The Ishaya Foundation Newsletter - April 2006 Perpetual Consciousness Our continual choice creates the world around us to be what it is for us. In the waking state of consciousness this choice happens mostly unconsciously and we are dimly, if at all, aware of the connection between our perceptions of the world and the choices underlying them. The world stays the same for us because we make the same choices over and over again. From the point of our own nervous system this style of functioning is very taxing and stressful. We are literally killing ourselves through ignoring the source of life, or pure consciousness that is within us. Even though the gravity of old habits may seem too great and the body may already be experiencing the results of the accumulative stresses it is not difficult at all to return ourselves into what is actually the normal state of being for every human. It is a state of calm and continual awareness of the pure state of consciousness. It is a state of coherence and rest that can be objectively measured in our physical bodies. Regular Ascension, with steadfast commitment to just doing it whatever the experiences are, will bring the Ascendant consciousness to be a perpetually lived state of consciousness rather quickly. Our awareness becomes anchored in the very center of ourselves as a result of driving the mind inward with the Ascension Attitudes continuously. We gradually open our awareness to the choices we are making in the deeper levels of our mind that are effecting the way we perceive everything. This is how we ascend the root stresses of the modern world that have created the dimly lit world of suffering that most people take as reality. The door opens to true freedom with the conscious recognition of the Ascendant One that is beyond all and everything, with the recognition that there is indeed something that is beyond what our senses and our mind can tell us. As one consciously makes the choice to touch this pure state of consciousness through Ascending one quickly develops a momentum that brings more and more of it to the surface. This changes the quality of all areas of life to one that is filled with with Praise, Gratitude and Love. We will have what we focus on the most, the tree that gets to be watered is the tree that we collect the fruits from. Nataraja Ishaya The Dual Style of Functioning of the Mind "How are you doing?" I asked Sharon. "Actually - well. I feel the pain, the shock, the horror, but another part of me remains calm. I feel as if I am watching it all happening. And the part that is watching knows everything is all right. I wonder if I am turning schizo or something." "Well ,if you are, I must be too, for I feel the same way. My emotions are different now. It's not that I am feeling them less - in fact, I am experiencing them more than I ever have. But there is a bigger part to me now, a silent part, huge, forever at peace. I don't understand it, but I am sure it is real." "That's called 'perpetual consciousness', I think," said Steve, uncertainly. "No, you are right," Aphrodite agreed enthusiastically. "Alan explained it to me - he said that as the mind becomes saturated with the Ascendant, it becomes completely peaceful, deep inside. He said that's called Perpetual Consciousness. It's like having an anchor at the bottom of the sea - the waves on the surface don't bother you so much anymore, because you are grounded in infinite stability. He says this naturally grows in anybody. As the stress decreases in the body, the nervous system starts functioning differently, as it was designed to do. Part of the mind looks inward to its ground, its source in the Ascendant; part of the mind continues to look outward, into the world revealed by the senses." "So, Perpetual Consciousness is a dual style of functioning of the mind?" I asked curiously. "How odd. Yet, it does describe my experience. I feel split between this new inner peace and my old normal feelings." "Alan says the old way of reacting is the abnormal way. He says that in time, the Peace and Love grow so strong, outer experiences can't shake you at all. You become like a rock. And that's called Perpetual Consciousness. Or so he told me." MSI, First Thunder Developing Perpetual Consciousness Perpetual Consciousness develops extraordinarily quickly as a result of regular Ascension. It does not take nearly as long to rewrite the internal programs as it took to create them in the first place. Fortunately! If we had to relive or consciously discreate all the horrors we have created in our minds and in our world, who would have even the courage to begin? Fortunately, it is not necessary. Through Ascension we gracefully, without even being aware that it is happening, erase all the old beliefs, habits and judgments that keep life bound to the waking state of consciousness. The typical result of five to eight years of regular practiced Ascension is the Perpetual Consciousness dawns in any nervous system, regardless how stressed it was at the outset. This ultimately depends on four factors: 1) How regular the individual is with her or his practice. Just as with gravity, it takes a certain acceleration to escape the pull of the Earth (9,8 meters per second squared); it takes a certain rate of acceleration to escape from the old destructive behavior patterns. This is most easily accomplished by one-pointed dedication to the regularity of the practice. 