Neo from The Matrix is a good example of a seeker who is looking for a way to wake up from the nightmare of a meaningless existence. His dissatisfaction with life leads him on an earnest search for answers. His search is fruitful: He discovers that he has been living in a virtual reality simulation created by a supercomputer. He is given a choice of either remaining trapped in the dream or breaking free out of the illusion, into the “unknown real world.” He chooses reality over illusion, and as a result of his decision awakens into the “real world.” It is not a pleasant process, and the reality he wakes up to is not much better than the one he escaped from. He does not look any deeper though—if he did, he might have discovered that the new reality he found himself in was not the ultimate “reality” that spiritual seekers are after.
In another movie entitled eXistenZ, Allegra Geller, the world’s best game designer, is testing her new virtual reality game, named eXistenZ, with a focus group. She is attacked by a fanatic assassin employing a bizarre organic gun. She flees with a young marketing trainee Ted Pikul, assigned as her bodyguard. Unfortunately, the gaming device containing the only copy of eXistenZ appears to be damaged. Allegra is anxious to test the game and make sure that it is still working. She convinces Ted to accept the implantation of a game port into his spinal cord so that he can play the game with her. The game takes the pair on a weird adventure into a completely realistic yet alien world. As their adventure continues, it becomes clear to Ted that it is impossible to determine what is real and what is not: Allegra herself turns out to be a game character, and even the “reality” that they started in turns out to be one of the levels in the game. Ted is the only “real person” in that world, but he doesn’t appear to grasp that he is lost in a world created by his own mind.
The same concept is explored in many other movies: Thirteenth Floor, Cube, Waking Life, and The Fountain, just to give a few examples. The heroes of each of these stories are struggling on the lonely path of self-discovery—through pain and suffering they discover the truth about their conditions and about the illusory nature of reality. These discoveries eventually lead them to freedom and happiness.
Philip K. Dick was a science-fiction writer with deep interest in spirituality. Many of his novels explore the nature of reality. Ubik is probably the best example, with multiple layers of reality and unreality embedded within the plot. We meet the protagonist, Joe Chip, shortly before an explosion at a moon base, which almost kills him and his colleagues. Fortunately, there appears to be only one fatality—their boss Glen Runciter.
Or perhaps it is the other way round? Did Joe and the others die, and Glen is the one who survived? If Glen is dead and Joe alive, why does Joe keep getting strange messages from him? Is Joe’s experience of his post-accident life just a hallucination played out as his frozen body lies in suspended animation? Joe is very confused. He is convinced that he is the one trying to rescue Glen Runciter, but it quickly becomes clear that he himself is in dire need of rescue from the hell-like reality of half-life (a condition in which the dead are kept “half-alive,” frozen for prolonged periods of time, and can still communicate with the living through sophisticated machinery).
When you read this story, you shudder in recognition that not only has the first level of reality been exposed as fake, but the second level—the supposedly more real level—turns out to be an illusion, too. Nothing is real or stable in this novel. Joe’s reality gradually disintegrates and falls prey to the galloping entropy that is one of the main ruling forces in his universe (as well as ours). Everything he touches decays and collapses: new cigarettes turn stale in the pack and mold grows in his coffee mug. All of his friends disappear one by one, presumably devoured by a nasty character named Jory. Finally it is Joe’s turn to die. Fortunately, he is rescued last minute before succumbing to Jory by spraying himself with an aerosol named Ubik. Ubik is the all-purpose “reality support,” which now begins to materialize fleetingly and tantalizingly everywhere. Ubik is a magical medicine that seems to promise restoration to health, life, and plentitude. Joe is apparently blocked from this fullness only by particular factors that appear to be outside of his control: The pharmacy is closed. Ubik is out of stock or devolves into an earlier form of itself, becoming a tin of inactive liver balm. Ubik is both a gap in the reality structure (pointing to something else beyond imperfect, impermanent, entropic reality) and also a reality support, which literally “keeps things going.” The back cover of the book tells us a little bit more about this magical spray:
I am Ubik. Before the universe was, I am.
I made the suns, I made the worlds.
I created the lives, and the places they inhabit; I move them here, I put them there.
They go as I say, they do as I tell them, I am the word and my name is never spoken.
The name which no one knows.
I am called Ubik but that is not my name.
I am. I shall always be.
Joe initially believes that Ubik is supplied by his allies outside of half-life—such as his boss. Later, it appears that Runciter’s wife, Elly, also sequestered in half-life, provides the lifesaving spray. In due course, Joe figures out that this is not the truth either, since Elly’s soul abandons half-life to reincarnate again, and in spite of her departure Ubik still continues to appear miraculously. As Joe struggles to understand the source of the surrounding reality, he always prefers to place it outside of himself (just like most of us!). Only towards the end of the story does it become clear to the reader that Joe himself is the dreamer who creates the dream in which he lives, even though Joe is not ready to accept that truth. One hopes that eventually he will discover the truth: Ubik and Joe are one and the same, and nothing really exists but Joe. It will be up to him to create the reality that he wants to live in (let’s call it Heaven). This is also our task.
