Open Q&A with Andrew Cohen

see you all so what I wanted to say at the beginning is that um this whole process of spiritual inquiry which is what uh pursuing the question and answer format is all about it's really the process of inquiry entering into a process of inquiry together and um teachers and students have been in engaged in this process of inquiry for millennian so it's an inherent part of spirit Spiritual Development philosophical development moral development and higher human development so it's a perennial P practice it's a perennial process but before we start I want to just make a fundamental point which is that uh the spiritual Quest at the beginning is usually the question does God exist is there an absolute primordial principle that exists that's Divine and sacred and mortal and indestructible and more primary and fundamental than anything else so for most Seekers this is the question that they start with is does God exist this is this is the this is the question that the Seeker wants to know the answer to so if the Seeker is lucky enough to find out the answer as an experience of Enlightenment which does happen occasionally to some people then they remain forever changed because now they know in their heart of hearts because they've seen this principle they've experienced it directly they know that God exists whatever God means they've had a direct experience at the level of Consciousness and cognition that this absolute principle is exists is real as tangible as knowable and it's inherently fundamental and absolute and that's why someone some that's that's what enlightenment is all about that is the experience of Enlightenment is the direct experience of this absolute principle so a lot of the process of inquiry and and asking questions to the spiritual Master this kind of process is all about the pursuit of the experience of Enlightenment of enlightened awareness how can I awaken to this fundamental and absolute principle in relation to reality itself so that's the first question and some people find the answer experience the lucky ones find the answer they go from being Seekers to finders and a lot of people never find the answer they remind they remain lost in existential spiritual confusion and and even after many years they can say with absolute confidence I don't know if God exists or not so that's not a good situation to be in but it's it's a situation that a lot of seekers are in because the answer when you find out the answer to the question if God exists and the answer is yes in the form of of a direct experience this gives one access to what I like to call spiritual self-confidence when gain spiritual self-confidence because one has directly realized recognized understood tangibly felt that God is real that changes everything so this is a source of spiritual self-confidence but in the context of this call we're having today the point I wanted to make is that just because you find the answer to the fundamental question of whether God exists or not doesn't mean that the answer to the question whether God exists doesn't answer any other questions all the philosophical and moral ethical metaphysical questions most of them still remain open-ended and unanswered what's right what's wrong what's true what's false what's moral or ethical Etc and the the life process is a very complex process it's a multi-dimensional experience of complexity inter dimensionality where so many different dimensions of reality are interlined and engaging with each other simultaneously it's full of karmic karmic complexity and there's so much confusion there moral confusion ethical confusion philosophical confusion metaphysical con confusion it's very confusing to be alive and to understand what the heck's going on here so I believe i' I've realized a long time ago and I believe that the for the realizer for the individual who has realized and been lucky enough to find out that God actually does exist for the true finder the fundamental fundamental metaphysical and philosophical and moral position in relationship to the experience of being a human being in a complex World should always be one of inquiry the the fundamental metaphysical philosophical and moral position of inquiry it means I don't know but I want to know this is the most important existential metaphysical philosophical and moral POS inner position to take in relationship to the experience of being a conscious human being that we need to be able to take if we are spiritually awake spiritually conscious which which is which is fundamentally I don't know I don't know what I would like to know and this is relationship to most important questions the reason for this is that um what I just explained the reality is very complex we live in a world of Shifting sense we live in a process of infinite change and complexity what's true what seems to be true when one minute can no longer be true the next minute everything's changing all the time like the Buddha said everything changes so in order not to not to be trapped in in rigidity in a moral ethical philosophical and metap metaphysical position of rigidity and Mythic absolutism which most religious and spiritually inspire people tend to get stuck in unconsciously without even knowing it is to remain very open in the position of radical openness is I don't know but I would like to know means I'm not sure but I would like I would like to be sure I don't know but I would like to know it's called not knowing and wanting to know and it's a fundamental position that offers us uh profound flexibility moral ethical philosophical existential men physical flexibility because the worst the worst trap for human beings is to is to be sure is is to become too sure about things called absolutism I'm right and you're wrong it's about it's a state of of of overconfidence it leads to leads to conflict and War and and all kinds of human chaos and has for Millennia seems to be continuing to be the case in a very extreme way these days more than ever so I want to encourage everybody to kind of to see your spiritual path as as as fundamentally want you need to resolve the question of whether there's an absolute principle that that that's fundamental that