--Thanks for your excellent reply. Re:, statement "every perception scintillates with numinous Holiness"; that could be the key ingredient distinguishing MMY's GC (and Unity, since the perceptions would still be available but with no attachment); from the Neo- Advaitic "level", which I claim to be un-Enlightened since there's no clear indication of such people (most of them) having gone through GC. To be more specific, the term "scintillation" (imo) - should be taken literally, as well as phrases such as "rose-colored glasses"); in that perception itself (ie, things "in-themselves") taken on an other-worldly quality in terms of RELATIVE PERCEPTION, not just by virtue of the non-duality principle. In other words, the Neo-Advaitins seem to be hung up on the Presence and have failed to say how relative existence LITERALLY becomes "scintillating". I'm taking MMY's terms "celestial" and "Glorified" to be literal terms for a totally changed level of relative perception. We can see this in Master Charles' Cannon's testimonial of what appears to be a brief GC experience upon gazing at a photo of Swami Muktananda. Clearly, his use of the term "scintillating" is not in the context of some vague Neo-Advaitic quality relating to the non- substantiality of existence; but rather a literal affirmation of a truly celestial/glorified, and "scintillating" level of perception. One does not see such testimonials coming from most Neo-Advaitins since they haven't experienced that "level" of relative appreciation. Here's the quote from Master Charles: " This article is an excerpt from Master Charles's autobiography, The Bliss of Freedom: A Contemporary Mystic's Enlightening Journey. It's reprinted here with permission.
In this excerpt, Master Charles describes his first contact with Swami Muktananda, the world-renowned Indian mystic and teacher who was to figure so prominently in his life. IT WAS AN EARLY SPRING DAY IN 1970, shortly before my twenty-fifth birthday, and I was visiting friends who had just returned from a business trip to India and other Far Eastern countries. While sharing their travels with me, they talked about having met an enlightened master in India. They seemed most devout as they described the encounter, for he had impressed them with his illumination, and they had experienced deep spiritual inspiration. They asked if I would like to see a photograph of him. When I agreed, they handed me a small card designed like a temple with folding flaps for doors. I opened it casually and looked at the black-and-white photograph of the man inside. If I had a million words, I could not adequately describe the magnitude of what I experienced over the next few hours. As I focused on the photograph, my eyes seemed to lock in an open gaze, and my whole body followed, relinquishing all volitional control. The photograph dissolved into a whirlpool of scintillating, hallucinogenic energy. I was immersed in a rose-and-blue-colored magnificence, permeated with minute particles of dancing, diamond like light that slowly moved upward and entered the area just above the center of my eyebrows. A multitudinous explosion erupted from the depths of my being and reverberated through every dimension of my perception, as an intoxicating bliss saturated me from head to toe. The most sacred peace filled all and everything. Time was suspended within an all- encompassing stillness, and from the subtlest dimensions an ethereal and heavenly music softly echoed-violins, harps, a lone flute, and the tinkling of a thousand glass wind chimes sounding within the harmonic oneness of an angelic choir. I experienced a divine, awe-inspiring, yet totally nurturing contentment beyond all contentment. Wave upon wave of undulating ecstasy radiated outward to infinity. Everything within this shimmering reverberation was disappearing, all form dissolving into itself, a reflection of hallucinogenic light within an ocean of delight. I continued to observe my two friends, but their bodies had become multidimensional. I could see to the utmost core of their beings, which in each case was a small point of iridescent blue light. Luminosity flowed in all directions from these points of blue light, manifesting as their forms, and intermingling with all other forms, as they blended one into each other. All and everything manifested as a merging sea of blissful, luminous energy, joyously delighting within itself-the most beautiful reality that one could ever imagine. That was divine existence, absolute, free, and independent, celebrating itself for the sake of itself. This was the one without a second, a pure awareness through which an other-worldly voice reverberated its truth: "I am one...I am free...I am all that is." Suspended within this awareness beyond all time, I merged in it, flowing, floating, dancing, delighting, enjoying the freedom of oneness as I remained a quiescent witness. My mind was stilled in awe of the heavenly majesty. Bliss consumed every cell of my being. The loving voice again reiterated its affirmation: I am one... I am free... I am the play of consciousness...I am all that is... I am... I... I... I..." The ethereal echo gradually disappeared as it was reabsorbed into the fullness of its all-pervasive unity. I remained within the ecstasy of its incredible reality for what seemed like an eternity, and then ever so gently it diminished, contracting itself and condensing into physicality. The energy released itself through the space between my eyebrows, and like a whirlpool wound its way back into the photograph in my hands. My body unlocked, along with my gaze, and everything seemed to return to normal, yet I was never to be the same. For I had come face to face with the divine. I had scaled the heights of the ultimate reality that I considered to be God alone, Source alone, and nothing else could ever take its place. Copyright 1997 Synchronicity Foundation, Inc. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------- - In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Peter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > --- tertonzeno <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > --Right. Most succintly, there have been no clear > > testimonials of > > first hand GC (embracing Celestial/Glorified) levels > > of awareness; > > and how this is to be distinguished from CC. > > Also, the accounts of "witnessing" during sleep are > > suspiciously > > fleeting and sporadic. > > GC is a perceptual development that starts with the > senses and moves into the mind and intellect. This is > what distinguishes it from CC. CC is a foundational > shift in what self is recognized to be. In waking > state self is a bound sense of "me;" a private > psychological self. In CC this self completely loses > its boundaries and becomes unlocalized. GC starts as > all objects of sensory perception being organized > through a divine personality. Objects are no longer > neutral, but are alive with the presence of God. This > Divine personality becomes enlivened in ones > subjectivity in the mind and intellect. Every > perception scintillates with a numinous holiness. When > the divine is awake in the mind and intellect, all > sorts of subjective siddhis start happening and the > intellect spontaneously functions from rhitam bhara > pragya. > > The above of course is IMHE and is subject to > different mileage from different laisha jivas. >
