Gamma Wave Synchrony and Consciousness By Junius

GAMMA WAVE SYNCHRONY AND CONSCIOUSNESS

By Junius

[Junius  authored a science fiction book 'Persephone Wakes' under the name Jack Junius with theories of consciousness as its theme.  He is presently working on another fiction book (a sort of Dan Brown of the Cotswolds) with altered states of consciousness and religion as its theme.  He maintains a Website/Blog on Consciousness and Fundamental Physics  at:  www.quantum-mind.co.uk  

I am very grateful to him for the concise write up on  Gamma Synchrony explaining the intricacies in a lucid manner. 

I have also added at the end the Abstract from the Paper by A. Lutz et al (2004) (including the explanation by David Dobbs (2005)), a few comments from the work of Z. Josipovic (2010) and the work of  E.C. Leuthardt (with regard to Gamma band and anesthesia)  -- ramesam]

GAMMA WAVE SYNCHRONY AND CONSCIOUSNESS

By Junius

This write up on Gamma Synchrony is based on the research by Lucia Melloni and Wolf Singer at the Max Planck Institute published in 2010. For further reading see, 'New Horizons in the Neuroscience of Consciousness'. The authors discuss studies that show that conscious perceptions produce different types of brain activity from unconscious percepts. In particular, consciousness is demonstrated to produce long-range synchronisation of gamma oscillations in widely separated neural assemblies. The approx. 30-90 Hz oscillation of neuronal spiking, known as the gamma wave can become synchronised across large areas of the brain. The authors suggest that the synchronisation of widely distributed neuronal activity meets some of the requirements for explaining how conscious experience arises in the brain.

Gamma Waves in EEG (from Wikimedia)

The brain comprises specialised although connected processing areas, and for these to become unified, it has to overcome the problem of representation in different modalities, such as hearing, seeing etc. In this research, it is proposed that the processing of spatially separated neuronal assemblies is bound together by means of the gamma synchrony.

Neurons are known to be synchronised into coherent assemblies, and these assemblies are suggested to signal the presence of particular features to other neural assemblies. This process is suggested to give rise to a distributed representation of the external environment. Neuronal assemblies form and dissolve rapidly, which could account for the easy shifting of consciousness from one focus to another.

Synchronisation also allows better control of interaction between neurons. Thus excitatory inputs are seen to be effective at a particular point of the oscillation cycle, but are ignored at other times. This means that groups of neurons that oscillate in synchrony will be able to signal to one another, and that groups that are out of synchrony will be ignored. This mechanism can function within neural assemblies, but also between spatially separated assemblies. The frequency and phase of oscillation can alter to influence signaling.

Studies suggest that local processing is unconscious, whereas large scale activity such as reciprocal signaling between separate neural assemblies is a correlate of consciousness. This is argued to be a 'small worlds' system, where there is co-existence between local and long-range networks. In the brain, it is suggested that the local networks are between neurons only a few hundred micrometers apart within layers of the cortex, while the long-range networks run mainly through the white matter, and thus link spatially separated areas of the cortex. It is these latter that can establish the global coordination that is correlated to consciousness.

The authors propose that masking experiments are a good way of studying consciousness, because this allows the same stimuli to be either unconscious or conscious. In a study undertaken by the authors, words could be perceived consciously in some trials but unconsciously in others (Melloni et al, 2007). Local gamma synchronisation was similar in both cases, but with consciously perceived words there was a burst of long-distance gamma synchrony between the occipital, parietal and frontal cortices. Also subsequent to this burst, there was activity that could have indicated a transfer of information to working memory, while an increase in frontal cortex theta wave activity may have indicated material being held in working memory. Words processed at the unconscious level could lead to an increase in the power of the gamma frequency range, but only conscious stimuli produced increases in long-distance gamma synchronisation, plus possibly theta activity looks to be a requirement for consciousness.  

Even the authors admit that the gamma synchronisation is just a correlate, and does not explain how consciousness actually arises. However, it does look like providing an explanation of how conscious perceptions are unified. The redness of fruit in one assembly is synchronised or entrained with the greenness of leaves in another assembly, and the blueness of sky in still another, plus the humming of bees and song of birds in the more distant but still synchronized assemblies of the auditory cortex.

One aspect which is touched on, but not enlarged on in the mainstream literature is that there is a zero or near zero time lag in the synchronisation of spatially separated neural assemblies, which bears the signature of quantum entanglement. Between 2007 and 2010, studies of photosynthetic organism demonstrated the existence of possibly functional quantum coherence and entanglement in biological systems even at room temperature, partly refuting the claims of the much-hyped (Tegmark 2000) paper.

As for constructing something that could communicate qualia, in principle anything that is physical can be built, but the prospects for something like the above in the near term looks daunting. The photosynthetic studies suggest working at the level of coherent electrons within the interior of neurons, bearing in mind that a neuron is said to be more complex than London. The difficulties of the relatively more straight forward requirements for quantum computing are not encouraging in this respect.

The gamma synchrony is just a correlate and does not explain how consciousness arises. It does, however, seem plausible that the physical basis of consciousness is in some way related to this process.  At the same time, indefinite pursuit of correlates of consciousness will not by itself yield a theory of consciousness, as correlation is not the same as identity. One of the benefits, if the gamma synchrony was seen to resolve the binding or unity of consciousness problem, would be to allow efforts to be concentrated on qualia or subjectivity which looks like the real hard problem. One has to be wary of a tendency to get bogged down in areas that are not the essential problem in consciousness studies.

*****

2.  From: A Lutz et al (2004), “Long-term meditators self-induce high-amplitude gamma synchrony during mental practice”, PNAS, 101(46), 16369–16373.

Abstract

Practitioners understand “meditation,” or mental training, to be a process of familiarization with one's own mental life leading to long-lasting changes in cognition and emotion. Little is known about this process and its impact on the brain. Here we find that long-term Buddhist practitioners self-induce sustained electroencephalographic high-amplitude gamma-band oscillations and phase-synchrony during meditation. These electroencephalogram patterns differ from those of controls, in particular over lateral frontoparietal electrodes. In addition, the ratio of gamma-band activity (25-42 Hz) to slow oscillatory activity (4-13 Hz) is initially higher in the resting baseline before meditation for the practitioners than the controls over medial frontoparietal electrodes. This difference increases sharply during meditation over most of the scalp electrodes and remains higher than the initial baseline in the postmeditation baseline. These data suggest that mental training involves temporal integrative mechanisms and may induce short-term and long-term neural changes.