exists prior to anything and everything the discovery which changes everything which means to use Mythic language does God exist as if God's ex God exists that becomes the spiritual Source the metaphysical source of happiness inner Liberation and freedom and the experience of peace and spiritual self-confidence when you know and discover that God actually exists when it's been revealed to you by Grace Good Fortune Good Karma you'll be you'll be fundamentally be a happy happy person have spiritual self-confidence but that kind of Happiness enjoying spiritual self-confidence does not answer all of life's complex questions so the first question to be asked is does God exist and once we find the answer to that question we need to remain very open and non rigid non-dogmatic in relationship to every other important relative question in relationship to how how life should be lived which means I don't know but I would like to know there's very few people have the intellectual humility and the spiritual spiritual levels of Spiritual Development be conscious conscious enough of this this kind of necessity I don't know but I'd like to know because it's very easy life is so complex it's easy to get things wrong and when you're a spiritually conscious person you don't want to get things wrong because if you get things wrong if you you're not seeing clearly you make wrong judgments you'll act on those wrong judgments and you create karma for yourself and other people which is a tragedy and you'll feel terrible about it so remember a big part of Awakening to enlightened awareness is coming to the end stopping to create Karma which means acting out of imp unconscious impulses that cause suffering to other people so we want to learn how to create less Karma so one way to create less Karma to learn how to create less karma is to be is to stop being so sure of oursel all the time I'm sure I'm right and I'm sure they're wrong I'm sure I'm right and I'm sure she's wrong they're wrong and I'm right because the ego the small self the separate self the frontal self is very invested in being right and seeing itself as being right in relationship to a lot of complex human issues that are more complex than being right or wrong about anything most of us are so wrapped up in the absorbed in the ego's agenda most of the time that we can't see this we being trapped in a very small little cage this is why as far as spiritual practice spending long hours of sitting quietly in meditation practicing letting go of the mind and the cognitive processes Al together accompanied by the conscious deliberate practice of I don't know what I would like to know in relationship to very real issues in your life should I do this should I do that should I go here should I go there should I make this choice this commitment or should I get out of this relationship should I spend this money should I have this child should I love this person there's so many important questions that we need to answer for ourselves but are we approaching the these kind of complex real life relative questions from a place of Moral eth Moral ethical metaphysical humility intellectual humility and the humility means I don't know but I would like to know and it's good to start fresh every day it's good to work on this every day that's why the practice of meditation which is learning how to practice no relationship to mod mind and to thought thinking accompanied and supported by the practice of what is the right relationship to reality which is what I'm speaking about need to be practiced together not exactly in the same the same time but in in in coordination with each other these are things we have to work on because it's so easy for us as human beings to become RI fixed and rigid in our ways of thinking without even knowing it and most of us unconsciously are kind of thinking in very conditioned robotic ways about just about everything without even being aware of it and the Buddhist was asked if he was a God he said no I'm awake so being awake and balls really slowing down and learning how to pay attention to our own experience pay attention to the nature of Consciousness as it is which is the ground of inner Freedom which is the experience of meditative awareness enlightened awareness in the context of meditation and the pursuit of moral ethical philosophical metaphysical rationality and Clarity that involves a lot of introspection a lot of deep int introspection a lot of self- inquiry self- questioning self-questioning in the context of you between you and your own mind self self- inquiring question in the context of your relationships with people that you trust but really being very scrupulous very dedicated very having a lot of Integrity in how you think and how you act being a spir to me a spiritually conscious person is someone who who demonstrates a lot of Integrity in the way that they think about life including their own and in the way that they act so this the practice of inquiry which includes the practice of question and answer in this context is all part of this process I don't know but I would like to know not knowing in and of itself is not enough you also have to want to know the truth I want I want to know in this moment What's the most truthful perspective I can come upon because I'm a spiritually conscious person I want to I want to come upon the most truthful perspective so I can act with the greatest level of Integrity within my means nobody's perfect nobody nobody can act perfectly ever probably or even all the time we can't do that but we can get close to Perfection get a lot closer than we are now sincere spiritual practice should bring us closer to perfection that will never Deliver Us completely and uh failure is inevitable in this kind of process but the point is to fail less and to succeed more so that's why just to repeat it's good to take out time to reflect meditation and contemplation cont important to take our time to engage in the contemplative process of self inquiry I don't know but I'd like to know I don't know but I'd like to know and um the practice of meditation of transcending the Mind helps us to learn how to practice not knowing if you're if you're a good meditator if