Welcome to Day 8 of our 40 Day Retreat 2009.
The theme of this retreat is Energy Awareness & Mastery -The Kundalini Journey. Today, my topic is the fourth state of consciousness called Turiya.
The Waker, The Dreamer, The Deep Sleeper and The Observer
Yesterday, I spoke about the different states of consciousness that we experience waking, dreaming and deep sleeping. Though in our normal lives we take this for granted but they have a deeper meaning. In every state of consciousness the waking, dreaming and deep sleeping shows the existence of a certain body that we have.
I spoke about the physical body being related to the waking consciousness. The subtle body inside that we call the astral body, is related to the dream state of consciousness. The causal body, which is the body that stores all memories of all existences that we have had, is related to the deep sleep state of consciousness. We experience these three states of consciousness every day waking, dreaming and deep sleeping. But what is present in all of these is the one who is experiencing and observing the experience; the waker, the dreamer, the deep sleeper. There is the observer in all of it because you observe an experience whether you are conscious of it or not.
When you are having an experience there is an observer because you can recall it so that means some part of you was observing the experience. There is an ‘I’ consciousness or what we call the ego in the experience of these different states.
Turiya-Freedom from the Limitation of the Other States
Yesterday, we spoke about a fourth state that is existing, the Turiya state of consciousness. What is different in this state of consciousness is the observer, the one who is observing. The observer is not caught up in the limitation of the other states. It is not identified completely with the bodies of the other states but it has made a shift into a space of freedom where it is able to observe all these energies of the different bodies and not get caught up in them. If you listen very carefully, I am speaking about an experience that may not be within your existing experience. I want to help you identify this state. Sometimes we may have had a glimpse of it and for a moment, you experience this state of detachment and joy because the state is a joyous state.
There is a journey of the witness within you or the observer within you. I want you to remember that. There is a journey, the one who is observing and the place from where you are observing, can begin to change taking you on a journey inside in your consciousness, that allows you to see more and more of your inner being.
During the 40 days that I experienced in 1978 it was a journey in the consciousness; it was a journey of the observer. Day by day I could see how the one who was observing was becoming different. It is the same body, same environment but the one who was observing became different and ultimately free of the entanglement with the different bodies.
Entanglement in the Physical Body
Now you know the entanglement, but I am just going to remind you a little bit about it because when the ‘I’ is caught in the body consciousness, then your pre-occupation is with eating, sleeping, pleasure seeking, power seeking, might is right, and survival of the fittest and the strongest. That is life in the physical body.
Entanglement in the Subtle World
As you go deeper into the other bodies then you begin to generate different kinds of experiences: deeper thinking, more subtle emotions and different kind of goals. The physical body is not completely driving you; you are more into the subtle world. You can be caught up in the dreams of the subtle world, in the thoughts of the subtle world, in the ideas in the subtle world and the beliefs in subtle world. Your ‘I’ consciousness is caught up; you are the so-called wise one, the intellectual and the passionate. Your ‘I’ is caught up in a world of its own, inside.
Entanglement in the Causal Body
All the experiences of all your existences are centered in another body inside, that is your causal body, and you may be caught up in that, all the things that are within the depth of your being. You want to know more about all the things inside. You begin to dream about things that you feel instinctively in your being that you may have been in previous existences. You may try to live out some of those, even though the physical situation may not support it. In your dream world and your deeper being you want to live out some of those things because you can feel they are still within your being.
All these worlds trap you in their limitations and you go through the see-saw of the positives and negatives of those worlds. The ‘I’ consciousness or the ego is trapped in the limitations, in the thoughts of previous existences, in the limitations of the tools you are using; mental, emotional.
Seeking the Freedom of the ‘I’ Consciousness
There is not true freedom; your inner being is not completely fulfilled in all of these. Those of you who have made the journey in the mental and emotional worlds, in the world of deeper beliefs and thoughts, in the physical world; you realize after a while that these do not completely fulfill you. You may find joy in the doing. You find these findings limiting and you are seeking something deeper. What you are seeking is the freedom of the ‘I’ consciousness and the freedom of the ego. The ego is seeking its home which is the Source – Being inside of it, where all fulfillment lies. I have spent quite a few days speaking about the Source. The ego, the ‘I’ within you that is conscious, is seeking this deeper space inside.
Journey of Ascension
The journey of the ‘I’ consciousness is a journey of ascension. As we go through the kundalini journey, as we go through the energy body and as we go through different dimensions of consciousness, we are going to show how the ‘I’ can begin to change the way it sees and the way it behaves, through this ascension from chakra to chakra.
Ultimately when you pursue the transformation of the ‘I’, the ego within you, through guidance, you will ultimately reach a state where the ‘I’ is different. It is expanded, it feels connected to the Universe, and it feels in touch with the Source. There is a constant stream of happiness that is not related to anything in this world, completely independent. That rapturous state of joy continues in all the other states, that is the Turiya. It is different to all the others because the ‘I’ consciousness is there in its purest state and that is the possibility.
Rapturous ‘I’ Consciousness Abides
In the ancient wisdom of India, in the Shiva Sutras there is a very beautiful verse Jagrat-swapna-sushupta-bhede Turiya-bogasambhava and this says in the different states of waking, dreaming and deep sleeping; the rapturous ‘I’ consciousness of the fourth state abides.
I have been telling you about these different states. Jagrat is the waking, swapna is the dreaming and sushupti is the deep sleeping and these are associated with the different bodies. Bheda means the different states.
Jagrat-swapna-sushuptabhede different states of waking, dreaming and deep sleeping and turiya state. Abhoga means rapturous, turiyaboga means the rapturous state of the fourth, and sambhava means coming into existence but abiding, staying.
So turiya-bogasambhava means abiding in the rapturous ‘I’ consciousness of the fourth state.
This is a beautiful verse for me because this is the experience I got at the end of the 40-days in 1978. This is the natural state of freedom that we can all achieve, that we all need to achieve, where the ego becomes freed of limitations of the other states and the other bodies. It is now in association, in connection with and united with the Source Consciousness. That is our journey.
Where Are You In This Journey?
I have said to you before, “Relate all of this to who you are.” What is your inner being looking for? What is your ego striving for in all the bodies that you are using? In the experiences of the physical body, in this world of the senses, in the experiences of your dream world where your subtle body operates in your visions, in your dreams, in your inner processing, in the experiences of the causal body where your dreams of different existences arise; in all of those you experience limitation and you are not free.
Make Turiya Consciousness the Goal
When you are blessed with the fourth state, which relates to the highest chakra, the Sahasrara, within you begin to experience that state, you begin to experience freedom. That is what your ego is looking for, to be free whilst in this existence.
Someone said to me, based on my discussions, that they wished they could do everything in the subtle world and they should not come into this world, because this world has a lot of misery. I said the journey is mastering all the worlds, not to be in aversion to one of them, because then you are caught up.
The whole idea is to be completely free of all the worlds and to be in mastery of all the worlds. The joy of freedom in the human experience is living in this rapturous state of the ‘I’, the pure ‘I’. That is the goal. This is something for you to think about. It is completely achievable in daily life if only we seek it. There is the goal for that ‘I’ that we have; becoming the witness. When you can feel that state it continues in the waking, in the dreaming and in the deep sleeping. You have the power to keep this abiding consciousness through the other states.
Let us make the Turiya consciousness our goal. It is completely achievable.
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