3.  From: Zen Gamma By David Dobbs, Sci Amer, March 24, 2005.

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have found that during meditation, Zen Buddhist monks show an extraordinary synchronization of brain waves known as gamma synchrony--a pattern increasingly associated with robust brain function and the synthesis of activity that we call the mind.

Brain waves are produced by the extremely low voltages involved in transmitting messages among neurons. Most conscious activity produces beta waves at 13 to 30 hertz, or cycles per second. More intense gamma waves (30 to 60 or even 90 Hz) generally mark complex operations such as memory storage and sharp concentration.

The Wisconsin study took electroencephalograms (EEGs) of 10 longtime Buddhist practitioners and of a control group of eight college students who had been lightly trained in meditation. While meditating, the monks produced gamma waves that were extremely high in amplitude and had long-range gamma synchrony--the waves from disparate brain regions were in near lockstep, like numerous jump ropes turning precisely together. The synchrony was sustained for remarkably long periods, too. The students' gamma waves were nowhere near as strong or tuned.

Such results connote more than spiritual harmony; they reflect the coordination of otherwise scattered groups of neurons. Gamma synchrony increases as a person concentrates or prepares to move. And lack of synchrony indicates discordant mental activity such as schizophrenia. Finally, a growing body of theory proposes that gamma synchrony helps to bind the brain's many sensory and cognitive operations into the miracle of consciousness.

That hypothesis certainly agrees with the monks' gamma readings, seemingly confirming that Zen meditation produces not relaxation but an intense though serene attention. Trained musicians also show superior gamma synchrony while listening to music--another form of calm but intense focus.

4.  From Josipovic, Z., “Duality and nonduality in meditation research”, Consciousness and Cognition (2010), doi:10.1016/j.concog.2010.03.016.

Travis and Shear suggest that the differences between meditation styles should be evident as fairly simple distinctions in EEG signatures. There is elegance and parsimoniousness to this idea, but the reality may be more complicated. The EEG signatures of meditation tend to be fairly complex across all bands and differ, as well, with the degree of the subject’s proficiency (Cahn & Polich, 2006). Changes in the gamma band, which the authors use as one of the indicators of focused attention style, have been found in other styles of editation as well (Cahn, Delorme, & Polich, 2010). It is also questionable whether compassion meditation (Lutz, Greischar, Rawlings, Ricard, & Davidson, 2004) which produced some of the largest changes in the gamma band found in meditation to date, belongs to the focused attention style, as the authors suggest. The non-referentiality of compassion makes it more akin to meditations in the nondual or ‘automatic self-transcending’ category. Most importantly, certain aspects of synchrony in the gamma range await further clarification due to artifacts from scalp muscles and eye movement (Yuval-Greenberg, Tomer, Keren, Nelken, & Deouell, 2008).

5.  From ScienceDaily, Feb. 9, 2011: Gamma Band under Anesthesia:

(http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/02/110208093258.htm)

Dr. E. C. Leuthardt and his colleagues have used the grids to watch consciousness fade under surgical anesthesia and return when the anesthesia wears off. They found each frequency gave different information on how different circuits changed with the loss of consciousness.

Their results also showed a series of changes that occurred in a specific order during loss of consciousness and then repeated in reverse order as consciousness returned. Activity in a frequency region known as the gamma band, which is thought to be a manifestation of neurons sending messages to other nearby neurons, dropped and returned as patients lost and regained consciousness.

6.  From "Neuroskeptic" of 4 July 2011:
(http://neuroskeptic.blogspot.com/2011/07/gamma-waves-brains-clock-or-neural.html )
If you believe some recent claims, gamma waves are the answer to all the mysteries of life and the universe. They're said to underlie the symptoms of schizophrenia andautism, and they've been invoked to answer deep questions such as the binding problem and maybe conciousness itself. You can even buy a Nintendo game that promises to boost them.
A new paper from Burns et al casts doubt on all of these grand claims. Gamma-based theories of brain function all assume that gamma waves act a bit like a clock, with a consistent rhythm of about 40 Hz. Activity of about 40 Hz is indeed observed in brain recordings but is that just because the brain is randomly generating all kinds of signals, and only the 40 Hz ones "get through"?

The Art of Seeking by Javier

The Art of Seeking
By Javier
[Javier was born in Spain and now lives in Holland. A decade and half ago when he was in his late teens, he was leaden with a sense of heavy confusion – a confusion that had driven him to find a way to attain eternal happiness.  Now in his thirties, he finds from his quest that 'enlightenment' seems to be an ongoing process by ‘no-one.’  Over time he realized more glimpses of this Truth while the subtle layers of the I/ego/doer are dying day by day.

I am grateful to Javier who has been kind to share at this Blog the process of his own ‘search’.  The Reality Check he offers reads like true Meditation.  Javier will be happy to receive any comments or questions and is available at:  O_zean@hotmail.com  -- ramesam]

The Art of Seeking
by Javier

“Time is ticking.  Fast, hurry, seek what you are trying to find!”

That is what I said to myself when my seeking hit the roof. I had to do something in order to achieve enlightenment.

It all started when I was 18 years. I started doing meditation after listening to a new age program on the Dutch radio station. I am 33 now and I did not know anything about enlightenment or spirituality or whatever you want to name it. So there I was, meditating for 5 minutes each day. Thoughts were all over the place, scattered as if they came from a bombshell. I read about Buddhism online and I did not understand anything about what they said.

I didn't know anything about God/Brahman/Life itself. I was never a believer in the catholic God and thought going to church was kind of ignorance.

Going to heaven after I die? Was it my fault that I was born?
So I turned on the TV one night and Osho (an Indian mystic) said the following words 'you are not the doer, you are a watcher'. This trying to figure out who the doer was started right there that night.

So time flew but enlightenment and Self realization did not make any sense. When I was 27 or so, I typed the question on Google “who am I?”  I came to an advaita site of Ramana Maharshi. It sounded good to me. As I went to YouTube, I found other advaita/non-duality teachers talk about it. When I listened to Tony Parsons saying 'everything just happens for no one', something clicked. Surely, hearing, smelling and feeling were happening on their own accord. If ever enlightenment was that easy! I couldn't believe it. I thought I had it. I thought that it happened to someone.
Darkness, separation and no Brahman/Source/Life to be found anywhere!

