Read, think and meditate on the following excerpt from the writings of Paramahansa Yogananda. Try to go beyond the words and realize what he means. The more you can calm down the flow of incessant thoughts in your mind, the more you will be able to realize what Paramahansa Yogananda means in these words.

“Your being has two sides — one visible, the other invisible. With open eyes you behold objective creation, and yourself in it. With closed eyes you see nothing, a dark void; yet your consciousness, even when dissociated from form, is still keenly aware and operative. If in deep meditation you penetrate the darkness behind closed eyes, you behold the Light from which all creation emerges. By deeper samadhi, your experience transcends even the manifested Light and enters the All-Blissful Consciousness — beyond all form, yet infinitely more real, tangible, and joyous than any sensory or supersensory perception.”

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- What happens if you ask yourself where do your thoughts come from?

- Who is thinking all these thoughts?

- Are you your thoughts, or are they something that occur to you?

- Do your thoughts belong to you, or do they just pass through your mind?

If you keep asking yourself these questions, in time, you will discover that you, the Real You, is not your thoughts and is not dependent on your thoughts. By trying to observe your thoughts, with a bit of detachment, you will develop calmness, inner peace and silence, and the ability to look inside, beneath your thoughts and the ego-personality. This sometimes leads to awareness and knowledge of the Real Self – the Spirit.

Concentration exercises and meditation, can also lead to the same experience. They too, calm down the mind, which is always busy with thoughts, and lift the veil of thoughts hiding the Consciousness within – the Real Self.

At first there might short glimpses of a “different consciousness” of peace, inner silence and bliss. These short glimpses can in time grow longer and become more frequent. In some cases, this state of consciousness becomes one’s natural, everyday state of consciousness. This is the experience of nonduality and spiritual awakening.

In this state of consciousness there is peace and bliss and awareness of who you really are, being beyond body and form. Thinking stops being compulsory, and you don’t feel the need to think, though you can think whenever you want. It is a state of full awareness, the five senses are alert and sharp, and you can continue living your life, working, talking and interacting with other people in a most efficient way.

Since this experience is beyond the mind, it is not so easy to describe it in words. This is why you will find differences in the description of this state between one writer and another. Some are more eloquent with the use of words than others. When reading about this experience, try to look beyond the words, try to catch the essence of it, without too much mental analysis, so that your intuition awakens.

“The mind is only a bundle of thoughts. The thoughts have their root in the I-thought. Whoever investigates the True “I” enjoys the stillness of bliss.”
-Sri Ramana Maharshi -

“See who is the doubter, who is the thinker. It is the ego. Hold it; the other thoughts will die away – the ego will be left pure. See the source from where the ego arises and abide in it. That is pure consciousness.”
- Sri Ramana Maharshi -

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You see people with problems and people with aspirations and ambitions.

Everyone thinks and looks at the world through the mind – ego – mental programming. It is like looking at the world through colored eyeglasses. Every person lives within his/her small world, which is often the only reality for him/her.

Did you try to get out of this small world, to expand your consciousness beyond it? You don’t need money to do so, or travel to some distant place. You may have had a glimpse of this inner expansion if you practice meditation.

What happens when you read about far away stars and galaxies? What happens when you see pictures from outer space? Do you feel how small Earth is and how petty and not so important are all problems, ideas, ambitions, desires, feelings and thoughts that come from the ego, and all the events on this planet?

Exercise in expanding Consciousness

Sit down and look at the picture of the galaxy above, for a minute or two (galaxy Messier. Source: European Space Agency and NASA). Now, close your eyes and imagine your consciousness expanding, filling all space around you, growing and going beyond this planet and the Solar System, and beyond this galaxy. It is as though your consciousness is filling all space.

Where are you now, and who are you? Does all the petty gossip, politics, climate issues, work, financial situation and all problems on Earth mean anything now? Stay a while in this consciousness if you can, and then slowly contract your consciousness return back to Earth and to your body and familiar world. wait a moment before opening your eyes and getting up. How do you feel now? How is the state of your mind?

