Maria: There are many names for the Divine. And in gnostic ‘clubs’ like freemasonry, they’re clear about the ‘Great Architect’; as being in between sun and moon, and they have all kinds of rituals and occult exchanges, which seems to result in certain gains and powers. This doesn’t have any attraction for me; but it seems as if this ‘place’ here is taken over by these so-called ‘tech-entities’. At least that’s the certainty of the ‘occult’.
Sundari: I am not sure what you mean by ‘tech entities’ but it is a good sign that you are not attracted to the false idea of the ‘special’ powers promised by occultist rituals, which so fascinate many people under the spell of duality. The idea there is that you will gain something that will help you ‘game’ the system, or make you powerful. But when the mind is under the spell of duality, it is ignorant of its true nature as the Self/Consciousness. It believes it can gain objects to make it happy, complete, powerful, etc. But Vedanta, the science of Nondual Consciousness, clearly states that you cannot gain or lose anything because you are whole and complete and lack nothing.
Chasing objects is a sure road to unhappiness because you are what you seek. But assimilating what this means is far from easy. It requires a strong desire for freedom from identification with the body/mind, and the qualifications for self-inquiry. Plus you need to be properly taught to think from a nondual perspective by a qualified teacher. You cannot read your way to freedom if your thinking is from a dualistic perspective. The mind needs to be trained to think and want different things.
When it comes to the question of who or what God is, by whatever name, it depends on whether your understanding is dualistic or nondual. From the dualistic perspective, God is seen as something other than, bigger and much better than the person, who is subjugated to it. From the nondual perspective, God is seen in two ways, and both resolve into one. The first is as the creative principle, or Great Architect, as you mention, of the field of existence, also called the apparent reality. Everything we have and experience comes from God, or Isvara, in Vedantic terminology.
This view is subject to the understanding that the creative principle operates only when Maya manifests, and Maya is a power in Consciousness. Maya is the hypnosis of duality, that which makes the unchanging, ever-present Self, Consciousness, appear to be changing. While the apparent reality exists because you can experience it, it is not real because it is always changing and not always present. Only the nondual Self/Consciousness is real. Therefore, there is only the nondual Self. Thus God, or the creative principle, along with everything else experienceable in the apparent reality, ‘dissolves’ into Consciousness. There is no real separation, only an apparent separation.
Maria: Perhaps my mind got lost in this too much; so deep inside I see there is no real surrender, acceptance of what is going on. I live in Amsterdam; the air is often horrible, and of course the stress of masts, 5G etc. is also there. There is suffering from the vaccines, people die in masses, and most of them just follow the orders.
Sundari: I am not sure if you have a sadhana, or if you understand what self-inquiry is and entails, or if you have ever been committed to it. If you have not, and you have been seeking answers to existential suffering in the world, you will not find them there. The best you will find is ignorance mixed with knowledge, but if you do not know what ignorance is, you will have no access to Self-knowledge, your true identity as Consciousness. You will not be able to discriminate between what is real and what is not. How can you surrender if you do not know what that means? So you will get lost and confused.
Maria: It’s very easy to simply state ‘it’s all Isvara’. Although that would release my question. But there is tension around it which doesn’t seem to be understood. I would like to skype, or ‘meet’ on Google, or Zoom. Or just by mail.
Thanks already for the attention.
Sundari: It is all very well to say ‘it is all Isvara’, but if you do not know what is meant by Isvara, and you do not know what ignorance is, you will not know how to make sense of what is going on in your reality. Isvara is your environment, and everything in it, including who you take yourself to be – the person called Maria. The common identity between you as Maria and Isvara as everything else is Consciousness. But what does that mean? Therein lie all the teachings of Vedanta.
As I mentioned above, to disidentify with your identity as Maria requires the motivation to end suffering, the development of the qualifications for self-inquiry, and being properly taught. I am happy to talk with you on Zoom, but first I need to hear from you what your sadhana is. We have detailed explanations on our website for what is required of the inquirer in order to be properly taught. Are you familiar with this? And if so, are you willing to be taught? Then you first need to do your part by following our instructions, see links below.
Much love
Sundari
