Absolute freedom and happiness – our true essence
This essay is a summary of the key points of authentic spiritual practice, which are presented in detail in the book «Dharma – The Way Things Are. Real Experiences and Realizations of a Spiritual Practitioner» (© V. Sychevskiy, 2022, © AEGITAS Publishing House, 2022).
Unfortunately, nowadays it is very often believed that «going into the astral» is a spiritual practice. This is a very dangerous misconception. To put it briefly, the Lower Astral World are the images of our worldly desires. Therefore, a simple «going into the Astral» outside the context of proper spiritual practice are nothing but horrifying visions of Hell, the Animal World, and the World of Hungry Spirits in the Lower Astral World and, accordingly, a serious blow to the psyche.
However, if you read the original Buddhist or yogic sutras, you will not find in their descriptions anything about «entering the Astral», «contact with astral entities», «connection to the streams of energy» and further immersion in pitch darkness. Because true spiritual practice based on the True Dharma, which was given to the world by the Great Teachers of the past, is completely opposite to the nonsense and lies broadcast by the urban crazies. They think they are masters of meditation, because they practice under the influence of drugs. Their practice is often only technical and in instead of immersing themselves in the Practices of Goodness, Merit, Law, and Tranquility they engage in religious activities to satisfy their egoism and wealth.
In meditation, only the data that we have accumulated will manifest. Therefore, what we experience after we sit down to meditate is very important. Further, when the data manifests, we completely stop its action through concentration and Contemplation. But what happens if from the very beginning we do not change the initial data and do not master Calmness and Contemplation? For example, although meditation has become very fashionable, hasn't the world been getting worse and worse? The fact is that if you do not change the initial data with the help of preliminary practices, then it will remain at the level of the lower worlds, full of worldly desires and, accordingly, suffering. Moreover, if the internal data is of a low level, and there is no ability to stop the action of this outgoing data, then no matter how much you meditate, you will not get better from this. Nevertheless, ordinary people, trying to «be in the trend», sit and think: «I meditate». But there is no point in sitting in your pants. The meaning will come only when we persistently change the data of our Five Aggregates, controlling the actions of the body, speech and thoughts based on the True Dharma fixed in memory.
Книга издана в 2024 году.
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Translated from Russian by Nikolai Gnezdilov
All rights reserved. For free distribution only. When copying the materials presented in this Essay, a link to the original is obligatory.
© Sychevskiy V.V., 2024
© Aegitas Publishing House, 2024
Introduction
We are all spiritual beings. There is no doubt about that. The essence of a spiritual being is most often named consciousness. The limitation of the ordinary worldview manifests itself in the fact that we view our consciousness as some kind of limit or endpoint. In other words, we think that our consciousness is who we are. However, the True Dharma, or the Teaching that points us to the true reality, says that our true essence is the True «Self», which transcends consciousness and is the source of its arising. In Buddhism and Yoga, the True «Self» is described as the state of complete destruction of harmful passions, perfect cessation of suffering, and realization of true self-awareness, which is absolute freedom and happiness. In Sanskrit, The True «Self» is designated «Atman» and the state of the True «Self» is designated «Nirvana».
If we try to realize through spiritual practice this state that is hidden deep within us and is our true nature, our destiny will change greatly.
Knowledge of the True «Self», or self-awareness, is realized at the moment when our consciousness, which we usually think we are, returns to its original state of Calmness and Contemplation. The original state of our consciousness is also called Enlightenment.
There are a number of essential ways of spiritual practice that return our consciousness to its original enlightened state. However, the most important component of authentic spiritual practice is concentration. It is concentration that allows us to experience the cessation of the work of consciousness and for the first time to see our true nature, or Atman, a state of absolute, unconditioned freedom and happiness.
This state cannot be expressed with words, because the Atman is who we are in the true sense. The state of Atman is cognizable only empirically:
«The truth of self-realization [and reality itself] are not one and two. Through the power of this self-realization, [reality] can bestow others as much as itself; it is absolutely impartial, it lacks the ideas of 'this' and 'that,' it is like the ground from which everything grows. Reality itself has neither form nor non-form; like space, it is beyond [ordinary] knowledge and understanding; it is so elusively subtle that it cannot be expressed in words and letters. Why? Because it is beyond the realm of letters, words, speeches, chatter, discerning mind, questioning, and speculative reflection; at the same time it is beyond the comprehension of men in ignorance, beyond any evil deeds arising from evil intentions. For it is neither this nor that; it is beyond all rationality, it is formless and transcendent of all falsehood. It abides in the serenity of the uninhabited – that true abode of all saints.
O son of a noble family, the realm of self-realization, where all the wise dwell, is free from materiality; it is free from purity and free from darkness; free from apprehension and comprehension, free from the obscurity of confusion; it is resplendently pure, and its nature is indestructible» (Avatamsaka-sutra, «The Sutra of Forty Chapters», Chapter 31).
Therefore, as our spiritual concentration continues, a state of perfect peace of mind appears. Observing objects and phenomena in the outer world and our inner world, while in this state, we can make many discoveries. To our surprise and indescribable pure inner joy, we suddenly find that all things are completely different from what they appeared to us before. Discoveries of this kind can be called Enlightenment and many Enlightenments are many discoveries, it is the process of moving from the wrong view to the right view. The wrong view is based on attachment, anger, and delusion, whereas the right view is based on Calmness and Contemplation. Thus, it is after attachments, evil acts, and delusions are stopped that a calm and right view appears, by which we can see things as they really are. This pure vision is otherwise known as wisdom.
Then we continue our practice to fully master this state – to experience it not only in the actual but also in the deeper layers of our multilayered consciousness. When all levels of consciousness are completely stopped, we experience the state of Nirvana or Emancipation. Emancipation is the fixation of the state of Enlightenment.
If Emancipation is realized, then – in thought, speech, and action, whatever the movement of our thought, whatever the work of our speech, whatever the deed we perform – everything will be due to an increase in virtues and merit, an increase in understanding of the Laws of the Universe and an increase in Calmness and Contemplation. Finally, we will be able to attain great powers. This means that not only will we realize this state, which surpasses egoism, and the suffering it generates, and ultimately life and death, but we will also be able to help others to realize it.
