~ ღ ~ Living Consciousness ~ ((( ॐ ))) ~ Vibrant Interconnected Reality ~ ღ ~

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As an extension of the previous chapters, this chapter expands upon the information on consciousness and its relation to awareness. In this chapter, we will take a dive into the deeper waters of consciousness – it goes in tandem with another chapter titled “Living Awareness – The Heart of Living Life,” which comes up in the next section. The terms Living Consciousness and Living Awareness arise from personal experience that best describe the aliveness of the experience of being alive, of being fully awake and aware whilst exploring the physical reality, the world around us, and the possibilities of human life by occupying the vehicle better known as the human body. Living Awareness is all about experiencing our core essence, experiencing life directly, experiencing reality directly, experiencing humanness in the most direct way possible; and Living Consciousness is all those experiences put together – from cosmic to galactic, to human, animal, plant, and so on.

In short, Living Consciousness builds upon the idea of Interconnectedness of Everything through shared consciousness – it shows that we live in an Interconnected Reality. More broadly, if described using humanly intelligible words, terms, shapes and forms, one would describe Interconnected Reality as follows: it is made up of Interconnected Nested Multiverses within the Innerverse – these beautiful tree-like structures resemble Apollonian Gasket Fractals in multitude of dimensions. This type of Interconnected Reality is Vibrant, Flowy & Malleable – everything and everyone is connected to each other and nothing is separate from the whole; each of us is part of this bigger whole – like water drops in the ocean; individualized but interconnected, independent but also interdependent of the whole.

~ Interconnected Nested Multiverses within the Innerverse - Beautiful tree-like structures resemble Apollonian Gasket Fractals in Multitudes of Dimensions ~

When we take the previous into consideration and delve deeper into the idea of Interconnected Living Consciousness, we can find that someone who is on a path toward self-knowledge, will eventually come to the realization that the highest endeavour of the mind is the investigation of its own nature. Thereby, as one delves into their own nature through self-inquiry – turning their attention and curiosity inwards towards oneself and towards the truth of one’s nature, one can understand how everything else connects to the whole. You see, just in the same way as we are part of the whole, so in the same way the whole is part of us. It is through self-inquiry – the constant attention to the inner awareness of “I,” that it is possible to see the parts as well as the whole; as one delves into this, one realizes that Self is Awareness, that everything is ultimately One Interconnected Whole. It is by self-inquiry, through which, and by which, one can better understand themselves, and in turn grow, ripe and mature.

As one grows in understanding of oneself, the Mystery of Life unfolds itself like a lotus of countless petals. The deeper investigation and understanding happens through the processes of Self-Realization & Self-Actualization – realizing one’s deepest desires and capacities, fulfilling the possibilities of one’s potential; expressing one’s creativity, quest for spiritual enlightenment, pursuit of knowledge, and desire to give to society. On that note, the highest possible desire is to know thyself – in other words, Self-Realization and its natural progression, Self-Actualization. Eventually this inward focus can lead to an experience of one’s ultimate true nature – such as Kensho and Satori; and even beyond experience itself to a dimension that is empty of any experience or sense of self, such as Samadhi and Enlightenment. And so you see, when one becomes realized and actualized, one does not simply know life – one is life, one is existence, one is awareness, one is knowledge, one is wisdom – without any sense of separation.

Furthermore, in terms of consciousness, at the deepest level, there is but Oneself – One undivided Self; hence Oneself. There is but One all pervading Spirit; there is but one First Cause that has its Being of itself, and on which all other beings depend; there is but one Infinite Being, so there is but One Awareness – see? This is where Living Awareness comes in, for you see, both the individuation – the experience of being an individuated human being – a person, as well as Oneness of Life, Oneness of Reality, are experienced through Omnipresent Awareness. In this respect, Living Awareness knows itself by itself, in itself, as itself, through itself. It is this very recognition and acknowledgment through many different facets of the same that can be called Living Consciousness.

And because both Living Consciousness and Living Awareness are closely related to Self-Realization and its natural progression, Self-Actualization, let us add a little more perspective and context. Advaita Vedanta (Ancient Non-Duality Tradition) defines Self-Realization as the knowledge of the True Self – beyond both delusion and identification with material phenomena, defining the manifest material world to be temporal – an eternal play of shakti or energy; the immutable principle or the Ultimate Reality is beyond space, time, and form – therefore, it cannot be described, quantified, reasoned, or explained – all that exists on a differentiated basis can only be directly experienced as itself. Hence, the “outside” world that we perceive with our senses as being solid, and believe to be made out of a dense material – is actually existing in consciousness, which goes on to say that everything is happening within consciousness where the mind appears.

In other words, the mind is a localization of consciousness – believed to be located in the brain and situated in the head, which in turn is a part of the human body. The body itself is an image in the mind, and everything in the mind is happening inside consciousness. Therefore, the individuated, solid, dense, located entity called “I” – is the manifestation of an idea – created by the mind as a form of an image; this, in turn, takes place inside the mind – residing in consciousness, inside which a flame of Living Awareness infinitely flickers, you see? And if one pursues to find the ultimate nature of the mind, they would end up realizing that the ultimate nature of mind is that aspect of the mind which remains constantly present in its experience – this is the Eternal Essence that cannot be removed or excluded in any circumstances; in other words, it is pure presence – Infinite Living Awareness.

Living Awareness is too close to itself to know itself as Infinite Living Awareness, and therefore the only way to know itself is through individuation and the creation of the finite mind. The finite mind isn’t an entity as such, but rather an activity through which the Infinite is able to know the world. Therefore, the finite mind is the activity of Infinite Living Awareness, which has the ability to vibrate within itself – creating the form of the finite mind. This activity then makes it possible for the Infinite to know the objective experience – enabling the Infinite to know itself through the finite mind. This knowing is Living Consciousness, you see?

To summarize, Living Consciousness is that which is present and aware – Infinite Consciousness knowing its own being; the knowing of our own being is Infinite Living Awareness. In other words, Living Consciousness is the tool for Living Awareness to know itself – the container of all experience. Living Consciousness is that in which all experience appears, with which all experience is known, and out of which all experience is made. All that IS, or could ever be known – is experience; all experience is mind – thinking, imagining, feeling, sensing, perceiving. Therefore, it can be said that the mind’s knowledge of whatever it knows or perceives is only ever as good as its knowledge of itself.