Help! I saw myself as a separate doer, doing stuff in life, not knowing that that very thought of being a doer also was just perfectly happening on its own accord. SO I believed in this whole seeking mind game and all of its diverse thoughts. One day the mind started to talk in the 'you' form. So I wondered. Are there two separate selves?

But very recently things started to change. I had glimpses. They went away as fast as they came. I should be happy knowing that I was enlightened. I had it in my hands! I finally arrived.

Reality check!

Who is it that becomes enlightened?

Who is it that wants to get rid of the doer?

Who is it that seeks?

Isn't it so that all of these divine things are also happening perfectly?

So yes, writing this post is happening on by itself. And there is something still 'knowing' that it happens that doesn't require effort and pain. It is there.

This/Life itself is a knowing which knows:  

 - itching sensation on my left leg

 - deep inhalation
 - sounds
 - tapping
 - legs crossed on the ground

 -coldness on the nose

 - a thought saying ' if there is no one, who or better say what knows that this very thought is happening' 

 - smile
 - humming of the PC
 - moistening of lips
 - blinking
 - another thought saying why I wasn't aware of the blinking before
 - laughter
 - another thought saying that there is a noticing/ knowing that knows that I wasn't aware if there is an I!
So all of these things seem to happen and the ‘you’ cannot figure out this doership. You cannot surrender either or let go. It happens or not. In my case seeking was an obsession, like a day-job. The pre-thought 'I am going to wiggle my toe whenever I want' was my seeking experiment for 2 years but step by step in the story of Javier (if there is a step by step), there was an understanding that subtle actions were happening too, including concentration, sending imaginary signals to the toe, closing the eyes and forcing it to move the toe. Hilarious really but just OK. So there seems to be a process here NOW of dismantling subtle layers of belief and subtle thoughts of identification. So self inquiry into the doership can be the way. Or more correctly, there is no way ... there is only 'waying' by no one.

Life is living you. You are not having a Life. Of course, don't say this to an apparent anyone who believes they are separate. 'You' might end up in a separate isolation room!

 It couldn't have happened in another way. So trust what you know or don't know. It is one big paradox!

Journey from 'Nowhere' to 'Now-Here' by Victoria Rose

Journey from 'Nowhere' to 'Now-Here'  
By Victoria Rose

[Intense yearning to know one’s own Self (mumukshatva), as Sankara says in Vivekachudaamani, comes only through 'Grace’ – perhaps a euphemism to indicate that it cannot be explained in terms of the cause-effect relationships, a domain in which mind functions. Mumukshatva begins with the questions: ‘Who am I’ and ‘What is this world around?’ as almost all the Indian sages tell us.

Ancient lore speaks of Ashtaavakra who was said to have resolved these questions when he was still in his mother’s womb. Right here we have the story of Victoria Rose who grappled with these questions as a toddler! Language, she found out, was needed only later on as a secondary adjunct for expression of this burning desire to understand her own Self.

Victoria hails from a strictly orthodox Catholic home in the Midwest.  A born Musician, she is trained in Psychology and has a Masters in Social work. She lives now with her family in Wyoming, Michigan. Her Non-dual “Journey” from nowhere to Now Here is quite enthralling with a graphic description of the undulating terrain one passes through during the intense seeking, only to find at the end that there is in fact no displacement at all in the whole travel!  Her story of the ‘search’ to return ‘home’ forms a real-life case-study narrated in her inimitable and unpretentious manner and is quite instructive and illustrative of the 'process' involved on the ‘path.’  It answers a myriad doubts that usually arise in our minds as our own seeking goes on.

Victoria is available on Facebook with a huge network of friends.  I feel I am blessed for her ready consent to share her captivating story at this Blog – ramesam]

Journey from 'Nowhere' to 'Now-Here'  

By Victoria Rose 


Enlightenment; self-realization; awakened; fully realized; and other labels -- call it what you will -- all of these are concepts of the mind. One can only recognize one’s true nature as presence-awareness, but only right here, right now. There is no ‘future time’ that enlightenment will happen. I used to believe this and desired nothing else but to be ‘fully realized’, as I became familiar with such terms through spiritual readings. And just like many others with similar beliefs, I thought that this is how it would happen, as I waited for such a time to occur. It was always, “when I become fully awake, then there will be no more suffering, no more problems, because ‘I’ will be free from all of that for good!” Sound familiar?

Realizations, however, did happen often throughout my life that permanently transformed how I saw everything, yet, I was still waiting for some really powerful, dramatic experience, one that would define my ‘initiation’ as being ‘fully awakened’. After all, this seemed to be how it happened for well known gurus and spiritual teachers who were acknowledged to have “realized the Self“. Among some of the greatest influences in my life, nonduality seemed to be the highest teachings. It resonated with my own direct experiences revealing my true nature. However, before I go further, I should start from the beginning, from where the ‘most essential question’ occurred, as Nisargadatta Maharaj had once put it, which became the underlying driving force to know the Self.


Unaware of any journey or path, self-inquiry began at a very young age. Memories go as far back as infancy, where there was a presence, as I observed everything and everyone around me. Born the 13^th of 15 children, there was a lot to observe and absorb. One day, while sitting in a wooden high-chair at approximately 1-1½ years old, without the development of language, questions arose within. In order to express the essence of the questions, language is necessary. Suddenly, I wondered, “how did I get here? where is ‘here’? what was my existence before ‘this’? … and, who are all these ‘people‘?” I didn’t know where “I” began, and I wondered, how was it that I could suddenly just “be here”? When the questions arose, they happened all at once, in an instant, unlike linear thinking. The essence of the questions never left, but as I settled into the process of mental conditioning throughout childhood, adolescence, continuing into adulthood, they remained as a subtle part of my consciousness in the background. 