you're if you're if you're good at learning how to let go of the the mind your own mind you'll be good at letting you'll be good good at practicing not knowing I just forgot what the second part of the sentence was but um if you haven't if you have integrity you're really going to want to try and figure things out as as well as you can to make the Right Moves for the right reasons at the right times to the right the right context that was my little introduction for today's meeting and I'm available to answer any questions you might have about about the teaching but um I would prefer it I would ask you to please keep the questions more to the philosophical context and a metaphysical context rather than one that is very personal and the reason for that is that I'm not a psychotherapist that you may have noticed psychotherapist charge a lot more money than I do this is this is free Dharma so and also in my Bel belief system in my belief system the teaching of evolutionary Enlightenment I believe that if we if we can live in alignment with these Enlightenment principles these philosophical and metaphysical moral and ethical spiritual principles our personal Neurosis will be solved worked out through the Dharma in a much higher context than one that is purely and painfully personal enlightment occurs exists in a different dimension than dimension of the ego exists in so if the questions get too personal then I get dragged down into a lower level of Consciousness in which I'm not an expert I'm not a psychotherapist but I can help people to see lot of these personal questions from a higher perspective and the realization of the higher perspective itself can offer us Solutions different ways of seeing difficult predicaments in ways that are inherently liberating and profound and I think these days this distinction is been getting a little muddied so I'm trying to trying to keep it very clear line between these two worlds so I don't know but I'd like to know should be should become we want it to become our perennial resting place it's it's a place where we want we always want to be coming from a place of not knowing we wanting to know we want to become so deeply humble spiritually humble philosophically humble intellectually humble that we're always able to come from a place of not knowing not already knowing I don't already know but indeed I would earnestly like to know so we're very open and oh yeah what I wanted to say before was that um the problem with this kind I said it already but the problem is that the ego gets very invested in being right the ego the egos gets very invested in being the one who knows the right answer to the questions in public and in private so if your egos are invested in being right you might be holding on to a whole array of perspectives that are completely wrong but this but you don't want to let go them because it makes your ego feel better that's being spiritually dishonest and an unconscious person can be spiritually dishonest without even knowing it so this territory is is complex and confusing but um I'm here to help so if you have any questions I'd be happy to try and try and see what I can do I haven't gotten any questions yet Andrew so please write your question in the chat box if you have a question e e so now I have a few questions Andrew the first is from promote he's asking what is the significance of prayer anything offered to the invisible divine who is this offered to since in an absolute sense this is viewed as an arising in and towards the same field it appeared in so does it become a position of you praying to you well the practice of prayer or promote is done is done involves what they call the Second Face of God which you heard me speak about so the first face of God is called is the experience of the vibration of I or I am it's the conscious awareness of the source of the experience of the eye experience the I am it's a vibration of pure being that's the first face of God is I am which is the meditation object and invite bante for example the eye vibration of the I am vibration it's the first face of God Second Face of God is God is the great other the Great Thou I am nothing and you are everything I am small and you are enormous I bow before your inconceivable greatness and sub Sublimity the Second Face of God is when we experience profound humility in the face of the absolute that's a context in which the practice of prayer is engaged in we we we seek help guide and support relief from the god principle the absolute principle in the form of the great other and this has obviously been a perennial human practice practice and engagement for Millennia and continues to be today and um is powerful and the third face of God of course is God is the evolutionary process is God is it I we it God is the god is the cosmic process of evolution pantheism seeing God as his great process that we're all a part of but um from a from from the perspective of absolute nonduality there's only one perspective of absolute nity there's only one so you could say that we're ultimately praying to our own self in the form of God as the great other is what you mentioned in your question which is from a perspective of absolute non-duality is obviously always true but if if the if the if the relationship with God is the great the great other or the thou the Great Thou to be truly profound and Powerful inherently liberating we need to submit to God as the great other it's when the ego gives up not my will but thy will be done so it doesn't really work if you say not my will but thy will be done to [Laughter] yourself sounds like sounds like some kind of weird ego trip so if if if if worshiping the absolute principle in terms of the form of the great other is to be taken seriously and to have spiritual power it has to be a context in which we bow down literally or metaphysically it we bow down in utter humility and surrender to the supreme power of the great other and it is to he or she or it that we ask for help and admit powerlessness okay thank you Andre it helps clarify because sometimes uh it seems that a prayer arises on its own accord and that's what led to questioning what's happening yeah sure it might it might help if you