– Living Consciousness is that which is present and aware.
– Living Consciousness is that in which all experience appears.
– Living Consciousness never knows anything other than its own being.
– Living Consciousness is the being of every cell and every particle.
– Living Consciousness is the Living Awareness of All That Is.
– Living Consciousness is the real you, or the one to experience the wondrous and wonderful presence within the human body.

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~ ॐ ~ Sambodhi Padmasamadhi ~ ∞ ~

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~ ∞ ~ Panpsychism – An Easy Escape From the Dilemma of Consciousness ~ ∞ ~

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To further our discussion about consciousness, it is imperative to briefly dip our toes into something that may or may not shed some light on the complexity of understanding consciousness, and why consciousness is so difficult subject matter, especially to Western people. As a way of introduction, let us call this something “an easy escape from the dilemma of consciousness.” It concerns a revival of an old philosophical theory known as panpsychism – emphasis on the revival aspect of it. You see, in recent years, we have seen science leaning towards the idea of panpsychism, which entails that everything has a degree of consciousness. The view of panpsychism has recently been making a comeback in the philosophy of mind, because it is seen as one possible solution to the so-called “hard problem of consciousness.” But the catch is, that this “new wave” of panpsychism lacks the mystical connotations of previous forms of the view. In a nutshell, it is a sugarcoated, cherry-picked and watered-down version of the original.

Panpsychism, in philosophy of mind, is the view that mind or a mind-like aspect is a fundamental and ubiquitous feature of reality. In this revival, there is only matter; and there is mind, in the sense that mind is matter. Hence, there is nothing spiritual, supernatural, or mystical about it. It’s like the advocates of this “new wave” of panpsychism are cherry-picking only those things that best fit the standard scientific paradigm with its materialist foundation for the purposes of finding an easy escape from the dilemma of consciousness. The ultimate goal of Western science is nothing more or less than the “theory of everything,” which is a hypothetical single, all-encompassing, coherent theoretical framework that fully explains and links together all physical aspects of the universe. But alas, without solving the “hard problem of consciousness,” such theory is unattainable. The undeniable truth is that science alone cannot solve the ultimate mystery of life, because we ourselves are an intrinsic part of the mystery we are trying to solve – unless we add ourselves to the equation, we will never solve any of the major problems, nor will we solve the mysteries of life, either.

It goes without saying that we should not be surprised that our standard scientific method struggles to deal with consciousness. You see, it seems as though, modern science was explicitly designed to exclude consciousness. It seems that there is – still, at the beginning of the third decade of the 21st century, a great taboo against querying the mysterious inner world of consciousness. For some reason, it is not considered to be a fitting topic for “serious science.” As such, some have convinced themselves that the only practical solution would be the revival of panpsychism; that this cherry-picked “new wave” of panpsychism would be the magic bullet that would solve all the problems regarding consciousness. But alas, the problem of consciousness, however, is radically unlike any other scientific problem.

Even though panpsychism is one of the oldest philosophical theories concerning mind, reaching far back into pre-Socratic times, it is paramount to highlight the fact that this “new wave” specifically deals with the mental aspect of it all – covering only a tiny fraction of the spectrum of consciousness. Therefore, it is unfortunate that with the rise in interest in the “hard problem of consciousness” in Western science, it has misleadingly become synonymous with consciousness, resulting in a lot of ensuing confusion and misunderstanding. You see, the claim is that “I – the body am conscious,” and because “I am composed of physical matter,” therefore also the physical universe (matter) must be conscious. Panpsychism is often considered to be equivalent to the Non-Dual understanding of consciousness, which entails that consciousness pervades everything; and herein lies both the problem and misunderstanding. You see, the core of this misunderstanding lies at the very beginning of the statement – the mistake is: “I – the body am conscious.” And so you see, when you build on this ground, every other step also contains this initial misunderstanding.

Even though there is similarity to Non-Dual understanding of consciousness, there is also a profound and distinct difference: from the panpsychist’s perspective – mind exists in matter. In contrast, from the Non-Dual perspective – material world exists in mind. Panpsychism, therefore – is a form of materialism, in which the world is seen as separate from our core essence – that of awareness. A key problem with materialism is that it has been unable to explain how arrangements of matter can possibly generate subjective experience. This problem is so incomprehensible that some materialist philosophers even try to deny the very existence of consciousness altogether, and find an easy escape from the dilemma of consciousness. As such, panpsychism provides an easy escape route for the materialist – it magically “solves” the hard problem of consciousness, simply by declaring consciousness to be either an irreducible property or the intrinsic nature of matter. All that panpsychism does – is that it maintains the current belief that matter is either in substance or in structure the primary aspect of reality, which goes on to say that panpsychism gives us the sugarcoated version of materialism which doesn’t actually solve anything.

In panpsychism, consciousness is fundamentally fragmented in the same way as matter appears to be; consciousness is just one more irreducible property of matter at a subatomic level – just like mass, charge, spin and momentum. In other words, all matter is thought to have consciousness at a fundamental level – matter, however – remains the broader and more primary aspect of reality. And so you see, to the panpsychist, “the real world” consists of matter and energy fields – which are, allegedly, outside, and independent of, consciousness. The presumption that the physical body has consciousness comes from the observation that because we are able to experience and to perceive the world, therefore we must also have consciousness – making us conscious; identifying ourselves with the physical body. And yet, in all actuality, we don’t have consciousness – we are consciousness made manifest by Living Awareness; there is a fundamental difference between the two – see? In our observations of the world, we have also noticed that animals seem to express certain level of consciousness, and hence we have applied this same presumption to animals as well.

By virtue of the aforementioned with regard to levels of consciousness, one can pose the following questions: Where do we draw the line and say that something is conscious and something is not? When does matter become conscious, or can it ever become conscious at all? If we really tune into this idea, we can find that in all actuality, only consciousness is conscious, and only awareness is aware; and that our ability to be aware, enables us to express consciousness through which we experience the world. We also find that there is a precursor to consciousness – that of sentience; which means “capable of feeling.” This is what makes the distinction between humans and other sentient beings like animals – it is quite different to be conscious than only capable of feeling. When we’re talking about sentience, it is noteworthy that the meaning of sentience in Buddhism is far more sophisticated than in Western thought – it is described as the state of having senses, not limited to physical ones, but also including the subjective experience of the mind; sentience in Buddhism is awareness prior to the arising of Skandha*1 – thus, an animal, plants, trees, and even water qualifies as a sentient being.

