continuum of consciousness

[yajvan]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~

namasté

As I read the śiva sūtra-s again (and again) a greater appreciation of the expansion of consciousness grows in my understanding.

It seems to me when many talk of consciousness and its higher states, one tends to look at it as higher or lower. The notion of layers that may look like this:
______________
______________
______________

One goes from one ~state~ to another. This is stimulated by people's ideas of going in-and-out of various levels of awareness; some may use the term transcend, and this suggests a downward movement, no different then ~submerging~ into more refined levels of consciousness.

Yet the more I consider this and connect the dots of what I have been taught and studied ( and on occasion experienced), it seems much more linear in nature looking more like this:

>_______________________________>

It is my POV and appreciation that consciousness runs from differentiated to undifferentiated. That is, from the differences humans find in the world around them to that of a universality of undifferentiated wholeness that a realized-being would experience. One could say it is from fragmented consciousness to unfragmented.

What are the fragments ? That of diversity of wake, dream and sleep states to an unfragmented state that is considered śivavyāpti.
This word śivavyāpti is śiva + vyāpti. Śiva is that wholeness of consciousness. We have a wonderful definition for śiva based upon the root śī defined as 'in whom all things lie'; vyāpti is defined as pervasion, omnipresence , ubiquity, full, inseparable.

So,śivavyāpti is the pervasion of which all thing lie within the Being of śiva. Even differentiated/fragmented consciousness of the human condition - there is no place it is not. Hence this line of consciousness runs from fragmented >_____________________>unfragmented, a continuum.

What can we undersand about this model if we take to be a reasonable proximity to the truth ? It suggests that along the way of this line there are various experiences of awareness one may have as consciousness moves ( expands, unfolds) to this level śivavyāpti.

For this we will take up a few ideas in the next post...

You are welcomed to offer your opinion on this model and perhaps compare and contrast different views of thought if you wish.

praṇām

[Mana]

हरिः ओम्


Namaste yajvan,


I find this model to be a great description; it is so true that we do not see these changes easily.
It is rather like the changing of light from one colour to the next in a rainbow, as the frequency of vibration increases, light gradually changes colour.
It is our Human minds that separate the light spectrum in to colours, that need to box and class every thing, and sets the limits of that which we can and can not see; but the wavelength increases incrementally Bindu by Bindu. ______________________

This is, to my mind, very close to the notion of Δt in calculus, for any budding mathematicians this might give a good idea as to how these thoughts might compare.

The interesting thing is how ______________________ appears, in relation to the ebb and flow of every day life the guna, it would seem that there is a process of differentiation (calculation of the rate of change) which creates a counter balance and thus undifferentiated wholeness, by an annulation of this movement, the effect of which is to remove the friction of the motion of all that would otherwise cause angst.

Rather like three phase rotation, becoming perfectly synchronised to give a constant signal; one which does not burn the wire.



I have not yet finished reading the Siva sutra, page by page as it unfolds, I am finding that there is perfect harmony with thought. I await with great anticipation as I have order the audio version, how wonderful it will be to hear the Sanskrit verse and thus the pronunciation of these fantastic words which describe so concisely that, spoken by such a Master as Swami LakshmanJoo!

The audio will facilitate the learning of all these these new words, to better help to understand and describe life's flow and conciousness.


pranāma

mana


ॐ नमः शिवाय
Aum Namaḥ Śivāya

[ZarryT]

A possible alteration to your model would essentially be to represent it as a wave. At the peak it is consciousness of consciousness, at the trough it is conscious of life and suffering. There are no higher or lower planes, the line just wiggles.

[yajvan]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~

namasté


Thank you both for your ideas that you offer...
When I think of this continuum of consciousness I tend to think of what people experience every day - wake, dream, sleep. Other levels/degrees of awareness are there at all times, yet the attention falls to wake-dream-sleep.

