No.

2/2008

PHYSICO-PSYCHO-SPIRITUAL THOUGHTS

Jan-Feb2008

First page

Dr. Swaran J. Omcawr

Cosmic Roll-call

First of all Im marking presence of my own, said consciousness, let all other parts
come to me and mark their presence. There was a warm glee on the face of some. Alert as they always are keenly attended the next good thing coming from the mouth of all-pervasive-one. They are always nervous hence is their name. Like a watchman they attend the gates of senses. Many others simply raised their heads momentarily and returned to their business as usual. Their present job demand more alertness than the roll-call. A good population of others didnt raise the head even. They remained busy in their work. Consciousness as if addressing to them said, Simply doing work diligently is though necessary for the integrity of one you work for- the human body in the present case; but more necessary is to be conscious of doing. Im here not to obstruct or boost your work. Dont die over-burdened. By remaining conscious youll keep informing the body about your stress through nervous signals. This will also keep your batteries charged. There was warm clatter in the class-room. O Kay! Lets start, whos there? Cells of digestive tract; he recently had the large meal, so we are busy. Yeah! Buck-up. Did you have rest? During rest we work more. We are made like that. O Kay! Whos behind? The blood-cells, the heart, arteries, veins Are you busy too? Why you ask? Wholl carry the digested material? O Kay! -the next? The metabolic machinery. Busy? Yeah! Man creates his death-bed by overburdening us. The stress he creates causes us to dysfunction a lot. Remain alert- your function is to maintain the integrity of the body. O Kay! Next? The endocrines. Next? And roll-call went on. It was about to finish when consciousness saw a dim silhouette of someone listening attentively. Whos there? Its me the mind, said he as if waken up suddenly. This is the innermost Self, the primeval Purusha, whose essence is the constant realization of infinite Bliss, which is ever the same..." Shankaracharya Vivekachudamuni, vv125-131

Never mind, who are you? Me? How can I define myself? For centuries people tried defining me but were never successful. O Kay! What do you do? I think. I understand. I will. I sense. I imagine. I...I perhaps he had a long list of his duties. Wait, one by one. Dont be over smart. Yeah- the first thing I think. So that is you who have created mess in the brain. Most of your work is un-necessary. There was loud laughter in the class-room. I understand. Again an un-necessary task, Im more for realization than understanding. You understand by making concepts. I understand, I mean I realize by direct perception. You do pre-monition to prepare yourself against danger. But I am always prepared. Because of you man has gained intellectuality but lost intuition. What else? I will- that is I make desires. Not you. These are demands of body- the nerves, the brain. You simply make the strong desires more conditioned. I imagine. That perhaps is most perfect thing you do. That is why you always remain away from the real things, always lost in dreams. So please, mark my presence. I cant. You dont have any physical existence. I do not recognize you. But they say Im you. As you are always sleeping so I function in your absence, said mind sheepishly. Again a loud laughter ensued in the classroom. Interesting, but listen- I never sleep. I never remain absent. You are quite mistaken. But I have had the most powerful presence since centuries. I have created libraries of knowledge with my thoughts, created techniques for development, created tools of pleasure. Created conflicts! Created wars!! Created chaos!!! consciousness teased. But I have created values too, wept the mind. O.Kay. what values? For centuries I have been busy in creating values for mans meaningful existence. Name a few? For that Ill have to move to my library of memory. O.Kay. Go. Mind moved to the memory, remained there for sometime and returned again. There was no class-room no consciousness- no roll-call. Everything had shifted with the shifting of the moment. That moment was precious one when the mind had for once contacted with the consciousness- that too with the good grace of consciousness and not because of his own accord. Now that moment was in his memory. Great engineer as he is, he will tell to the world in the loudest terms how it is to be with the consciousness. "A human being is a part of a whole, called by us the universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest... a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty."-Einstein

COSMIC DANCE - Raju S. Chidambaram, Ph.D

In Reality, my Mother and my Father are one

One with each other, united in the indivisible consciousness Yet in this theatre of creation they are seen as two