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*1 Skandha in Buddhism, refers to the concept of five aggregates, which asserts five elements that constitute and explain a living being’s mental and physical existence: 1.) form or matter (rupa), 2.) sensation or feeling (vedana), 3.) perception (samjna), 4.) mental formations (sankhara), 5.) consciousness (vijnana).

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~ ॐ ~ Sambodhi Padmasamadhi ~ ∞ ~

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~ ∞ ~ The Mystery of Consciousness 2/2 - Awaken the Living Awareness Within ~ ∞ ~

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By virtue of the aforementioned with regard to the nature of consciousness, one can pose a question: Do animals have consciousness? Do plants? To which the answer can be given: as the nature of consciousness is very much subjective, it can truly be known only through the aforementioned methods, you see? In so doing, one can arrive at the following conclusion: all living things have consciousness, and are inseparably linked to all other living things in this Great Cosmic Web of Life; even plants have consciousness – plant’s knowing of where to grow and how to turn to the light is evidence of this. Every living thing lives within the continuous cycle of birth and death where the remains of one become the nutrients for the other – nothing is ever wasted, everything just transforms into different forms at various times; everything shifts between different levels of existence or consciousness according to its vibrational frequency or awareness, you see?

Furthermore, upon deeper examination, one ultimately finds that inanimate objects are energy – like anything else, and contain trace amounts of consciousness, as all energy comes from a source of consciousness, you see? This understanding not only unites everything that happens in the visible outer world, but it also links the inner subjective world to the outer world. All things – both seen and unseen, are bound together by cause and effect, which goes on to say that nothing can exist in absolute independence of other things or arise of its own accord; everything in the world comes into existence in response to causes and conditions – meaning that all beings and phenomena exist or occur only because of their relationship with other things. Therefore, one can say that all things – both seen and unseen, share consciousness. You see, in a completely interconnected universe, consciousness anywhere means consciousness everywhere.

As the whole of humanity is a single being, having a collective consciousness – the sum total of all human life, each life being a link in a chain of lives, bound together by cause and effect, different, yet the same – it would mean that we are part of, and intimately connected to, absolutely everything in the universe. Now, if one sees the interconnected universe as a medium through which consciousness and information is communicated, shared and exchanged, they can also picture the universe as one enormously big, gigantic cell of consciousness containing all the information life needs to expand, develop and unfold. In this respect, life, therefore, in and of itself, is one gigantic process of passing down consciousness and information. From this perspective, all of life is essentially one gigantic ocean of life, one gigantic ocean of consciousness.

Underlying this consciousness, there is awareness – through which, and by which, we become aware of consciousness. In other words, there is the content of consciousness as well as the awareness of it. In this respect, consciousness does not shine by itself – it shines by a light beyond it; this light is awareness, you see? This is why the Buddhist likens consciousness to a lamp, which lights itself at the same time it lights up the objects around it. And so you see, awareness is like a light switch that turns on the lamp. From this, we can draw the conclusion that not only does all life have consciousness, but all life has awareness in varying degrees. More precisely, all Life is Awareness, and so it goes that to understand consciousness, one has to become more aware, you see?

Now, let us circle back to the problem with the “scientific attitude,” whose materialist approach and attempts to conceptualize consciousness is precisely what gives rise to confusion and keeps the vicious cycle alive, deepening the scientific dogma, and feeding scientism (the claim that science is the only source of knowledge; that science is the absolute and only justifiable access to the truth), which blinds us from seeing beyond self-imposed limits and illusion, preventing us from understanding consciousness.

When it comes to consciousness – our innate ability to experience or to feel – it remains a mystery to science, although many so-called “experts” have attempted to study, define and explain it. In our attempt to understand consciousness, we have chosen a stance of denial: if we cannot locate, measure, or see consciousness; if we cannot quantify or break down consciousness – it must be impossible; or at the very least – it must reside in the brain. It is, after all, our firm belief that the mind is in the brain – so therefore also consciousness must reside in the brain, as well. Yet, ironically enough, we cannot prove it to be so. We tend to think that what we see is all there is – that there is nothing we cannot see. Even though we know this is not true, we like to pretend otherwise. The investigation of our existence, and therefore of our sentience, of our consciousness, always seem to start with the presumption of things – the basic presumption of our being is based on the material reality. From this, the question arises: How could we ever possibly break down consciousness when it is the most concrete and fundamental of all things?

All current Western approaches for consciousness (at least all mainstream ones) are based on materialism – a philosophical stance which holds that the only thing that exists – is matter; that all things are composed of material, and all phenomena (including consciousness) are the result of material interactions. Therefore, the basic question has always been: How does something come out of nothing, and furthermore: How does consciousness arise from matter? Scientifically oriented people often think that consciousness is an emergent biological phenomena – making no difference to physical systems; also psychologists often speak of the mind and the body as two separate entities for convenience – while many still acknowledge that they are intimately entwined. Both have largely ignored how consciousness manifests in our existence; this has been done by assuming that brain produces consciousness – although it has never been verified. The only verifiable thing is that consciousness in human form is something that conceives, governs, constructs, and eventually becomes the activity of the body.

Some materialist scientists even believe that consciousness is nothing more than a side effect of our brain moving towards a state of entropy; this must be one of the most preposterous ideas put forward because consciousness in and of itself is concentration of awareness – which is totally opposite of what is being suggested by those materialist scientists. When we really “tune in” to our own consciousness by using different mindfulness practices – one comes to realize that consciousness always arise from awareness – it doesn’t exist in itself; it is always relative to awareness. This is the main reason why science – as we know it today, cannot properly understand consciousness. You see, as things stand now, the so called “hard problem of consciousness” is deeply rooted in scientific materialism, which is based on the reductionist assumptions of various kinds. This means that modern science and medicine are essentially based on the reductionist view of the material world. Therefore, it also reduces human existence to our physical existence, in much the same way it reduces reality to what can be detected through sensory experience or can be analyzed with reason – leaving no room for intuition, insight and Inner Knowing.