The Happenings:

In my late twenties began a more conscious effort to understand what later had a label, ‘glimpses of the infinite’. Since childhood, spontaneously and out of nowhere, I would suddenly be in a state of Oneness that is difficult to describe. It didn’t matter what was going on or whether anything special was happening that might affect my mood one way or another. In fact, these ‘happenings’ seemed to occur during the most ordinary moments. One instance, as a young child, I was swinging on a swing at the school playground by myself with no one around, when all of a sudden I was in the most blissful and joyous state, completely immersed in love! Such ecstasy! It was so immense, so much bigger than myself, and “I” melted into Oneness. These occurrences happened often throughout my life, and the essence was always the same, with the exception that somewhere in my thirties, it transformed into more of a profound deep peace that never left. These ‘happenings’ were difficult to describe as a child, not having any words to call it, yet, I tried to share it with siblings, then close friends, but no one knew what I was talking about. I thought it was normal and that everyone experienced the same. It was the most natural and familiar essence, and it felt like ‘Home’, and somehow I knew that, “I can come here whenever I want . . . life is so short, so I can get through it!” That was the ‘thought’ that accompanied the moment it happened that day on the playground. I knew this place, this space without words.

It seems funny that I would think about my life as “getting through it” -- that doesn’t sound very normal for a child to think like that. However, I already knew suffering and pain, even as a child, and was very contemplative spending much of my time by myself, despite the surroundings of my siblings, most of whom were older than me. Yet, I felt older somehow, observing being talked down to, as one would to a young child. I understood that this is how adults saw children, and so I went along, knowing that they meant well, and thought, “they have no idea what I know, and when I grow up, I will never treat a child like they don’t know anything.” I felt a natural compassion for my family.

Growing up in a very strict, religious environment, life centered around religion and going to church, where sermons were preached of a “God” who was vengeful, who punished his servants, throwing them into the depths of hell. Whether at home or at church, these beliefs tormented me, and I grew up with this fear, terrified of meeting “God” and going to hell, living with chronic anxiety the first 27 years of my life. However, despite all the anxiety, fear, and false beliefs, the ‘happenings’ would continue to occur, leaving me with much hope that what I was taught to believe couldn’t possibly be true. Still, out of survival instincts, I conformed to the teachings of the church, rather focusing on sainthood, and at a very young age started reading books about the saints and anything that had to do with spirituality as opposed to religion. That was the closest I got to learning about ‘realizing the Self’, which came later in my early thirties when, “The Power of Now” by Eckhart Tolle, was first published. Money was scarce, and as a mother of two, I was busy balancing my schedule between being a wife and mother, going to graduate school full-time, and doing an internship at a hospital neonatal unit as a medical social worker. So I had my share of daily problems, life situations, pain and suffering, while watching the endless suffering of others, which came with the job. I had no one to guide me or to explain the ‘happenings’ which were direct experiences of my true nature. But, as they were the most natural and familiar essence when they occurred, I did not see them as anything out of the ordinary, because they had been happening since I could remember, all the way back to infancy! And not that I needed affirmations to confirm what I knew through direct experience, I simply lacked any ‘labels’ to explain what to call them. The Mind wants to label everything and to understand everything, yet, I learned that no matter what explanations or labels you give it, the Mind will only be ‘satisfied’ for a short time, and then, it wants more, discarding the initial explanations, and on and on it goes! There is no satisfying the Mind.

Eckhart Tolle’s teachings were exactly what I had been looking for! His words were simple, yet profound, and strongly resonated with my direct experiences and realizations. For the first time, all of the ‘happenings’ of oneness and bliss had a label: ‘glimpses of the infinite’. Not that it mattered, because those familiar feelings of ‘Home’, of total love and uninterrupted peace were nothing other than my natural state -- not this ‘life’ filled with problems and situations that felt like a prison… but I wasn’t free… the ‘glimpses’ didn’t last long enough, and suddenly, the mind would take over again. I went through dark periods which one could equate with ‘the dark night of the soul’. These would last on and off, as I went from moments of deep peace and clarity, interrupted yet again by the mind.

The mind chatter got louder and louder, and I couldn’t stop or control it. Eckhart’s teachings point to our true nature as presence, awareness. One of the things he taught as a means to presence was to watch one’s thoughts as they arose, and know that our thoughts are not who we are, but by catching the thoughts as they arise and watching them, in that Moment, one is aware, present! So, I started to apply this to my day-to-day life, and every so often, I’d look back to check any progress, only to find that the mind had become quieter and the constant mind chatter that once dominated and controlled me had finally subsided. Then a time came when I no longer had to catch the thoughts; rather, "I" became the Witness, the Observer of the thoughts and emotions. It was like watching an “empty show” filled with fictitious characters, which “I” had nothing to do with. And there were times when I watched the ‘personality’ of this form react to certain situations, yet there was no driving force behind the reaction or emotion. How funny! And quickly, emotions would just dissipate almost as fast as they arose!

As mentioned early on, nonduality teachings seemed to be of the highest nature. My first introduction to nonduality teachings was Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj. How perfect! His words were so powerful, and as I read them, they resonated deep within my being at the core level with one potent pointer after another, each one like refreshing water pouring down upon me, hitting hard, cracking open more and more realizations, happening faster and more intensely. I could see that what Eckhart taught was the same essence of Nisargadatta’s teachings -- they just used different pointers. Other nonduality teachers whose pointers rang loud and clear and resonated deeply with my own direct experiences, were ‘Sailor’ Bob Adamson and Stephen Wolinsky (both direct students of Nisargadatta Maharaj), Ramana Maharshi, Ramesh Balsekar, Papaji, Robert Adams, Tony Parsons, and John Wheeler, among others.

One particular moment that stands out as a ‘turning point’ happened in my late thirties when my body became sick with a serious kidney infection. It had gotten out of control that I ended up in the hospital emergency room, then sent home with antibiotics. Meanwhile, the pain was so out of control by the time I was able to get the antibiotics that when I took the first dose, my body became incredibly nauseous, as I fought with every ounce of strength from throwing them up. The pain was so intense and there was no comfortable position I could get into. Not able to escape the pain, I laid there very still. And there in silence with what seemed to be the most unbearable pain, somehow the pain catapulted me into a state of Presence. It was so incredible! So much bigger than me! It was the most profound deep peace that had happened yet, and there were no needs! Nothing! “I” was perfect in that Moment. The pain of the body remained, but had fallen into the background, no longer an issue. This perfect state of peace and presence with no words or labels remained. Suddenly, the phone rang, and about an hour had passed in what was ‘no time’ in perfect presence. When I looked at the caller ID, seeing it was a close ‘spiritual’ friend, I answered it. Still remaining in this perfect state of presence and peace, I tried to explain what had happened. But in doing so, the mind slowly returned, along with the pain. However, it marked a profound reference point, in which I understood clearly that ‘I’ was not the pain, an important experience that would prepare me for what was to come a few short years later.