2) How much stress there is in the nervous system at the beginning of the practice. Some people are a whole lot more stressed than others, due to excessive and imbalanced behavior patterns throughout their lives. Age is of course a factor in this; the general rule is: the longer the life, the more stressed the body. The arteries of an infant look like flexible plastic tubing; the arteries of a typical octogenarian are filled with deposits and plaque, are brittle and look very much like old and rigid water supply system pipes. 3) How much stress the individual is adding to her or his life nervous system every day. Some lifestyles are more stressful than others. Regardless how efficient a filtering system, if the pond is being filled by more mud and toxic waste every day than can be removed, it will continue to decrease in quality. 4) How badly the individual wants to be free from her or his self-destructive behavior patterns. The more intense the zeal for change, the faster the change will occur. This is true of anything, of course. The more one practices the piano, the faster one learns the piano. But all things considered, the typical average is five to eight years. It is a little surprising that it takes even this long. Where is there to go, after all? The Ascendant is already inside everyone. The reason it takes some time is simply that we are so deeply conditioned by our habitual modes of thinking, seeing and acting. Old habits tend to die hard. MSI, Ascension! Witnessing One essential characteristic of Perpetual Consciousness is known as prajna (pragya) in Sanskrit. Prajna is the power of the intellect that creates witnessing. The nervous system is sufficiently flexible to experience the continual silence of the Ascendant and at the same time the relative states of consciousness: waking, dreaming and sleeping. This duality of awareness or witnessing is the first stage of enlightenment. Hence is pragya called the mother of wisdom. The mind can be compared to a flock of birds that constantly changes its shape and direction and yet maintains its formation. When we begin to culture witnessing consciousness, sometimes we watch the birds fly: sometimes we are the birds. When we are both at the same time continually, we have developed prajna fully. In the waking state, he common experience is: "I think," "I feel," "I act." This is a confusion of levels of reality. Once our awareness is permanently established in the Source, in the Ascendant, we recognize that all actions, thoughts and feelings are external to the Self. Life continues much as before, but now the individual does not mistake the source of thoughts, feelings and actions as being the individual self. This experience of witnessing can be quite confusing to an aspirant, particularly if there is no one with sufficient knowledge available to explain what is happening. In extreme cases, it has been confused with insanity. MSI, Ascension! Pada 1 Sutra 47 The Supreme Soul needs no clarification in and of itself; this sutra is describing the relationship of the aspirant to the infinite. Clarity is complete in the full experience of the Ascendant, in the Fourth State Consciousness, but the nervous system is not sufficiently refined to hold onto to it permanently. As a result of repeated and persistent practice, the experience of the Ascendant purifies the nervous system, clarifies the mind, and soothes the heart sufficiently so that the experience becomes permanent. That is known as Perpetual Consciousness. Having firmly established Ascendant consciousness permanently inside, the Universe of experience is split between the Infinite, clearly known inside, and the relative external cosmos, which continues very much as it was on the outside. MSI, Enlightenment! Regularity When the mind transcends during transcendental meditation, the metabolism reaches its lowest point; so does the process of breathing, and the nervous system gains a state of restful alertness which, on the physical level, corresponds to the state of bliss-consciousness, or transcendent Being. In order that the consciousness of the waking state may be maintained along with the transcendental bliss-consciousness, it is essential for the nervous system not to lose this state of restful alertness corresponding to bliss-consciousness. At the same time, the nervous system should maintain a metabolic rate corresponding to the activity taking place in the waking state. For this to come about, regular and continued practice of such meditation as leads to transcendental consciousness is necessary. This has to be followed by activity, because activity after meditation brings an infusion of transcendental Being into the nature of the mind and through it into all aspects of one's life in the relative field. With the constant practice of meditation, this infusion continues to grow and when it is full-grown cosmic consciousness will have been attained. Once this state is attained, to fall from it is impossible. It holds transcendental consciousness intact in the field of all the relative states, waking, dreaming and deep sleep. Thus, in 'the state of Brahman', the state of eternal life , the activity or the silence of the relative existence belongs to the absolute Being. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Bhagavad-Gita Our Websites The Ishaya Foundation http://www.theishayafoundation.org Hong Kong website http://www.theishayafoundation.asia European website http://www.theishayafoundation.eu ------------------------------------------------- This is the 11th edition of the Ishaya Foundation newsletter. If you wish to unsubscribe please email The Ishaya Foundation. email: contact@theishayafoundation.org (USA) or artofascension@ishaya.biz (Europe) phone: 1-888-ISHAYA1 (USA)