Due to scientific materialism, we believe and assume that all phenomena in the universe, including time and consciousness, are governed by “eternal laws,” and that all phenomena are subject to the same physical laws, which can be discovered by the means of systematic observation and experimentation. Here we should ask ourselves: Are these so called “eternal laws” of nature really set, or could it be possible that they are still evolving? Who are we to say that the laws of nature are fixed? It doesn’t take a genius to understand that if the universe is expanding and evolving, then also the laws of nature may be evolving as well. The problem is that we are always looking for a physical explanation. Hence, it goes without saying that the known laws of physics are not only incomplete, but they are inadequate to explain the phenomenon of consciousness.

According to science, the universe is made of nothing, and we have no idea how we experience it; on top of that, we don’t exactly know where is the experience happening. Clearly, it is not happening in our brains, because the brain itself is experience in our consciousness, and our body is no different in that regard. And the amazing part is that we cannot find consciousness anywhere – we cannot touch it, taste it, smell it, hear it, find it or localize it – but we can experience it. Intriguing, isn’t it? The ancient wisdom traditions have a simple answer to this problem: we are asking completely the wrong question. You see, “where” implies a location in space, and existence in time, and our consciousness is not in space-time. So, clearly, we would have to consider that it could be the other way around – that consciousness is fundamental, and what we experience as the mental and perceptual experience of the world is actually a modified form of consciousness.

In other words, there is only consciousness, and therefore the physical world and our mental experiences are simply modified aspects of consciousness. To stretch this even further, the entire universe is also an experience in our consciousness. This leads us to a staggering conclusion: all experience and phenomena happens in consciousness, and hence there is nowhere to go but in. In a broader sense, this means that in regard to space and time, matter and form – there really is no space “out there,” and no universal clock “anywhere” to keep time – rather, there is but an appearance of space and time, matter and form; and thus, it is all here – within the Innerverse, residing within each and every one of us. The mind creates the appearance of separation, you see?

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~ ॐ ~ Sambodhi Padmasamadhi ~ ∞ ~

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~ ∞ ~ The Mystery of Consciousness 1/2 - Awaken the Living Awareness Within ~ ∞ ~

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In this section, we dive deeper into the topic of consciousness and its relation to awareness (which has its own dedicated section following this one). A good way to start would be to say that as we begin to shed the layers of the human condition that blinds our perception of our Infinite Being, we come across the idea of consciousness. It is something that underlies everything we know and everything we do, it is present in our daily life, and yet we know so little about it. And so it can be said that consciousness is one of the biggest mysteries there is. Indeed, if one takes a moment to investigate, one arrives at the conclusion that consciousness has been one of the most profound mysteries of our existence from the very beginning. We talk about it all the time, and we know about it through our experiences – and yet, nobody agrees on what consciousness is – be it science, philosophy, mysticism, or religion; there are as many answers as there are people, you see?

In the previous sections, through many chapters, we have already discussed a fair amount about this topic. As such, the purpose of this section is to crystallize some of the main aspects of it, and pose questions more than give answers. Among some of the deep questions we ask in this section are: What is consciousness? Is it dependent on, independent of, or interdependent with physical reality? Why do non-Western wisdom traditions and Western scientific perspectives disagree so completely in their ideas about it? Do animals have consciousness? Do plants? What do experiences such as dreams, intuition, creativity, spiritual and near-death events tell us about the malleability and the range of consciousness, its elusiveness and transcendental nature? How does one study consciousness? How does one better understand consciousness?

When we ask the question: What is consciousness, we arrive at the conclusion that there is no definitive, all-encompassing definition or description about consciousness, although the emerging field of consciousness studies seeks to arrive at one. One such definition, favored by Western science, relies on materialist theories which argue that consciousness is constituted by the physiological structure of the brain, and hence it can be reduced to its neural activity, or that it is an emergent product of complex neural networks. Mainstream scientists like to say, argue – and even insist, that the brain creates consciousness and that consciousness cannot survive without the brain. But if one looks deeper, utilizing the very tools provided by the science itself, namely Quantum Mechanics, it is just as plausible to argue that consciousness exists before the formation of the brain, and therefore consciousness can exist after the death of the brain. What an astonishing dichotomy, isn’t it? By contrast, non-Western traditions see consciousness as ontologically primary to physical matter, an idea that underlies most of the world’s wisdom traditions, including Zen, Taoism, Buddhism, Vedanta, and Yoga.

From the previous, we can see that the idea of consciousness has been used in many ways throughout the history of humanity. The Western approach with its materialist ideas, definitions and descriptions being the youngest, and hence the most partial and incomplete. Considering how far we have come as a species, with all the discoveries in science, engineering and technology – including astronomy, biology, chemistry, medicine, psychology, sociology, and philosophy, among many other fields, it is simply astonishing how little we have discovered about consciousness. Although we don’t understand what consciousness is, we have some thoughts on what it might be, and hence there are a plethora of theories and hypothesis around it. Interestingly, none of these theories really answers to the primary question of what consciousness is, but rather, most, if not all, focus explaining what consciousness does.

Consciousness is generally described to be a state or quality of awareness; besides being an aspect or quality of awareness, sometimes it has been defined also as qualia, sentience, subjectivity, or the ability to experience or to feel. Other descriptions of consciousness include wakefulness, having a sense of selfhood, and the executive control system of the mind; some go even so far as to say that consciousness is the same as life; ancient wisdom traditions all over the world has called it simply Spirit. All the above-mentioned descriptions mean that consciousness in human form is something that conceives, governs, constructs, and eventually becomes the activity of the body. When we investigate consciousness more deeply by utilizing our innate ability of being aware of our own consciousness, we can find that consciousness is also something bigger than us – something much more than just the quality of our awareness, and the ability of being aware of our individuated self.

