Dominik: Hi, James.
I’m so happy you pointed out my problem: I’ve felt “half cooked” the whole time and could not find the problem. I was confused and used Vedanta like a dictionary because I was convinced that I only need to understand a special thing to “solve” the problem, like a lesson in school.
So I do my homework and understand the experience problem. I had something like a “samadhi” but I as a limited person could not be aware of this. And it could not be the Self, because I was aware of it. So it was the reflection and I could observe it as the Self, me.
James: Yes. As you say, the solution is to understand the nature of experience problem. Here is the teaching. If you have “an experience of the Self” and value it, you will eventually be frustrated because all experiences that begin end. It is delusory to think that there is a permanent experience. The Self is not an experience. It is what exists before and after experience. So the only experiential access is through knowledge, which is the removal of the ignorance-inspired belief that you are an experiencing entity that is changed by what it experiences. You are the eternal witnessing entity that is unaffected by experience.
Dominik: But I need further support. There is something, perhaps the ego, which permanently resists the thought that there is only one Self. I cannot find the logic that explains it for me.
James: Here is an example for you to contemplate. Electricity is one, but it appears as heat when it flows through a heater, as light when it flows through a light bulb, and as sound when it flows through a radio. The one Self appears to be many different selves because it animates an endless variety of conscious entities. The entities “borrow” their consciousness from you, pure consciousness. Dominik is not conscious in his own right. Whatever sentiency he enjoys is a reflection of you, pure awareness.
Dominik: The second point is nididhyasana. I am happy that I am “half cooked,” and the fire for Vedanta comes back. But I don’t know if I interpret nididhyasana correctly.
I see your new Skype offer, and perhaps it would be great option at this point. If you agree, we can do one. I live in Germany, so the EST fits for me. This week I am at home and up from the 8th of April I am in my general work schedule and out of home from Monday to Friday between 8 am to 5 am.
James: Yes, let’s have a Skype chat. I’m available on Monday the 8th, Wednesday the 10th and Thursday the 11th next week. I’m in England till Tuesday the 9th and then in Berlin on Wednesday.
~ James
