Overzicht
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The Role of Your Life
Alexander Zöllner
February 3rd 2012
First there was One. You can’t think about One, because thinking about One implies a second, a distance and separation between One and the one who thinks. Therefore it is perhaps better to use a term that does refer to One but without the ability to form an idea of it. Like zero, or the Buddhist ‘ no-thing ‘. In the remainder of this story I will use One as a reference.
One wanted to know Himself. Therefore, He created from Himself an apparent world of shapes, colors and fragrances, of air, water, fire and earth and of countless life forms, and eventually also you. This whole creation is the ‘ two ‘, the world of duality as a knowable manifestation of One.
One creates, gives, brings to fruition, cherishes, takes back, dissolves, creates again. One is both Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva: Creator, Protector and Destroyer, at the same time. This creative process takes place in the timeless now and with no other purpose than the eternal expression of the One Itself. Nothing is excluded in this process. All is sacred because it IS.
This comprehensive acceptance and appreciation for what is, is the great love, the Mahamudra, the great heart of compassion in which there is no judgment. This love is the light of creation. This light lives in our hearts. It relieves our being, makes us remember what we actually are: a highly unique expression of One in the form of solidified light.
How do you avoid a raindrop dry?
Throw it back in the sea …
(from the movie Samsara)
The way man travels is always the same. We are like raindrops falling down on the high mountain slopes that find their way through streams and rivers to the inexhaustible and everlasting sea. Knowingly or unknowingly are we going the way to self-realization, the path of the remembrance of the Light that we are. The Light that shines always and everywhere, without distinction, without preference or judgment, unconditionally loves and appreciates what appears in the Light. Everything is given, each God-given moment is one to be grateful for, for the simple reason that it IS.
And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not understood.
(John 1: 5)
Human consciousness is able to see the Light in creation and by doing so, recognizing the love in ‘what is’, including ourselves. Although it belongs to our nature to be ‘enlightened’ beings, unconscious assumptions, colored memories and imposed self-images conceal the light itself. The light is always there, it seems even in our deepest darkness, but there is work to do to see the Light shine in the darkness.
Realization
Going the path of realization of your inner Light is the most fulfilling activity of man. Art, care and teaching are the purest expressions of it. Attention, dedication, silence, research and releasing are the main tools. It seems a paradox that duality is necessary to know and experience One. However, that does not apply if we cease to think that One is somehow ‘better’’ or preferable over duality. Duality IS One manifested in a physical form! There is essentially no difference. Against that background, there is also nothing wrong with an identity, an ego or self-image. Moreover, a reasonably solid identity is a prerequisite to go the path of self-realization.
Separation-individuation process
Human birth and subsequent development of an identity is a miniaturized and in time compressed view of the path to self-realization when we are grownup. Fallen out of Oneness, we need a secure base and support in order to become an ‘I’. An ‘I’ that will become our vehicle for the journey back to where we already are but have forgotten.
The first phase of the development of our identity forms a matrix for the perception of ourselves and the other. A pattern of early interpretations filters our perception, thinking and emotional life. This largely unconscious foundation of the ego structure also determines what obstacles we encounter on our way to self-realization. For that reason, it is important to reflect on how the process of falling out of the One and becoming a ‘separate’ ‘I’ develops of should develop.
According to Margaret Mahler, (11897 – 1985), psychoanalyst and writer of “The Psychological Birth of The Human Infant ‘ 1975.) the process of separation-individuation roughly consists of the following phases.
1.Symbiotic phase (before birth-3 months). Immediately before and after birth the baby experiences Oneness with the mother. The baby is totally dependent and connected with mother in such a way that, although a physical separation exists this is not experienced by the baby.
2. Differentiation (3-10 months) ‘ Hatching ‘. The baby begins to loosen itself from mother in the sense that it can distinguish between self and mother and also begins to look around. Mother is still the only reference point.
3. Practicing(9-16 months). The baby begins to crawl around and discovers the immediate surroundings. Mother remains the central landmark and the child still feels directly connected to mother.
4. Rapprochement (15-24 months). The child realizes that the own mobility means that it is not really connected with mother. This produces fear and a renewed desire to be together, to blend in with mother. The child would like to explore the world while maintaining eye contact. It is a crisis-like state in which both the desire to be separate and the wish be together are in conflict with each other. The renewed desire for symbiotically contact can be misunderstood by the mother. If she responds with impatience and not wanting to be available, this leads to feelings of fear and abandonment in the child. Those feelings are the bedrock for a fundamental state of mind which is still noticeable in later life among other things reflected in a low stability of the self-image.
The development of language and superego help the child to regulate the contradictory feelings of proximity and autonomy.
5. Object constancy Is the phase in which the child understands that Mommy and Daddy are separate people with their own identity. Internalization of mother-and father images leads to representations: images of mother and father to which the child can refer and who provide leadership and support even if father and mother are not present. A lack of positive internalized images may lead to low self-esteem and insecurity in adult life.