Isn’t it intriguing that everyone seems to have their opinions about consciousness, but so little true understanding about it; isn’t it intriguing that we sure do like to speculate, but we put very little, if any, effort in understanding consciousness better. It goes without saying that understanding both consciousness and awareness – defining characteristics of sentience, should be our primary goal above all else, or at the very least, considered as being of great importance as they are playing a key role in determining the course of human happiness and suffering. These varying opinions about consciousness comes from the individual perspective of one’s own subjective experience of life, and yet we have no agreement on what consciousness truly and really is. As such, it can be said that understanding consciousness appears to be more difficult than anything we have ever encountered to this day.

The biggest problems in answering the many questions about consciousness, its nature and its extent arises out of the fact that humans have always started their explorations from the external world, rather than within the inner world, you see? One of these problems is deeply rooted in the way in which we acquire information – the importance is often placed on the mind and the linear, rational, and logical thinking; this type of information gathering and processing is valued over the heart-based wisdom (science vs. intuition). For some reason, it is difficult for us to appreciate anything that goes against the norm, that is, logic and reason as we know and practice them today.

This brings us face to face with the difficulty on studying consciousness – our modern contemporary methods of studying consciousness are linear, whereas consciousness is very much a non-linear phenomenon. Also the modern science has its very own core problems (assumptions of and about the world) in their scientific methods – the biggest being the way of seeing the world: as if everything would be separate from ourselves. As such, understanding the nature of consciousness is one of the grand outstanding scientific challenges. The fundamental methodological problem is how phenomenal first person experience can be accounted for in a third person verifiable form, while the conceptual challenge is to both define its function and physical realization. Consciousness is something that cannot be observed in the way that material objects can – it cannot be weighed, measured, or otherwise pinned down. From this, it becomes clear that science can only go so far – or at least the science we know today, which means that the only viable way to study consciousness is through direct experience, exploring and sharing these experiences by discussing about them, and in so doing learning about them – see?

Many ancient wisdom traditions explore consciousness through direct experience, which is achieved through contemplative practices such as Qi-gong, Zen meditation, and Yoga; these practices teach the practitioner to achieve a state of mental quiescence or stillness in order to comprehend reality in its non-physical manifestations, and in so doing, achieve a state of unity with the ultimate ground of being. There are three classical paths that lead towards being more aware, towards higher consciousness, towards better understanding of consciousness: meditation, concentration, and contemplation. Even though each path is different, each of them can help one to better understand consciousness; when followed and practiced consistently, they all lead to the same final goal or destination – absorption of Self into the Ultimate Reality.

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~ ॐ ~ Sambodhi Padmasamadhi ~ ∞ ~

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~ ∞ ~ What Is Life? – The Essence of Life ~ ∞ ~

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After the previous chapter, which focused on the Preciousness of Human Life, it is appropriate to pay a homage to the idea of Miracle of Life with respect to the moment it starts, by asking the question: When Does a Human Life Begin? For however small this chapter ends up being, doesn’t matter as much as showing respect to this important area. You see, it is important to bring it up, because in the next chapter, namely “The Existential Paradox,” we approach this same issue with a different set of questions: When does a human life end, or can it end? We can start by bringing up something that was said in the very beginning of this section: “If we cannot create Life in a lab from scratch, with the same building blocks that Life uses to create multitudes of life forms we find on Earth, would it not then mean that the core essence of our being is not found in matter? This leads us to a staggering conclusion: the gift of Life is passed on — this is why we have babies, to continue as a species — see? Against this backdrop, it is reasonable to ask ourselves: What is Life, really?”

From the aforementioned, we can conclude that the parent’s Life Force*1 is temporarily anchored to an egg and a sperm. This happens via morphogenetic field, which is why the egg and a sperm can “survive” outside the body. It is astonishing to realize that Human Life comes into existence in just a fraction of an instant, and yet, there are so many aspects involved in this process that we have only scratched the surface. To this day, it is still a mystery as to when Human Life can be said to begin. As a result, this topic, in and of itself, is also a cause for a heated debate in the world today for obvious reasons. For curiosity’s sake, it is worth mentioning that in the time of Aristotle, it was widely believed that the Human Soul entered the forming body at 40 days (male embryos) or 90 days (female embryos), and quickening was an indication of the presence of a Soul.

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*1 Life Force has many different names in different parts of the world. In China it is called Qi, in Hawaii it is called Mana, in India it is called Prana, in Christianity in the Western world it is called the Holy Spirit.

We have two parent cells, a human egg and a human sperm — their sole purpose in life is to meet each other and fuse to create a one cell human being. The development of a new human being begins at fertilization when a sperm fuses with an ovum to form a zygote. So in this sense, it can be said that Human Life begins when the elements of a potent sperm merge with those of a fertile ovum, but on a deeper level, the answer is not so straightforward. You see, here we arrive at the question of the most profound: What is it that makes you — you? What is it that makes up the whole of who you are? Are you just a bunch of cells put together randomly, nothing more than a collection of cellular tissue, the processing organs, innervating nerves, bones and muscles — or, are you more than that? From the extraordinary moment of fertilization, our bodies form a design unlike any other, through a wondrous process that is both a replication of an ancient blueprint and a uniquely individual expression. These structures from bones to the tensile fiber of muscles, the processing organs, innervating nerves, and the oceanic fluid systems of the body — don’t alone make a human being.

Even though our physical bodies start out as single cells — it is clear that Life is more than chemistry, DNA, RNA, proteins, enzymes, and heredity — Isn’t it? So now, then, the question becomes: What happens in fertilization? What is it that gives birth to a new life? The question of when life begins is essentially one of the moment of ensoulment (the moment at which a human being gains a Soul). Why? Because it is the Soul, whether the vegetable — and lower animal variants, or the Human Soul — that when joined with a material entity possessing a particular potential exclusive to its nature, brings life or animation. This means that just as a lightbulb is useless until it is connected to electricity, the raw substance of our body does not become human until it is infused with the Force of Life (prana, qi, chi). This mysterious Life Force expresses itself through the projection of light from our eyes; it circulates the blood through our hearts and causes the ceaseless cycle of inspiration and expiration. This Life Force also provides us with a blueprint for optimal movement in the form of universal movement patterns that govern all our actions — these patterns organize our intentions into effortless actions.

