In 1981,
I was told I was God. This shocking announcement was delivered during
an interview with my teacher, Sathya Sai Baba. At that time, he further
assured me that everyone else was also God.
But I
had no clue of what it actually meant to be "God." So I set
upon a journey to discover the truth of this profound mahavakya
— this Great Aphorism — that God and I are One. It
is an assertion which masters of yoga, and its underlying philosophy,
Vedanta, have been proclaiming for millennia.
Not only
was I then in the dark about that exalted state; I had no idea how
to reach it. But whatever "it" was, I felt certain that attaining
illumination about my own Divinity would be akin to having a holy
vision ... an epiphany.
The results
of my investigation were, frankly, unexpected ... and as astonishing
to me as the pronouncement which had prodded me along the pathway
toward Self-realization. To my surprise, I would discover that, from
yoga's standpoint, enlightenment has little to do with those religious
principles and practices most westerners hold as sacred or "spiritual."
But I'm
ahead of myself. As other Serious Aspirants have done throughout the
centuries, I turned to the writings of respected gurus and Swamis.
I came to learn that enlightenment is an intuitively-deduced experience,
but that was not at all satisfying to me. Why couldn't those teachers
be more clear and precise about what this profound phenomenon actually
was?
Finally,
in 1985, destiny called: I attained enlightenment ... at a traffic
light, some three miles from my house. The light had just turned red
as I drove up. A moment later, it seemed, the car behind me honked
— the light was now green!
Impossible!,
I thought to myself. I knew that stop signal to be a particularly
long one; yet it had obviously been green for a while, since the driver
behind me was annoyed at the delay and trying to get me to ... wake
up? Had I been asleep? Something had obviously happened. I had somehow
... lost my mind, for a few minutes!
Half
a mile later, I suddenly got it! I now understood what was
meant in another of yoga's great, descriptive adages: One without
a second. I realized that I had just experienced the Self —
and that its "form" was simply a chunk of "lost time"!
A common
yogic term for this mind-free condition is "Pure Consciousness" —
he eternal state beyond all thoughts and time. And it had just happened
to me!
I inadvertently
burst out in a gale of laughter at the utter simplicity of it, all
... so much so, that I had to pull the car off the road until the,
well, humor of my "enlightenment" eased. Was that truly
what I had been searching for all those years ... or, indeed, as Vedanta
claimed, all these lifetimes?
It seemed
so simple — yet as I considered The Experience, it seemed to
meet all the necessary criteria for enlightenment. In the first place,
this "No-Mind" state, as I began calling it, was non-dualistic: Of
course I had no memory of what had actually occurred during
the experience, itself ... nor could I ever.
Otherwise,
it would mean there had been an "observer" somehow watching the phenomenon
of my "being God" as It took place. This would then make the experience
"dualistic." and thus invalidate it from the scriptural authority
I was using to confirm my admittedly outrageous conclusion.
And while
I never envisioned the fabled Self to be a segment of unaccountably
lost time, I immediately understood that Brahman (the Self or God)
and I are One (as proclaimed in The Bhagavad-Gita, 2:30) and
that My Self, and the Self of all, are identical (BG 5-7, 18,
19). This is scriptural authority of the highest order. And I could
point to numerous other shlokas or verses from that, and other,
great yogic texts to justify that same conclusion to which I had leapt.
It seemed
logical that my No-Mind experience matched all other such experiences
undergone by every other being, human or otherwise, who has ever lived.
There can't be a difference between these phenomena —"no mind"
is "no mind." Hence, there was the necessary Unity between myself
and all other creatures. That No-Mind experience linked us, all.
Since
1986, in our classes of what has become known as Neti Yoga (a Westernized
version of jnana yoga —"The Way of Ultimate Wisdom"),
every student has recalled experiencing the No-Mind state. Think of
the mind and our thoughts as a movie: This No-Mind state would be
like the blank screen upon which the flickering lights of "reality"
dance and play.
