I had sent to Burt Harding the link to my blog “Being-the
Oneness”. He was good enough to respond
and in his reply while appreciating the blog, he also made a comment which I am
reproducing below.
“One point I would like to stress dear Sam is that while
this knowledge is excellent yet we are entering the 4th dimension
and we are living in extremely consciousness-shifting times when everyone’s
values are being challenged to be met and transcended. Therefore, in view
of this, the ‘Life-Energy’ is shifting from the emphasis of clearing the past
as done in modern therapies to the SEEING of What-Is at the moment as already
Divine. It is this SEEING that is bringing the mass awakening of
humanity. This also means that the human is not seen as something ‘bad’
but as a catalyst for greater growth and acceptance.”
I was intrigued by his reference to ‘4th
dimension’ and ‘consciousness-shifting’. For as per my reading, Consciousness is
nirvikara, i.e. it does not undergo any modifications and is One only without
gradations, which means it is free of levels as well. Also it is
all-pervading. So where it can shift
to? So I wrote back seeking
clarification mentioning my doubt as follows.
“In your comment you are
making a mention of our entering into fourth dimension. This I had also
heard you mention in your satsangh. Is it the consciousness you are
referring to as the fourth dimension, the body, mind and intellect being other
dimensions? And is it the awakening to consciousness as our Real Self
the entering into fourth dimension? You can briefly clarify, at your
leisure.”
Quick came his reply with
the clarification which is as follows:
“The question you asked is fully loaded and requires some
research to understand it more. You see, we are all born human being – as
you know it is BEING playing the human role. While BEING is already
perfect, the human is what is needed to learn from and its evolution is what
creates this seeming universe. Evolution is the gradual growth of the
human getting to know its own true nature through seeming ‘time.’ Dimensions are levels of deeper conscious understanding
of this ‘seeming’ process. It is like the years of physical life for in
this lifetime. We start as infants, then children ready to walk and talk,
then develop ego around 3 or 4 years old, then the difficult years of
teenage-hood then the slow maturity to greater unfoldment.
During the war years we lived in the 3rd dimension
level of consciousness where everything was either white or black, good or bad,
right or wrong etc. This was a time of great conflict of the physical
knowing of our world where three-dimensions (height, width and depth)
predominated our consciousness. At this time we completely believed the
world was real and material. Therefore religions had more power over the people. Then we started entering the
4th dimension
around the years of the 60’s where sexual revolution, outmoded ideas where
beginning to be seen. This is a time of emphasis on emotions where people
began to get in touch with what they felt more than just beliefs. Thus
many atheists arose around this time. There were also more intellectuals
asking deeper questions. Still the word ‘God’ became taboo for most
intellectuals.
Now in this year of 2013 we are entering the deeper
side of the 4th dimension that is transcending time
and space. For example, technology such as iphones, advanced computers,skyping are proving that time and space are illusory. However, what is
most important at this time is GOD and its realization. This is a time
for vibrational transformation where words alone are not enough; where
scriptures and teachings are not enough but deeper recognition that GOD is all
there is. GOD is love; God is perfect and absolute unconditional love and
many people are awakening to that knowing beyond words by awakening their
insightful heart. Also there is greater acceptance of the human as a
longing and yearning for God whether it is expressed in drinking, drugs or
sexual exploits or through needs and seeking of love through relationships,
greater understanding of each other and so on. In other words, it doesn’t
matter how one lives their life, behind their suffering is a yearning for God
without knowing it. All human seeking is a seeking of BEING (God).
When we start seeing clearly how everything we do, seek
and want is God above all because it is all there is, then our love nature
flowers like never before and start recognizing our Oneness. Thus in a few
years we will be entering the 5th dimension where all our values of the
past will drop away and what is left is truly the Divine Nature of Humanity.”
After
reflection on what Burt has said I replied to Burt as follows: “I went through your detailed comment
carefully and took time to think about it. I think you are referring to
the individual consciousness manifested in the mind of the individual as
consciousness, as this can have only dimensions of growth based on the
evolution of the mind from the animalistic origin to the divine nature, which
is the true Self of the human, the Being.
--------- In Advaita Vedanta texts, pure Consciousness is referred to
as Chit and the manifestation in mind, Chitabhasa, meaning reflection in the
mind. So when I translate Awareness to Chit and consciousness to Chitabhasa, I
am able to understand and agree with what you say.”
Proceeding on this premise and calling
Chitabhasa as individual consciousness, to distinguish it from pure
Consciousness, we can see individual consciousness also moves to a higher
dimension as the reflecting medium, when the mind is refined through spiritual
studies, satsanghs, spiritual practices and studying with a teacher. I shall hereafter refer to pure Consciousness
as Chaithanyam and Chithabhasa, the individual Consciousness as simply
Consciousness. Swami Ranganathananda
remarks "Spirituality is not a mere scholarship; it is
being and becoming in the words of Swami Vivekananda: it is growth, development
and realisation. Spiritual knowledge,
unlike scholarship does not arise in the mind of man if it is morally
impure” Unless the mind is made subtle and
refined through sadhanas while leading a good moral life, the knowledge will not get assimilated and
become part of oneself however much one hears or reads. When knowledge is absorbed and becomes part
of oneself, then this knowledge of Self,
Athma Jnanam, will be available, at all times. So there can be stages of growth
in Consciousness depending on the growth in subtlety of the mind. These stages can be called as dimensions of
growth.
Dimension 1,2 &3 are everybody’s everyday
dimensions, corresponding to waking state, dream state and deep sleep
state. They can be called waking
consciousness, dream consciousness and deep sleep consciousness. Since the mind is fully awake, interacting
with the outside world in the waking state, partially awake interacting only
with the individual’s dream world in dream state and in sleep with no thoughts in the deep
sleep state, they are classified separately. They are basic dimensions common to all. Spiritual growth and development starts from
fourth dimension, in which one awakens to the fact that one is not the
body-mind-intellect complex, which we shall hereafter refer to as BMI, but the Chaitanyam,
which lends sentiency to the BMI through its manifestation in mind as
Consciousness, and this Chaitanyam is only a silent witness of the activities
of BMI. We can call this fourth dimension as witness
Consciousness. When one realizes that
the Chaitanyam is none other than Brahman, the cosmic Supreme, one divinises
the mind and this can be said to be fifth dimension, divine Consciousness. The
next stage of growth is when one sheds the individual ego, realizing that one’s
true self is Brahman and this we can call the sixth dimension, cosmic
Consciousness. The final stage of development is when one can stay in this
realization all the time 24/7, seeing all in Brahman and Brahman in all,
animate and inanimate and that Brahman in himself as his true Self. Such a person is called Brahma Nishta and
people like Ramana Maharishi are example of people who have attained that
state. This we can call the unity Consciousness, when one is constantly aware
of Brahman in all and all in Brahman, that Brahman being one’s own true Self.
The dimensions, names and analysis are a result
of my trying to reconcile the ideas of advaita teachers of west like Burt
Harding and Deepak Chopra with my knowledge from Vedanta texts. The number of dimensions and some of their
names are borrowed from Deepk Chopra’s analysis of higher states of
Consciousness and the concept of dimension and Consciousness has been inspired
by Burt Harding’s satsanghs. To purists
who may frown upon the idea of Consciousness having dimensions, I will only
invite their attention to Burt’s remark
“Dimensions are levels
of deeper conscious understanding of this ‘seeming’ process.” and my definition
of Chitabhasa as individual Consciousness.
------------------------
