repost: trying to understand the universe in terms of consciousness

while listening to Ganesh Baba on my iPod...

Some notes and thoughts, October 12, 2008
Some editing and additions, December 4, 2010

We must become more familiar with the essence and structure of consciousness, because it is out of consciousness we come and to consciousness we return. Ganesh Baba, “The Rochester Raps,” recorded by Ira Landgarten, 1981.

The cosmos is created out of consciousness vibrating at different frequencies, visible to our limited senses as a fractal world created from rainbows and scales:

from The Crazy Wisdom of Ganesh Baba

The eight broad categories, matter, energy, space, time, life, mind, intelligence and consciousness, all operate within the human psyche, but the physical body operates only in the first three dimensions: matter, energy and space. The fourth dimension, time, we can barely conceive; it is like a baby moving around in the womb trying to understand the outside world. GB

Intelligence = Divine Wisdom, Sophia, Buddhi

The subtle world creates the material world. As Swami Armitananda once said, "It is obvious that mind controls matter every time you lift your arm," and science has long shown that the material world disassembles as our understanding of it becomes subtler and subtler.

We misunderstand the subtler worlds when the mind claims greater wisdom than it has, and it sees exactly the opposite of what is. The infinite fractal world of scales and rainbows is reduced to limited patterns conditioned by experience. Consciousness appears to flip and become its opposite: Mercury, in flight between worlds.

The möbius twist.

Thoughts, inhabitants of the world beyond space and time, take on a life of their own whenever they get the chance. Potential archetypes, progenitors of the world in which we live, arise with every word we say, with every intention, with every mood, with every thought we have (conceive: give birth to, create), whether conscious or unconscious. Some thoughts, conceived in the unconscious, take on the dark aspect of things not understood; and others, born in the light of consciousness, bring wisdom and understanding.

We fear what we don't understand - and we project our fear outward onto others and into the future.

 
Jung knew. The darkness is coming into the light now, willy-nilly. GB




How relevant this is now - during the darkest days of the year, as we near the Winter Solstice. In fact, these are the darkest days of darkest times in my lifetime, in most of our lives, if not in the life of our civilization, and possibly our planet.

The quality of each individual's consciousness, whether receptive or resistant, high or low, subtle or dense, with which we receive and respond to the darkness determines our experience. Our experience, in turn, creates the lens through which we focus our consciousness.

The focusing mechanism of the lens of experience is attention. We can choose what we pay attention to, what we shed the light of consciousness on.

Life, says GB, is 49% fate and 51% free will. 

The only way to transcend the current level of consciousness, whether individual or collective, is through the synthesis of light and dark.

These are times of highest synthesis, of enormous potential —

of the possibility of coming together without baggage,

of receiving and giving without judgment,

of being present, instead of just in time.

Ganesh Baba says the darkness will rise in all four fields of our existence, the physical, biological, psychological and spiritual. There is no stopping it.

It will manifest differently in each of our lives, though some groups will share their experiences.

But only when we recognize the light in disguise in what appears to be darkness, we will be through the twist.

The Spontaneous Gratitude Dance

Unless we learn to be grateful and humble, we cannot evolve.
Ganesh Baba

About a week ago, during that very intense grand cardinal cross, I heard Jon Young telling stories about his recent visit with a group of Kalahari Bushmen in Botswana. What struck me, other than the tragedy of what "civilization" has cost the human race, was that the Bushmen appear to only have two rituals: a greeting ritual, and what Jon called the spontaneous gratitude dance.

Every time a member of the community feels grateful, he or she does a happy, shuffling and shaking little dance. Whenever someone does the dance everyone nearby joins in and pretty soon the whole group is dancing. Jon showed video footage of the gratitude dance a few times, notably when a bottle of very special water was presented to an elder.

Earlier the same day, a friend leading a solstice ritual reminded us of the Haudenosaunee belief that the only reason for humans to exist is to say thank you, that the proper use of free will is to complete the natural circle of giving by giving thanks to nature and spirit for providing. The main understanding I took from my research on the grand cross was that whatever transpired in that time was likely to have a lasting impact - and there I was reflecting on the extraordinary power of gratitude twice in one day.

