The Transformation of Consciousness.
When your mind and heart are truly open abundance will flow to you effortlessly and easily.
Question:
I wonder about our true self and what it is. Is our true self/the essence of what we are, the same as Atman or is it something that is even beyond Atman? Since we all are in the process of shifting our awareness from jiva to Atman, does that mean that both jiva and Atman are different points of view or two different ways of experiencing what is?
Is it really possible for consciousness to be pure and totally objective? As soon as there is awareness, isn’t it also automatically directed somewhere, for example, in the best case towards Atman?
Response:
Atman is the Sanskrit name given to pure consciousness as it is experienced through individuality. As such, pure consciousness is by definition subjective, but that doesn’t keep it from being pure.
Jiva and Atman are different points of view in that the state of consciousness that sees itself as Atman, (universal unbounded intelligence) is dramatically different from the awareness that identifies itself as the limited ego-bound jiva. This is really a transformation of the experiencer as the sense of self moves from a conditioned state to an unconditioned state.
Regarding your last question about awareness always being directed somewhere—yes, you could say that the nature of consciousness is to be conscious of something and therefore is always directed or active to some extent. In normal waking consciousness our attention is directed outward through our senses into the environment, but even in deepest meditation, when we have transcended all thought, that stillness consists of pure awareness curving back on itself, knowing itself as both subject and object of experience simultaneously. This is why the sages refer to the state of self-realization as being both infinite silence and infinite dynamism in one.
Love,
Deepak
