The world is our experience, which is determined by our perception. We are not only inside this world, we are this world as well. Before we define the outer reality, we must first get in touch with who we are. If an average person is entirely unconscious, living in the mind without having any clear identity, the experience of the world is no different than a dream. Talking about God or gods, and creating all kinds of metaphysical constructs about this reality is meaningless. It does not change anything other than making us more arrogant in our illusion of understanding. It only makes sense that we must begin with our own self before we open our eyes to the world.
Conscious Incarnation
Our body is a representation of the world, our most immediate experience of it. This is why it is only by changing our relationship with the body that we can change both our relationship with and perception of the world around us. Attempting to come closer to the world without realizing our own body is missing a step and getting ahead of ourselves. Our body comes first, and as I keep saying, we need to enter our body, surrender to it, embody it. This is what we call conscious incarnation. At birth we only incarnate into the mind, not the body; we are only connected to the body through the feedback of the nervous system.
The common approach to enlightenment is to transcend the body, which makes the situation worse, causing us to become even more disconnected from our physical form. Enlightenment is not transcendence of the body, but rather of our limited perception of it. In fact, it is about entering our body with consciousness and realizing it as pure subjectivity. It starts with pure consciousness when we enter our head, but then it expands down into the rest of the body, chest and belly. We have to come to the place where we truly realize our body as true self, and the body becomes Me. Realization of Body as Void
Great things start with simple things. Forget the world for now, but rather think about the immediate world which is your body. You may think it is a multicellular organism full of germs replicating in you. Yes, from the place of objectifying your body, our body is not beautiful at all. In a way, those who proposed that our body is the prison of the soul were not far from the truth. But have you (or they) ever been in your body? Is it really a prison? When objectified, it is a prison, no doubt. But it is not the fault of the body itself, but our relationship with it is faulty.
We speak a lot about surrender to the body these days. But to which body do you actually surrender? Is it just a physical organism full of flaws? You don’t know. You take a leap of faith and you surrender to it. But as you surrender, lo and behold, it transforms into something entirely else, a new body. We refer to it as the ‘spiritual body’, but what does this actually mean? It is no longer physical, it is the body of void. It is empty. Some say that our physical body is made from gross energy, and so is the earth, so no beings of light can connect to this plane. But is it really true? Yes, a physical, objectified body is gross and its energy is heavy. But when you enter the body with consciousness, suddenly it is no longer gross, it becomes a translucent, boundless body of light. Then you begin to clearly experience your body as emptiness and made from the universal void. Your body becomes freed from its own objectivization, thus liberated from ignorance.
Expansion of Pure Subjectivity
The next step is the expansion of pure subjectivity realized in the physical body into the outer body of the world. The thing is that even if you actualize your inner self, the moment you cross the gateway of perception, the world becomes objectified again. This is because you experience the world through external attention. Incidentally, the body is commonly objectified, because it is experienced too much through external attention. Only pure attention gives us access to unity. We must learn how to recognize the world through pure attention to cross over into its pure subjectivity.
It is possible to expand into the world only from pure consciousness; here you experience the outer world as pure consciousness. However, such an expansion includes only one plane of existence and remains incomplete. We must expand from the whole body into the world, and this will allow the absolute to enter the world as well.
Knowing the World as Me What is the essence of pure subjectivity? It is Me. There is a difference between feeling the field of pure subjectivity and knowing it as Me. Me is the personal essence of pure subjectivity, and pure subjectivity is the space in which it exists. To meet the world as Me is more than expanding into it with pure subjectivity; it is to realize it as the most personal dimension of Me. It is only then that we encounter the world as our own self, no longer outside of us. Not even inside of us – but as Us.
The World beyond Fear
We are all full of fear, but children have even more fear. They are terrified of this world. What it means is that we are born with fear, and it is not merely created by the mind or in further stages of our development into adulthood. Fear is living, or living is fear. In rare moments we feel confident and safe, but on the unconscious level fear is still there, eroding our sense of well-being. This is the animal consciousness in us, all the time on guard against real or imaginary threats. Because of living in our ‘civilised’ society, where we do not have to hunt and can just go to the supermarket, we have diminished the feeling of fear on the conscious level, but our subconscious still lives in fear.
