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Advaita, a recap…

I am ‘in the worldʼ for as far as I am the body-mind. The brains, however, donʼt create Consciousness (as the materialists like to think – who only think about consciousness with a lowercase c by the way). Rather, Consciousness (with a Capital C) ‘causesʼ that the brains have come to function as they do in humans for example. In other words: I – in the capacity of Consciousness – am not in the world (for as far as ‘worldʼ signifies the entire collection of impressions and/or representations), but the world is in Me. 

Does this mean there is a ‘world behind the worldʼ after all? Yes, but not one (or something) to which praying to makes sense, nor something that has to be feared, nor something that requires devotion – IT does not punish or reward. It isnʼt some ‘godʼ, nor something like Platoʼs Eternal and Essential Ideas, and it doesnʼt contain archetypes or anything mental either (one could also say that the brains are in ‘the mindʼ rather than that the brains create the mind…). 

Just like that The Absolute burped (without reason or cause): Consciousness (also known as I Am). And from there originated (or originate) the temporary dynamic patters that appear to us as energy and matter (or as ‘ourself as humanʼ… (or: as soon as Consciousness has appeared many other phenomena and impressions occur that together we call ‘worldʼ or ‘existenceʼ). 

When a specific organizational pattern ‘diesʼ, then this really only means that this one-off, temporary whirl is gone (has ceased to function or whirl – so did not go ‘somewhere elseʼ), or, in other words, it again becomes a formless part of the ‘impersonal dynamic whirlingʼ – which can be seen as ‘raw materialʼ or ‘potential stockʼ from which other temporary, one-off whirls, with or without apparent or tangible form, will spontaneously originate. 

In that sense nothing is ever really here, and nothing is ever really gone! Being or not-being in essence are not so easy to distinguish from each other as seems to be the case in words, or as it appears so clearly for us in our experience. 

In other words: there is an Ocean. Suddenly and for no reason at all it starts to wave, hence becoming dynamic (at the surface), and thereby come into being temporary and distinguishable waves (energy patterns, organizational patterns, forms). After some time, each wave automatically flows back (disintegrates) and hence loses its temporary form or ‘specificʼ pattern of appearance, but in essence still also remains (impersonal) Ocean. Just like a golden ring also always remains ‘justʼ gold and can be melted back into something else. 

There is no (never) more or less Ocean, because there temporarily are more or less waves. The waving or the not-waving of the Ocean does not affect the Ocean itself. The Ocean in this metaphor knows two basic states, both of which are mostly concurrent: silent and/or (partially) dynamic, latent and/or (partly) manifest. Intuitively speaking, however, there are three: completely silent – moving it itself or ‘chargedʼ – partially dynamically manifest. Why ‘partiallyʼ? Because it never has been fully expressed or become manifest – at most a part of it ‘stirsʼ itself – (because the Ocean is infinite). 

Only in the (partially) dynamic condition does the will to be or the will to power manifest itself.
Some organizational patterns or whirls are aware of themselves, others are not, some reproduce themselves, others do not. But nothing ever (ex)is(ts) apart from the Ocean, nothing is truly separated or ‘on its ownʼ, it just appears like that because of the way the perception and impression processing apparatus in question is organized. In the end everything is always a temporary, spontaneous, inseparable manifestation of, through and ‘inʼ THAT. 

To ‘knowʼ THAT directly in the way one can know a table or a tiger is impossible, because THAT is not an object, manifestation or organizational pattern. THAT is The Unknowable. It cannot be ‘knownʼ, only realized. Advaitically seen there are roughly four forms of being for a human:
1. Identified. (I am a separate person – heavily to lightly identified and more or less neurotic)
2. Awakening. (The ‘realizationʼ ‘I am Consciousnessʼ is sometimes there or a bit more often = unstable)
3. Awakend. (I Am Consciousness – stable/permanent)
4. Realized. (I am THAT – no gradations possible) 

— 

However, the folks in ‘formʼ 3 and 4 can still be assholes and bitches every now and then – as well as clumsy and ignorant in numerous areas. Grin. I, for example, still canʼt snowboard, am sometimes downright annoying, and know next to nothing about higher maths nor about gaming. It also doesnʼt look like there is going to be any improvement any time soon in aforementioned areas, although the being annoying could of course improve. 


Translated by Anke Hans september ’22 – It comes from Valse noten, a book published by HL in august ’22

Ja, ik doe mee!