Monday, February 21, 2011

Tracking down the soul, part 2

Should I have said that the seat of the soul is the 3rd eye? That from the position of Om all things are perceived? I do think that there is a window there, around the position of the face... and from the position of that window a world is perceived, but I think the feeling of "I" is more like a field that extends from this point through the heart and belly, then out into the limbs. I have a question for you... show me your head.

http://www.headless.org/experiments-video.htm

Ultimately I am what I see, since all things in the universe exist in my window. This is the space of the mirror that does not exist spoken of by Hui Neng, the Sixth Patriarch of Zen in China.

I used to wonder if all things were made of light why couldn't I see the light. Then I realized the light was everything, that everything is made of the light, so this world is the light.

Where is the soul, if it is able to see light? Behind the light? It must be separate from the light.
In my mind the soul is the witness of the light, it is the witness of life.
It is the witness of the sense of "I".
It is the witness of thought.
It is the witness of emotion.
It is the witness of sensation.
It is the witness of change, time and space.

As you get closer to the mirrorless window the sense of I grows. Think about the angriest conversation you've ever had. Were you "facing" the person? Or the most sexual moment of your life... Were you "face to face"? I suppose some of you were tied and gagged in a closet somewhere, but that's beside the point. The point is we start inside the mirrorless window, the place where our heads should be. But where does the field stop and the soul begin?

There were two students of Zen standing in the garden beside their teacher. It was a windy day and the temple flags twisted in the air.

Student One: Look at how beautiful the flags are! The way they dance in the wind...
Student Two: He is mistaken, isn't he Teacher? It is the wind that dances, the flags are still.
Teacher: You are both mistaken. Only Consciousness is moving.

Is the teacher right? I have my doubts. I think the light is changing, sensations are arising, the "I" is perceiving thoughts, but I'm not sure consciousness moves, can move, or has ever moved, It is the unchanging eternal, the witness of all things. It is the Self, pure being.

I would say the soul is the mirrorless window. It is located where you head should be but isn't... and to be honest your entire body is lost, floating in a multiverse without edges...

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