Just as a virgin only has a limited grasp of what it is to be human
prior to having sex, so to those who have not experienced the ecstatic
inner-conjunction or a Dark Night also have a limited perception of the
height and depth of reality. These extreme events in consciousness make
the ego more sober, respectful and humble because of this reorientation
of what it is to be Human. This adjustment is largely biochemical.
There is both vast expulsion of stored tension-energy and extensive
reconstruction of the brains hardware that is brought about by these
events. And it is this chemical, energetic and experiential
reformation, which leads to what we know as Ego Death...whereas really
it should be known as an expansion of the tight boundaries of the Ego
to encompass a larger felt-sense of humanization.
What is Ego Death? Ego death represents the neurodetoxification of
fossilized repression, removing the friction and futile cycling of the
nervous system, allowing a higher pattern to form. (See Toxic Mind
Theory). From our subjective point of view our self is composed of the
parent=superego, adult=ego, child=id in ALL STATES. That is waking,
dreaming and deep sleep, plus altered states. To this triad there is
both the dark-bad-Thanatos aspect, and the light-good-Eros. Coupled
with the Unconscious, conscious and Supraconscious. And all these
factors interact to create the self and the Self.
Where we reside is related to the karma of happenstance and our
response to it. Once we are able to stabilize our consciousness beyond
knee jerk reaction to environment, then we are able to cultivate
energetic/consciousness conditions in which vast regions of our brain
can fall into sync. Zohar thinks the cohering frequency is gamma 40 Hz,
yet whose to say it's early days yet in the brain research domain. As
we increase our "light" that is energy/consciousness we embody more of
the positive-Eros qualities of the parent=superego, adult=ego, child=id
triad. Also our conscious bandwidth expands to encompass more of the
unconscious and superconscious.
Eliade says on page 291 of Yoga, Immortality and Freedom,
that both yoga and alchemy are an experiment of "soul;" of austerely
using the body as a laboratory for purification toward the final
transmutation or perfection. Perfection being to "decondition life,
attain freedom, bliss, the deliverance from the laws of time or
immortality--ie: enlightenment. Ego death refers to the death of our
resistance to enlightenment. To have mastered life is to realize--Life
as Ego Death--is the glorification of the Ego not the degradation of
it.
Here is a fabulous article on ego death: Death of the Ego, A Buddhist View, By David Loy
Books by David Loy: A Buddhist History of the West: Studies in Lack and The Great Awakening: A Buddhist Social Theory
The ego protects us from full knowledge of the shadow and to the
extent that it does this it also blocks us off from super-consciousness
as well. The dissolution of kundalini lifts the repressive hold of the
ego allowing us to embrace a much wider sense of ourselves. This is why
Richard M. Bucke says that Cosmic Consciousness includes the loss of the sense of sin. That
is we can still see the difference between right and wrong, but "evil"
is seen within the context of compassionate understanding rather than
self-righteous judgment. Kundalini awakenings allow us to get real
beyond our conditioning and the social models under which we have been
asleep.
Patriarchal rule of the ego over the body, mind and soul is the main
problem that faces each of us individuals and collectively. In
alchemical terms the red King must be boiled and dissolved in the great
vessel-womb (regressed as the neurons dissolve themselves) in order for
the "wounded King" to be transformed into the Universal or Sacred King.
This is the main principle of all alchemical treatices that refer to
human transmutation.
According to the Tao, the greater the King, the harder the fall
because there is more a substantially strong tenacity to the brain and
sense of self, so there is a need for a stronger force to "perturb"
that stability in order for the ego-death and rebirth to occur. A
lesser man would not have had to go through such an ordeal because it
doesn't take such force to reduce his brain to zero-point. That is to
dissolve it down in the great vessel-womb of the void.
“Ego-death does not mean the disintegration of the healthy ego,
the ego we need in order to function in daily life. What dies in this
process is the part of us that holds on to the illusion of control, the
part of us that thinks we are running the show, that we are in charge.
What disintegrates is the false identity that operates as though we are
the center of the universe.” Christina Grof
It is my "opinionated opinion" that we can see the necessity for a
strong character (ego) prior to having a kundalini awakening in the
example of the two Krishnamurtis.
U.G. Krishnamurti went too far into the dissolution/negation/darknight
and the general breakdown of the self-system during his awakening, and
he didn't have the strength of character to do the rebuilding,
creative, positive side of things to balance the dissolution. This is
because he was probably not given self-building skills in childhood,
was probably not "loved" and was of a melancholic-depressive nature.