The Truth will set you free
Jesus once said to his disciples, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free.” (John 8: 31-32) What is this Truth with a capital “T” that Jesus and other prophets talk about? Is there really a single, universal Truth that can set everyone free? Synoptic gospels do not provide an explicit answer, but tell us that if we keep seeking, we will find, and if we keep knocking on the doors, the doors will open (Matthew 7:7 and Luke 11:9). In Jeremiah 29:13, God says: “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Where is that door that we have to knock on? The search we all are on, whether we know it or not, is the search for God. Silvanus, one of the early Gnostic teachers, tells us explicitly where to seek for God and where to knock: “You are the door, knock on yourself.” Jesus also points out that the Kingdom of God can be found only within each of us (Luke 17:21), not somewhere in the sky.
Eastern traditions state it point-blank: the Truth is that we are all One. What does this mean exactly? It means that we are mistaken when we think of ourselves as separate individuals, disconnected from each other and from the world that surrounds us. Mystics teach that there is only one Actor playing all the parts in this virtual reality game that we think is the real world. That actor is the one and only true God. He is you and me, as well as all other beings. He is everything we see, hear, taste, smell, and feel. He is All that exists—there is nothing outside of Him. Hence, you are Him, too. Although Buddhists, Sikhs, or Sufis may take the idea of Oneness for granted, the biggest mainstream religions (such as Christianity and Islam) have shunned the idea, emphasizing instead the dualist worldview—our separateness from each other and from God. These religions teach their faithful that they are helpless and utterly dependent on an all-powerful, capricious, and unknowable god who requires intercession from their priests to hear and fulfill our wishes. The religious followers are also taught that this god is a loving god, yet surprisingly he permits disease, death, and terrible suffering of those who worship him.
Countless wars have been fought in God’s name by his faithful followers—ir
onically, both sides in many of these conflicts are often worshippers of “The One, True God,” though they usually belong to different religions or sects. That deity appears to be ruling our universe from afar, residing in some mysterious dimension that can be reached by humans only after death, and doesn’t even seem to hear or pay much attention to the prayers of his worshippers. These contradictions are impossible to reconcile from a logical point of view, unless we assume that this god is insane or simply does not exist. Books such as The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins and The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason by Sam Harris call on modern humans to apply common sense to their religious beliefs and to examine them in the light of reason. They argue that all illogical religious dogmas should be deconstructed and abandoned and that blind faith is the main cause of wars, genocides, and suffering on our planet. Throughout our history, religions have been used by their adherents to justify even the most outrageous acts of violence and injustice towards other people. It is time to end this insanity!
Salvation, resurrection, awakening
The terms Salvation, Enlightenment, Resurrection, Realization, and Awakening are often used interchangeably. For the purposes of this book I will use the following definitions:
Enlightenment is the first glimpse of the Truth, of the eternal realm of the Divine. It is the first experience of the essential Oneness of everything that exists. Buddhists teach that bodhicitta (“the thought of enlightenment”) is the most important step on the road to Realization—it is personal knowledge that Realization exists and that it is possible to achieve it.
Awakening is the process that ultimately leads to Resurrection. We become progressively more and more caring and loving, leaving our selfish ways behind, until we finally become God-like in our compassion and love for all other beings.
Resurrection and Realization are synonymous terms in this book. We are saved only when we are resurrected. When we awaken fully we become one with Christ permanently, just like Jesus did. If you don’t become a Christ in this lifetime, you are NOT saved, period. Does it mean that you die? In a certain sense, yes. Your body and mind die, and the continuity of your story is lost for you. However, since your spirit is immortal, your soul may continue to live on after your body and mind die. You are reborn and start the journey over again as another person, with a new identity; with an unremembered, unconscious load of unresolved issues carried along as a part of your new personality.
Salvation: Mystics teach that salvation is a collaborative effort—God reaches out to us, offering us opportunities to make steps towards awakening. It is up to each of us to choose the most appropriate action for each situation we experience. Salvation requires work on our part—it is not enough to go to church every Sunday or to believe in Jesus (as some churches teach) to be saved. The road to heaven is narrow and thorny, since it requires that each of us changes deeply ingrained behavioral and though patterns—and it is an extremely difficult task. Love is the guiding light on the path to salvation—only paths with heart lead to God, since God is Love itself. The paths that lead to eternal life require us to strive continuously to become more and more like God: perfectly loving and selfless. We have to become fully human, to grow up and face our responsibilities; to learn how to give without expecting anything in return; to stop complaining that the world is unfair to us and stop blaming others for what happens to us; to be patient and caring; to abandon instant gratification; to conquer our addictions; to be present in every waking moment, so that we don’t hurt ourselves and others consciously or unconsciously.