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~ ॐ ~ Sambodhi Padmasamadhi ~ ∞ ~

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~ ∞ ~ The Preciousness of Human Life 2/2 - Awaken the Living Awareness Within ~ ∞ ~

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By virtue of the aforementioned with regard to the miracle of life, it is worth highlighting the following truth: life really is precious and transient – it is a window of opportunity, and it won’t last forever. To someone who is observant and has a keen eye for detail, it may be impossible to notice that people don’t really understand how precious human life really is – far too many take it for granted, failing to see, recognize, and acknowledge not only the immeasurable value of human life, but also the deeper implications and possibilities that the human life presents us with – those of spiritual in nature, you see? We can see this in the way we humans are going about things – from cradle to grave, people are sleepwalking through their lives. Not only do they have any sense of how unique and precious human life is, but they also have no idea that they are asleep; people are dreaming dreams that are influenced by external stimuli. In this state of enchantment, their minds are open not only to the influence of the will of others, but also to all external circumstances, primal drives and desires that keep the vicious cycle alive – keeping people distracted, keeping their minds focused on anything but the true nature of their existence – preventing them from seeing the true value of their lives.

Now, we should ask the question: What is it, exactly, that makes us precious? Well, some would say that there are as many answers as there are people who ask. While many would like to list various qualities of humans compared to other forms of life, the truth is, though, that those are but attributes of being human – describing appearance rather than the essence, you see? Those who have gone through internal processes of spiritual growth and development, change and transformation – without exception, would agree that what makes us precious is what we hold within – connection to our Inner Being – to our Soul, through which we can connect not only to the deeper aspects of ourselves, but also to the Truth, to Spirit – God, if you will.

It is this same core essence within each of us – the Human Spirit, which ultimately unites us all, and that is what makes us precious – our innate ability to recognize and acknowledge, to be aware of and reflect on this Truth. It is our innate capacity of being able to reflect on the nature of our own thinking and feeling, our own past and future, our own life and death, on the nature of consciousness, and on the nature of awareness itself, which makes self-reflection possible – see? It is our innate ability to recognize that the core essence of another is essentially the very same core essence of oneself – we are all expressions of the same core essence of Infinite Awareness of Living Life, and that is what makes us precious, does it not?

That said, we should reflect on how rare a human birth is. No one knows exactly how many millions of different species there are on Earth, and how many millions more there are to be discovered. Considering the aforementioned, and taking into account how many millions of species have lived on Earth and have then disappeared – it is clear that humans are outnumbered many times over, if not by orders of magnitude. For every human, how many billions of other life forms there are on Earth? What are the odds that you were born as a human instead of any other of those life forms? With such a rare opportunity to experience life, one should appreciate human life – and not just their own life, but others’ as well. Even though we are fundamentally different from each other, we can do well to appreciate our differences. We may be different on the surface, but underneath, at the very core, we are all the same – human, awareness, consciousness – see?

We often think that our human population is huge, when in actuality, it is very small compared to the vast numbers of beings in other forms. That is to say, there are millions upon millions of life forms on, above, and below the Earth and in the oceans. Keeping that in mind, it becomes not only obvious, but crystal clear that a human life is all the more precious for being so difficult to obtain. Therefore, one should truly contemplate the rarity of life in the universe, and then the rarity of intelligent life in the universe. When taken that into account, one should embrace the sheer beauty and marvel of it all – and to top it off with the appreciation that comes from the following: keeping in mind how many other forms of life there are on, above, and below the Earth, what are the odds that you were born as a human, that you exist as the unique you that you are? And so you see, when properly digested, everything does, indeed, start to fall into perspective, doesn’t it?

Let us conclude this chapter with the following thoughts. Would you have the same opportunity to spiritually grow and mature if you were born as an insect or a jellyfish, instead of a human? Would you have the same opportunity to recognize and acknowledge, to be aware of, and to appreciate your very own preciousness if you were born as a frog or a bird, instead of a human? With a little contemplation and reflection, the inevitable and unavoidable realization begins to dawn on you with its adamant presence – in this regard, human beings are, bar none, unparalleled to anything else living on Earth. From this realization arises the appreciation of the preciousness of human existence, for it presents us with a rare opportunity to consciously evolve and grow spiritually. This brings about the question: Of all the people on Earth, how many bother to think about such things at all? A short and concise answer – only a few do; of those who do, only very few contemplate, and even fewer reflect upon it. Now, considering that it is fairly rare these days that someone would go to such lengths, how many of those individuals who think about, contemplate, and reflect upon such things, recognize the cyclic existence of sentient beings? How many of those are willing to create the ground of happiness rather than the ground of suffering? And furthermore, how many of those recognize ignorance and all that arises from it?

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~ ॐ ~ Sambodhi Padmasamadhi ~ ∞ ~

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~ ∞ ~ The Preciousness of Human Life 1/2 - Awaken the Living Awareness Within ~ ∞ ~

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Now that we’ve had discussions on many wide-ranging topics with regard to human beings, it is time to reflect on the preciousness of human life. In this chapter, we will see how closely the miracle of life and the preciousness of human life are connected and linked together. As an opening remark, it is worth noting that not everyone is able to see that human life is precious, not everyone has the capacity to think about and reflect upon such things. It follows, naturally, then, that not everyone has the appreciation for the deeper aspects of the human experience; such appreciation that some curious individuals who are initiated to the mysteries of life would have; such appreciation that some individuals who are involved in with understanding of the same would have. It is, of course, possible to awaken such curiosity within, and with it, the appreciation for the deeper aspects of the human experience, for the miracle of life and the preciousness of human life, you see?

That said, a good way to start the discussion about this topic would probably be through something that evokes a sense of awe and wonder, if not sheer mystery and marvel, don’t you think? As we have learned from the previous chapters, the probability of life existing at all is infinitesimal – the odds against the existence of life on Earth are said to be on the order of 10^10^123 – a figure so large that one could not possibly even write the number down. And yet, amidst all the odds against – here we are. This gives us some perspective with regard to the rarity of intelligent life in the universe. And not only that, but it also gives us the perspective needed to see the preciousness of human life with more clarity. The creation of our fine-tuned universe and intelligent life in it – the two unfathomably rare, if not mystical occurrences, makes it clear that the universe we find ourselves in – has a purpose: to facilitate intelligent life, which makes it a purposeful universe, does it not? Wouldn’t this then suggest that also human beings have a purpose? If we really think about it, wouldn’t the improbable odds of life existing in the cosmos suggest that everything that exists is a result of a miracle?