Life continued on with its normal, every day problems and situations, but each moment of clarity made its mark, and as an Observer of the play of consciousness, no matter what thoughts or emotions arose, I was able to quickly become centered again with peace continually present. But my greatest challenges were still yet to come, as this body continued to deteriorate physically. By the time I was in my early forties, jobs had become more scarce and the body couldn’t keep up with the production demands at work. Finally, the body came to a full STOP. I could no longer do my job, and was diagnosed with a litany of severe and debilitating diseases, disorders, and syndromes which made it challenging to do simple things like personal care, preparing simple meals, light housework, even picking up a glass of water was painful. I lived with chronic pain 24/7, and was declared officially ‘disabled‘. The pain made it challenging to remain constantly present, and for a while, I got caught up in the ‘stories’ of how things got so out of control because of “this and this”… but as long as I identified with the mind from which the stories arose, I suffered. At first I felt anger that I was too young for this to ‘happen’, but that didn‘t last, and sadness took its place, as I grieved over the loss of my ‘identity’ with the body and all its physical capabilities, over which I had no control, along with fear of not being able to take care of myself without some kind of help. As my condition worsened, the fear of dying would occur each night just before bedtime. I remained silent, not wanting to give energy to the fear, and when morning would come, the fear went with it. This continued on for several weeks. My dreams were very vivid, and then one night, I had a dream of my own death. My parents and siblings were in it. In the dream, somehow it was known that I would die the next day, and there was also a baby, whose death was also to happen the same day as mine. My family was beginning to eat supper, and my mother said that the baby could not have any food since it would die the following day, along with me. That made me very sad. I picked up the baby, holding it up before me and started crying very hard! I was more saddened by its death than my own. Then, it came for me to die, and when I died, I woke up from the dream. I couldn’t shake it off right away. I was too afraid to move or get up. And, as the day went on, I could still feel the essence of the dream. However, the feeling wore off by the following day, and several days later, it dawned on me that the ‘baby’ in the dream was ‘me’! Only in the dream, the baby was not an infant, but about the age I was when the questions first arose about my existence and how I got ‘here’. It was evident that I was witnessing my own death, both as the ‘baby’ from when the questions of my identity first arose, and as the ‘adult’ -- it represented the death of identification with this form. Since that dream, fears of death have no longer been an issue.

Another most profound realization occurred around the same time that I had the dream. While sitting at my computer, just gazing into nowhere, all at once it was clear that there was no ‘person’, no ‘individual’ in this form called, ‘Victoria’ . . . it was all consciousness -- everything was consciousness, and ‘I’ wasn’t even the consciousness. None of it had anything to do with ‘me‘. In that Moment of Clarity, the ‘I’ fell away, as did all concepts. It was most freeing! To no longer be burdened with any ‘identity’… nor did I ‘attain’ anything, rather, all that was false just fell away. As ‘I’ was never separate from my true nature, how could there be anything to attain?

This realization did not just ‘happen’ and then fade away. What was realized in that Moment continues to be in the ever-present now. The next day while driving in my car, everything was different. I saw everything as consciousness without labels. There were no problems, no fears or anxiety about anything -- just profound peace. I hadn’t seen it quite this way before, but it was obvious and ordinary and extraordinary all at once. This was the most powerful realization yet, as it changed how I saw everything from that Moment on.

Then, a few weeks later, the mind crept in once again. How could this be, I wondered? What doubts could there be after letting go of the identity with the body? Was there something that I still identified with causing some doubts? As I sat in stillness and silence, it became evident that somehow I was still ‘waiting’ for some “grand awakening” experience that would define my own ‘realization of the Self’. And since I had no teacher that I could call or ask questions in order to clear these doubts, no self-realized being that I could talk to (that I personally ‘knew’) that I could call and get a definite, “you’re good to go!” ‘PASS’ that would make it ‘official’ that I had finally ‘made it’, once more I found myself caught up in the Mind.

Somehow, everything just fell into place. I came across a book by John Wheeler. I had never heard of him before, so I was hesitant. I read that he had searched for 25 years, and then one day he met ‘Sailor’ Bob, and that, “He just laid it all out on the table. I never heard it so clearly from anybody.” [John Wheeler, ‘You Were Never Born‘] Already familiar with the pointers of ‘Sailor’ Bob, I could see how John could easily become ‘CLEAR’, as he put it. John said that after that meeting with Bob, that was it! There were no more doubts, no more questions. Very impressed by this, I started reading John‘s book, and within the first several pages, the clarity became so obvious, that at once, everything was CLEAR! I mean, everything that pointed to my true nature as presence-awareness that I had directly experienced so many times! It was all there, and it had been there all the time! All of my questions and doubts disappeared upon reading the first few pages of John’s book. It wasn’t anything new. Somehow, it was just the way that John‘s words were so clear (to me), that this time the mind was finally silent! It had nothing more to say! I emailed John, thanking him for doing for me what ‘Sailor’ Bob had done for him. Not knowing whether he would get my email or not, as I didn’t know if he received hundreds of emails daily, and/or if he read them himself, or had others read them for him. I just didn’t know. But, the very next day, John responded to me:

“Thanks for sending along the detailed e-mail. I appreciated reading about your experiences and insights. This all sounds very direct and to the point. It is great that you see that the notion that "someday something will happen in a future time" is only a presently arising concept in the ever-fresh "presence-awareness" being pointed to. With this insight, you see that what you are seeking for is already what you are, already present and already attained. This, of course, undercuts all of our previously held assumptions -- the main one being that we exist apart from the one reality or true essence.  Anyway, I am happy to hear that these basic points are clear for you!” ~ John Wheeler

And so the doubts were put to rest once and for all. It’s funny how the mind can be so persistent, creating so much doubt and chaos! Even in the presence of my true nature (how many times?), it crept in again and again, just when I thought that was it!

