excerpts from a discussion of physicist Peter Russell and Eckhart Tolle on the subject of consciousness

even the question, 'what is consciousness' is a wrong question, as it sends us to something external, because we are the knowing, we are the consciousness

(they begin by discussing Peter's view on meditation)

Peter says that in early years he pursued a structured and formulaic meditation, but today he sees it all as something "getting simpler and simpler."

P. "To me, meditation is letting go" of the mind's fixation on the cares of this world. "It's not trying to stop thought," it's not about "a lot of concentration, a lot of effort," but "it's about not doing anything, but the mind wants to do something... And so I help people to spot, just to notice what is, and just to notice when that slightest bit of wanting and trying comes in...  [which is a form of] resisting the present moment.

E. "The very idea that I am 'doing' a meditation can become an obstacle because this thought comes in between you and simply being."

P. "Right. You can't 'do' meditation, but it's an exercise of awareness, a bringing an awareness to what is, and it's the resistance that keep us locked in, and it's bringing an awareness even to the resistance, so when you notice some slight holding back, just be aware of what that feels like, what does it feel like to be resisting what is?"

E. "You can be the space even for the resistance. And then you can take a step back from there and say, 'there's the resistance' -- whatever arises you can be the space for that."

P. "I say to people, 'don't resist the resistance,' but paradoxically you can 'relax into the resistance.' It's there, you don't try to get rid of it, there's a faint sense of tension here of resisting, ok, just notice it, what is it like, and just relax into that, and, of course, as soon as you do, it just dissolves."

E. "Yes... that's lovely... it sounds quite easy." (laughter from the audience)

P. (laughing) "It is totally easy."

E. (smiling) "It is ease itself."

P. It is ease itself. However, these minds [of ours] have been trained to “do” things, and they’re well trained to do things well, and to do things better, and so, “maybe if I just tried a little bit harder it would be even better.”

E. Yes, yes.

P. We’re so trained in this mindset to “do,” to try, to make things better – and so, in some ways, meditation is an “untraining of the mind,” to step back from all that conditioning we’ve known all of our lives.

E. Yes, wonderful.

(they begin to speak of consciousness)

P. "I think it's even wrong to use the word 'conscious-ness' because we make it a thing, we make it a noun. As soon as we add '-ness' to anything we turn a quality or an attribute into something we can talk about, it's useful for language, but...

E. "Yes, it becomes an object, a mental object, but is there a better word for this..."

P. "I think we should not use nouns for it, because as soon as we use a noun, whether it's consciousness, awareness, whatever, we make it into a thing, which implies that we're beginning to look for another object, another form of perception, and so even the question, 'what is consciousness' is a wrong question, because we are the knowing, we are the consciousness, and [with this question] we begin to look to other than what we are."

E. "The question immediately makes [consciousness] into an object [of the external world, and deflects attention from the true source, ourselves linked to God]."

P. "And so I prefer to use verbs for this."

E. "Ok, let's see what that sounds like." (laughter from the audience)

P. "Well, 'I am aware' and there is 'awaring', and 'knowing' and there is 'experiencing' -- 'conscious-ing' doesn't work."

E. With 'awaring,' you have to create a new word to get rid of the inherent error of nouns."

P. "And so I think science is misleading itself by the very act of looking."

E. "Science can never find the answer to consciousness unless or until the scientist becomes introspective... in other words the scientist has to become a mystic."

P. "I think a scientist can become a mystic. I think we need to draw a distinction between science as it's practiced now, the belief-systems of science, a very materialistic [process] as it excludes 'awaring,' and deliberately has done so, because you can't measure it, you can't put a rule up against it... 

Editor's note: See the "Life 1-minute essay" for further discussion from Peter Russell and Eckhart Tolle.

The Russell-Tolle discussion addresses matters of extremely high moment. However, if you’ve not yet personally experienced what they’re talking about, it might seem vague and unreal to you. Since I have experienced and lived it, I know what they’re talking about; as such, there’s a point or two I might offer to clarify; however, even with my small amending, it will still be unclear until that coming day of entering into this reality for yourself. Nevertheless, consider the following:

There’s a phrase I recall from my long-ago college days in Britain. In the UK subway terminals, you’ll find signs posted: “mind the gap.”

