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..:: Perceptual
Truth ::..
By
Alan Schneider
What is truth? This
somewhat elusive term can be characterized as any portrayal of existence
that represents some aspect of that existence in a manner that is
fundamentally accurate and correct from the perspectives of the majority
of human observers.
Of course, perspective
is what we experience on the Physical Plane as the consequence of unique
incarnation in discreet bodies of flesh and is the only
perceptual condition of which we can all be certain. But, the
determined investigator of phenomena will discover the many
alternative lenses of perspective available to human perception.
These have formed the frequent subjects of these essays over the past
many months, and have, more often then not, been characterized as
attainable through experience of the Planes of Ascension.
The Truth assumes many
different faces on the successive Planes, as our personal consciousness
climbs higher and higher toward reunion with the Ultimate
Consciousness on the Logoic Plane. This essay will examine
some of those faces as we traverse the experience of higher
consciousness on the journey of life.
Beginning with the Physical
Plane of Expression, we find that Truth is fragmented by the
multitude of vessels of human experience each one, each human being,
has a unique perception of the truth concerning any given experience,
even though we may be subject to very nearly the same sensory inputs
from an external event. This event will be perceived differently by
different observers, based on their interpretation of what has
transpired, an interpretation that depends upon their life experiences
and memories of similar past events. Yes, these perceptions are still
occurring in the composite human field of consciousness, but that field
has been fragmented by the physical container the body. Thus,
on the Physical Plane of sensory experience, the Truth is a mosaic of
fragments that we must assemble into a more or less consistent image of
reality through the agency of acculturation a most flawed process, to
be sure, but better than none. Below even this level of
sentience, we have the animal state of instinctual response
essentially little or no perception of any Truth at all.
Since the perception of Truth on the
Physical Plane is so intimately associated with the body and the
physical senses, the concept of Maya must be considered here.
Maya is the impression of a physical environment (including both
inside and beyond the body) originating in the senses, and interpreted
progressively through the years with the assistance of memory by the
ego our personal experience of sentience. Because this ego
interpretation is so inevitably enmeshed with our momentary sensory
inputs, it becomes essentially seamless with them in perception,
and is often additionally functionally subconscious and automatic. In a
word, while we frequently believe we are perceiving the world as it
is, we are in fact only perceiving our personal interpretation
of the world, one that we instantaneously generate through our
internalized, acculturated conditioning and socialization. This is Maya
the illusion of the world. The senses do not directly
experience Maya they directly experience Karma, the
manifestation of the Logos present on the Physical Plane as both
internal and external processes and objects. Karma is placed here by God
as the physical mirror for the Soul. When this is finally
understood through the process of living, we can begin to seek other,
more effective mirrors, the ones that are found within our
consciousness, by Seeking Within for the Truth.
Fortunately, we are not
limited as conscious beings to the physical sensory perception of
experience we can investigate through other avenues of inquiry. As
one turns away from external sensory experience, another level of
manifestation appears the Astral Plane of Expression. We experience
this level in dreams, visions, fantasies, meditations, hypnosis, and
reflection. Of these, meditation and reflection are the most personally
controllable techniques, with meditation being preferred, because it
involves significantly less ego awareness than does reflection. I have
described the Astral State as the Grand Central Station of
consciousness, because it displays so many different images of all
varieties continuously traveling through the mental field of
perception. The Astral Plane is the realm of the Jungian archetypal
symbols referred to so often in these essays, and of the infinite
mental library that archives them the Akashic Record. This
collective edifice has been said to record all of the impressions of all
consciousness that ever have, currently are, and ever will manifest
anywhere for eternity essentially, the Cosmic Memory of the
Logos. Many investigators spend their lives simply delving through this
single Plane of Expression, harvesting the many gems of perception that
reside there. Perception of the Truth on the Astral level is less
fragmented than the Physical, but still is heavily influenced by the
perceptual proximity of the body and senses. Yes, we can and do
share our collective experience in the Astral State, but this sharing is
often obscured by the clouds of personal motivation and involvement.
With the attainment of the
Mental Plane, and the attendant perception of the Thought Forms
as the spiritual expressions that predominate there, we have traveled
somewhat beyond the lingering personal restrictions of the Astral Plane,
but are not yet entirely free of them. The Mental Plane is the level
immediately beyond the Astral, and displays a much more pronounced
extent of social integration in the symbolism present there, but we
still see the essence of self-motivated thought as a determinant of much
of that imagery. The most common Thought Form is the Spirit Guide
referred to so often in New Age literature. This Guide frequently takes
the form of Angelic, and Archangelic images, although sentient animal
totems and other fantastic symbols also are present at this level. The
essence of Mental Plane conscious involvement consists in the acceptance
of higher spiritual guidance, occasionally in the absence of
solicitation, and perhaps with outright resentment and opposition as
well, but still acceptance notwithstanding. One frequently develops a
life long relationship with the Spirit Guide, and eventually learns to
trust this source of insight and direction in life. The focus of
activity is still very often personal in character on the Mental Plane,
however, and this is not reckoned with spiritually until the Atmic Plane
is encountered as the next Ascended State. The Truth on the Mental Plane
is obscured only by the perception of the ego operating from the
perspective of enlightened self-interest, but this is still a
less high-minded manifestation than the truly selfless Love of
the Buddhic Plane.