Teachers appear in many forms and many forms appear as teachers. Yet, there is nothing that we need to learn. We are not separate from THAT which we already are, which is presence-awareness. If you seek it, you will not find it, because you ARE it! Words can only point to it. And whatever pointers assist one in recognizing one’s true nature can be considered useful, provided one does not mistake the ‘pointer’ for THAT being pointed to.
So, if any of this resonates with anyone, please be relieved to know that the only thing standing between you and who you are is really NO-THING! Because the mind is part of the appearances and disappearances that arise and fall within Awareness. The mind is finite and will never understand THAT which is infinite, which is what you ARE. So, whatever torments you, keeping you in suffering, know that it is only the mind -- the finite mind, which cannot really come between you and your true nature. You are perfect as you are, right here, right now. There is nothing for you to do, nothing to seek, and nothing to be attained. Nor is there any ‘future time’ or ‘someday when…’ that all will be ‘realized’. You can only know your true nature as simple, ordinary presence-awareness, but only right here, right now.
For An Interview with Victoria By Non-Duality Magazine: Click here

THE STORY BY VINCENT FLAMMINI

THE STORY

By Vincent Flammini

[“Whenever doubt or worry or urgency or straining or efforting or hopelessness or certainty or ease or, well, anything arises, do nothing.  Rest. … No matter what thoughts or books or self-improvement programs tell you, You are already fine the way you are.  You are already what you are looking for – but only right now.”

Can any pointer be more direct and simpler than this?! 

Non-dual teachings come in many flavors.  Some are like stones, impenetrable.  Some are like semi-precious stones, vaguely there but not clear.  Yet others are real precious, transparent gems.  Vincent Flammini’s words are like diamonds.   For, like diamonds, his pointers too come with their characteristic 5 C’s -- Clear; Cool; Cute; Concise and Clutter-free.   The quote  with which I began this Post is an example of his teaching. The brevity of his expression and reticence in communication earned him even the sobriquet of “Lazy.”  He was very patient, kind and affectionate in clarifying many of my doubts soon after his own “search” ended.  On my persistent request, he shared the story of how his “seeking” ended about three years ago in  perhaps one of his (uncharacteristically) long of writings.  It was published in Consecration, Vol: V, No.: 3, p: 24, July-Aug 2008.  It gives me a great pleasure to reproduce it here.  A few more pointers adopted from his Blog are given at the end of this essay -- ramesam] 

THE STORY

By Vincent Falmmini

[There is always a great deal of interest about the ‘event’, when realization ‘occurred’.  There are many stories about it from many teachers, many of them very dramatic.  My intuition is that the first moment of realization – the form and tone of it – depends largely on the conditioned personality.  So, in reading this, I would everyone to see it just as another thought story arising now, that is likely not at all relevant in your life – Love, Vince.]

I had searched for years.   I tried every kind of meditation imaginable, as well as a variety of other spiritual practices.  At first, I was searching for enlightenment.  I imagined that this meant I would no longer experience pain or suffering and that I would be happy forever and even after.  After years of sitting zazen (the fundamental meditation of Zen Buddhism), the allure of enlightenment faded and I abandoned hope.  During this same period of time (years!), I lived with a great deal of anxiety; on a few occasions, it was debilitating.  It typically came in the form of an overwhelming fear of doom or death and I often lived assuming that I would die before the end of the day.  It was a time of significant suffering for me.  The search changed for me as a result of this fear and anxiety.  I tried to find ways to rid myself of it.  I tried everything and absolutely nothing worked.  Somehow, I stumbled across David Godman’s book about Ramana Maharshi.  The story of his premonition of his own death when he was sixteen resonated with me.  I read more about Ramana which led to Catherine Ingram, Ppapji, and a number of other nondual teachers. 

I read and listened to tapes and tried to ‘will’ myself into seeing/experiencing whatever it was they saw and experienced.  Nothing worked.  I looked further, finding more teachers, more tapes to  listen to and more books to read.  Frustration began to build.  I felt desperate.  I felt hopeless.  Sailor Bob Adamson’s writings helped tremendously, and he suggested I speak with John Wheeler.  John spent a good deal of time on the phone with me, doing what he could to point out the obvious.  I also spoke with John Greven, Stepehen Wingate, Joan Tollifson, Gilbert Schultz, and Annette Nibley.  All of them helped and were very generous with their time and attention, and sometimes, it seemed the ‘nickel had dropped’.  However, each time, the habitual thoughts would reassert themselves and clarity would (seemingly) disappear.  This back and forth searching and suffering went on for many years.

Just Stop Looking!:

Finally, feeling increasingly desperate, hopeless, anxious, and frantic, I called Annette Nibley again.  She suggested this approach may not be the right one for me.  Something in me clenched.  I was suddenly sitting at the top of a 100 foot pole.  I couldn’t stay where I was and I couldn’t go anywhere else.  I had tried so many paths and so many teachers.  I told her that returning to them felt like someone pouring sand in my mouth.  I had no choice.  She began describing her experience of realization to me and, as she did, something inside of me broke open.  I began describing the very same thing to her – in the moment, the current experiencing of life. Annette asked me a few questions, testing my understanding, and then said, “You are done.  It is over.  You can stop looking.  This is it.  This is realization.  This is enlightenment.”

Upon hearing that, it seemed that a tremendous, infinite, timeless, space opened.  A separate sense of ‘Vince’ disappeared.  My thoughts cleared.  There was a knowing that ‘I’ was the space.  No separation. I felt a great sense of love and connection to everything – animate and inanimate.  I also was stunned by how completely obvious it is.  It was not and never had been hidden.  This clear seeing is always happening. It has never been and will never be otherwise.  I was IT – and so was every other seemingly separate form.  There was a sense of dissolving into this great – yet ordinary – ‘Iseness’.  It was at once incredible and absolutely nothing special.  The experiencing of the realization (realizing what had always been the case) might sound extraordinary or mystical – but it was not.  It is just that from our typical point of view, it sounds unusual.  However, in the experiencing of it, it seemed obvious and ordinary – of course this is it!  How could I ever have seen it in any other way?!

If you take anything from this, I hope you see that the individual ‘Vince’ is absolutely nothing special.  You already are what you are seeking.  That which is reading these words is IT! You have never been otherwise! I swear to you there is nothing to worry about, nothing to struggle with – you are already fine the way you are.  There has never been anything wrong.  We all live in and are a vast sea of love.  Just rest.  Leave your thinking alone.  Don’t attempt to manipulate or manage your experience.  Simply rest in this simple seeing that is reading these words, hearing the refrigerator or car horns, smelling dinner cooking - the formless Knowingness of all these forms is what you are.  You are the Awareness, and the Awareness is everything.

