Discourse Given in Sravana House april 2021

From the beginning of this essay, let us be clear about some terms and words. 

The subject/object mind is the same as the personal self, the egoic-self and Individual Consciousness. It arises out of the tacit assumption that one is a separate and independent piece of the One Spiritual Life-Force Energy. The Spiritual Reality. 
That tacit assumption is based on body identity, not on Spirit Identity. 

The Spiritual Reality refers to the Undifferentiated Life-Force or Spirit that is the Living Master of all physical phenomena. This One Constant All-Pervading Spirit gives rise to all the different forms that appear and is, therefore, the Eternally Constant Truth Identity of All, no matter the physical differences and all our different ideologies based on those different bodily identities. 

Within the Instruction and Practice of the Great Undifferentiated Spiritual Tradition (Spiritual Self-Realisation Tradition) there is constant mention of the limited mind - the limited self-consciousness and so on. However, do not be confused by this term, this description, taking it to mean a mind that does not know much - a mind that has limited knowledge. That is not it. 

In Spiritual terms, when it is said that we must transcend the mind, it refers to the subject/object mind. A mind that divides the One Living Spiritual Being in half; a dualistic mind, a mind that creates a sense of Self based on subject/object thinking and perceiving. 
A mind that is always splitting the Universal Unity in half. A mind that results in the individual’s tacit assumption that she or he is an independent piece of Consciousness, a separate portion of the All Pervading Spirit-Life-Force Energy-Being. 

With a mind that thinks and perceives in the subject/object way, we are in effect Self-divided and being so, we are not in harmony with our Self. 

The subject/object mind is constantly creating the sensation, the impression of a Self that is not in harmony with You. ‘You’ Being the Totality, the Life-Current that Lives the body/mind. We talk about being in harmony with this or that, and others and so on, but the subject/object mind does not allow one to be in harmony with the Self. Furthermore, the problem is that while we are in the grip of the self-divided fear created by the subject/object mind, unrealising we use that mind in an endeavour to Realise Unity. 

The subject/object mind is the source of fear. It is the master of the cult of fear that masquerades as civilised society. It is always looking for confirmation from another, always concerned about winning or losing, always dealing with a shabby, lurking anxiousness about right or wrong, always comparing and always feeling the need to prove to others “I” know what’s what. 

One can never truly feel secure in one’s body/mind Being while being mastered by a subject/object mind. One can talk about Love and Unity and the Spiritual Reality, but the subject/object mind is always splitting one’s Self in half and then pretending to be Complete, while on the look-out for the other half. 

Advaita is a philosophical and Spiritual tradition of Self-Realisation. At the Heart of Advaita is the concept of Unity or non-duality - meaning the overcoming or transcending of the subject/object mind. However, studying Advaita and knowing about Advaita and talking the talk about Advaita can all be done with the subject/object mind, and usually is. 
In other words, we can be a student of non-duality with a mind that is functioning in duality - the subject/object mind. 

Self-Realisation is not about realising a greater individual self or a much improved subject/object mind-self. That is simply the way of intellectual knowing and the quest for righteousness, the way that does not require Love. Self-Realisation is the Realisation of Unity and, therefore, the Self is the Self of all. The Self is the underlying Undifferentiated Life-Force or Spiritual Reality. It is not self-conscious, It is God Conscious. God Being the One Living Spirit-Life-Energy-Being. The Very Substance of All. 

From the subject/object mind’s point of view, everything is trying. Trying to love, trying to understand, trying to surrender, trying to Be Love, trying to be special and on it goes. And always, that damned sensation of failing. And then comes the egoic mind’s escape clause, “Oh, to hell with it! I have had a gutsful of anything Spiritual.” 

One can never truly feel secure in One’s Self while being mastered by a subject/object mind. One can talk about wholeness and unity and spiritual Reality, or how we are all One in God and how we should work together in harmony. But it remains a theory, a mental concept, a wonderful possibility wedged between the forces for and against in the subject/object mind. In Truth, in the Spiritual Reality, You are Complete. In other words, You are a Unified Consciousness. There is not your Being - You are the Being. This being so, why all the looking for appreciation, approval, acknowledgement and acceptance and why the need for self-defence and the need to prove anything at all? 

The subject/object mind is the source of fear: self-divided fear. It requires great self-critical insight based on Love devotion to the always Unified Spiritual Reality to be free from the destructive force of self-divided fear: the subject/object mind. 

The subject/object mind, the individuated consciousness, does not actually relate to (or come into relationship with) anyone or anything at all. Not Really. Rather, the usual individual, no matter how excited they might get over someone, something or some event, is in fact always in a reactionary relatedness to themselves. The subject/object mind, the duality mind is constantly held captive by the worrisome dilemma of either/or, right/wrong, win/lose and on and on. 

If one is not given to Truly Understand and Truly see that one is holding on to what seems to be an independent and different chunk of what is One and the Same Spiritual Life-Being, then that one is awkwardly and stressfully and anxiously and probably begrudgingly (which will come out sooner or later) trying to do Non-duality or Unity Consciousness, which is the summation of Self-Realisation. In other words, trying to Realise the Enlightenment of the One Unity Consciousness as the Self, while all the time constantly creating a sensation of Self based in the subject/object mind, rather than a Self based on submission to the underlying Undifferentiated Spirit, that is the Source and Truth Condition of all physical conditions. In that Source of Unity, we are One. 