Fear
When the rapprochement phase was confusing and not well supported by the parents, this will give rise to different emotional reactions, especially fear, anger and self-hatred. Fear, because we feel lonely and separated, anger because we feel abandoned, and self-loathing because as a child, we can think of no other reason for the separation than that something must be wrong with us. We have fallen out of the all-embracing love so somehow we must be guilty. That wrong conclusion is particularly dramatic because we have no idea (and cannot have) what it is that we fail in. Since this (unconscious) conclusion has become a part of our developing identity , we are seeking for ways to solve this ‘problem’. On the one hand we look for ways to restore the connection with One which we assume is no longer there. On the other hand we try to eliminate our supposed imperfections by our endeavor to succeed, be perfect and resist. This is the ‘I-cramp’, reconfirming its existence by means of excessive thinking, a closed heart and an endless quest for the love and connection that we project somewhere outside whilst the source of love and compassion waits for us with angelic patience in our hearts.
Dilemma
The fundamental question at the rapprochement phase is: Am I free to develop autonomy without losing contact with Oneness, and thus with love? The way we have gone through the rapprochement phase will determine the way we deal with this dilemma. But regardless the fact that we did or did not develop good coping strategies based on superego or strategic maneuvers, the dilemma remains. The root cause of that must not be sought exclusively on a psychological level but also on an existential level. Essentially the dilemma between being One or being someone – being in duality – reflects the most fundamental existential questions of man: “who or what I am and what is the meaning of my life?”
Form is Emptiness, Emptiness is also Form,
Form is no other than Emptiness, Emptiness is no other than Form
(Heart Sutra)
From the non-dual perspective we can bridge the duality between unity and autonomy, between love and desire, or between man or God. The resolution of this apparent conflict is the Atonement in which the ‘Course in Miracles’ is teaching. Atonement is the insight that there is basically no contradiction. One lets His Light shine AS this creation. One recognizes Itself as form and emptiness, as matter and energy and as the human being that you are. This recognition is the reconciliation and it is Love itself.
Heart
Unity and connectedness, love and autonomy are no concepts but belong to the language of the heart. They find their roots in the human condition balancing between unity and uniqueness. It is the collective task of all people to become aware of both aspects – One and duality – at the same time and as a unity. We are One and each of us is a very unique expression of the One. It is, in fact, the challenge to love yourself as an individual form of Oneness.
The Atonement, the healing of the old wound of seeming separateness, is essentially no mental activity but is the result of the willingness to open your heart for yourself and the world around you. This is less simple than it seems because our heart is locked to a greater or lesser extent. It is anxious, angry and cramped, due to early conclusions about separateness and the loss of the right for love which in many cases has developed into self-hatred.
The non-dual approach to this situation will help to unravel the subconscious early interpretations of the dilemma between being alone and being connected/One. By inquiring into these themes we will find that the whole conflict between unity and individuality is based on a misunderstanding. There is no contradiction and the love that we were looking for is not to be found at the fathers and mothers of this world but in the light of our own heart. Staying there, we will rediscover the Light of One in our self. When we reconcile in this way we experience the mystical marriage, resolving the contradiction between Being and Becoming, between unity and uniqueness. We not only find the peace and relaxation of connectedness with ‘what is’ but also the strength to play the role of your life, to act in the way your heart longs for.
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Bevroren boeddha, gesmolten licht
Lees hier enkele pagina’s uit het boek. Het betreft een episode uit mijn reis naar Hawaii. Inzichten omtrent de oorsprong van het Licht van de schepping, terwijl ik verdwaald was in het duister van een lavabuis, diep onder de grond.
download wordfile hier
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Geluk is leven vanuit het contact met de Ziel
Interview in Koordanser september 2008
Door Marian van Noort
Ziel? Geluk? Op het spirituele erf wemelt het van de pretenties over deze onderwerpen. Wat is nu de Ziel? Hoe komen we hier (weer) mee in contact? En hoe kunnen we onszelf elke dag herinneren aan de kwaliteiten die erbij horen? Alexander Zöllner, oprichter van ‘Art of Life’ persoonlijke & spirituele ontwikkeling en auteur, heeft daarover ideeën. Enkele vragen en antwoorden.
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Gij zijt Dat
Inleiding op het thema Rijkdom- en Armoedebewustzijn aan de hand van de boeddhistische filosofie van de drie-eenheid van de schepping. Die grote overeenkomst vertoont met het Christelijke leerstuk van de heilige drie-eenheid.
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Terugkeer naar God
Verzoening als sluitstuk voor Zijn.
Een fundamenteel andere manier van kijken naar onze persoonlijke geschiedenis leidt tot een herwaardering van ons lijden. Die lijkt dan geen andere functie te hebben dan de voortdurende aanwijzing om de weg terug te vinden naar de Bron. Wie die aanwijzingen herkent komt uit bij verzoening. Vanwege onze ingesleten gewoonte om ons af te scheiden, dient dit gebaar van verzoening steeds herhaald te worden. Deze vorm van toewijding verlicht het hart en verheugt de ziel.
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Meester en leerling van het leven
Een vruchtbaarder antwoord op zingevingvragen is om ons niet te verzetten tegen het leven of de wereld maar om te leren ‘rusten in zijn’, ons te laten drijven op de stroom van het leven en daarvan te genieten. Door precies te verblijven in de werkelijkheid van NU kan je ontspannen. In deze relatieve staat van welbehagen doemen na verloop van tijd echter dezelfde zingevingvragen weer op. Welk doel dient mijn leven? Wat maakt mijn leven zinvol? Deze vragen reiken verder dan het neurotische grijpen van ego naar betekenis. Het betreft hier existentiële kwesties omtrent de reden van ons bestaan.
