as karma bids you to teach the suffering and unenlightened the nature of reality, according to your gifts.

 

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