By now, at this point in the book, it must have become obviously clear that everything that exists is indeed a result of a miracle. Does it not, indeed, require a miracle to have living beings come out of non-living matter? But how can something come out of nothing, how can living beings come out of non-living matter, and how can intelligence, unparalleled to anything else we have come across – intelligence found in nature, emerge from nothing? Well, it can’t – not without a miracle, you see? Does it not, indeed, require the involvement of a Higher Power to initiate, cause, and bring forth such a miracle? In this sense, life is a mystery, one that may not be resolvable by means available to us, that is, by usual, traditional means of logic and reason as we know and practice them today, including, but not limited to, astronomy, mathematics, physics, biology, chemistry, and ontology.

By virtue of the aforementioned with regard to the mystery of life, it is worth highlighting the following truth: if one wishes to get a glimpse of this mystery, one would need to aspire to go beyond the thinking mind, to go beyond traditional means of logic and reason; one would need to use their faculty of intelligence to its fullest – to unleash its full potential to cover such aspects as intuition and inner knowing. In so doing, one becomes dissolved in something far more powerful – becoming part of something much greater, beyond ourselves; and in this becoming, one is able to pierce the veil between ordinary life and the mysterious regions of the Soul – into greater Innerstanding, wherein the transcendent nature of Life is experienced. This transcendent part of life can only be experienced through one’s innermost being – it is here – within, where the preciousness of human life crystallizes; it is here – within, where understanding, overstanding, and Innerstanding meet to form a clear, powerful, alive, and vibrant comprehension. And so you see, the answers lie beyond the limits of the known, and the truth lies beyond the narrow limits of conditioned perception.

If we move beyond our preconceptions, transcend beyond limiting beliefs, ideas and concepts that has been handed down to us from previous generations, if we go above cause and beyond effect, above birth and beyond death, above happiness and beyond suffering – we discover what lies beyond the limits of the known. Therein, can we find true knowledge and wisdom, memory and information, universal love, peace and serenity that connects us all; therein, beyond the limits of the known, the mystery reveals itself to those who seek it – see? Furthermore, if one wishes to get a glimpse of what this mystery entails, it requires one to appreciate paradox; accommodating different viewpoints within a broader perspective; seeing the opposites as complementary rather than contradictory – they are, after all, equally important parts of the whole. You see, wisdom and understanding lies in paradox – even if something contradicts itself, it can still be true; some would call this ‘coincidentia oppositorum,’ or just simply Unity of Opposites. A thing is both what it is and what it is not, and yet it somehow escapes contradiction – that’s how the Miracle of Life is possible, that’s how something can come out of nothing, and living beings come out of non-living matter – see?

While one marvels at the extraordinary nature of life, we cannot but conclude that life is, truly, a Living Miracle – something to be cherished and nurtured; to be alive is the greatest gift of all, is it not? Indeed, each of us is a living testament of the miracle called life. Is it not, indeed, a miracle that you exist? Is it not a miracle that you exist as the unique you that you are? Is it not a miracle that you were born as a human instead of, let’s say, an insect, or a jellyfish, a frog, or a bird? Is it not a miracle that you were born with a capacity for intelligence incomparable to any other life forms we are aware of? Is it not a miracle that Intelligent Life can evolve to a level of consciousness, to a point where it can trace back its history to understand its own origin and its true essence? Is it not a miracle that Life can become aware of itself through the vehicle of a living form that has the capacity for self-reflection? You see, as far as we know, human beings are the only form of life that has this capacity of being able to reflect on the nature of its own thinking and feeling, its own past and future, its own life and death, on the nature of consciousness, and on the nature of awareness itself, which makes self-reflection possible.

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~ ॐ ~ Sambodhi Padmasamadhi ~ ∞ ~

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~ ∞ ~ The False Sense of Self (Human Doing vs. Human Being) – The Essence of Life ~ ∞ ~

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In the West, our culture emphasizes the pursuit of happiness through external means. By contrast, in the East, traditional culture emphasizes acceptance of the conditions of existence, positing the idea that happiness is found within. And so it goes that in the West, we live in a consumer-driven society that tries to tell us that money does buy happiness – “the more we buy, the happier we will be,” goes the slogan. In a society where the prevailing worldview is materialistic, values are created by advertisements, which results in that actors, musicians and other “famous” people are followed as though they were gurus, nearly worshipped as modern day avatars or gods. This has a direct effect on the self-image of a consumerist – it is rooted solely in physical appearance, social status and material success. It is this idealized and artificial lifestyle that is then pursued as the principle means to achieving life satisfaction, happiness and contentment or the so-called “good life.” All of the consumerist’s creative and intellectual energy is redirected towards a goal – which is, in essence – an illusion created largely by the commercial interests of corporate and the entertainment industry.

The name of the game here is persuasion. You see, ordinary everyday people are influenced and persuaded by advertising, marketing and the various forms of media to behave and act in certain ways. And so it goes that people in the modern Western world promote the idea that “more is better,” in order to justify their never-ending need for more. With the immense amount of advertising we are bombarded with on a daily basis, it is not unsurprising that there are many things we feel we want and need. Advertising plays on our fears and the need for social acceptance. You see, advertisers exploit our innate drive for fulfillment and unity, our inherent need for social connection and bonding; and not only that, but they also exploit our desires, our sexuality, and our love of pleasure for the marketing and sale of everything from toothpaste to cars. As a result, “hyperspenders” emerge out of all this – they often think that collecting expensive toys will enhance their overall satisfaction with life. Yet, the honest truth is that these material possessions doesn’t seem to bring us inner peace and happiness – or do you beg to differ? Satisfaction in life is not a function of what you can buy in a store – see?