The deeper reason for fear is in our perception where we see the world as outside of us. Such a world in itself is fearful, and we have always tried to conquer it in order to overcome fear, but this is just an illusion. Even fear of our body getting sick or dying is prevailing. What sickness will we get tomorrow? Flu, skin rash, germ infection, Alzheimer’s, cancer? We cannot even trust our own body, because if others will not hurt us, our body will eventually betray us; instead of being the temple of the soul, it will be the temple of disease.
Is there a different way of living, living without fear? There is, but you must realize that the world is not outside of you; it is a direct manifestation of Me. And this includes your body, which is also a manifestation of Me. As you are meant to love your Me, you are also meant to love the world. Meet this world as your own divine self, and then, fear is no more.
Accidental vs. Purposeful Universe
The world outside of us is ruled by the law of accidentality. Of course, certain things can be foreseen, anticipated and reason found for how different forces in nature are interconnected, but it is just similar to predicting the behavior of a machine, a mechanical contraption. The mechanical nature of manifestation does not imply that it has a purpose. It is hard to accept, but the life of most people has no meaning at all. They are born, live and die. This is why Gurdijeef was saying that an average person lives and dies like a dog. But humans cannot accept it and invent different reasons for their existence within their imagination, but even this has no meaning. We never know what will happen. We cannot even accurately predict the weather, much less what will happen to us individually. We have a feeble sense of control through repetition. We go to work every day, meet the same people. But our routine could be shattered any day, and then everything becomes entirely unknown. We have no control over what the universe will manifest in our lives, because what manifests is a constant reoccurrence of meaninglessness. But is there a way to enter the universe that has purpose and meaning? What is outside is what is inside. “As above, so below.” But actually, it is the other way round: what is inside, is outside. We expect to find meaning in this universe when we have no meaning inside. Why do we exist? Suffering is all around, and yet we refuse to confront the truth that we have no reason to exist – not yet. Our reason to exist must be found, discovered, and remembered.
The universe is meaningless as long as we fail to find meaning within. And what is this meaning? It is to live in the light of pure subjectivity, the light of Self. To recognize the nature of reality within us is our highest and most important purpose. Then you will begin to find meaning and purpose in what previously appeared to be outside. However, one more element is required, which is awakening to the world, and realization of the world as Me. Only the universe that is not outside of you has meaning, because the only meaning of everything is Me and its evolution.
People experience similar things, because they are very similar, if not same, on the inside. What they all have in common is that their universe is accidental. But if you are able to connect to your true purpose and come closer to your higher self, suddenly the universe changes and begins to manifest different things in your life. Its manifestations begin to be linked to wisdom. At this point, you are perhaps in between an accidental and a purposeful universe. Let yourself cross over fully to the other side, into the universe that finally makes sense, because it is there fully for you.
Living in ‘My’ World
It is Our world. It is Your world. When you open your eyes and look outside, know that it is your world and what you perceive as ‘outside’ is actually inside of you. This is your communication with yourself, through everything that you experience in this world. You must fully acknowledge, fully and unequivocally know, and awaken absolute conviction that this is your world. Thinking that you were born into this strange universe outside of you is an illusion. This world is not outside at all – it appears so because you are outside of it. Now, you must actualize it as your own self. When you open your eyes in the morning, see the world as your own beautiful self.
Dissolving Psychological Resistance for Entering the Real World There are countless reasons why we distrust this world, and many of them are justified as long as the world is perceived outside of us. However, as we begin to enter the real world, which is experienced as self, we still carry within us our distrust, which is preventing us from crossing over. We could assume that the first thing to do is to start trusting, but we cannot simply replace distrust with trust, because it will not be real. Rather, we need to confront it indirectly by getting in touch with all the manifestations of this distrust. What are these manifestations? It is the negativity woven into our perception of the world.
You are familiar with the concept of positive thinking, which is meant to help you to manifest a positive reality. Here we encounter the same problem: you cannot simply replace negative thinking with positive thinking, because it would become a construct of the mind that you need to keep reinforcing, or else negativity will seep into your world. It is not about trusting or positive thinking. Any rational person knows that this world cannot be entirely trusted, and positive thoughts are but the means of manipulation of our perception. This is why instead of trying to change how we see the world, we need to identify our negativity and keep renouncing it. In this process, you also get deeper in touch with this negativity, which has become so embedded in your mind that you stop being aware of it.