“Mind the gap” means notice the gap, be aware of the gap. There’s a rather large space between the platform and the train-cars, and one needs to be careful when boarding or exiting.

“Mind the gap” is good instruction for us, too. As we learn to sense the life within, we’ll be able to say, “Here’s the real me, the true self - and over there, not part of the real me, are all the egoic aspects of self: the fears, the worries, the incessant chatterings in the head.”

This is what Russell means when he says that we need to “step back” from all of the “mind conditioning.” This stepping back or letting go is the “untraining” of the mind,” as he puts it. Why does the mind need to be untrained? It is so because the mind naturally, due to years of conditioning, believes that more “doing” will solve every problem. Of course, sometimes “doing” is called for; “doing” works just wonderfully – except for the most important issues of life.

Why does the mind naturally opt for “doing”? It does this because, in its current state of blindness, it knows nothing of “being” and so, by default, is shunted toward “doing.” The egoic mind is ignorant of its real identity, the true self, composed of Universal Consciousness.  It’s currently incapable of “minding the gap.” It perceives no space, no gap, between its essence and egoic mental constructs. Without this gap, one’s sense of self merges with the egoic thought-forms, seemingly becomes one with them, identifies with them. This systemic illusion is what needs to be expunged and “untrained” from the mind.

Tolle said “you can be the space for the resistance.” The “resistance” is the egoic mind, long-conditioned as an extension of the “false self,” ready to fight any notion of believing that its part of Universal Consciousness. This false self, for many years to come, and many times a day, will try to take you over, and take you back, into its domain of egoic thought-form. To “be the space for the resistance” means to simply allow this enemy within to put on its Halloween mask and try to scare you into subservience; allowing “space” means allowing it to be – don’t fight it. Just let this energy spend itself. It cannot hurt you. It’s just a phantom with no real power. All it can do is to make you temporarily feel bad – it’s done that for decades – by playing “sad movies” in your head. But if you awaken to the reality that it’s just a “movie in the head” with no real substance; if you simply allow it to play the part of the hobgoblin with attempts to scare you; you will rob it of its power, and then it will simply “dissolve.” However, like the Terminator, it will be back to try to take you over again, with new scary movies, new fears, but its power will grow less and less, as you are no longer deceived about who is the “real you.” This “allowing” is what Russell means by “relaxing into the resistance.”

I decided to write these clarifying paragraphs as I considered Peter’s phrase, “just notice it, simply notice the slight resistance, the small amount of wanting and needing trying to slip in.” Despite the wisdom of these words, a small amount of clarification is helpful. It’s best to witness the resistance from the vantage point of the safe-and-secure true self; because, if we do our noticing while being taken over by the false self, that is, without even realizing that there is such a thing as a true self, then we will be witnessing, or “noticing,” ourselves slipping into more and more despair. I’m sure Peter realizes this, and it’s difficult to speak to everything in a short discourse, and so, since this might be a cause of confusion for some, I decided to offer a short commentary. And I will tell you this: though I’ve been working with the “true-false self” issue for many years now, these clarifications help me as, well, because the “false self” does not give up so easily, and will attempt to overthrow you, every day of your life.

Why does it have to be so hard? Why does it have to be this way? It’s part of becoming a true person. It’s part of what Spirit-Guide Abu called the soul’s sacred individualization process. It’s like muscle-building, weight-lifting. Every time we assert the ontological powers of the “true self,” we strengthen our authentic sense of self – the eternal true self, that part of us, the “real” us, that will inhabit and traverse eternity. We’re building for the future; a very long one.

a castle with a moat

The true self is like an impregnable castle, surrounded by a moat. Why is the true self like an unassailable stronghold?

It is so because our essential essence is not made of fading matter but indestructible Universal Consciousness. As we’ve discussed elsewhere, “only Consciousness is real,” and so what we are on the deep-inside constitutes the only reality. Other perceptions flashed to us by the "false self" are mere pretenders to the throne, and cannot harm us. In this world, our true identifies, wrapped in seeming mortality, do not fully manifest, but in a world soon coming, “one missed heartbeat away,” we will be revealed, especially to ourselves, in our immutable, incorruptible immortality.