For most people, awakening is a very gradual process that takes many years. God can take the last step only when we do our part, when we prepare ourselves sufficiently and get close enough to Him. That last step is the resurrection—a dramatic event that results in the transformation of the seeker into the Christ. One is virtually reborn, and his or her mind and body are thoroughly transformed. Once that happens, one is joined forever with God and can do everything that Jesus did—and more. In the Eastern tradition, that event is known as Realization. The process of spiritual growth that leads to Realization may take many lifetimes, but it appears that more and more people are awakening today, perhaps pointing to the possibility that our whole species may awaken in the near future, as some speculate. Whether that momentous event takes place in our lifetime or not, each of us can help to bring it closer by conscious, kind, caring and compassionate actions every day. Our world will be an infinitely better place when all humans eventually awaken.
Specific steps leading to Realization have been extensively discussed in the spiritual literature; therefore, I will provide here only a general description of the process that involves the awakening of a mysterious power within, known as kundalini in the East and igneous power or serpentine fire in the West. It is interesting, though not widely known, that the emblem of the medical profession (a staff known as the Caduceus, with wings and two snakes coiled three and half times around its shaft) symbolizes the awakening of kundalini—a symbol of ultimate healing. That imagery, including the snakes, matches descriptions of kundalini in Eastern traditions.
According to yogic writings, the force of kundalini is dormant in our sacrum, a large, triangular bone located at the base of the spine.
The name “sacrum” is taken directly from the Latin word sacrum (meaning “sacred”). The Latin name was a translation of the Greek name hieron (osteon) (“a holy bone”). It was named so because of the belief that the soul resides there. This bone was offered to the gods when animals were ritually sacrificed in antiquity.
When kundalini is activated, the energy contained in the sacral area is conveyed through the structures of the chakra system, consisting of seven main psycho-spiritual energy centers (chakras) located along the spine.
The philosophical theories and models of chakras as centers of energy within our bodies were first identified through the practices of yoga and meditation in ancient India.
According to Hindu tradition, kundalini rises from the root chakra up through the spinal channel (called shushumna), and it is believed to activate each of the seven chakras as it goes through them, until it reaches the crown chakra on top of the head. When that happens, the person becomes united with the Divine and achieves Realization.
Thus one becomes free of death, free to stay in or leave the body at any time, free of bounds of time and space, free to exist as an individual or to cease to exist as a separate self and to dissolve into bliss. One of the side benefits of Realization is the acquisition of supernatural powers, such as the ability to heal people, fly in the air, or walk on water. Anything is possible when we awaken!
The prerequisite for awakening is a personal experience of the true nature of reality—it is not enough to hear or read about Oneness or to believe that we live in a dream. Tried and tested spiritual technologies mentioned earlier can provide exactly this—a firsthand experience of other, otherwise unseen realities. It is essential to experience these things firsthand, but even such experience is not sufficient for awakening to occur. Once that initial experience is gained, the hard work begins. We need to shed all of our deeply ingrained preconceptions about the world and about ourselves and to change the way we think and behave. We have to live the Knowledge of who we really are, instead of experiencing it solely on an intellectual level.
Jesus put it this way: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Mark 8:34). And that is the hardest thing to do—yet it is absolutely necessary to reach the next stage of human evolution. If you are selfish, you ought to become selfless; if you are lazy, you need to turn into a diligent worker; if you are a slob, you need to become neat; if you smoke, you need to quit; if you are intolerant, you need to open up and accept others as they are—and so on. To awaken, to become like Jesus Christ, we have to transcend ourselves—to become more than our sense of a separate self. We need to learn how to live our lives in a healthy way, balancing self-care wi
th taking care of others. For most of us, this is a very hard thing to do.
A Realized person can teach others how to get started on the spiritual path and show the right way to those who stumble in the darkness. That’s what Jesus was trying to do with his disciples, but only a few of them truly understood his teachings. In our recorded history, Realized people have been few and far between. Fortunately, there are more awakened people alive today than ever, since a vast majority of those who awakened in the past have decided to stay here to help others awaken as well. Thus, a person that commits to the spiritual path will eventually encounter a Realized teacher.
In the Buddhist tradition, the fastest path to awakening is the Bodhisattva path. A bodhisattva is described as a person who is striving for awakening. One of the most famous versions of the bodhisattva vow spells it out this way (from Shantideva’s The way of the Bodhisattva):
Secrets of God Page 3