"It"
— the "screen" — is always present behind the scenes, but
almost never experienced directly. It is timeless, Universal and beyond
birth and death, according to yoga's various scriptures.
Or think
of it — Pure Consciousness — as "the space between one thought
and another." The analogy is sometimes used that, if thoughts were
clouds, Pure Consciousness is the "clear, blue sky" behind and between
each "thought-cloud."
For most
people, the mind is constantly "on," so the "blank space" between
thoughts usually lasts only for microseconds, when it occurs. Yet
we each have No-Mind experiences at least several times every day
(namely, during the grey area between being awake and being asleep).
But they are usually accidental, pass within moments as the mind "returns,"
or occur without our consciously attempting to "induce" them, such
as during "day-dreams."
However,
in the process of meditation, accomplished meditators can sometimes
reach the deepest stage, which is known as samadhi or nirvana
— other names for Pure Consciousness or the Self. They are actually
forcing open the shutters from this window to immortality. They are
literally erasing the mind-stuff, if only for a few minutes.
Infants,
too, seem to experience this state for long periods at a time, until
their physical needs bring them back to awareness.
Other
than his or her intention, then, the only difference between the enlightened
sage, the meditator inducing samadhi, the resting infant, and the
everyday person experiencing "accidental samadhi," is that of knowledge.
Knowledge of what this mind-free experience actually means and implies.
Of course,
awakening sleepers, comfortable babies and lapsing drivers are not
the only ones who have unintentional No-Mind experiences. This perplexing
phenomenon also occurs under deep hypnosis, perhaps during alcohol-
or drug-induced intoxication, or sometimes when we are just profoundly
relaxed or intensely concentrating. Indeed, it can occur at any time,
and under a wide variety of circumstances.
Metaphysical
events and even health problems can also cause the time-free state
of Pure Consciousness to reveal Itself. UFO abductees often claim
to have "lost time" experiences during their ordeals. Comatose victims
and sleepwalkers, too, are in the No-Mind state, as are people in
the throes of grand mal epileptic seizures.
But for
enlightenment to occur, both knowledge and this peculiar experience
are vital.
Knowledge,
alone, merely adds to our mass of infoglut. And the experience without
the knowledge of its significance can be absolutely traumatic.
For example,
one fellow in our first Neti Yoga class had taken a "bathroom break"
at his office; then, a few minutes later, found himself seated back
at his desk, with no recall of what had happened between the middle
of his urination and when he returned to awareness.
Fearing
a brain tumor, he was relieved when the company's doctor discovered
nothing organically wrong. Yet until that class session when he attained
his enlightenment, he had quietly feared that this event was a precursor
to perhaps a life of Alzheimer's Disease in his later years.
But I
don't even need to leave my own home to find other, interesting tales
of Pure Consciousness. My wife, Barbara Gail, has also had several
No-Mind experiences, at least one of which proved extremely illuminating.
This
occurred after years of involvement in yoga. It was as she was lying
in bed, meditating upon yoga-Vedanta's premier mahavakya, I am
God.
As she
relates it, first the room and her surroundings began to disappear;
then so did her limbs; then her body. Finally, she "watched" as her
mind, too, disappeared. Then blankness.
Some
time later, she actually observed her mind returning; and the rest
of the process, too, as it reversed itself. It was one of her life's
most meaningful experiences.
Fortunately,
most of us seem to be able to recall at least one No-Mind experience,
accidental or purposeful. So this is why I feel comfortable promising
anyone "instant enlightenment" ... even those who seem to have paid
no "dues" to receive this Highest Knowledge.
In Neti
Yoga, attaining enlightenment -- experiencing Pure Consciousness,
being God, realizing the Self or entering accidental samadhi ... and
knowing what it means -- is an important mile-marker along yoga's
march toward "liberation." And having now received this enlightening
knowledge, perhaps the end of your own journey has now come into sight.
A
Yogi Explains The Bhagavad-Gita: Enlightenment for the New Millennium,
is now available from The G-Jo Institute at www.g-jo.com.
