The Mental Veil Distorts Consciousness

We tend to think that there’s an objective world out there and that we can affect and are affected by this outside world. There is a world “out there” that we are born into and interact with.

If we like the interaction between us and the outside world, we call this “good.” If we don’t like it, we call it “bad.”

The above drawing (awesome, I know, thank you ) is how we typically perceive the world.

Notice that there is a “me” independent of the outside world who is perceiving what’s happening in the outside world. There is a sense of separation.

What’s actually going on is quite different. Let’s take a look.

Consciousness

You are the light of consciousness. Your true nature is awareness. Consciousness itself is aware. You may have noticed that when people are intensely present or incredibly happy, there’s this radiant light beaming from their eyes. You ARE that light. That is the light of consciousness itself when allowed to shine without resistance.

The Witness

With awareness automatically arises the (illusory) witness who is unaffected by, but witness to all that is observed.

There is no “person” who is aware. In fact, it is awareness itself who is aware, not the “me.”

The Mind

This light that shines forth out of your eyes is filtered by the mind. The more “stuck in your head” you are, the more worried and anxious you are, the thicker this filter and the more distorted your light, the farther you are from your true nature.

Think about someone who’s mentally off in la la land with that distant look in their eye. You may even say to yourself, “It seems like they’re not even here.”

It is the mind which has you believe reality is anything other than absolutely perfect, infinitely peaceful, and unconditionally loving. All judgments one way or another are distortions.

The World

What exists outside of us is nothing. It is a blank screen. It is no thing. It simply is “what is.” If you asked the “what is” outside of you what it is, it would simply respond, “I am.” Consciousness is. God is.

Now this blank canvas of what is is completely and totally meaningless. It is just a meaningless prop.

The thoughts, beliefs, and definitions that make up the mental filter are what distort the light of consciousness and alter the light of consciousness to make it seem as if something is appearing on the screen.

It’s a lot like at a movie theater when the projector in the back of the room is shining a pure white light and in directly front of the light they put a moving reel of film. The white light is your consciousness. The film is your mind. The blank screen is the nothingness. The moving images projected on the screen is what you perceive the physical world to be.

Perception

Your eyes can perceive the light that’s being projected on the movie screen. The light that’s being seen is nothing more than the blank screen reflecting back what is projected onto it. It has no reality or substance of its own. The world out there is completely and utterly meaningless.

It is the mind you have which creates the movement and events you perceive on the blank screen. The movement and events we call the world. The world you see “out there” is nothing more than a projection of the mind “in here.”

Dissolving The Veil

Truth is what is revealed when you stop distorting your light by first filtering it through the veil of the mind.

The natural state is uncontrived, unforced, and completely natural. It is pure unfiltered consciousness.

Through self-inquiry, you continually direct your energy and attention back to consciousness itself rather than into the mind. Awareness is directed back to its Source.

By applying the How Do You Know Method and asking yourself, “How do I know absolutely for SURE whether or not this is real?” you can begin to dissolve layer after layer of the veil of the mind. Everything the mind creates will distort your perception, even if the distortions are in alignment with what is.

Since the veil of the mind is made up of thoughts and beliefs, all thoughts and beliefs must be let go of and not given any inherent weight. As you begin “losing weight,” you will become lighter and lighter until you become enlightened.

The pathway to Enlightenment via radical truth is demanding and requires the surrendering of all belief systems. Only then does the Ultimate Reality reveal itself as the sought-after ‘I’ of the Supreme.

-David Hawkins

Stop Seeking

The “seeker” is the one who is constantly looking for Truth and Ultimate Reality out there. They are constantly reading books, scriptures, looking for the right meditation practices, experimenting with various breathing techniques, learning how to manipulate their energy, listening to audiobooks, going to workshops, looking for the next guru… that’s all an ego game called searching, seeking, and manipulation.

All of the games the seeker plays do serve a very valuable purpose and can have tremendous benefit, no doubt about it. If one is looking for true awakening, however, all that’s necessary to dissolve the veil of the mind is to quit giving reality to illusion, to quit believing in beliefs. Enlightenment is not believing a thought you think.

It’s the ultimate “I don’t know.”

The seeker thinks that there’s a magic piece of information and when they find it, they’ll have the key to enlightenment. That’s not how it works. Spiritual growth is not like academia.

Stop the search. Stop believing in what the mind is telling you.

Just stop.

Be Still and Know