Editor’s note: In the taped lectures of Spirit-Guide Abu, the ancient sage states, to the effect: “No one can hurt you. People in this world may do unkind things to you, but none of that incivility, though unpleasant, can reach your essential essence, your soul. There will be no lasting damage. However, it is possible for you to damage yourself if you were to become bitter or vengeful toward these immature spirits.” This is exactly what Jesus said, as well: “Do not be afraid of them. They can only kill your body.” And that’s not very much. Further, Spirit-Guide Abu has a pet phrase that he likes to use: "You have the horses"; meaning, "You're in charge of your own life! You guide and direct your own destiny"; which is to say, "Make it a good one. Be a bright star. Be all can be. No one can or will stop you. This is not possible as Mother-Father God are fully behind you in all of your sacred endeavors."

'the kingdom of heaven is in your midst'; or, as some translations have it, 'the kingdom of heaven is within you'

I’m reminded of an assertion of Jesus: “the kingdom of heaven is in your midst.” Some churches, threatened by the “made-in-the-image for all" principle, errantly interpret this New Testament verse by saying, “Jesus meant, ‘I am plainly standing here before you, in your midst, as the great ambassador of God’s kingdom, and a member of the Trinity.” (See "The Wedding Song" for a discussion of “eisegesis,” a diseased literary analysis of injecting one’s own prejudices and private viewpoints into another’s message.)

However, there are so many things wrong with this latter interpretation – see my “Jesus article” – and in contradiction to other things Jesus said, one hardly knows what to address first. But the best way of determining what Jesus meant is by reviewing the immediate context of his words. See this in Luke 17:21. Essentially, he said,

'Look! It's up there!'

“The kingdom isn’t something you can point to. It doesn't have three-dimensional elements. You can’t gaze in the sky and say, ‘Look, there it is!’ or you can’t see it on the horizon and say, ‘Look, over there, it’s coming our way!” No, none of that. The kingdom of God is not something material or made of matter. The kingdom is in your midst; the kingdom, if you have eyes to see, is within you, in your very hearts and souls.”

We know that this is what Jesus meant because in other places he said the same thing in different words. For example, in John 4, in his conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well, he said, to the effect,

“You have life eternal, inside you, right now, like a natural reservoir of living water, an artesian spring of refreshment, that effortlessly bubbles up to the surface of life, with no work on your part required at all.”

what does this mean for us

What is the practical significance of “the kingdom is within you”? It is most wonderful knowledge and presages a most wonderful future.

Many people look forward to “going to heaven”; and it is well that they should. However, they desire this not so differently than a longed-for trip to the white sand Cayman beaches; or even a trip to Disneyworld.

A trip to heaven, to Summerland, is marvelous, indeed; as would be a trip the Caymans or to Disneyworld. The new arrival, to any of these destinations, would experience a sense of thrill, of relaxation, and pleasure. However, without something more, eventually, the good vibes of it all would begin to fade and even disappear.

We know this because there are millions or billions on the other side, even in the “good neighborhoods,” who have slipped into a form of mental dysfunction. Actually, it’s not so much that they’ve acquired this mental imbalance over there, but that they took it with them from this world. After the novelty of the “good life,” all the material pleasures of Summerland began to wear thin, the old “false self” reasserted itself and started to contaminate whatever they thought about. See my extensive article, “The 500 Testimonies from the Other Side.”

we cannot escape ourselves; but that could be very good news

The truth is, wherever we live in the next world, our joy and pleasure will not issue as a function of our zip-code. We might choose to remain on a “lower” level of Summerland – quite beautiful, far more than anything on the Earth – if we believe that our best service might be rendered there; or we might opt for some so-called “higher” world; but, if we do, spatial positioning will have nothing to say about our sense of well-being. It doesn’t matter where we live.

Like that castle with a moat, an invincible “kingdom unto itself,” we – linked to Universal Consciousness - at each and every moment, within the sanctity, the “holy of holies,” of our own minds, possess all the heaven we shall ever know.

we cannot escape God’s mandate that we ‘come alive’

We are required to find our true selves; it’s built into our deepest nature. We will not find our lasting joy, in this world or the next, without this existential discovery.