Our childhood schooling and socialisation teaches and encourages us to retreat intothe isolation of a subject/object-self. In fact, it seems hell-bent on nailing us into the coffin of subjective Consciousness for the rest of our lives. 
And, in the fog of that falsely self-created sense of Self, one tries to love, tries to get enlightened, tries to be appreciated and, by the powers of self-divided fear, tries not to die. It is not surprising that all the mainstream religions and spiritual self-help practices, in fact all forms of seeking are popular. Most individuals are attracted to any form of practice that seems to heal the wound of a self-conflicted mind rather than undertaking Radical Self-Responsible Understanding. 

Yes, the student comes to any Spiritual Renunciate with a subject/object mind. How could one not? One is trained that way, educated that way, indoctrinated and acculturated that way. The point is not judging what is right or wrong in all that. It is understanding that how the student engages with the Renunciate, how the student interprets the Renunciate’s Instructions, how the student responds to the Renunciate’s Company and Instruction will depend on the “play” of these two forces within the student: the subject/object mind. 

The student stage is characterised by the drama of individual-consciousness, which is the subject/object mind. The student attempts to acquire and accomplish Spiritual Practice through the subject/object mind-content and, in this way, the student desires to exchange subject/object mind-content with the Renunciate Heart Being. And that usually does not go well for the aspiring student. 

The difficulty many students encounter with the Renunciate is the fact they are approaching the Renunciate and trying to interact with the Renunciate in the usual way of the subject/object mind: the either/or, win/lose, right/wrong mind. In other words, constantly creating a sensation of Self based on the subjective body/mind rather than a Self based on the underlying Undifferentiated Spirit that is the Source and Truth Condition of all physical conditions. In that Source of Unity, we are One. 
That is the Relationship the Renunciate is offering. 

Duality thinking is the dilemma; it is always about either “I” pass or “I” fail, either you love me or you don’t. 
The subject/object mind is a self-divided person, and a self-divided person is one who perceives life as one of two possibilities - success or failure, win or lose. Whatever the subject/object mind takes on, whether it is relationship, an activity, a conversation, an occupation or sport, these things are approached with a well-worn self-defence system, regulated by the sense of either I win or I lose, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to lose. 

We do not concede to, have confidence in and Realise the always-present adherence of all physical phenomena to the One Spiritual Reality. Therefore, we most commonly do not feel or Realise the Foundational Intimacy of the body/mind and all physical things with the One Unifying Spiritual Being Reality. 

This is our body/mind’s True and Supportive Intimacy. However, our True Life-Intimacy cannot be Realised with a subject/object mind, a mind that is holding on to the idea of being an independent portion of the Indivisible Undifferentiated Spirit Life-Force. 

Holding on to what seems like a separate piece of Universal Life-Force or Spiritual-Truth-Energy is the action that generates the search for intimacy and connection and love. When we are firmly submerged (well, pretty much buried dead alive) in body-based identities, we do not, we cannot recognise the body/mind’s ultimate adherence to and identity in the One Spirit Current, along with all other sentient creatures and things. 

The process that leads us out of a subject/object mind is Spiritual-Self-Realisation Practice.

Spiritual-Self-Realisation (Self meaning the Spiritual Life-Energy-Self) is the result of subjective-self-forgetting by the Grace or Power of Love for the One Spirit Reality. And, to Be Love (the One Spiritual Life-Force Being) one is obliged to surrender the subjective self-impression/identity (based on bodily identity) and all its self-serving ideologies. One is honour-bound by the One Spirit Law, which Nature adheres to, to Surrender through Love, the holding on to what seems to be an independent allotment of what Actually and Really is One and the Same Living Being Garden of All. 

The subjective-self is the action of holding on to what is tacitly assumed to be an independent piece of Consciousness or Spiritual Life-Force. Yet, all the while the body/mind, no matter how different it looks relative to other body/minds, is always presently Lived by the Grace of the One Spirit Life-Force: the Unity Consciousness, the Beloved. There is no “I” growing tendons or producing brain neurons or growing your hair or birthing and dying you. Who do you think your favourite name “I” is? After all, it is the Impersonal Life-Force Being that makes the body/mind possible at all. Oh dear, what have “I” been thinking? 

Without True Ecstatic Spiritual Instruction and Initiation, the individual tends to remain in the socialised withdrawal and dictatorship of what is a limited sensation of Self. That is, the tacit assumption and sensation of being an independent or separate piece of Consciousness. An imposter “I” that thinks it is in control and is doing everything. Without True submission of the egoic self-idea, the subject/object mind, into the One Spiritual Identity as the True Self, one remains a follower in the cult of fear, no matter how rebellious you might like to think you are. 

The Wondrous, Freely Creative, Awe-Inspiring, Deliciously Sensuous and Freely Inclusive Play of the Spirit, the Master Condition is sadly not One the usual human is willingly and joyfully participating in. Rather the drama of the subjective-self (the assumed independent fraction of Consciousness) and its confrontation with the objective world (everything that is assumed to be some other piece of Consciousness) becomes the principle of everyday existence. 

We defraud ourselves out of Nature’s all-encompassing Intimacy by this egoic action - this tacit assumption of existing as an independent portion of the Master Spirit. 
And on the basis of our self-created Spiritual swindling of our body/mind and the body/minds of others, we entrap our self and others in conversations and considerations that only further exacerbate the underlying dilemma - conversations and considerations and spiritual ideas based in the subject/object mind’s creation.
Our usual everyday confession is articulated very well; we care less about the Truth or Spiritual Reality than we do about the pursuit of trying to make the subjective-self loved, comfortable, safe, satisfied and saved. 

We cheat ourselves out of That which is the Master Condition - the True Force that Lives the body/mind - in order to pursue the always limited self-saving strategies created within the self-divided conflict of the subject/object mind.

The Great News is there is a Way out. Take it while Your body/mind is here. Then see what You might like to do. 
First Be, then do. 

 So Be IT Beloved.