However, people who in their path of inner exploration actually met
with the Absolute Consciousness know that setting the ultimate goal as a
union with the highest principle involves a serious problem. These
people are aware that Absolute Consciousness or Infinite Emptiness
represents not only the end of the spiritual search but also the
beginning.
The spiritual principle not only offers the reunion of the separated but is also responsible for the separation and division of the original oneness. The creation of worlds, of separation, of an infinite series of different phenomena, or entities, is clearly the basic "need" of Absolute Consciousness. This inner need for Absolute
Consciousness, or Spirit, or God, or whatever we call this basic
principle of creation, is beautifully expressed in the Sufi saying, "God
wants to see/experience God." The world of plurality thus represents an important complement to God's state of undifferentiation. In
Kabbalistic terminology: "People need God and God needs people."
At
the most basic level of the cosmic drama, therefore, there is
the constant game between two forces: chylotropic or centrifugal, which
creates worlds, duality, creates matter, and holotropic or centripetal,
which tends back to wholeness, unity, non-duality, non-self, back to the
unexpressed Cosmic Void, which at the same time contains as potential
all the possibilities of expression - and thus the circle is completed.
Unexpressed Universal Consciousness craves expression and through
its creative principle creates countless worlds, beings, laws,
limitations, duality, ... and created beings want to unite with their
divine source because they see their separation, individuality, duality,
limitation, temporality… as imperfect and as a source of pain and
suffering.
It is obvious, then, that neither the appearance of separate
entities nor undifferentiated Oneness is in itself entirely
satisfactory. So what is the alternative? Rejecting a given reality as
something that is insignificant, unworthy, and wanting to escape the
tasks and challenges that this world imposes on us is no real solution.
It is becoming increasingly clear that the experiential worlds,
including our material world, represent not only an important and
valuable but also an absolutely necessary complement to the
undifferentiated Absolute Consciousness that also creates all these
worlds. On the other hand, we have learned - by the hard way - that the
search for fulfillment and happiness through material goods is a dead
end, and this longing and appropriation of material goods, strikes back
with destructive power. This is reflected not only on an individual
level but in the pervasive crisis of humanity when we find ourselves
facing the threat of a global ecological catastrophe, triggered by
ourselves through our insatiable greed.
The only satisfactory solution to this dilemma must therefore
encompass both the earthly and the transcendental dimension - both, the
world of forms and appearances, and the Formless, Infinite Emptiness -
of God if you will.
The world we live in offers us endless possibilities of expression,
search, enjoyment, life ... Only as humans, separate individuals, can
we experience the beauty of the night sky with countless stars,
galaxies, can we enjoy the beauty of Nature, love, enjoy the ecstasy of
bodily love, we have children and feel complete unconditional love,
listen to Mozart and Bach, admire the works of Michelangelo ... immerse
ourselves in our own consciousness and discover its infinity and feel
the spark of God (also) within ourselves.
To find a satisfactory solution to the dilemma (whether material or
spiritual), we need to turn inward and embark on a systematic inner
exploration. On this journey, we will discover and explore the hidden
dimensions of us and our reality, and through these insights, our
identification with the Ego and our body will become increasingly loose
and also increasingly uninteresting and on the other hand vast. For
pragmatic reasons, we will continue to identify with the
“skin-encapsulated ego” (Allan Watts), but we begin to realize that this
is not the only option, that it is only part of the game ... If through
this search we gain enough knowledge and awareness of our the
transpersonal dimension of living, which also contains our true
identity, makes everyday life much easier, richer, and… worth living! The
dilemma between the material and the spiritual disappears; beauty, truth, and goodness are elements of the synthesis of this dilemma ...
As our search continues, sooner or later we also discover the
essential void that fills all phenomena. Buddhist philosophy teaches
that the realization of the appearance of the whole emergent world and
its emptiness saves us from suffering and completely liberates us. This
Buddhist teaching also contains the realization that belief in any kind
of separation, including our own separation, is only an illusion.
Buddhists' awareness of the essence of all things - is an Infinite
Emptiness and that in reality, a separate self does not exist:
consciousness non-self = atman.