Visualization News, December 2004
Exploring the Non-Manifest
Hello and welcome back to Visualization News. December 2004 was our fourth birthday, and I�m proud and glad to have a steady stream of people who remain interested in this fairly �out-there� stuff. Thanks to all of you for giving me a chance to share!
This coming year has that pre-apocalyptic twang in the air, and it should be a violent and chaotic year of changes for the world. I think that has a lot more to do with where we are technologically than anything. People continue to have children and when I ask them if they worry about the condition of the world, they say that it is not their problem; their children will just have to deal with it.
The manifest world is chaotic. It has stable aspects, but it is defined by change and conflict. We want peace but we get war. We want pleasure but we get pain. Pleasure and pain walk in and out the same door freely, and we can�t have one without the other. If there is a place that has true peace, it is a place beyond any kind of manifestation. This would be a place where direct consciousness contact and true love would be the defining factors, and taste, touch and smell would be gone.
At first, that seems like a condition that we don�t want to be in. Pleasure is all we have and without it we have nothing. To be blind, deaf and dumb and stuck in darkness would be quite unbearable. But that isn�t what I�m talking about. I�m talking about love at a level that far outshines any pleasure, and a peace that is not subject to �external conditions.� It is the pure freedom of our own consciousness to explore the world of peace or to explore the world of sensations and manifestation without the painful and negative aspects.
When we identify with a level that is beyond manifestation, we also by default have complete freedom within manifestation to have what we want. We keep our anchor in the realm beyond identity and enjoy the world of Spirit level manifestation. We also have the option to explore the world that surpasses manifestation, the non-manifest.
When we identify with our current, very literal, material world we experience being a victim of it. Surprisingly, our state of being as we see it is not a �reality,� but simply a misunderstanding.
What is the alternative to manifestation? How can we possibly imagine it? Our sight, hearing and other senses as well as our thoughts, emotions, and so forth all impede our one non-manifest �sense�, which is direct consciousness contact or �true love.� They are the same thing. Perception and direct consciousness cannot function together.
When we try to tap into our non-manifest self, we become aware of the fact that we are still tied by desire to our identity and physical experience. This binding force of desire prevents us from having a pure experience of the non-manifest. But, we can experience our desires in a manner that rethinks what they are and thus frames everything within the non-manifest.
Our desires are not traps. They are not here to �impede� us. Rather, our desires are all that we are. When we achieve non-manifest awareness, we see, feel and think as we did before, but now we understand that there is no �manifest� world. Manifestation is impossible. It cannot happen. So, what we are experiencing is the mind�s idea of what manifestation WOULD be if it COULD exist.
Also, we see how all our senses are exactly the same. Although they seem to differ, they all perceive something that is not there and then transform that perception into a sensation. Sensation is an extremely fractured form of True Consciousness, the kind of consciousness we have at the un-manifest level.
But that is just half of an explanation. I had a conversation with someone about the possibility of experiencing sexuality after death. He said that it was impossible because sexual feelings come from chemicals, and the after-death body does not have a chemical structure. Without the chemicals, there is no sexuality. But chemicals do not exist. We do not have bodies and our bodies do not contain chemicals.
Chemicals and our body as well are just symbols created by our mind. They exist to serve the greater desire of our life experience. Sexuality only exists in true consciousness as an idea. The same can be said for our taste, touch and other senses. They are symbolic interpretations of what sensation would feel like if it were possible to have a body.
When I said before that sensations are fractured forms of true consciousness, I was somewhat off the mark. True consciousness cannot be fractured; it is not whole in the sense of being able to be in a not-whole state. Rather it is whole in the sense that it is forever unalterably whole and there is no lack of wholeness to compare it to.
So, at this point we would mention the physical experience as a good example of fractured reality. But, that is not really the case. It is only true consciousness masquerading as something that cannot really exist. It does this out of the desire to have an experience out of wholeness. But the best that true consciousness can do is to manufacture the illusion of having such an experience. Part of our consciousness remains in a whole at all times, but it pretends to not be present.
In true consciousness, or true love, which is the same thing, individuals can communicate without words or symbols, and thus there is no need for perception. Consciousness passes without a middleman between beings. So, in such a world the only limitation is the mind�s limits of imagination. Any idea can be explored. That includes the idea of perception and physicality. But true consciousness cannot be left behind or broken away from.
Imagine that you are leaning over a perfectly calm swimming pool. You create a continuous humming sound and then lean over the pool to the point at which you are almost touching the surface of the water. The vibrations caused by the humming would spring into existence near your mouth on the surface of the water and spread outwards in all directions. In the same way, when you experience your non-manifest state of consciousness, you realize that your own mind is �humming,� constantly creating your life experience through desire. The desire creates the appearance of fractured states of conscious that you experience as identity, an environment and time.