[Vincent Flammini is 50 years old, lives in Springfield, Illinois, USA with his family.  He leads a normal life with all the usual problems of living.  He is happy to talk about any non dual / advaita related questions or questions about psychological suffering.  Just e-mail him (vflam2@gmail.com).  Vince has a blog at http://www.tryresting.blogspot.com/]

Some More Pointers:

“SEEING and SEEN arise together.
Has there ever been SEEING without AWARENESS of the SEEN?
Has there ever been HEARING without AWARENESS of the HEARD?
Has there ever been THINKING without AWARENESS of the THOUGHT?”

“Nothing needs to change in the circumstances or particulars of our lives to rest as peace. In fact, the more we attempt to manipulate and alter the particulars of our lives in order to experience peace, the further we will (seem to) move from what we want.  What to do? Nothing. Relax. Give up.”

“We only know what we are doing after-the-fact. The 'decision' to do whatever it is we're doing is 'made', that is, comes to us fully-formed. Then, we say 'I decided.' Thought is always after-the-fact. What we think of as our 'life' is only known in retrospect. Now is completely unknown.”

“Isness is you-ing you. What a relief! There is nothing to do but rest as we are.”

“Anytime we complain about anything - our coffee, the heat, the car, the kids - it is US creating our suffering in that moment. It is this believed THOUGHT/IDEA of "I" - and all of the requirements it has of life attached to it - that creates psychological pain.  Take the blame. EXPERIENCE the discomfort in the body without attempting to THINK your way out of it. Remember, it was thinking that created it. Don't try to think your way out of anything - especially thinking!  Be quiet.” 

“Allow whatever is happening right now. Right now! Really. Don't make this an intellectual exercise or, if you are, allow that. If there is agreement or disagreement, passion or neutrality, peace or war, anger or calm, happiness or sadness - allow it all. If there is great desire or no desire at all, allow.”

[Also see the Post on 21 June 2013 on Vince:
http://beyond-advaita.blogspot.com/2013/06/reboot-story-by-vincent-flammini.html ]

YOGA-BASED AND KNOWLEDGE-BASED SPIRITUAL PATHS

COMPARISON OF THE “STAGES” IN

YOGA-BASED AND KNOWLEDGE-BASED

SPIRITUAL PATHS

(Yoga Bhumikas and Jnana Bhumikas)

[Adopted from the Book "Yogataaraavali of Adi Sankarachrya"  with Commentary by Shri Kuppa Venkata Krishna Murthy, English Translation: Dr. Vemuri Ramesam, I-SERVE, Hyderabad, India, 2007, pp: 96.] 

A spiritual aspirant advances on the Yoga or Knowledge path in a progressive series of steps called “Stages.”  Ancient seers acknowledged that the true path to liberation lies through only Knowledge-based approach.  A detailed description of the stages in the Knowledge-based practices is available in varAha Upanishad, annapUrna Upanishad, yogavAsishTha and many other scriptures. 

However, Revered Shankara endorsed a synthesis of both Yoga-based and Knowledge-based approaches in yogatArAvaLi.  He did not talk of seven stages of Knowledge-based path as was given in yogavAsishTha and other works.  Though he began with an enumeration of Knowledge-based practices under the title Royal Path (Raja Yoga), he included only four stages of Knowledge-based approach viz. Uplifting the Mind (manonmaNi), Unaffectedness (unmaNi), Null Mind (amanaska) and Deep Sleep with Awareness (yoga nidra) in his discussion.  It is, therefore, instructive to compare and contrast the classification of the stages of the Knowledge-based Path with that of yogatArAvaLi and other works.

Sage Vasishta described seven stages in the Knowledge-based Path in the third Chapter: Creation in yogavAsishTha.  The seven stages are:

I.      Desire for Enlightenment (subhechcha).

II.     Inquiry into Truth (vichAraNa).

III.    Tenuous Mind (tanumAnasa).

IV.    Realization (satvApatti).

V.     Non-attachment (asamsakti).

VI.    Non-perception of Objects (padArdha abhAvana).

VII.   Ineffability (turyaga).

I.     The first stage of Desire for Enlightenment (subhechcha) involves intense desire for  detachment, longing for the company of noble persons etc.

II.    The second stage of Inquiry into Truth (vichAraNa) stands for an investigation of the meaning of scriptural statements after achieving detachment and other related qualities.

III.   The third stage of Tenuous Mind (tanumAnasa) is a reduction in desire to getting involved in   worldly affairs as an upshot of the first two stages.

Stages I to III are usually grouped together in Vedantic lingo as Listening and Reflection (shravaNa - manana).

brihadAranyaka Upanishad was the first to introduce the concepts of Listening, Reflecting and Uninterrupted Contemplation (nididhyAsana).

           i.   Listening does not imply mere auditioning of lectures given by a Guru.  It refers to a mental endeavor of eliminating the apparent (AbhAsa) contradictions in the Upanishadic declarations and to determine with convincing reasoning that all the statements together (uniformly) affirm non-dual Brahman. 

          ii.   Reflection is to dwell constantly on an unbroken stream of thought-waves that “I am the non-dual Brahman.” 

The twin acts of listening and reflection improve clarity in thinking and consequently result in a better appreciation of the meaning of the Upanishadic statements.  That in turn helps in comprehending unambiguously the essence of Brahman which is after all the final objective.  However, one’s intellect does not get unwaveringly established in truth by this process.  That is to say that the essence of truth does not manifest (in one’s mind) like an uninterrupted continuous stream.  Negative thoughts keep emerging and become impediments in having a persistent thought on Brahman because of the erstwhile habits of the mind.  nididhyAsana (uninterrupted contemplative meditation) helps to block the impediments. 

Thus nididhyAsana is an umbrella term for the remaining four stages of the Seven-stage Knowledge-based path. 

IV.    satvApatti is the fourth stage of Knowledge-based path.  satvApatti means to realize the essence of Brahman.  We have already said that such thoughts come from a constant practice of shravaNa and manana.

The practitioner who reaches this stage is called “Knower of Brahman (brahmavit).”   In spite of reaching this level and achieving an understanding that “I am Brahman”, the seeker needs to be on a constant vigil to retain that thought without break.   Otherwise there is a danger that the feeling of identification with Brahman will be destroyed by the overwhelming effects of the impressions from past births.  The 20th verse in yogatArAvaLi makes a reference to this state.

