Nothing is as it seems: refraction of consciousness
Recording 08 of 12
Dismantling identification with the image-of-self
The talk opens with physical refraction to show how consciousness is altered by existence into appearing as physical form, then turns to non-attachment in action and omission, the refusal to judge situations, and the stillness needed for the divine life and beyond.
LENGTH: 30 MINUTES
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
YEAR RECORDED: 1990
PLACE RECORDED: TAMBORINE MOUNTAIN, AUSTRALIA
MAIN TOPICS
Attachment, Priests, Dont judge the situation, Creation of existence, Leaving the master, Ideals, Self realisation, Moods, Cosmic consciousness, Science
SUMMARY
Using a stick in water and the setting sun, the speaker shows that appearances are altered by the medium. Likewise, when consciousness passes into sense, a bodily image seems to be where we are not. The remedy is to be still and feel oneself behind the senses, unbent by mediums—water, air, sense, and contemporary media alike.
Arjuna's crisis on the battlefield clarifies non-attachment: not clinging to me-and-mine, nor to doing or not doing. Integrity is the freedom to act or refuse without personal consideration. In hospital fear, the cue is 'don't judge the situation'; keep the whole so the body's stress is not emotionalised into psychological fear.
The teaching's next phase is announced: from living the divine life to the possibility of cosmic consciousness. Self-realisation is the long exposure of self-ignorance; clones and premature claimants are corrected, and leaving the master is done by carping or in love. A child's question redirects enquiry from beginnings to what is present. Mood is named a thief. 'Love your enemies' is corrected to 'letting go of your enemies'. Certainty is contrasted with certitude, the state of divine knowledge.
Outline – Nothing is as it seems, Attachment, Don't judge the situation, Cosmic consciousness, Self-realisation, Clones of Barry Long , Leaving the master, The Big Bang, Everything is created now , Reasonable / realistic , Watch out, there's a thief about , Ideals, Certainty and certitude
07 - From feeling to knowing: the ascent of love
