Advaita Post Volume 16, no. 12
Text Satsang
From an introduction in Stoutenburg, August 28, 2005 – Part 2
You are that infinite consciousness
Spiritual development means a further awareness of your own aware self-being, your consciousness. In consciousness, you confirm: there is no border, there is no separation anywhere. Consciousness continues infinitely and you are that infinite consciousness. Consciousness is not something you can grab hold of. Consciousness is your own infinite being-sphere with the quality of lucidity, of a lucidity within which something is clear or can become so. That is your own sphere. That is why the verb is reciprocal and you say: “It is clear to me”, “I am aware of it”. What do you mean by that? That in your own sphere of lucid-being the things which arise are established in it. That’s how it is! The phenomena arise and then they are evident. That‘s how it is! This confirmation is not thinking. No, it is a direct appearance, without intermediary, in its own light. So too, there is the awareness of your own aware being-sphere. A further spiritual development contains this. Accordingly, there is also the recognition that this sphere is infinite, with no boundaries, and that you, yourself, as infinite consciousness, are not dependent on any conditions whatsoever. When you experience yourself as consciousness in a very lucid way, it is clear that this is primary, as compared to all phenomena. There will need to be light if something is going to appear. Yet these phenomena do not affect consciousness. They arise and disappear again within it. As infinite consciousness, you remain free.
Of course, you are also everything, because the phenomena are not other than your aware being-sphere. But, this is so in a very different way than when you become involved in it somewhere. No, you are everything. And still you are free of it. How is that possible? Precisely because it’s about the limitlessness of being-consciousness. The feeling-senseness of it has a quality of joy. When space comes, there is always something about it that is ‘wonderful’, ‘beautiful’, ‘spacious’, ‘freedom’. With each breakthrough towards a greater space or a more spacious consciousness there is the emotional or feeling-sense quality of joy. Expansion brings joy. Conversely, you can also say that when there is joy, there is an obvious expansion. People seek this expansion, in all possible ways. Why? Because it brings joy. People consistently want to cross borders. When new limits are experienced, there is the tendency to want to reach that which lies beyond the limit. When you are open to it, the process just continues. This also applies with respect to joy and happiness. Everyone has a notion of it. When something in your world starts to expand, you become excited. There is joy.
But, stay open for total joy, complete happiness. That means an open stance for the infinite. And look, then the process continues by itself. Then, looking back, you also see that the search for joy can produce something that indeed brings some joy, but that right away there were new borders again. Then the process of longing and seeking continues. Now just let the process proceed completely; let it radicalize itself into infinity. Then there is an infinite joy. Joy, happiness, insight are infinite. They are not platonic, in a separate heaven or something like that. No, they are already there, here and now. They are readily available, when you recognize them. “Oh, so that’s it!” Everyone has joy and happiness in themselves. And when you stay there, they reveal themselves to be infinite in a stable way.
In spiritual development, this joy is going to develop further. It becomes less and less dependent on circumstances, on specific situations, on special things. Why? Because it precedes everything. Because it belongs to one of the first and last of those qualities which comprise the sphere containing everything. And that is your own manner of being. It is good to recognize this: that’s it. Then you also know that it’s always about opening yourself up. This being open to the great is the only thing you can do. There is nothing else that you could do. You can not go looking for it or developing it. No, let the infinite being-consciousness-joy / happiness / love-being just come and let it stay.
thegroundlessopenness 