V.     It is advised in the above verse that intentions should be totally hacked.  It means that identification with body, senses and ego that existed so far should be completely eliminated.  The ego will then dissolve and a state of null-mind will be obtained.  Desire for worldly objects will vanish in that state. A longing for the Potent-Looker (Drik) gets strengthened.  The 15^th verse in yogatArAvaLi explains what is meant by Potent-Looker. 

With the mind focused on Potent-Looker, the feeling, “I am Brahman,” steadily increases.  Hence this stage is named as “Non-attachment (asamsakti).”  This is the fifth stage of the Knowledge-based Path.  The seeker who reaches this stage is christened as ‘Better Knower of Brahman’ (brahmavidvara).  The state of such a yogi is described in yogatArAvaLi in the following manner.

A seeker may achieve the meditative state of feeling “I am Brahman” through constant contemplation on Brahman.   But sometimes impressions of objective world (i.e. impressions from past births related to worldly objects) gain strength and overtake that feeling.  As a result the seeker loses that meditative state.  He will not, however, be tempted by the worldly objects because of the fact that he is already established in detachment.  Hence he regains his former state of meditation through contemplation helped by the strength of his disinterest in worldly things.

VI.   There could be many ways through which an emaciation of longing for worldly objects takes place.  For example, a reduced attraction for worldly objects may apparently result from a hopeful expectation of obtaining an immense treasure called "liberation" as a reward.  Such a decrease in desire linked to rewards does not serve any purpose.  What is important is to develop the knowledge that all visible objects are unreal.  In the light of such a knowledge and with the strength of constant contemplation on Brahman, desire for visible objects would gradually diminish.  Eventually worldly objects will not even be visible to the seeker as the process progresses.  It does not mean that he would grow sightless.  What it means is that even if objects are around and his senses cognize them, his mind will not care for them. 

With decreasing attraction for visible objects, mind gets increasingly focused on Potent-Looker.  Slowly a state will come where only the Potent-Looker manifests.  In other words, a non-dual experiential feeling that “I am Brahman” will unswervingly get established.   It results in a very intense meditative state.  It is called the stage of Non-perception of Objects (padArdha abhAvana).  This is the sixth stage of Knowledge-based Path.  The seeker in this state is termed “Master Knower of Brahman (brahmavid varIyan).”  

The fifth and the sixth stages differ only in the degree of stability though the type of meditative state is same in both the stages.  The meditative state gets easily jolted by the impressions of his own past births in the fifth stage.  The meditative state in the sixth stage, in contrast, is not affected by one’s own past impressions.  Still it is susceptible to be affected by unexpected disasters in the environment (e.g. earth-quakes, floods, tsunami, storms) or by some persons who are determined to disturb the seeker.  No sooner, however, the sixth stage seeker will be able to come back to his meditative state of identity with Brahman without difficulty.

A good example to illustrate the condition of the seeker in the sixth stage is the state of a child in sound sleep.  If the child is woken up by the mother, he may partially open his eyes and respond in some broken dialog and immediately go back to sleep.  The seeker in the sixth stage acts similarly.  Interruption in meditation of a seeker in the sixth stage is, therefore, usually compared to a flash of lightning.  The disturbance comes and goes like a flash.  A Master Knower of Brahman will fall back into his meditation the very next moment if his meditation is disturbed by others.  This stage is described in yogatArAvaLi as Uninert sleep or Deep Sleep with Awareness (ajAdya nidra).  

VII.   When the sixth stage is firmly established, it gets transformed automatically to the next and final stage, i.e. the seventh stage of the Knowledge-based Path.  Contemplation, Knowledge, Detachment, Association with noble persons, etc. lead finally to this “Ineffable (turyaga) stage.”  The seeker who attains this stage is called Excellent Knower of Brahman (brahmvid variShTha).  

It follows from the analysis presented above that there is no difference between the stages narrated in yogatArAvaLi and other scriptures like yogavAsishTha.  If any difference exists, it is merely in semantics but not in substance.  

The classification into various stages described above helps an aspirant to grade himself/herself on the path of liberation.  An outsider cannot judge the stage a seeker is in.  A seeker has to make an assessment by one's own self.   Table :1 can facilitate such a self-assessment.  Table 2 gives the name by which a seeker is known at each stage.  An ardent seeker should recognize the stage (s)he is in by making an unprejudiced and balanced appraisal of the state of his mind.  He should then strive to make every effort to get firmly established in that stage.  The next stage will then come about by itself automatically.   With the grace of the Supreme (s)he will then experience the infinite beatitude of brahman unceasingly!

Table 1:  Comparison of the stages in Yoga and Knowledge 
                based Approaches:

Stage No.	Stage in the Knowledge-based Path	Stage as per Ashtaanga Yoga (of Patanjali)	Stage as per Yogataaraavali	Promi-nent Characterist-ics  in  Brief
I.	Desire for Enlightenment (subhechcha)	Sustained Practice (abhAasa)	Steadfast Pranic Exercises (haTha yoga)	The beginning stage of practice
II.	Inquiry into Truth (vichAraNa)	Detachment (vairagya)	Listening (shravaNa)	Taking shelter under a Guru
III.	Tenuous Mind (tanumAnasa)	Savikalpa Samadhi	Reflection (manana)	Beginning of Control over Mind
IV.	Realization (satvApatti)	Nirvikalpa Samadhi	Uninterrupted Contemplation (nididhyAsana)	Get acquainted with the experiential essence of Self
V.	Non-attachment (asamsakti)	Sananda Samadhi	Unaffectedness (unmani)	Expansion of the mind to the Supreme Brahman
VI.	Non-perception of Objects (padArdha abhAvana)	Sasmita Samadhi	Null Mind (amanaska)	Stability in Meditation
VII.	Ineffability (turyaga)	Asam-prjnata Samadhi	Deep Sleep with Awareness (yoga nidra)	To stay as Brahman

Table 2:  Name of the Seeker at each stage:

Stage I     --    Seeker  (sAdhak) Stage II    --    Seeker (sAdhak) Stage III   --    Seeker (sAdhak) Stage IV   --    Knower of Brahman (brahmavit) Stage V    --    Better Knower of Brahman  (brahmavid Vara) Stage VI   --    Master Knower of Brahman  (brahmavid varIyan) Stage VII  --   Excellent Knower of Brahman  (brahmvid variShTha) WISHING ALL OUR READERS   SEASONS GREETINGS AND  BEST WISHES FOR A HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR