Consciousness, Recognition, Joy

Consciousness, Recognition, Joy
by Jagadamba Porter

Sat Chit Ananda Guruy Ki Jay

Writing a blog for Nityananda Shaktipat Yoga is part of my Guruseva. I thank my Guru, Kedarji, for the privilege of this guruseva, which washes away the karmic obstacles to my ultimate attainment of permanent liberation.

As I started reflecting on my blog, the words ‘awareness,’ ‘consciousness,’ ‘recognition,’ and ‘perception’ kept coming to mind. At first, I thought that, from the perspective of Kedarji’s leadership, based on the wisdom of Kashmir Shaivism, those ideas were too complex for me to discuss in a blog. But the concepts and words kept appearing in my consciousness. I finally listened to my inner Self’s prompting and began to explore them.

Mundane Awareness and Consciousness

On the mundane level (the immanent aspect of God), I thought consciousness, awareness, and recognition were very similar. In my line of work, as a nurse, I would assess whether someone was aware of who they were or where they were. These were the questions I would ask to evaluate their level of consciousness. At the mundane level, consciousness, based on the medical model, is, for example, being able to say who you are, where you are, and why you are where you are, what year, month, and day it is, and who the president is. It is being aware or cognizant of what is going on.

However, at the mundane level, whether it is a medical or psychological model — such as unconscious, subconscious, conscious, or superconscious — that touches on transcendental consciousness, it is still only the imminent aspect of consciousness. The transcendental aspect of consciousness presents a different picture.

Transcendental Awareness and Consciousness

Sutras 1 and 2 of the Pratyabhijñāhṛdayam, The Secret of Self-Recognition, explain that there is only Consciousness or Awareness; nothing exists outside of this Consciousness. All that exists arises from this Consciousness. This is the transcendental aspect of God.

This surpasses my basic understanding of Consciousness. The implications are mind-blowing. It states that I cannot be an individual, separate, and distinct from others. No one can. It’s simply not possible. I share the same Consciousness as everyone and everything else.

Recognizing that I am the same Divine Consciousness drives my spiritual journey, which is to retrace my steps back to God. This journey is about acknowledging my God-nature and seeing everything and everyone as God.

From Sutras 3 and 4 of the Pratyabhijñāhṛdayam, I understand that our mundane world is a contraction of Consciousness. The level of contraction ranges from slightly contracted, perceived as time or space, to very contracted, like fire, water, and earth. Still, everything is Consciousness, even rocks.

This reminds me once again that only God exists; the entire mundane world is an expression of God. Therefore, changing my perceptions can alter my experience — for example, shifting from linear time to a sense of timelessness that occurs during meditation or when performing Healing Touch (energy medicine) for someone.

However, I am attached to some perceptions, such as feeling that I am in my body rather than pervading it but not identifying with it. These attachments distract me from my journey back to the Divine, the Self. Kedarji teaches ways to surrender attachments.

Look for God In All Experiences, Find God In All Instances
Look for God; It Is My Duty

To be constantly aware of what is unfolding within me means giving up control, agency, doership, and self-appropriation so that the Divine can unfold within me, be recognized, be heard, and be followed by me.

I recently took an excellent mini-course led by Sadguru Kedarji called “The Bliss of Freedom.” The first half was a talk, followed by our homework assignment. We had about a week to complete the homework, which I did. I emailed my homework to Kedarji as an attachment. All of our homework is shared aloud the next week during the second half of class. At one point, when Kedarji was reading my homework, he laughed.

Look for God In All Experiences

As he laughed, I realized I was experiencing a kriya; I immediately wondered, ‘Why was he laughing?’ Was my ego ‘ablaze’? Was there a lesson I needed to learn? Was he trying to send me a message to reflect on? After he finished reading my homework, he thanked me but didn’t add any comments.

Look for God In All Experiences, Find God In All Instances
Look for God; It Is My Duty

As the days went by, I kept wondering whether I should ask him why he laughed. I was looking for inspiration for my question. The only idea that kept coming to mind was to ask Kedarji why he laughed. Finally, I sent him an email saying, “You chuckled when I wrote, ‘I thought I knew what was best for others.’ Help me understand your reaction because it seems like I’ve received it more than once.”