The materialistic worldview has resulted in excessive production of short-lived and disposable items, and thus the Western society has become a “throw-away society” where consumerism is being worshipped. Indeed, we live in a culture of hyperconsumerism where we can, and do buy nearly anything. Sadly, beyond the basic necessities, awful lot is spent on useless things that end up in landfills; in a throwaway culture, even human lives are seen as disposable – see? We take what we need in the form of raw materials and cheap labor to invest in our “culture,” we then feed it back to the world in the form of cheap material possessions, which in turn further the image that we have more and hence somehow better. As long as we keep up the illusion, the gears keep turning. Doesn’t this fit the definition of a parasite? The consumerist-driven capitalist economic system is indeed a parasitic paradigm which is only going to lead to more problems and eventually to self-destruction – one has to be blind not to see it.

However, despite this obvious dichotomy, people seem to hold a belief of an unlimited material progress that is to be achieved through economic and technological growth. It goes without saying that this kind of growth always comes with a price tag. You see, the harsh truth is that materialistic progress is cutting deeply into the natural resources of Earth; it’s also poisoning the environment with its waste products and threatening the ecological equilibrium. And so it goes that in today’s world, nature seems to represent merely a reservoir of resources to exploit – a set of forces and obstacles to channel and tame. We have come to look upon nature as something separate from ourselves, something we could master, control and manipulate to obtain specific benefits for our species. All this because we were taught that our species has been given dominion over all others and over the Earth itself. As a result, people silently give their consent for it to happen. This results in that our increasing wealth is concentrating in the richer countries, and the poorer countries are increasingly becoming more and more indebted to the richer ones. Because of this, there is widespread impoverishment and destruction of indigenous cultures.

And when it comes to scientists who are driving the scientific and materialistic progress; well, their code of ethics seems to be tied to our current paradigm through which we perceive ourselves as separate from everything else. All because of monetary or political interests. The relationship between science and politics has been well established, with the politicization of science becoming increasingly apparent in recent years, having extended into nearly every scientific field, including biology, physics, medicine, and the social sciences. That is to say, we humans are so driven by greed, power and profit that even scientific ethics are largely guided by the commercial interests of corporate industry. The politicization of science has reached a point where even scientists do not examine their own motives very closely. This obviously leaves the question lingering whether there is any code of ethics at all these days.

By virtue of the aforementioned, it is clear that as things stand now, most of what scientists do is not life-furthering and life-preserving, quite the contrary – it is life-destroying more than anything else. You see, physicists design weapons systems that threaten to wipe out life on Earth, chemists are contaminating the environment, and biologists are releasing new and unknown types of microorganisms without knowing the consequences. On top of that, psychologists and other scientists are torturing animals in the name of scientific and materialistic progress. What we have created is a world where not only do we believe that we are individual beings, but that we are separate beings – separated from each other, from our environment, and the very Earth that sustains us. Against this backdrop, it is obvious that the world is in trouble – which is an understatement, to say the least.

On that note, nowadays there are people in the scientific community who have come to the conclusion that maybe we have messed up this planet; but worry not, because these people think that they have a solution. You see, they have suggested that we should go find (or perhaps create) a new one. These people think that with the aid of technology, we could export life from Earth to other planets, and someday perhaps even leave our solar system. Given the underlying motive and incentive, this must be the ultimate delusion of a throwaway society, don’t you think? Even considering such an idea is nothing short of absurd. What does it tell about us, if among other things, we are ready and willing to throw away our home, as well?

Are we really so disconnected from everything that we truly think that the only way to solve our problems is to relocate somewhere else. So that we could mess it up all over again? The reason we are having problems on Earth in the first place is because we have ignored what nature is capable of giving us when we live with nature’s principles rather than against them. Let me ask you this: As things stand, if we relocate, how would it be any different than now? You see, if we relocate, not only are we exporting life from Earth, but also our prevailing culture and lifestyle, including our views, values, customs, traditions, beliefs, morals, ethics, and so on. Considering that these are largely dependent upon the materialist paradigm, which in turn is driven by the capitalist market economy, it is highly probable that we would repeat our mistakes – such is the nature of us humans, it seems.

Now, let me ask you this: If we take into consideration everything we have discussed in this chapter, isn’t it ironic that people buy the things they don’t need, with the money they don’t have – to impress someone they don’t like? And now we can ask the following questions: Why is this? From where does this kind of behavior come from? Where does it spring from? What motivates someone to act in this way? Well, in our deepest core, we all know that we are part of something bigger than ourselves; and because of this, we sense that something is lacking from our lives and we try to fill the void with anything – be it people, money, education, sex, drugs, travel, entertainment, cars, houses, or other material possessions – big or small. Yet, the truth is that satisfaction in life is not a function of what you can buy in a store; happiness in life has little to do, if anything, with what you wear, drive, eat or drink – see?

Upon deeper examination, one finds that the drive for contentment, fulfillment, and unity is innate in every human being – we all have a need to experience a life of meaning and purpose; we all have a need to feel a sense of belonging. It is this drive that is the impelling force behind our desire for love, and emotional, mental, and physical intimacy. However, when it comes to fulfillment – it can only be achieved through a pattern of living in which we focus on two primary spiritual needs: 1.) Continuous growth, 2.) Contributing beyond ourselves in a meaningful way. Out of these two arise other, somewhat deeper spiritual needs, foremost of which is Self-Actualization, and ultimately – Transcendence.

We find contentment when we choose gratitude. It’s when we take a step back and see the beauty of what we have, and choose to focus on everything we already have that we can find happiness. When we look at what’s really important in life and appreciate everything we have, it takes the same circumstances and allows us to see them through new eyes. What’s noteworthy is that these primary spiritual needs can be just as vital to life as food, water, and air. Unless we discover how we can satisfy these needs, we will be off track with unhappiness and emotional distress. You see, if these spiritual needs are not met, a person is spiritually unwell, and therefore struggles with finding meaning and purpose, which is another way of saying that eventually, in the long run, the individual will become emotionally unhappy, tense and anxious, confused, and sometimes even depressed.

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~ ॐ ~ Sambodhi Padmasamadhi ~ ∞ ~

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Get the Book: Awaken the Living Awareness Within – Discover the Keys to Happiness, Inner Peace & Harmony

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Extra Material: Video: Society, A Perpetual Cycle [Alan Watts]. Video description: "Alan Watts talks about how our society conditions children to live with a constant frustration and worry about the future, and never learn how to live in the present."