A response to a friend’s comment/question:
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Friend: : “Magdi, What is, is ordinary. You have never been in absence of your ability to cognate. Whatever you point to as consciousness is arising from a process of cognition. That cognition is informed by many things, your brain chemistry and neural structure, it is informed by your genes, the earth, society, your attachments and beliefs.
Your mind isn’t some ‘thing’ it is a process from which YOU are inseparable. You are one being right now, not fragments. And anything you know about this process of mind has only ever come to you by thought, in the moment.
There is no magical revelation from anything outside of yourself, you are informing yourself as life.
The problem is that when you dismiss mind as less than, as an inferior biological operating system less than awareness of mind, you look right past the reality that the only way you know anything is by the process of cognition.
Do you see this?”
A friend.
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Dear friend,
I choose to respond in a post here as your comment/question requires more space that the back and forth of a comment/reply/comment/reply format. In this way, I can look with more space at the question and comments you shared with me.
Indeed, what IS, is ordinary, but I would add that it is ‘extraordinarily ordinary’ and not merely ordinary. The realization of this extraordinary ordinariness is not available to the mind that is living in the past, in the me/you separate impression.
We all know that the ordinary mind is conditioned and ruminates past habits and past patterns that have been inherited from our conditioned past and feels isolated and threatened. This conditioned ordinary mind is loaded with belief systems and the body is charged with conditioned tendencies that make our ordinary life quite miserable.
Thus the need to realize the extarordinariness of the ordinary mind. That cannot be realized by adopting a new belief, such as: What IS, is ordinary, including misery and unhappiness.
Misery and unhappiness are the trademark of ignorance, the belief that I am a mortal body mind. It is this identification with a form that needs to be uprooted.
Only the realization of the Self will dissolve the ignorance of separation and reveals the extraordinariness of the ordinary, reveals the causeless peace and happiness of our true nature.
This is an extraordinary and magical revelation that is bestowed via grace. Our love and dedication to truth is essential.
When we resort to a new belief system and hold on to it, our love for truth is dimmed by our new attachment. This causes a delay in the revelation of our true nature since we are choosing the mind rather than choosing grace.
Consciousness/Awareness/Presence does not arise from cognition. It is the other way around. Cognition arises from consciousness/awareness.
The mind depends on history and in a way, is history. It is a repeating pattern. But it is not the mind that cognizes. it is YOU, you as awareness that cognizes.
True, there is no separation. Mind events, such as perceptions, thoughts, sensations are not separate from YOU, you as consciousness.
Like the dragon cloud or the angel cloud are not separate from the cloud. Like a gold bracelet and a gold chain are not separate from gold. The reality of the dragon and the angel is the cloud. The reality of the bracelet and the chain is gold.
THAT that is eternal, permanent, is the reality of the impermanent impression. The impermanent impression arises out of the permanent.
You are correct in stating that there is no need to dismiss the mind as inferior. Such a dismissal is, in itself, a mind activity. Rather, it is important to give the mind its proper rank. As a servant of consciousness and not as consciousness itself. It is important to realize that you are not the mind and that you are consciousness and that consciousness is universal and not personal.
The world body mind are dreams of consciousness. They arise in YOU (consciousness) but you do not arise in them. You do not arise, period. There is beauty in the realization of the eternity and infinity of non-arising. The non-arising that is the Self eternal.
Like night dreams, they rise in you while you do not arise. The impressions of (dream) arisings do not affect the non arising of the Self, of the dreamer.
Although the hand and the feet are an indivisible part of you, they are not you. You use the hands, the feet, the tongue, the brain, as you need to and as you choose to; but you are not the instruments you use. They are you, but you are not them. You are not biology.
To confuse awareness with biological functioning of the body mind is like confusing a car with the doors, the wheels, the engine, the mirrors, etc.
I am certain you can think of a better metaphor. smile emoticon
Much love,
M.