It is like the electo-magnetic spectrum:



We spend all of our awareness in the visible spectum , yet there are other wavelengths there, but we do not ~pick it up~ with our senses.

Like that, it can considered the same going from differentiated consciousness ( the most factured in waking state) to a perfectly balanced whole state that is śivavyāpti, undifferentiated.

More as we continue.

praṇām

[yajvan]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~

namasté

I have mentioned that consciousness is on a continuum. It runs from differentiated to undifferentied, wholeness.

Yet we must keep in mind that if we say wholeness, fullness, śivavyāpti discussed in post one, it MUST include even the fragmented/differentiated components of consciousness to stay true to the fact of being whole and all-inclusive. This consciousness that is whole is also called satatoditam ( from the tantrāloka); It means that which has no pause, no break.

Svāmī lakṣman-jū inform us ' it is breakless and unitary. In samādhi it is there and when samādhi is absent it is there. And in sleep it is there; in each and every state of subjective body it is there'.

So in the differentiated consciousness we experience i.e. wake, dream, and sleep - we can see then it is just an expression of the wholeness, some say a ray of wholeness that shines within that experience of awareness. On one end of the line we have differentated and on the other end of the line we have undifferented.
The range is from individual (bounded) being to universal (unbounded) being; yet the range is still on the same continuum of the line, just like the electro-magnetic spectrum idea offered in post 4 above.

individual___________________________________> Universal
Within individual being we associate with mind (manas); a collection and bundle of thoughts, ideas, feelings, that are fragmented. The mind goes from here to there, it is pulled by sight, sound, taste, feelings and buzzes around like a bee. Within Univeral being we are aligned with unmanā or beyond mind, beyond framentation.

Now the question one must ask, what happens or resides in-between differentiated and undifferentiated; between fragmented and wholeness in this continuum of consciousness ? -------------------------O-----------------------------

This helps us tell the story of one's unfoldment, of sādhana.


praṇām

words
satatoditam - by its components as sat + a-tu + dita. That which really is (sat) + not (a) +to have authority (tu) + bound or divided (dita).
Or that Reality that cannot be bound or divided

[Mana]

Originally Posted by ZarryT

A possible alteration to your model would essentially be to represent it as a wave. At the peak it is consciousness of consciousness, at the trough it is conscious of life and suffering. There are no higher or lower planes, the line just wiggles.

हरिः ओम्


Namaste ZarryT,

That sounds painful to me!

I had hoped to find a three phase diagram rather than two, I fear that my wave picture above is rather lacking the satva guna.

Wave cancellation is elegantly demonstrated within Fourier theorem; this also shows that any signal can be broken down into the sum total of all its smallest parts; sine waves; otherwise said, vibrations or sound.

yajvan, I love to think of how we relate to all that is not visible, undefinable.
The sheer Grace of coincidence, repeating, as the universe conspires to demonstrate to us her beauty; her concealed brilliant inner nature!


pranāma

mana


ॐ नमः शिवाय
Aum Namaḥ Śivāya

[devotee]

Namaste Yajvan and Mana,

You both are working on a very good thread ! I would be closely following it. Thanks.

OM

[Mana]

Originally Posted by yajvan

Now the question one must ask, what happens or resides in-between differentiated and undifferentiated; between fragmented and wholeness in this continuum of consciousness ?

हरिः ओम्


Namaste yajvan,


If I might be so bold as to suggest that a period of fibrillation can exists between these two states; through which one must pass. Rather like the heart as it goes into cardiac arrest.

The self dying, so as to make room for the Self.


pranāma

mana


ॐ नमः शिवाय
Aum Namaḥ Śivāya

[yajvan]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~

namasté

So now the question.... on this line from differentiated to undifferentiated what are some of the stops?

Let's look at this ~ middle ~ -------------------------O----------------------------
It is my opinion that this middle occurs when one becomes established in the Self or ātman. This is that level of awareness of Self-referral. That is, we relate more to one's own Self, that stillness, silence within , then we do with differentiated consciousness.