The idea here is not merely to cultivate a state of no-mind, psychological emptiness or neutrality, even though no-thought should always be the foundation of our experience. We do need to create a positive relationship with the world, a perception of love and wonder. However, this is not done by our thoughts, but by meeting with astonishment that the miracle of this world as our own self that is speaking to us. It is a double relationship – us with the world and the world with us. It is not a static state, but a dynamic unfoldment, an evolution of a profound relationship of reality with itself. When you project negativity onto the world, you separate yourself from it, and cause the world to separate from you. When you encounter situations in life or people that are threatening or irritating, you create an immediate judgment of what is, imposing a negative interpretation on it. If instead, you allow yourself to perceive it in a completely pure way from the psychological and spiritual void, you can meet reality directly, beyond opposition or affirmation. And then, as you clearly experience these outer circumstances as pure subjectivity, you need to meet the intelligence of this pure subjectivity as your own true self communicating with you in love.
Beyond the Myth that the World is Outside of Us
It is an ancient myth, the perception of the world so deeply ingrained in the collective mind that no one can even imagine that it could have been any different. Now that the idea has been proposed that the world is not outside, you will instinctively disbelieve it. You have lived in the reality of subject-object for too long. Some philosophers came up with the idea that the world is our subjective projection, and it does not exist apart from the person imagining it. But this is different. We are not projecting the world or creating it with our mind. The real world is a living being that interacts with us in the dance of life. It is Me, not as a projection, but rather as the dynamic dimension of Me manifesting all the elements and experiences needed for Me to evolve in creation. To decondition yourself from your past perception of the world, you have to go deep into your subconscious and question the fundamentals of your preconceived notions and belief system. Reality is not what it appears to be. It is surprising and different, but something that needs to be remembered. The forgotten knowledge of the world has to be reclaimed by your soul, so that it will truly become your world.
Real World and True Objectivity
The world is where the multitude of worlds intersect. How the world responds to you reflects who you are and your purpose. Its objectivity and wisdom are the reflection of your own pure subjectivity. Every person lives in their own universe, but they are all interconnected. What manifests in your life is a combination of countless elements. Since most people experience the world as outside of them, their life is a reflection of their ignorance. We could say that almost everybody lives in an unreal world, but this unreality is also linked to the real world, because the real world of awakened subjectivity is in an active interplay with the collective. This is how the meaning and meaninglessness, purpose and accidentality keep meeting at the plane of existence. For instance, the chance that life will manifest in your world an enlightened companion is very small, because it is statistically improbable. We are all connected and all these connections operate on many levels. Through your awakening, you are helping the worlds of ignorance, but unless they are willing to evolve, such help is rather insignificant. On the other hand, your reality can be disturbed by the influences from the collective unconscious composed of the multitude of unreal worlds. However, all of this is considered in the grand design of creation, and in order for the wisdom of life to enter your world, you must surrender to whatever is manifested. Such surrender is not passive, even though sometimes it is expressed as acceptance and allowance. Often, you need to use your own wisdom and discrimination to respond to what existence brings to your life. But there is no conflict or refusal to accept whatever manifests. The more wisdom you bring to your relationship with the world, the more wisdom comes back to you from life.
Awakening of the World
Is it awakening ‘of’ or ‘to’ the world? In this case, ‘of’ is correct. When you arrive at the state where the world is perceived from pure subjectivity, the world is still outside of you, foreign and a stranger to you. Yes, you can experience a sense of unity, or at least less separation, but the world has not yet been realized. It is not enough to see the world from pure consciousness; the world has to become pure consciousness. Pure attention has to enter the world and create space of consciousness from within the body of the world. Surrender to Life
This is the most difficult thing to do. It is easy to talk about it but to do so seems almost impossible. We are just suffering here too much and have too many challenges to accept this reality. To dwell on an idea of surrender to life is commonly a mind’s idea, just another manifestation of human stupidity. However, if you change your relationship with the world from within and began to see the outer reality as the very manifestation of your own self, then everything begins to change. Here you awaken true trust beyond trust where you begin to perceive the world as your own beloved speaking to you. You surrender to the world because the world is unconditionally true and divine at its source. It is the living God, your beloved creator that gave you existence and now is guiding you through all your lessons towards realization of the very purpose of your existence.