At the time I was preparing for a radio interview about The Crazy Wisdom of Ganesh Baba, trying to decide which of the 4 P's described in the book (Posture, Prana, Practice and Presence) I wanted to emphasize in the interview. I decided that the one that interests me most at the moment is the third, Practice, or conscious action, paying attention to what you pay attention to. What we pay attention to grows because we are shining the light of consciousness on it. What could have a more positive impact on the world than paying more attention to gratitude?

More than any other practice I can think of, taking on the essential human responsibility of giving thanks as Haudenosaunee saw it has potential to create just the shift in consciousness the human race needs right now.

And the Kalahari Bushmen have known how to do it forever.

So I've been doing the spontaneous gratitude dance for about a week. My dance isn't exactly the same as the one the Bushmen do, but my three grandsons picked it up instantly, not only dancing whenever I did but starting their own dances whenever they felt grateful. It's a little silly, of course, but a little silliness coupled with a lot of gratefulness is just what the world needs.

Try it. It works.

February 21, 2011

Look - A wonderful video about the gratitude dance! Thanks for passing this on, Larry and Bob.

trying to understand the universe in terms of consciousness

while listening to Ganesh Baba on my iPod...

Some notes and thoughts

“We must become more familiar with the essence and structure of consciousness, because it is out of consciousness we come and to consciousness we return.” Ganesh Baba, “The Rochester Raps,” recorded by Ira Landgarten, 1981.

The cosmos is created out of consciousness vibrating at different frequencies, visible to our limited senses as a fractal world created from rainbows and scales:




"The eight broad categories all operate within the human psyche, but the physical body operates only in the first three dimensions: matter, energy and space. The fourth dimension, time, we can barely conceive; it is like a baby moving around in the womb trying to understand the outside world."

Errors in understanding the subtle worlds come when the mind claims greater wisdom than it has, and sees exactly the opposite of what is. Because as soon as the individual mind, the ego, enters into consciousness, consciousness flips and becomes its opposite: Mercury, in flight between worlds.

The möbius twist.

Thoughts take on a life of their own whenever they get the chance. Potential archetypes arise with every word we say, with every intention, with every mood, with every thought we have (conceive, give birth to, create), whether conscious or unconscious. Some are conceived in the unconscious and take on the dark aspect of things not understood, and others are born in the light of consciousness and bring wisdom and understanding.

We fear what we don't understand and project our fear outward onto others and into the future.

"Jung knew. The darkness is coming into the light now, willy-nilly."

The quality of the consciousness, receptive or resistant, high or low, subtle or dense, with which each of us receives and responds to the darkness coming to light now will determine our experience. Yet the only way to get to the next level is through synthesis.

These are times of highest synthesis, of enormous potential —

of the possibility of coming together without baggage,

of receiving and giving without judgment,

of being present, instead of just in time.

Baba says the darkness will rise in all four fields of our existence, the physical, biological, psychological and spiritual. There is no stopping it.

It will manifest differently in each of our lives, though some groups will share their experiences.

But once we recognize the light in disguise in what appears to be darkness, we will be through the twist.

four elements meditation

Enter presence through sensing each of the four elements in your body.

Earth: The poet John O'Donoghue reminds us that the landscape was here long before we were - that we are, in fact, part of it. Feel the clay you are made of, he says. Sense your weight on the surface below you and throughout your body, but especially at the bottom, where it touches the ground. Your body is subject to the same laws of gravity and inertia as the rest of the physical world. That is the earth in you.

Water: Now attend to the water in you: in your bladder, your intestines, your stomach, your heart, your mouth. Water runs through you like streams on a mountain, trickling, rushing, pooling. You can feel it everywhere, running through your arteries, veins and capillaries, but it is most present in the midsection of your body. All of life on earth shares the same water; the water in you connects you to all of biology.

Air: Shift your attention to your breath. Feel your chest rise and fall as your diaphragm pushes air out and your lungs pull it in. Breath slowly and deeply. Now consider the subtler understanding of air we call mind. Fill your lungs with oxygen and imagine it traveling to your brain; imagine your thoughts floating around you and through you. The soft, relaxed rhythm of your breath reflects the expansion and contraction of the entire cosmos, the psychological plane of our existence.

Fire: Fire is the spiritual aspect of your body. It is the same sun in the sky that is the light in your eyes. Feel its vitality in your heart and mind. Feel its power. It is awareness, light, understanding. It is consciousness.