Nothingness and Existence Prior to Consciousness

[Ariel]

Use this thread to discuss the following blog post:

Nothingness and Existence Prior to Consciousness

[Jean]

Great read, thanks Ariel.
I've experienced something similar. Sometimes after my meditation I fall into some kind of deep sleep, when I become conscious again I need a few minutes to remember what time it is and where I am.

[Roger Gietzen]

Definitely appreciate the sharing Ariel,
This totally reminds me of two reads. The first is Osho in Intimacy. He talks about a nothingness that is experienced during meditation when passing from the relative to the absolute. I cannot remember his exact words, but it definitely reminds me of you're description.
The other is the Carlos Castaneda books. Not sure if you're familiar, but he has a series of books about his experiences with shamans in Mexico (they call themselves Sorcerers). Anyways he has tons of experiences of amnesia during rituals with his shaman Don Juan. I don't recall an explanation ever being given. The funny thing with his series is that he never really puts it all together in writing at least. So its just a bunch of wild experiences (like translocation) guided by his shaman without a real self-mastery as I remember it.
Also in regards to your fear of leaving the body... I'm not sure if this will help but Yoganada (in Man's Eternal Quest... I seem to be quoting this lots lately ) talks about the concern of permanently disconnecting from the body. There are rumors out there about having a deep conscious experience and not "coming back". He basically dispels that saying that the bond to the body is too strong. Even after deep samadhi the "I" always comes back to the body. If you're interested I can try to find the exact writing.
Also I keep thinking about mentioning the last advice that Yoganada's Guru gave him before he experienced God-realization. I might as well mention it now. He tells Yoganada that when he can be totally content with the bliss that is experienced in each new moment of meditation then he will achieve samadhi. Its basically the whole acceptance theme on a grand scheme.
I hope these quotes are helpful. My personal experiences are not quite in the same realm to share, still learning true acceptance of emotions (and life) and getting excited by just manifesting some serendipity every so often. Keep it coming

[CaterpillarWoman]

Knowing that I didn’t simply cease to exist for a little while and then spontaneously come back into existence, it became clear that there is a difference between consciousness and the ‘I Am.’

I had a similar realisation when I had surgery a few years ago. I was there, on the table, trying to make a feeble joke about something or other (making jokes is one of the ways I cope with nervousness), and the next thing, I was waking up and I heard myself saying, "Ow... ow... ow...." (that is, I was speaking - complaining, actually! - before I even regained consciousness fully).

My thought on that is that it's very clear that I was fully without consciousness for several hours, and yet, I still exist, in whatever sense we think of existing. My brain, which is physical, was disconnected from my mind, which is material, although not physical (hope that makes sense!), but, well, here I am, and there I was, complaining about the pain... Obviously, existence is NOT dependent on consciousness.

I have also had a couple of experiences of being "out like a light" in meditation. I was present one minute, and the next, just gone. No conscious memory of what happened or where I went (if, indeed, anything happened or I went anywhere at all). In one of those experiences, I was in the presence of Christ (well, that's my background, so that's the form "the master" takes in my imagination), and he reached out his hand to me, and I understood I was to go somewhere with him. I took his hand and, boom. Out like a light. No memory, no consciousness. I am absolutely certain that there was more to it, but my conscious self has no recollection of it (in later years, bits of understanding did unfold, but that's another story and another topic).

That all being said, I had to stop and write a journal entry of my own. I'm kind of surprised that reading this article had this immediate effect, but perhaps I'm just open to it enough that it was the nudge that was needed. Or something. Doesn't matter. The core of my being is Nothing, and how wonderful it is to experience this.... (I normally don't flog my blog on here or anywhere else, but I don't want to write it all down again or copy and paste it: http://spiritualadventures.blogspot.com ... gness.html

Thanks, Ariel.

[retta.marie]

I have had a lot of similar experiences.

One in particular that seems much like yours happened to me during a kirtan ( call& response chanting) when one moment I began to sing/chant with the group, the next moment ( or actually it turned out to be about 15 minutes later) I was suddenly aware that I had "gone missing" somehow...That the entire chant had passed by and the leader had begun talking, telling a story, and it was his talking that "snapped me back"....I looked all around me...stunned...where had I gone? What had I been doing for 15 minutes? These were the thoughts I was having...But I knew...that I had finally achieved this state of "not thinking"....after trying so often to quiet my thoughts...and I hadn't tried one bit! I had simply sat down and begun to chant. -RettaMarie

[Jimmylee]

last year I was at an artist workshop at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur. One afternoon I was tagging along with the group as we were looking at our "works in progress", hanging on the walls of the studio. Similar to the previous post, I lost 90 minutes, which I could not account for. No memory...nothing. Existing without thought while walking around! Very freaky...but of course, this is a judgment made by the mind.

[Ariel]

Way cool guys. It's fascinating to hear the stories from those of you who experienced this turning off while doing something physically active like RettaMarie and Jimmylee. I guess it's not the case that without a sense of consciousness, the body would simply fall over into a lump of unconscious meat.

and thank you for the quotes Roger. That last one about being content with bliss (or even death and not coming back) really stands out.

[Roger Gietzen]

I actually have had an episode of amnesia lasting about 3 hours during in my college years. I came to while walking down a street with some friends, quite a bizarre feeling really. Apparently I had been in auto-pilot the whole time (went to a football game, a bar and a pizza shop!)..... of course it was induced by a huge consumption of alcohol that I wasn't accustomed to. I didn't think it applied on a spiritual post, but then I remembered all experiences have a spiritual significance. I think this smiley face is most appropriate.

[CaterpillarWoman]

I am finding that Nothingness (the inner Stillness, the inner Silence, the Absolute, whatever) is not blissful in and of itself (it can't be; it's nothing!) but that when I can be still and allow myself to be the Stillness, bliss is a manifestation. It's almost like a chemical reaction or something. Alchemy.

Consciousness and bliss and love are manifestations of the Nothingness. But the Nothingness is Nothing (and, at the same time, everything). Cool.

[Guest]

Hello again.

I decided to share my experience with mandala drawing with you as well....I began drawing simple black and white mandalas a few years ago. I had no idea that they were to be my "portal"...I think everyone has one. By this I mean, some particular way in which we can quiet our mind, slow our thoughts, stop thinking, enter into alternative states of being and awareness....For me the practice just about took over my life for a while, when I would literally draw all day long,loosing total track of time. Never noticing my hunger, or back pain. I would sit in lotus position and draw for endless hours, one time 16 hours!! But usually 3-5 hour sittings a day. Time just seemed to fly by, whole days began to be "lost"...

By the way, this practice brought on all types of other " spiritual" experiences, namely clairvoyant dreaming. However, I wanted to share this just to say that I think when we "loose" ourself in our practice, time does not have the same effect on us as it does when we're in our "normal" state. We can then meditate or practice however we do, for very long periods of time, It's not that we're more "advanced" or dedicated either, because it's actually now less difficult for us, and requires no dedication because it's actually our favorite thing to do!

At least that's how it has felt to me.