We have to become aware that everything appears and disappears in consciousness, and if there were no bodies, then there would be no I-amness, in fact there would be nothing. As such, for us to experience consciousness we require the presence of a body.
Often we ask why we have to become aware that we are not the body, when it is an essential object for consciousness to manifest?
To find this answer we have to realize what is the source of the I-thought and the I-amness. When we expand our consciousness beyond the body and body/mind we will know that the source of the I-amness and I-thought is the I AM. However, locked into a body the I-amness is only a small reflection of the I AM.
In the outer manifestation the I AM has become limited to the consciousness of the body, the senses and the body mind, which effectively separates the I-amness from the consciousness of the total Being.
Cramping the I AM into an object, in this case the human body, creates frustration and feelings of insecurity, hopelessness and a separation from one’s real nature.
We have to realize that the body, being a host to the I amness, separates us from the total consciousness . When we realize this we know that what stands between our true nature and Being is the body, and this realization is not based on an intellectual understanding, but arises through the feeling I AM. So what is the I AM?
When we use different words that have various meanings relative to different concepts this creates conflict and confusion. We have seen how people confuse the world and the Earth when referring to human behaviour and the planet. The same is seen when referring to Being and the Universe, where many people think they are the same thing.
Being brings the totality of Self into existence and manifestation, and the Universe is the outer manifestation of Being. Being mirrors the inner nature of Self into manifestation where Self becomes aware of Its Self.
It is the Light of Pure Awareness that is reflected on the manifest forms of Being in consciousness, that allows Self to be conscious of Self.
Often people refer to this as the Universal Consciousness or the Consciousness of the Universe. However, this is limiting the manifestation of Self and Being. Within Being there is the total reflection of Self, so the manifestation cannot be limited to one Universe.
Early last century there appeared a thought that we should seek to attain a state of consciousness called Cosmic Consciousness. This became, in the West, the ultimate goal of spiritual attainment. Cosmic Consciousness was described as becoming one in consciousness, or a state of oneness with the whole creation.
In the late 1960’s young people sought to experience altered states in consciousness by taking hallucinating drugs such as LSD, which certainly altered their consciousness leading to self-destruction of the body.
People seeking mystical experiences, through desire and imagination, have altered states in consciousness where they experience their god concept, and believe they have reached the desired heaven. Following the experience they return to their daily life and proceed to tell others what is needed to reach this high spiritual state. However, it is the body/mind that fulfils their desires by creating the expected experience.
We have to understand what is true and what is imaginary. To experience oneness within Being differs from the imaginary state of the body/mind in that with the mystical state one moves into the experience which ends when one returns to the outer sensual life. When one becomes in consciousness what they already are, there is no return to the old state of sensual consciousness, because you are that
I AM permanently.
What then is the I AM? The I AM is the total consciousness in Being, where you are conscious of all; you are the Creation; the total manfistation of Being. I AM is what people ignorantly call God.
What is needed to move from being, the limited I-amness consciousness, to being I AM?
We come back to what is understood regarding the body, body/mind and the I- amness. We have to learn how to disassociate our identification with the body, which we have already discussed. As you witness the continual flow of thoughts and memories, and do not become attached to them, and ignore them, the mind becomes quieter and quieter until all thoughts and memories vanish.
Then when there are no thoughts, the I-amness begins to depart and moves back into the consciousness of Being, from which it arose. Now you have to follow the I- amness, to where it returns to in Being, and you, the Light of the Essence, will become one in Being – the IAM.
This is the experience that has been thought of as Cosmic Consciousness, a free and universal state of being. Most seekers reaching this state in consciousness remain, believing they have reached the ultimate experience. It is an expanded and permanent state within Being, where there is no more I-amness. It is a transformation of consciousness from the limitation of being imprisoned in a body to being the consciousness of the whole manifestation where you are that manifestation; you have moved from the I amness to the I AM.
Know that there is only one way and that is knowing, and feeling that you are not the body/ mind or body.