.OUR MOTTO

Pure physicality Pure movement of the Yogis of past have seen them dance awareness their Cosmic Dance of Creation. within the body Mysterious and wonderful is their dance, they say within the brain They dance in a vast hall of gold hued clouds within the neurons. He stands majestic in the center of the hall no influence While She dances to the beat of His drum, the damaru. religious or dogmatic She, the Maya, is hard to glimpse psychological or spiritual Leaving but a fuzzy wave as She dances veiled behind the clouds. no preformed opinion of With every drum beat He sends forth a brilliant flash these no guidance A flash that is brighter than a billion suns no conclusion A brightness that parts the clouds for one brief moment intense questioning When She magically appears leading a child in dance. intense effort Child of Maya, utterly fascinating is its charm intense need to find Now laughing, now tearful, angry one moment, hugging in love till one is very near to next to cross the borders Many indeed are its varied charming moods till one is very near to My Mothers child, they say, is you and me and the entire cosmos. the Thus it is that the world dances to the beat of His Cosmic Drum pure intelligence within Led by She every step of the way till one is very near to This dance goes on around us all the time unseen have an INSIGHT !!!
Witnessed in joy only by the One who is detached from it all. According to Indian philosophical thought, Maya is outward manifestation of reality called the phenomenon while Brahm nderlying reality of all things i.e. the noumenon. They are the Purusha and Prakriti. While Purusha is steadfast and unchangeable in its attributions and Prakriti is everactive and changeable energy. Prakriti evolves and leads to the world of continuous becoming under the influence of Purusha. With this influence the nature has immence complexity and varieties of elements evolved and are continuously evolving. The enlightened ones do not see maya,i.e. the outward manifestation . They term it as an illusion. They see the reality behind maya, i.e. the purusha, the consciousness. This is ultimate reality and goal of all spiritual journeys. [Raju has a Ph.D. in a statistical area called Operation Theory, and he and his wife Shobha (a doctor) are founding members of the Chinmaya Mission in Washington, D.C. ] - Editor -The True Self

MIND BODY MEDICINE -Dr. Swaran J.Omcawr

What is mind body medicine? Mind body medicine is about physical and psychological stress and their association. A diseased body may be the cause of mental tension. Vice versa pure psychological distress may lead to many disorders like headache, migraine, high and low B.P., gastritis and peptic ulcer, bronchial asthma, hypertension heart disease etc. How physical and psychological stresses can be identified? Physical or physiological stress can be identified as environmental stress e.g. unclean air, water or eatables; living in overcrowded places or solitary living; over or under nutrition; over or under exercise; infections and certain surgical conditions. Psychological stress can be identified in the form of maladjustment with others; bad planning leading to failures; over or under spending; anxious or over jealous behavior etc. These manifest in the form of anxiety and depression, drug addiction, sexual disorders like impotence [males] and frigidity [females]. Many diseases like hypertension and heart disease may get aggravated by psychological factors. How does mind body medicine cure these ailments? Educating the person about his actual physical and psychological condition is only cure. Person with the help of his physician will make necessary changes in his life style, habits and his physical environment. Secondly mind body medicine through different strategies will help relax the person both physically and mentally. How Ayurveda and naturopathy is associated with mind body medicine? Ayurveda is Indian way of healing. Popular misconception is that Ayurveda is about herbal or other forms of desi medication. Ayurveda is actually about identifying the body type of a person i.e. vata, pitta and kaffa and finding the doshas related with these and thus effecting the cure by removing particular dosha through change in dietary habits and some common house hold remedies. Naturopathy is all about detoxification of body by different methods. Some of these methods are grouped under common heading called Panchakarma. Steam bath, ayurvedic massage, Shirodhara, Snehana, Aromatherapy is some of the methods included in panchakarma therapy. How biofeedback is associated with mind body medicine? Biofeedback technique can be perceived as psycho-physiological mirror of the body. You start receiving psychological and physiological stress signals from body and mind at the feeling level similarly as you see yourself in a mirror and correct your dress and make-up. Here you correct these signals viz. pulserate, respiratory rate, GSR [galvanic skin response], temperature etc. EEG and EMG are also part of the biofeedback devices which are better termed as neuro-feedback devices. Here person visualizes and monitors his EEG to have high alfa-waves during relaxation. What disorders can be effectively treated through biofeedback devices? Migraine headaches, Tension headaches, chronic pain, non-cardiac chest pain, Urinary Incontinence, irritable bowl syndrome, High and low blood pressure, cardiac arrhythmias, hyperactivity disorders in children, epilepsy, insomnia, depression etc. respond well to biofeedback methods. Biofeedback effectively tells the person how thoughts affect the body; monitor his relaxation; help him concentrate and do meditation in a way. How Yoga and Meditation is associated with mind body medicine? Yoga technique uses different postures to tone up the body. It improves the concentration, tone up nerves and brain and improves autonomic functions of the body. Meditation is the mirror of the thoughts. You reflect over your thoughts without analyzing them and help their proper processing so that they do not continuously trouble your mind.