At the
Buddhic level of
spiritual involvement and spiritual consciousness, we begin to look
without personal blinders at the human condition and consciousness, and
the vision we see in this manner is often not a pleasant one filled
with the vistas of needless suffering and selfishness that have plagued
life and the living eternally, and, sadly, will quite probably continue
to do so for many eons to come as we all struggle to come to positive
terms with our isolated condition in the flesh of the Physical Plane.
On the Buddhic Plane, we are faced for possibly the first time with the
requirement to release our personal focus of achievement, and look
beyond to the Universal focus of compassion for all creatures
and consciousness. Many of us simply are so trapped in our personal
history and suffering that we cannot see past these to the Light that
beckons us from above. Yet, we must, because to remain fixed at the
Mental Plane is to fail to advance in the Light of Consciousness, and
that advancement, my friends, is the ultimate and final meaning of all
that we undergo and experience through living. The Truth of
Brotherly Love is perhaps the highest knowable to humanity, but we
must be willing and able to set aside our petty personal concerns to
achieve it. The Universal Love and Positive Regard for all consciousness
and all life is the level of Truth experienced on the Buddhic Plane, and
it is worth whatever sacrifices must be made to attain it!
The Plane following the
Buddhic
is the Atmic paradoxically the focus of the Buddha Mind, the highest
still partially individuated conscious state of perception. At this
level of experience, the subject-object mode of perception disintegrates
into the Non-Dual mode the Stream of Unified
Consciousness. The primary role of consciousness remaining is the
transfer of information from the Buddha perception to the still
ego-involved perception of the others present in the mental field,
who, what, or wherever they may be. This is the level corresponding to
Vishuddha, the Throat Chakra in Tantric Yoga, and the key process
occurring here is that of communication. This is frequently the
teaching of a Guru or Ascended Master, as they offer the Truth placed
clearly and firmly in consciousness on the Atmic Plane to their Devotees
and other spiritual Aspirants in the world at large. The Buddha Mind is
a typically selfless condition that requires nothing but the absolutely
minimal sustenance required for the maintenance of life a life spent
in spiritual Bliss (or Ananda, in Sanskrit), and freely and
openly shared with others on that basis. The Buddha Mind is a pure
servant of the Divine Light and Love of the Logos, offering the
Supreme Absolute Truth (or SAT) to humanity as the vision of the
Cosmic Mind involved in an eternal Dance of Love, Light, and Creation.
Only the literal
manifestation of that Mind lies beyond the Atmic Plane, and it
takes two additional forms the Monadic Plane, and the Logoic Plane.
The Monadic Plane is the Sixth Plane of Ascension, and consists of an
association of twelve Souls released directly from the Logoic Plane, to
subsequently descend into manifest form on the Buddhic, Atmic, and
(eventually) Mental Planes. The Chakra Ajna, the Third Eye of
Hindu tradition, is the Eastern analog to the Monadic Plane, and this
supernatural oculus looks both beyond, at the Logos residing in
Supreme Splendor, and below, at the sequence of Chakras trailing
away beneath. The Monadic Plane is the Portal of SAT flowing
forth to create all that is perceived thereafter on every Plane and
level. The Souls of the Monad are a spiritual collective with a
collective purpose in manifestation, although only the Logos can know
what that purpose is. The Monad is the Portal of Expression for the
SAT. The Logos is the SAT.
God is known as we are
known through action. In the Divine Manifestation, three forms
of Truth are Present Love, Light, and Creation, and these combine to
form the Action of Truth, already referred to here as SAT. When
this action is experienced by a human observer, the result is the
perception of pure, timeless, objectless, Non-Dual consciousness
in the state of Ananda. Because God ultimately is Eternal Love,
manifest as Conscious Light, and acts through pouring forth all
of Creation, the Logoic Plane is the experience of Unified Super
Conscious Perception for those fortunate enough to enter there all
three modes of the Trinity of Love, Light, and Creation are experienced
as the Non-Dual One. This is the Divine Action of SAT, and
it is the only thing that ever really happens anywhere
our miniscule human egos simply have no choice but to perceive the
fragments of this One Being as the objects and processes functioning on
the Physical Plane through physical sensory experience. Ah, but, my
friends, we can all climb so much higher than that, and this
rising journey, this flight of the Soul, is the meaning of the flesh
itself, and of this existence!
- With Love, Alan -
(Copyright 2009, by Alan Schneider)
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