But think of the positive aspect, what this really signifies for us. If the “kingdom is within us,” then this means that we take heaven with us wherever we go. Heaven, joy, ultimate reality, in its essence, is with us right now. To reference Jesus, we can’t say, “Look, there it is on that higher level of Summerland, and if I can just make it to that ‘better 7th-level of heaven,’ then life will be good.” But it doesn’t work that way; even though there are billions of deluded ones over there, as in this world, who do believe that heaven, in its most meaningful sense, is a place you travel to.

Yes, of course, we do wish for better accommodations to come, a better world of flowers with brighter colors – all this and so much more will be utterly wonderful; but without an accessing of the “true self,” we won’t be able to fully enjoy, or sustain ourselves with, any external blessing. This includes your Twin Soul, which we've discussed in hundreds of pages.

In order to discern the "true self," we'll need to "mind the gap." When we are able to perceive the intervening space, we'll also be able to sense who we truly are, in contradistinction to who we are not.

Tolle's books offer good advice concerning these issues.

Dr. Carl Jung: “Knowing your own darkness is the best method for dealing with the darkness of other people. One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious. The most terrifying thing is to accept oneself completely. Your visions will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.”

Editor's note: "Opening a channel" allows us to see where we've gone wrong. Jung, in his own words, expresses Jesus' teaching of "first remove the beam in your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck in your brother's eye."

the moment of becoming a sane, really free, human being

“I'm simply saying that there is a way to be sane. I'm saying that you can get rid of all this insanity created by the past in you. Just by being a simple witness of your thought processes. It is simply sitting silently, witnessing the thoughts, passing before you. Just witnessing, not interfering not even judging, because the moment you judge you have lost the pure witness. The moment you say ‘this is good, this is bad,’ you have already jumped onto the thought process. It takes a little time to create a gap between the witness and the mind. Once the gap is there, you are in for a great surprise, that you are not the mind, that you are the witness, a watcher. And this process of watching is the very alchemy of real religion. Because as you become more and more deeply rooted in witnessing, thoughts start disappearing. You are, but the mind is utterly empty. That’s the moment of enlightenment. That is the moment that you become for the first time an unconditioned, sane, really free human being.”

Osho, Indian mystic, (1931-1990)

Honey, I shrunk the ego! - what does it feel like to be made small?

The next time you feel attacked, maybe someone smirks condescendingly at you, wants to make you the cause of the problem when you’ve done nothing wrong, or maybe you are to blame – then, be on guard, one’s ego will find a way to defend itself.

male Frigate bird on alert

It will inflate itself. Next thing you know, even if you didn't want it, you're in a shouting match, or worse.

But, if we can maintain a sense of presence to inner energies, not lose ourselves to rage, or quickly recover an equanimity, then – notice what happens.

As one consciously and purposefully allows one’s ego to be diminished without counter-attack, there will be an initial reaction of disorientation or out-of-control. The ego isn’t accustomed to laying down its arms.

feel, and allow, the diminishment

Though it will feel uncomfortable, stay with this perception of depreciation. Before too long, something new will be perceived.

A “mind the gap” inner perspective will begin to formulate. The “I”, an authentic sense of self – the true self – will stand out, differentiated, from one’s exterior persona. This true self will know, or enjoy hintings toward, a certain deeper peace, even while being attacked at the surface of life.

glimmerings of mastery to come

When this happens, suddenly, the ego no longer feels small in the non-response. A beginning perception of mastery sets in – an existential prowess that signals, to oneself, that not only has the true self arrived and taken to itself a dominance, but a step has been made toward attaining a confidence to deal with whatever might come, or assault, in the future.

male Frigate bird in quiet mode

one's personal sense of 'I Am,' on a deeper level, merges with the great 'I Am'

“If I penetrate the depths of my own existence, to the indefinable ‘I Am,’ that is, myself, at its deepest roots, then through the deep center I pass into the infinite ‘I Am,’ which is the very Name of the Almighty."

“It [higher consciousness] starts not from the thinking and self-aware subject but from Being. . . . Underlying the subjective experience of the individual self, there is an immediate experience of Being. This is totally different from an experience of self-consciousness. . . . It has in it none of the split and alienation that occurs when the subject becomes aware of itself as a quasi-object. The consciousness of Being . . . is an immediate experience that goes beyond reflexive awareness. It is not ‘consciousness of’ but pure consciousness, in which the subject as such ‘disappears’.”