You also learn that you are exactly the same as every other person who ever lived. Regardless of their personality and values, each person is exactly the same at the non-manifest level. That does not mean that they are zombies or robots. Rather, they are all endowed with a kind of perfection that is equal. Although they remain individuals, they share that closeness that comes from being exactly the same. They are not separated by time or space or even goals and values. Everyone is equally accessible to everyone else. The love that exists there may be directed at one being or another but it is always for all beings in non-manifestation, because they are all precisely the same.
Just as manifestation is like a jigsaw puzzle that has been broken down into individual pieces and scattered around, so is non-manifestation like that same puzzle put together to form a whole picture. Everything becomes meaningful and stable, good, whole and well. The disease of manifestation is overcome by the unity and love on the non-manifest. But even more than that, you become aware that the puzzle was never fractured into pieces at all and never could be.
In manifestation, love is perceived as being for one person based on how they usually make you feel. That love is inversely defined by your hatred of those who do not share your core values. So, love and hate are equal and other-defining states. Thus, it can be said that love for one person or another is just a particularly low density of hatred. It is not a stable or reliable state. It always contains some degree of hatred, even in the midst of overwhelming love. People die, change or we ourselves may change and the feeling of love may vanish without explanation.
True love is the ground state of the non-manifest. It is defined by itself and nothing else. It is not conditional. It is not aware of hatred or defined by hatred. It doesn�t even have to conceive of the idea of hatred, and if it did it would find the idea ridiculous. Love is enough because it is the most desirable state of being. There is simply no reason, at that level, to not love others. Because at the level of the non-manifest we are beyond symbols and language, the communication is direct contact of true consciousness. Hatred only occurs when we don�t have access to that, when we don�t understand another person�s point of view.
As I�ve said before, we create a monster in our mind and that breeds hatred. The monster is our idea of the person we hate as being both conscientious and sadistic. They have a conscience but simply ignore it and choose to do evil. It is only through lack of conscience that a person is involved in sadism, unless they are mindless or insane. It is their lack of conscience that defines their behavior. They lack the direct experiential knowledge needed, as well as the imaginative ability, to empathize with that person. A non-manifest being has direct experience and never would see the monster.
If you don�t know what true love feels like, then it doesn�t make any sense to talk about giving up what you have for something that you don�t understand. But, as some point you just want to know, even if it means temporarily letting go of your senses. But, ironically it is not necessary to reach this understand by giving up anything. You can have your cake and eat it too.
At each step along the way, you will be willing to explore this new territory a bit further. You can have a partial experience of non-manifest experience today without giving up any of your senses. All that you need to do is be willing to let go of your identification with your senses to a certain degree, temporarily.
Exercise: Non-Manifest Existence
In this exercise we will seek to have a partial experience of being our non-manifest level identity.
Begin by getting comfortable and having a pen and paper handy. Begin by imagining that there are many levels of planes of existence going higher and higher above you. Imagine there is a final plane where manifestation ends and the un-manifest begins. This is where we are heading.
Although non-manifest experience and sensory input are at odds, we can still have a partial non-manifest experience despite the fact that our senses are still operating. Let go of all ideas about what non-manifest existence must look like or feel like. Relax and tell yourself that you will count upwards from one to one hundred, and that by the time you reach one hundred you will be in the non-manifest plane.
After reaching 100 and crossing into the non-manifest plane, there will be no more levels or planes to go to, as planes are part of a manifest state of being. When you reach one hundred, you may feel a sense of wholeness and warmth within yourself. Imagine that you are going to a place that is your home on this plane. It is your own apartment or home that you can decorate as you wish. It will be your retreat in the non-manifest world.
Get comfortable in your home and relax. Get a sense of how you feel in this world. What is different? Write down three questions on your paper, as follows. �What do I know now that I didn�t know before? How do I now perceive my current problems in life? Why is this state of being more desirable than my previous state of being?�
It may seem odd to have a home in a non-manifest plane, but it really isn�t. You are still attached to the manifest to a degree that you need some sort of visual anchor to place you in this state. Also, the non-manifest encompasses and contains the manifest entirely. The non-manifest does not have to bend or adapt to contain the manifest. The manifest does not so much �block� the experience of the non-manifest as it needs certain conditions to operate, and those conditions include a steep restriction on the experience of non-manifest consciousness.
Now answer all three of the questions above. When you are done, read your answers carefully. Are you surprised by what you wrote? Non-manifest states are definitely better than manifest ones. To love and be loved rather than being spun around like a piece of sand in a storm is a much better place to be. To know that other people are right there with you in true love is very reassuring. To know that you are exactly equal to others is also reassuring.
The final part of this exercise is experiential. Enter the non-manifest state at work or when interacting with your spouse, children or in any kind of situation that you normally find yourself interacting with other people. Once there, enter your non-manifest home and then release the visualization, but sustain the feeling it brings up in you. Now, see how it affects your interactions with others. How does this state break your usual conflicts and emotional strains with others?
I hope this information is helpful, and as always please feel free to write me with your insights and comments, or post them on www.geocities.com/visualizenews.