Editors page
.Adi Shankara was an 8th century ascetic and an exponent of Advaita philosophy. Briefly this means that if realized with enlightened mind and not merely conceptually understood, there is no difference between man and God, and individual consciousness is in fact the universal consciousness. He was once his way to a temple along with his disciples after taking refreshing bath in the Ganga at Kasi. He saw a sweeper with his traditional instruments coming his way. Acharaya, a brahmin, as per custom of his times, cried immediately, Move away! Move away! The sweeper gave an immediate reply, Oh! best among all Brahmins, by saying move away, do you wish me to move away from you or my soul to move away from yours. These unexpected words made Shankara speechless. In a careless moment like this he has mistaken himself to be an individualistic ego only and how he stood helpless with his lifelong mission to spread Advaitic ideals at stake. He there and then compiled a five Sloka verse [Maneesha panchkam]. He was struck with such hapless state of remorsefulness that in the opening stanza he appears to question his own prudence when he asks, Would it make any difference to the Sun, the jewel of sky, whether it is reflected in the sacred waters of the Ganga or a ditch near some slum dwellings? Even more than that Shankara is ready to make that sweeper his Guru who has dispelled his state of momentary ignorance and awakened his mind to the coconsciousness of all individuals. After 1200 years or so we can claim a better life than Shankaras time, thanks to technology. But our minds are still in the dark perhaps even darker. Arent we li ving in the age, where religious and castiest divisions are at there lowly best. Where man with such a glorified past is held hostage to the doctrines [viz. jayotish, shani-puja etc.] which are neither spiritually honest nor scientifically correct. He repeatedly reminds us to shun duality i.e. seeing man and God as two; still we put up the objectified God in temples, sacred books or in separate corners of our houses. Even in our psyche our God usually occupies separate quarters generally as an image or as concept. This creates Dwaita [duality] and routine visit to such places only conditions the mind and keep our God really away from us. Shankara has shown us that how the Pure consciousness of the universe is displayed best in human consciousness and man is able to perceive it directly and realize that he himself is Brahma [Pure Consciousness]. Brahmin Brahmanah- i.e. Brahmin is one who has realized Brahma. It is bad luck of our times that we educate ourselves just superficially and technically to earn livelihood only and rarely we understand what the reality is? Our many problems and even worlds great crises has one common basis i.e. our highly domineering ego. But believe Shankara these problems will just vanish if we collectively as a human race could shift this subjective I [with which we refer ourselves] from the Ego to our consciousness. For this is the impersonal consciousness which represents our real existence and not individualistic ego i.e. our cultivated personality. If we want to put an end to the countless divisions of humanity and conflicts that follows lets ask ourselves- to whom my I belongs to- Ego or to my consciousness? Only by identifying ourselves with the consciousness we can develop co- consciousness among all human beings. -Dr. Swaran J.Omcawr [Bulletin Editor]

Who will make you well

The official brochure of the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians

We have seen the triumphs as well as the limitations of allopathic medicine. On the one hand, it is to the great credit of allopathic medicine that if you suffer a stroke, car accident or other emergency, an ambulance can arrive in mere minutes and whisk you away to a nearby hospital where heroic life-saving machines could save you from otherwise certain disability or death. The ingenious use of technology for such areas as imaging and intervention in extreme physical disability is a great hallmark of western allopathic medicine. On the other hand, the very triumphs and strengths of allopathic medicine have given it a conceit that it can ill afford: a belief that it can treat every kind of human illness. This is simply not so, and its efforts to treat everything, without referring outside of itself, have very ugly consequences. 55,000 people are known to have died from use of the painkiller drug Vioxx. This is over twenty times as many people who were killed on 9/11, yet all has been quickly forgiven and forgotten. Merck's stock prices took a light slap on the wrist, while business roared on briskly. Other equally dangerous drugs stay on the market, deaths from prescription drugs soar ever higher, and the FDA remains both oblivious and utterly impotent as a defender of public safety. Not only that, but in mid-February, class action lawsuits were made all but impossible by the federal government, which was just in time for Merck to escape the wrath of families of Vioxx victims. Saved by crony politicians once again. The well-informed consumer sees the good and bad of allopathic medicine for what it is and what it can offer, what it does well, and on the other hand, who it butchers and buries. Then we say, well, if they can't make me well, then who can? Is it the naturopathic physicians, the chiropractors, the acupuncturists, the massage therapists? Yes and no. Because naturopaths treat the whole person and treat the cause, and because they are trained in fouryear medical schools, with all of the allopathic medical curriculum as well as the natural treatment modalities and the approach of treating the whole person, finding the cause and prevention, naturopaths are your best bet for figuring out what is wrong, what are the consequences of not fixing it, and how to fix it with various options for treatment. But who is it that will make you well? It is you. You are the necessary and sufficient condition for the result of your own improved health. You are the rate-limiting step in the chain of biochemical reactions that ultimately result in a more comfortable-feeling, fulfilled, life-enjoying person. The fantasy of "give me a pill, doc, and make me well" has never been completely fulfilled and won't start with you. Improved health starts with commitment: the commitment necessary to change the foods you eat to those that will nourish you and agree with your metabolic type, and to eliminate those that are just dragging you down. It also involves the commitment to exercise, and beyond that, to stretch the imagination to determine what kind of exercise is fun enough for you to actually get out of your chair and go do it. Improved health also involves recognizing self-attacking patterns of thought, emotions, behavior, relationships and lifestyle that may be causing you harm and disharmony and disruption of your wellbeing.

The True Self wishes its readers a very happy new year 2008

Who will make you well? You will. You may want to plan a complete recovery by consulting a naturopathic physician to figure out the best path forward. If so, then go for it. But ultimately, you are the catalyst for achievement of your own best possible state of health.

Medical Information: Grape seed oil

The grape seed oil is refined from the grape seed by means of cold press. It appears light yellow or light green. The grape seed oil contains 88% unsaturated fat, in which, the linoleic acid takes 72%. Moreover, the grape seed oil contains Oligomeric Proanthocyanidins, which is a kind of strong anti-oxidant. Also, the oil contains many kinds of fat-soluble vitamins and essential minerals, such as K, Cu, Ca, Fe and etc. Property of grape seed oil: 1. Strong ability of anti-oxidation. Its anti-oxidation ability is 20 times stronger than Vit.C and 50 times stronger than Vit E. 2. Good fluidity; excellent permeability; easy to be absorbed by skin. 3. Smoke point reaches 250 Function and application: 1. Due to riches in linoleic acid and grape seed polyphenol which is excellent beautification ingredients, The grape seed oil is also named as edible cosmetics. 2. The oil is good for patients suffered from cardiovascular diseases or kidney disease. It can accelerate the blood circle and excrete fat from body. 3. It is excellent base oil for massage. It can enhance the circulation system, slow the aging process, prevent the skin from the damage of UV light, stop the formation of melanotic, eliminate the swelling, prevent the formation of wrinkles and other functions. Fatty acid composition 1.Oleic acid C18:1 2.Linoleic acid C18:2 3.linolenic acid C18:3 4.palmitic Acid C14:0 5.Stearic acid C18:0 15--25 % 64--76 % 0.2--0.6 % 6--8 % 3--6 %