Kedarji replied, “It wasn’t a reaction. That’s your ego talking. In your homework submission, you said that you had taken the position that you knew what was best for someone else’s child. Then you mentioned reading a book about a young woman who thought she knew what was best for others. I laughed at your reading a book that is a reflection of your inner state.” I had chosen a book about my tendency to be ‘a know-it-all’. I was relieved because I also thought it was the mirror of the Guru.

But wait, I started experiencing another kriya. My mind was churning. What did Kedarji mean when he said that it wasn’t a reaction? If it was not a reaction, what would you call it? This kriya was very brief. I contemplated his statement for a short while before realizing it was related to his previous discussion about reaction and response. A reaction is a knee-jerk action coming from the ego; it is impulsive. A response is thoughtful, intentional, and inspirational. He was responding to me, not reacting,

“To be constantly aware of what is unfolding within means giving up control, agency, doership, and self-appropriation so that the Divine can unfold, be heard, be recognized, and followed.” ~ Kedarji

That experience brought back memories of the last time I saw my older sister. It was a hot summer day. We had been shopping at an outdoor mall. Feeling hot and tired, we began walking back toward the parking lot to find her car. I was walking a little behind her. Finally, I saw the car and told her I could see it. My sister spun around, looked at me, and snapped, “That is just what I said!!”

Reacting Is Contracting

I was taken aback. Actually, I felt hurt and shamed. I felt blamed for her upset. I hadn’t heard her say anything. There were many things I felt like saying to strike back, but I didn’t. I had a brief moment where I chose to pause and take a breath. An inner voice commanded, ‘Don’t react. ’ Instead of reacting, I was able to respond. I asked her why she was upset (that was a helpful response), and she said it made her feel humiliated when I repeated what she just said.

My ego took hold and decided to help her improve herself. I told her to stop projecting (that was neither empathetic nor useful). No surprise, she shot back, “You stop projecting.” That was unexpected. I wasn’t projecting, I was teaching her a lesson, I told myself. But I stopped talking to her and started my ‘stewing kriya.’ By the time we got back to her house, we were speaking again, and the incident was apparently forgotten. But by then, I had stopped stewing and had started reflecting.

Did I Want To Be Right, or Did I Want To Be Blessed?
I Couldn’t Be Both

What was the mirror of the Guru showing me? Was I really projecting? I thought the only reason I would be upset about her reaction was that I was attached to an outcome like avoiding blame. I wanted to be right. I was the victim, not her. If I stripped away her tone of voice when she said, ‘I just said that’ – then I might have just said, “Oh, I didn’t hear you.” No big deal. End of story.

But I was contracting and then reacting, and, from her tone, I superimposed the idea that I was stupid and annoying. So, I reluctantly admitted to myself that she was correct; I was projecting. This was a breakthrough for me. I have had a very long history of blaming her for being hurt by her ’tone of voice.’ As Kedarji reminds us, the mind loves the places it frequents most. That hurt, and those ideas about my stupidity had a well-worn pathway in my mind.

My Duty Is To Remain Steadfast
In the Mirror of the Guru

I also need to accept full responsibility for thinking she’s careless and forgetful, and for expressing that criticism through my tone of voice. That is also the Guru’s mirror. A better approach, in fact, the only approach, is to see my sister as God, as the Divine. Next time I hear her tone, I will pause, take three deep breaths, recall my Guru’s form, and repeat my mantra. This will prevent me from reacting impulsively and help me respond with love, recognizing everything as God—every thought, person, word, and event. When I see everyone and everything as God, I won’t react.

I understand that everything is God; as Swami Muktananda Paramahansa writes, “nothing exists that is not Shiva.” There is nothing outside of Consciousness because everything is Consciousness. That is awareness—that only God exists. By recognizing everything as God—every thought, every person, all words, all events, each event—always seeing it as God is true recognition, and that is freedom, that is Joy.

Jagadamba Porter, PhD MS MPH RN CHTP/I is a certified healing touch instructor, teaching in Hawaii and Japan. She has over 15 years of Healing Touch practice and 30 years of practice as a psychiatric mental health nurse and clinical specialist with a holistic perspective. She is the co-author of the book, “Women’s Health and Human Wholeness”, emphasizing the necessity of bringing wholeness back into the health care system. She also serves on the Board of Directors for our school