Did this exercise make a change in your attitude toward the world? Are you a little more detached now? Did your perspective, and the way you see your world, and the world around you change a little?

What you have done now is similar to spiritual awakening. You let your consciousness expand beyond your ego – personality. Spiritual awakening is like bursting into outer space, beyond the body and ego, beyond Earth, beyond the Solar System and beyond our Galaxy, the Milky Way. It is a state in which the Consciousness, the real you, is not tied down by the ego – personality.

Spiritual awakening takes you beyond mental, emotional and physical barriers and you enjoy bliss and inner peace. The exercise described above can give a glimpse of this state.

Learn How to Gain Inner Peace

A practical guide to inner peace, with step by step instructions and guidance.

Learn how to calm down your mind, overcome impatience, anxiety, worries and stress, awaken the spirit within, and enjoy inner peace and happiness in your everyday life.

Learn more about Peace of Mind in Daily Life

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Question:

You are probably the only author I came across who cover both self-realization and law of attraction in the writings at the same time. When you talk about self-realization, mind and consciousness are used. Mind is a tool and consciousness is the real you. This view/model is the same as the ones adopted by Eckhart Tolle and Mouni Sadhu.

When you talk about law of attration, the terms Life Force and Universal Consciousness are mentioned. Most of LOA authors use this concept as well. Is Life Force the same as Consciousness in self-realzation model? Or this Life Force is some sort of Universal Mind, which is a bigger tool than individual mind?

Answer:

Here are two of the reasons why I write on both self-realization and the law of attraction:

1. In this way, people who are interested in the law of attraction have the opportunity to go beyond materialism, into spirituality.

2. Most people, at least in the West, who are interested in self-realization, lead ordinary life like everybody else and have a job and family to support, so knowledge of the law of attraction can make life easier for them.

As to your questions about the Life Force and the Universal Consciousness, these terms are used to describe, as you said, something bigger than the individual mind. They are the manifestation of the Pure, One Consciousness in the mental, emotional and material worlds.

While Infinite Consciousness, as in self-realization, may be described as Emptiness – Perfection -One without a Second, Life Force and the Universal Consciousness are the manifestations of this Consciousness. They are the powers and energies that create and recreate the world and make things happen.

Actually, Consciousness, Life Force and the Universal Consciousness, are one, not three separate entities. Consciousness, when still and without thoughts is the Infinite Consciousness, and when active, it is the creative power of the Universe. Life Force and the Universal Consciousness being two of the various terms used by people to describe this active and creative aspect of Consciousness.

More Articles:
Consciousness, Awareness and Being
Living in Pure Awareness

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When you try to stop thinking, do really stop thinking, or do you just hold to the thought that you are not thinking, which is itself a thought?

Who and what it is that orders the mind to concentrate or get silent?

Can the mind concentrate itself, or is there something higher than the mind that focuses or silences it?

Concentration exercises and meditation eventually awaken something inside, some kind of silent consciousness, and it is this consciousness that focuses the mind on any chosen subject or object, and it is this consciousness that is able to cleanse the mind of thoughts and silence the mind.

This Consciousness-Awareness, Higher Consciousness is the Inner Self, and is beyond and above the mind. It is always here, but sort of hidden behind the thinking mind. There is too much focus on thoughts and sense impressions coming through the five senses, so that this Consciousness, “forgets” itself, and tend to “get involved” with the mind and the impressions coming through five senses. This is what makes it so difficult to focus the mind.

In time, as concentration gets stronger, one is able to cleanse the mind of thoughts, but this takes time and a lot of work. At this point you don’t say to yourself, “I am silencing my mind”, because this is itself a thought. You just stop thinking, but something else is there that stops the thinking. At this stage, when you stop thinking, there is no vacuum or the thought that “you are trying to stop thinking”. There is just Pure Consciousness, joy and inner peace.

From this perspective, concentration becomes simple and easy, and you are able to focus your mind easily on anything, a thought, a point on the wall, a flower, an inspiring quote, prayer, or on your work, studies, reading book or any other activity, or just enjoy being conscious, but without thoughts.

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