1. The grape seed oil should be stored at a cool (10-20) and dry place, protected from light. 2. The shelf life of the grape seed oil is 2 years in the original package. Once opened the package, the package, the oil should be used within 6 months. 3. Packing: 206L/drum, export standard new steel drum. Also we can comply with your demands. Address: Unit 1703,Tower B,Jianyin Plaza,289 Zheqiao Road,Shanghai 201206,China Tel: +86-21-51330653 58542391 51330717 FAX: +86-21-58349737

Stress and immunity

Sara Abdulla

Over the last couple of decades it has become increasingly obvious that beneath the complex molecular and cellular events contributing to the causes and effects of stress, lies an even more complicated dialogue. A dialogue between two systems, which, for most of the century, had been regarded as autonomous: the brain and the immune system. In fact, the biology of stress could even be said to have spawned a new research discipline focussed precisely on this dialogue: psychoneuroimmunology. On a detailed level it is far from clear how the two most intricate and illunderstood systems in the body communicate with one another. But roughly speaking, there is now little doubt that they are inextricably linked via a dizzying mesh of feedback and feedforward loops. The mainstays of the immune system are the bone marrow - that is rich in stem cells (which have the potential to become almost anything the system needs), the thymus - an organ at the base of the neck which produces hormones and white blood cells, and the white cells or lymphocytes themselves. These lymphocytes come in two forms, T- and B-cells, which can be loosely thought of as attacking and defending cells. Both types patrol the body, ready to find trouble and avert it with the help of a fleet of janitor cells called macrophages. All of these first-line immune systems receive inputs from nerve fibres put out by the network - the sympathetic nervous system - through which the brain regulates organs and blood vessels. And many of them produce hormones, or other signalling molecules that interact with the key stress-response areas in the brain. The thymus for example makes thymosin and thymopoetin, hormones that are believed to influence the hypothalamus/pituitary/adrenal concert at the heart of the bodys stress response. Similarly lymphocytes emit signalling substances, called cytokines, that can inhibit hormone production and even block nerve cells. Indeed cytokines are thought to be a key part of the brain/immune interface as, if produced in the brain, they too can activate the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal cascade. Moreover, both lymphocytes and macrophages make and respond to the two main messenger proteins of the brains stress-response system: corticotrophin-releasing hormone (CRH) and adrenocorticotropin hormone (ACTH). This results in a feedback loop whereby (as if the whole business werent confusing enough already) CRH and ACTH can reign in an immune response by causing the adrenal gland to churn out steroids called gluticocorticoids which blunt lymphocyte signalling and hence lymphocyte activity. When these loops, and loops-within-loops are finely tuned and functioning properly, the stress response keeps the human body at equilibrium by conserving energy, fighting off intruders, healing wounds and generally seeing to it that the body adapts, with equanimity, to the challenges of life. When this fiendishly intricate set up breaks down, however, the consequences can be very serious.

Which is why psychoneuroimmunology is so important. Through un-picking the knotty web of brain/immune interaction, researchers hope to understand, and thence treat, conditions as disparate as multiple sclerosis (MS), arthritis, osteoporosis (bone thinning), AIDS, depression, eczema, asthma, cancer and the common cold. For example, higher-than-normal levels of cytokines (the white-cell envoys) have been recorded in the brains of many sufferers of Alzheimers, AIDS-related dementia and MS, hinting that they could have something to do with the neurodegeneration that characterises these conditions. Indeed, several studies by Bruce McEwen and colleagues at Rockefeller University in New York and Robert Sapolskis group at Stanford University, California, have found that stress hormones can leave the neurons of the hippocampus weakened and vulnerable to damage. Thus long-term stress has been shown, in animals at least, to lead to a vicious cycle of neuronal death and even memory deficit as the damaged area fails to regulate hormone production, thus bringing still further damage upon itself. There is some evidence that a process like this could be involved in depression, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and even schizophrenia. It has also come to light recently, that some elements of the immune response appear to be susceptible to conditioning. One experiment that Robert Ader, Editor of the Journal Brain, Behavior, and Immunity , carried out with his colleagues at the University of Rochester in New York, showed that rats given a sweet solution at the same time as being injected with a powerful immune-suppressing drug learned to associate the two. So much so that thereafter, rats who were given the sweet liquid, not only exhibited an immune slump but even, after repeated doses, died. Effects like this may shed some light on debilitating allergic and autoimmune conditions. These examples are but a fraction of the vital and sometimes vicious interplay that is psychoneuroimmunology. An interplay that, though still something of a mystery will surely, as Ader puts it, have profound clinical implications.

What is the difference between a concept and Reality?

a. A concept is a result of conceptualization, which is the process of separating and naming the things. b. Conceptualization is a process learned in early childhood. The infant does not conceptualize because its intellect is undeveloped. In contrast, the sage has a well-developed intellect and conceptualizes but sees that this is an illusion. c. Without conceptualization, there are no objects (e.g., in dreamless sleep, under anesthesia, or in samadhi) because, by definition, objects are always separate from each other. d. Reality is not a concept. Rather, It is absence of separation. Therefore, It is also absence of concepts and objects. e. Conceptualization appears to fragment the Reality (which is also Wholeness) into separate objects so that Reality no longer seems to be whole. However, Reality remains unchanged by it. -Stanley Sobottka [ from : A Course in Consciuosness]

Consciousness is all there is

Alice Ouzounian Consciousness is the manifestation of Pure Being. Consciousness creates the world in which we live and have our being. Just like a mirror, Consciousness reflects things on its own surface. It would be interesting to compare the characteristics of a mirror with those of Consciousness and what is really perceived on the mirror of consciousness. There is a Buddhist saying that explains Consciousness and Enlightenment. It describes Consciousness as having three levels. The first level of consciousness is about how an individual sees and understands the world as something outside of him. In other words, he himself is the subject observing objects. The second level of consciousness is about a certain degree of awakening. The individuals consciousness realizes that the way he sees and understands what goes on around him depends on the level of awakening of his own consciousness. He knows that he is the one who projects reality and gives meaning to his world. Finally, the third level Consciousness allows one to fully understand that the only truth is that Consciousness is the Creator of Creation and that without consciousness nothing can exist. Here is the summary of that Buddhist saying: it goes like this: In the first degree, first, mountains and rivers are seen as mountains and rivers. This statement represents an individual identifying himself as the subject and seeing an object. In this case the individual is totally involved as a subject with whatever he is perceiving and observing as an object. This is what the ordinary person does. In the second degree of Consciousness awakening, mountains and rivers are no longer seen as mountains and rivers. Objects are seen as the mirrored projection of the subject. They are perceived as illusory objects in Consciousness and therefore unreal. Finally, in the third degree of awakening or Enlightenment, mountains and rivers are once more seen as mountains and rivers. That is, when the individual is awakened and whatever is perceived is known as Consciousness itself manifesting as mountains and rivers. Subject and objects are not seen as being separate. Let us try to explain the three levels of Consciousness in more detail. In the first level of consciousness it is the ego that replaces Consciousness and is under the illusion that it is the perceiver and therefore the subject observing the world of manifestation. And therefore in this case, mountains and rivers are seen as separate realities. In the second level of consciousness the awakening process allows the ego to realize that mountains and rivers and the whole world that exists around it is just like a dream and unreal, hence, in this case the view of the individual changes. He sees everything around him as unreal because, as the subject, his ego becomes more aware of the Presence of Consciousness within and gradually an inner transformation takes place that makes things appear to be quite different. When understanding rises to this level, there is a release of pressure generated by his

own ego and a sense of freedom appears on the surface of consciousness. He wants the whole world to know about what his discovery. He wants to broadcast that everyone is a world to himself, everyone creates his own world and therefore, he is convinced and wants to communicate and convince others that the truth is that each person creates a world of illusion! There is no real world as such, since each individual will have a different view of it. Therefore, for such a person mountains and rivers do not exist, they are seen as illusions. Moreover, he feels the need to change the world and tries to convince others to see the world in the same way as he does. He advises and tells them what to do and how to change. He still hasnt realized that no matter how illuminated he is, he cannot pass his experiences to others, he can change no one, because real change can only come from within each person. However, it is his ego that wants to change the world and therefore he goes around creating problems for himself. In the final awakening stage, the individual realizes that everything that he sees depends on consciousness, the pure impersonal level of Consciousness that permeates everyone and everything. He realizes that as an ego he cannot perceive anything. Everything that he becomes aware of is perceived and created by Consciousness. He recognizes that everything that he perceives around him is perceived not by his thinking self, (the ego) but by Consciousness. And suddenly it dawns on him that the true perceiver in him is Impersonal Consciousness - the same Consciousness that creates and manifests everything in the Universe the same Universal Consciousness that identifies everything created by it. Therefore the enlightened individual realizes that the only thing that exists is Impersonal Consciousness without which nothing could exist. Since the Creator of manifestation and the Created manifestation are both the same. There is no more, subject and no more object, since Impersonal Consciousness is the creator and Consciousness is the perceiver. This level of awakening is what is sometimes referred to as Enlightenment, the ultimate realization that makes Mountains and Rivers and the whole world unreal, but, also real! We have said that the world is real for the ego that sees itself as the subject and things as perceived as objects. However, the world is also unreal in the sense that it is dependent on Consciousness for its existence. It has no independent existence of its own. Hence the world can only exist when it is identified by Consciousness. If every human being and every animal suddenly became unconscious, who's to say that there is a world? The world not only wouldn't appear, but it wouldn't exist. Let us take the mirror as an examplelet us say that consciousness is the mirror, the quality and function of a mirror is to reflect whatever appears on its surface. In the same manner, objects appear reflect and disappear on the surface of consciousness this is clear. However, Whatever appears on the surface of the mirror is still part of the mirror since nothing has been added to the surface of the mirror whatever appears on its surface is still part of the same material as the mirror. If however nothing appears on the surface of the mirror the reason is simply that there is nothing reflecting on it, but still the mirror remains the mirror. In the same manner, consciousness has two aspects, an active one on which manifestations appear all the time and a passive aspect on which nothing appears. The first aspect concerns the waking state of being, in other words it concerns our daily activities and also our dreaming activities during the night. In this state,

Consciousness witnesses its own activities through the reflections of all kinds of manifestations on its own surface (just like a mirror). In its passive state, Consciousness seems to disappear because this level concerns the process of deep sleep, unconsciousness and death. In this case, Consciousness remains in the recesses of its own Nature, which is the pure essence of Being, the Source of the I AM. In this instance Consciousness cannot reflect itself and as a result it remains as the formless Presence of Being. In this condition, as human beings, we remain unconscious of our true Nature, since Consciousness does not reflect its own Presence and has nothing to manifest and reflect its own nature. If as we have described the Universal Consciousness is the sole creator and reflector of all manifestations in creation, then where do we fit in the scheme of creation? What role do we have to play as individuals? The answer is simply that we have to realize that the ego itself is a reflection and a manifestation of consciousness. Our role as individuals is to allow Consciousness to reflect itself through usand through Creation In the same spirit, we could add for those who have read the essays on the Perfect Mold and the Perfect Model that both represent manifestations of the Impersonal Consciousness in an individual that is about to be enlightened. Both of them represent the Impersonal level of Consciousness manifesting and recognizing itself in an individual. So, we could ask ourselves how could we explain what is real and what is unreal? How could we explain this paradox? Here is an analogy that will explain it. During the day, the sun shines on everything and at times casts shadows, on trees for example. In this instance, could we say that the shadows of the trees are real? Yes they are, since we can see them. But what happens when the sun disappears, the shadows disappear also Hence shadows are both real and unreal at the same time. All manifestation is dependent on Consciousness for its existence. In the same way when in deep sleep, in a coma or dead, consciousness seems to disappear and becomes unreal. However, conversely, when a child is born, or when we are conscious of being awake, active consciousness seems to be present and seems to us to be real. The truth is that the essence of Consciousness is inherent in all creation and it also transcends it, since it is also the Source of all manifestation. To -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

FOR CIRCULATION AMONG FRIENDS ONLY Published in public interest by Prakriti-a natural healing mission BULLETIN EDITOR- Dr. Swaran J. Omcawr e-mail omcawr_sj@ yahoo.co.in