Combine this lack of ego-character strength with a fierce intellect and
you get U.G. Krishnamurti. What U.G. is good for as a teacher however
is to cut through the pie-eyed BS that constitutes much of the
spiritual "industry." His statement is too negative however to be
considered as one's sole or major teacher.
Jiddu Krishnamurti
however was his polar opposite in that he was so extremely positive and
Apollionic in his sense of "order" (The Good, The True and the
Beautiful) that no amount of kundalini dieoff/darknight/dissolution
could break his character and turn him toward a nihilistic
interpretation of reality. As such Jiddu Krishnamurti is an example of
an impeccable teacher and his work provides a strong building-force,
enabling us to strength our own orderly self-system through reading his
works.
The fear of death arises because we have been
programmed to believe we are an object. It is then we have to invent
stories like reincarnation, heaven-hell and punishment-reward
mythologies in order to reinforce our belief in continuation of the
"object." However once we truly Grok that we are a "process" and death
is a continuation of the life process then we no longer feel like it
lies as a final humiliation in a long gauntlet of humiliations to our
objectness. It then becomes a welcome reward for a life truly lived,
rather than a death avoided. Perhaps the only struggle there is, is in
giving up our survivalist personality, and allowing this meltdown to
occur, trusting that there is a new world on the other side of the
chasm of the unknown.
Q:
There's a part early in “Rudi: 14
Years With My Teacher” by John Mann where he mentions planetary
alignments and cosmic events, and mentions that if we don't work to
receive the energies emitted from these events, we may lose a key
component in our development altogether. By the grace of Kundalini, do
we automatically receive the benefits of unique planetary alignments?A:
Yes that is where the term "suck up the Grace" comes in. However it is
not just important during "special" times, but "any" time on earth in
relationship with lunar, planetary, solar, stella influences. For all
aspects are preparation for the next. Thus it is very important to
become a Taoist and not get overly excited about the tops of the
hyperbolic cycles and to fully enjoy the times when the tide is out
also. The more mastery we bring to the upward swing, the more mastery
we can bring to the downward swing and vice versa. Kundalini amplifies
the electromagnetism of all our atoms and cells, and raises our energy
for "receiving" our cosmic Self. People are tending to call this
"downloading." Whereas I consider it the temporal uploading a
continuously fuller essence of who we are from the All...there is a
transtemporal element to this that can only really be grokked through
post-conventional transrational intuition, and which cannot really be
expressed to others who have not achieved this degree of openness.
If
we bite down, reject or seriously become delinquent towards this
emerging Self that is seeking birth in us, the scared little temporal
self will greatly hinder the metamorphosis of this larger cosmic being
that has its antennae merged with the infinite ocean. In this way we
might fight enlightenment tooth and nail, and miss out on the only real
reason for our existence in the first place. Ego death is overcoming
this resistance. If you fight the death of prior stages you have
outgrown, the new cannot be reborn. The enlightenment process is an
infinite spiral of death and rebirth through time through re-membering
the transtemporal or Eternal.
One of the safety valves to ensure
that only the truly awakened get the full siddha power, is that
Awakening is an inexorable process of death. Without the sadness and
humility of having to "edit out" ones former self...the new cannot be
born. True power therefore, is in the death of the former self, thus
the first stages of awakening correspond to the Kübler-Ross stages of
grieving:
1.Denial: "This can't be happening!"
2.Anger: "Why me, why do I have to do all the work?
3.Bargaining: "Just let me keep my pointless job, my car and a beer or two."
4.Depression: "It’s hopeless, why bother with anything?"
5.Acceptance: "I know that I will be in a better place."
After the child is “let go to Spacemind” you pass through the self-Self membrane into the higher stages:
5.Progressive Surrender: Falling into sync with the Muse and Kairos.
6.Progressive Differentiation: Pulling away from the need for social affirmation.
7.Progressive Solidification: Strengthening of identity with Spirit-in-action.
8.Progressive Rewards: Increased bliss, Presence and self-assurance.
9.Progressive Awe and Magic: Realization of goals, less obstructions in the way.
10.Progressive Unity: Nottwo/Nondual realization continuous in daily life.
All perception of lack is acknowledgement of inherent potential.
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