I am not the body

We are pleased to post an email from a Trustee and our response, which will be beneficial for all our members.

‘Thank you for your recent forum posts, I am happy that the VOLAH blog has been created.

‘I have a question/comment regarding the last post ‘I am the Body’. While I can understand intellectually that I am not my body, and I can see that it is finite and of the Earth, I struggle to feel separate from it. Yes I am body identified, as that is my day to day experience through my physical senses interacting with the material environment. I have no firm memories of any other kind of existence, yet deep down I do know that something is wrong with this state of existence I find myself in.

‘I take it that it is all the negative sensual ‘I’ s that are the cause of this feeling of separation from my greater being as well as the experience of feeling as though I am my Earth body? Then as I work to clear them from my consciousness, would I start to feel separate from my Earth body? Or does that only happen when every last aspect of the illusional personality is dispelled? I would so much like to make the Light a living reality in my life rather than an intellectual concept. I feel in a limbo between worlds, knowing the emptiness of the astral illusion yet without tangible memories or experiences of the greater Light to show the way through.

‘Thank you for your consideration of my comments and questions.
With kind regards.’

Before replying, we want to explain again the purpose of the VOLAH Blog.

We are not presenting a method that can be followed, which will lead a seeker to reach a particular level of understanding and being. Generally, all teachings are gauged to promise an end result that is based on some expectation of illumination and enlightenment, where the seeker and the sought become one in consciousness.

However, this idea or concept is based on duality, which involves two entities, where two cannot become one. Any teaching where the seeker and the sought are separate only makes separation greater, with no possible result.

The VOLAH Blog has been structured with a series of short and succinct articles prepared stimulate your inner consciousness and produce understanding from within, where what is sought reveals its own nature.

During the process of becoming, you will increase your understanding and become aware of the imposition of how the Personal ‘I’, or personality, because of its attachment to a body, is a form that has no relationship with Self.

Enlightenment or Oneness is a Self revealing process that already exists and has always existed. It is eternal. When we observe the function of the mind and thoughts, we come to the realization that there is no Personal ‘I’ or personality, because it is only a thought without without consciousness or form.

We will now answer the first question from our friend:

‘I take it that it is all the negative sensual ‘I’s that are the cause of this feeling of separation from my greater being, as well as the experience of feeling as though I am my earth body?’

Yes, that is correct; however, we need to reflect on the nature of these negative I’s referred to.

The separation from Self Consciousness is caused by a thought that results from the unchanging, repetitive illusion where every body is unconsciously conditioned by being given a name distinct from other family members, and some years later this person accepts the thought ‘I am this body’, and ‘I am separate from everything else in this world’. This is the beginning of the illusion for everyone.

We believe we are the body, and accept that the personality is is our self or soul. Following this acceptance of being a body, then all other thoughts relevant to the Personal ‘I’, such as I am something, I want, I can do, and so on, fill the mind.

All these I thoughts develop through the interaction of the body’s senses with other people, developing relationships, ideas, concepts and reactions which manifest as experiences and are stored in the mind as memories.

It is these memories that surface daily when we interact with others, producing negative emotional reactions, behavior, and aggression with others. All this constitutes limitation and separation from our real Self and consciousness.

We have to realize that there is only one ‘I’ that is responsible for for this limitation of consciousness, and that it has no substance and is illusion.

To Be our true Self we have to destroy this illusion of I am the body, because this separates us from being what we are, what we have always been, and will be forever.

So we have to work inwardly on changing the content of our mind. This we do through dispassionate observation, which means we do not become involved with these recurring I’s, but only observe them and then ignore them, and in so doing we reduce their power and they eventually cease to be.

As the different I’s and memories attached to them disappear, you will find that your mind seems to become more peaceful and relaxed. As you persist, eventually all that is left is the Personal ‘I’ in all its nakedness, and deprived of its attachment with the body, it disappears, leaving you desireless; you know nothing and are nothing. There is now no separation and you are the consciousness that you have always been, but now you are aware that you are that consciousness.

This also is our response to the second question.

You cannot make the Light a reality in this world, because it does not exist in time and space. You are so attached to the body that you have limited your consciousness to the world, and in so doing become insecure and suffer. To alleviate this suffering you desire wealth, possessions and relationships that you believe will provide security; however, this only creates unhappiness and further suffering.

The way out comes when you reach the level of consciousness where the intellect has brought you to the understanding that there is something wrong with your life, but here the intellect is limited by the mind and can take you no further.

This is the beginning of the way of return, where you turn within to find the answers, answers that you cannot find in books, or learn from attending lectures, or by visiting gurus. Self within is the only real knowledge, which is the Truth, and all outer sensual knowledge is ignorance.

We shall delve deeply into this in future posts; however, for now you need to understand that the body has a distinct purpose in Being that has no relationship with Self Consciousness. There is only one Self, and all else has its existence in Self. You are that Self, but you are unaware that you are. Once you are aware that you are the Absolute Consciousness, the body has little meaning.

Thank you for your comments and questions


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