Thomas Merton, monk and priest, (1915-1968)

Is the Earth a better place for us to ‘wake up’?

Over the years I’ve come across many statements in channeled writings suggesting that our mortal existence here on the Earth-plane is particularly conducive to spiritual awakening.

I’ve wondered about this, and questioned the assertion. Can we not grow spiritually wherever we are in the universe? I think we can, but there appears to be some truth in the general reports.

It seems there is potential benefit to ourselves in pushing back against the difficulties of this world. Stated differently, by a next-world entity, this life is an “opportunity of education offered by the resistance of matter, and the strength engendered by the force necessary to overcome it.” Maybe it’s like a weight-lifter developing muscle by exertion.

It’s also been said that over there we’re able to gain much more control over our minds. Think of the relief, the freedom, from the sometimes near-constant bombardment of negative, even horrid, mental images the dysfunctional ego serves up for us. The reports indicate that we’ll enter a time of release from this oppression. The ego will still be there, but declawed (for those who want it to be toned down).

Even though this seems to be true, over there it will still be possible to stray into error and bad decisions. We know this because there are millions in the next world caught in moral pathologies. See the writing,”500 tape-recorded messages from the other side.”

Acknowledging all this, we’re left with a view that the Earth can be the better “classroom,” especially for jump-starting the process. They say we can learn things here that we can’t learn there.

I think this statement goes too far – because there will be countless millions with very brief Earth experience who will also come to maturity but without reincarnation.

The truth is, despite these afterlife opinions, we can know of the “dark side” by “going within”. The Earth journey does facilitate, provides “training wheels”, to begin the process of individuation, but, once we understand how the ego works, we can develop ourselves spiritually wherever we're living in the universe.

Restatement: the essence of ‘surrender and acceptance’

After all we’ve said here, those who’ve not experienced authentic “surrender and acceptance” may still harbor doubts as to what this is.

Allow me one more attempt to clarify.

When you’re lying in bed, or sitting quietly in your “small room,” notice, simply notice, the state of your mind. Is there something worrying you? Is there some undefined item of negativity or apprehension in your spirit?

Normally, when we’re “feeling bad” like this, we immediately attempt to distract ourselves: we watch a movie, go out shopping, eat something, listen to music – anything to repress the disquietude of the heart.

But, this time, don’t run away; this time, just close your eyes, or remain very still, and simply “feel the fear” in your spirit. That’s what the negativity presently afflicting is all about – it’s some form of fear. What are you afraid of? Some might bluster, “I’m not afraid of anything.” Really?

We need to find out. We need to follow “the bread crumbs down the rabbit hole” and investigate what’s fueling this fear. Was it some annoyance earlier in the day? Something in the news? Or is the problem part of a long-standing malady that’s settled into a perpetual floating sore spot?

We need to find out. Allow the fear to wash over us. Don’t run and hide. Taste it. Immerse yourself in it. Find out its wellsprings. Follow it back to source, to hidden motivations, allow the layers of the ego's deceit to be penetrated.

As we begin this process, initially, we’ll feel worse. This is why we’ve been repressing ourselves for all these years in order to avoid this authentic vision. But stay with it. Suddenly, there will be a “break in the storm”; suddenly, it won’t feel so bad; suddenly, you’ll feel a “gap” between the bogeyman-of-fear that’s bedeviling you -- and you, yourself, observing the bogeyman. In that moment of “gap,” possibly, for the first time in your life, as the mystics assert, you will become a fully sentient human being.

“Surrender and acceptance” is necessary because the ego habitually resists “what is.” We experience fear because we don’t like “what is” and believe that it will result in loss for us, meaning, we'll never find happiness.

But we need not be a slave to fear. Face it, head on. Don’t put up defenses. Allow it to submerge you, wash over you. See what it's made of. And when we do, we’ll discover that it’s a paper tiger, with no power to hurt us.

Once we learn how to do this, fear will never, ever, in this life or the next, dominate us again. We’ve won.