This is when the 4th condition ( turīya) of consciousness is groomed in such a way that it does not leave when one opens their eyes. Turīya resides with the aspirant even in activity, in dream and in sleep. It has established itself within one's awareness. Yet one must be mindful
that this is not the final step to one's spiritual unfoldment, but a firm foundation for greater expansion on the path to this undifferentiated level of wholeness¹, of fullness of Being, of śivavyāpti discussed in post one above.

So now we have wake -> dream -> sleep -> turīya -> stabilized turīya or turyātītā caitanya. When this turyātītā caitanya is established it is there during all the other modes of awareness i.e. wake-dream-sleep which is called jāgrat, svapna, and suṣupi respectively. The truth is, turīya has always been within the other levels of awareness as the foundation. Because it is subtle we pass it up each and every day.

One must ask what is the nature and experience one has within this turyātītā caitanya, and are there other levels that are possible that arise on this continuum to śivavyāpti ?

We will take this up in the next post.

praṇām

1. wholeness is described as paripūrṅānuttara = pari+pūrṅā+anuttara

• • pari = fully , abundantly , richly
  • pūrṅā = filled, finished , accomplished
  • anuttara = chief, principle; nothing that can suprass this level

[Mana]

हरिः ओम्


Namaste yajvan, All


I have felt the urge to express this here, I hope that you can forgive my impertinence ...

This whole topic reminds me distinctly of my first experience of raised or manic energy, and its accompanying realisation and vision
(mathematical in nature) a highly energised state of altered conciousness; how curious a thing it is to find that I am reading and
discovering this here now, along with the other aspects of this winding path ...

I can only bow before this great wisdom in the humble knowledge, that we are all related by this self same force; this divine energy;
warmed by the knowledge that it is Śiva!


I began to develop a thought process, an image in my minds eye:

a finite point, a singularity can not exist, if it has a diameter it must also contain a centre, thus rendering it non finite.

This evolved to:

Any straight line if observed from an infinite distance away can be assumed to be a sine wave or vibration, and a sine wave with
rotation in 3 dimensions a helix. Viewed again from infinitely afar it might become a circle, or rather, a torus. Around which could
be wrapped an infinite number of smaller sine waves, never exceeding the bounded limits of the slightly enlarged shimmering torus.

A torus with a fractal boundary made from 3D sine waves, a vibration; this was my vision of infinity!

A simple mathematical "amuse gueule", which seemed to be pushing my brain and soul towards its limit as its axioms became apparent. Accompanied by; the realisation that
time its self, was fractal in nature.

When I requested a guru or a spiritual guide, to help me with this energy this realisation, I was put into a psychiatric hospital and
drugged with haloperidol.

The vision faded as I consequently forgot.

I was 19 at that time and all this was naturally quite a revelation to me; I had become aware of an entire level or dimension of speech
and communication of which I had never been aware of before, a whole new way of looking and I learnt from everything I saw!

Thoughts were confirmed by miraculous coincidence; this was also accompanied by a drastic improvement in musical aptitude, a leap
of improvement, my brain unblocked a whole new level of freedom, which translated to the movement of my fingers; strangely, by its
no longer getting involved. The ego was no longer trying to play; I was just playing.

That was the first occurrence, there have been many more, I have never accepted the Western view that this state of mind is either
wrong, or unhealthy, needing any form of medication, the insight it brings can not be deemed an illness if one adherers to the
sutras of Patañjali, one learns to diffuse and manage this energy, as this state of conciousness flickers into view.

With time I have learnt, due to the recurrences of this mental high tide, to disperse the energy to ground; to ignore its side effects, to
concentrate on God, It does seems to be settling in to a state of equilibrium.

It is very difficult to tell if it is the energy which manifests the vision; or the vision, the energy.
This is however, not a question upon which I now feel the need to ponder.


pranāma

mana


ॐ नमः शिवाय
Aum Namaḥ Śivāya