get down on your knees when that happens if you start to feel these very devotional feelings they express submission and surrender if you feel them rising in in your heart heart it might be good to bow down to to to let yourself be swept up and swept away in in these devotional feelings it'll help it can help help you to transcend the ego transcend the mind and let the power of prayer really overwhelm you if that happens but it's good for those of us who live the spiritual life in Earnest promote for those of us who live the spiritual life in Earnest including you it's good to do spiritual practice in the con in the context of kind of a conscious experience of devotion and submission we consciously embrace the Second Face of God as part and parcel of our spiritual practice is an inherent part of our spiritual practice and engagement so we're not treating the absolute principle like our best friend or like our buddy like our bro we say no you thou art that thou art my own true self in the in the form of the greatest most unimaginable goodness and and greatness that exists in the universe you are everything and I submit unconditional to you it's very good to it's very helpful to help us to transcend this small s through the ego challenges our postmodern sensibilities for sure what's so what if we are truly to awaken to Enlighten awareness then our postmodern Sensibility must be challenged along with our premodern modern and metamodern sensibilities also okay thank you Andrew thank you the next question is from Moren she is asking I know the answers to spiritual questions before I can ask them what is this is it ego uh I don't know depends if you depends if you have the questions right or wrong I I can't I can't know without knowing what the question is and what the answer is it could be a sign that you're enlightened or could be signed to an egomaniac it's hard to tell without knowing the actual question and answer but if you feel that the answers are coming spontaneously from a part of you that exists beyond your mind and the ANS is feel from a perspective of your awakened intuition inherently true and coming from a place of kind of great depth and poignancy then you might be on the right track you might be in touch with some real radical depth and uh spiritual potential that seems to be more what it is what you just described yes I I think I've had fear of ego as I experience this and that's why I asked that question but it does seem more sincere powerful um beautiful actually well you should trust it then the fact that you're afraid you're afraid of the ego is good it's a sign of your humility it doesn't mean you shouldn't you shouldn't trust the deepest part of your own self that's why in a lot of these the metaphysical Traditions including this one we make a distinction between small self and big self true self and false self it's for this reason because in the enlightenment Traditions tell us that there that your true self Mar my true self is already liberated it's is already self liberated just needs to be just needs to be realized it's it already exists it's already free mean Marine as her true self is already liberated Marine as her ego is not so Marine awakens to her true self from the perspective of her true self she's already liberated she's already enlightened and when you realize that my dear then you say well that's a pretty good deal when you start to experience the pulsation vibration of your true self already awake in you Awakening to itself within you you realize that Liberation is already at hand doesn't EX in the future it exists inherently right now in the form of your own true self it just needs to be realized recognized surrendered to and accepted and that's a great gift now the eego I like that okay I like that that's a very good deal yeah that that really helps me because it is I feel like that that that's a very good good deal yeah because it means you're already home it means you don't have to go on a long journey it means it's the level of the true self you are always already there that becomes your own Good Fortune then all you need to do is rest into that recognition rest into that knowledge with with trust and faith and surrender then your Liberation is accomplished it just has to be lived thank you very good thank you so much the next question is from moan hi Andrew G I'm finding it very difficult to focus on self-awareness I struggle to say no to people like Beggars because I feel a strong connection with everyone I meet while this is sometimes works well at other times it scatters my focus can you read the question again hi Andre G I'm finding it very difficult to focus on self-awareness I struggle to say no to people like Beggars because I feel a strong connection with everyone I meet while this sometimes works well at other times it scatters my my focus well M I think we all have those kind of problems so it doesn't sound it doesn't sound like such a big problem sometimes hello yes Andre g hi hi hi it's like more it's it's like more more of egocentric that is kind of a facing that uh my mind these days like more more of egocentric like just not uh able to allow myself uh yes so yeah I understand what you're saying but I I would encourage you not to make a problem you turn off your microphone you turn off your micone microphone we get a lot of noise you have to turn off your microphone please that's better thank you so so the mind the mind and the ego can be Troublesome can be annoying like pest or you don't have you turn off the microphone but don't turn off your camera moan turn your camera back on not the [Music] microphone it looked like he had to attend the situation there and Enlightenment in daily life in India okay let's keep going shall I give you the next yeah next question is from Natalia and she is asking Namaste what is the main qualities of Consciousness thank you Freedom Bliss peace unconditional Freedom Bliss and peace how's that sound yes it sounds uh sounds good why I ask this question because um uh sometimes I I meet um criticism and you know like somebody want to tell you oh this is not conscious uh not conscious act or something the the teachers like to say that kind of things Natasha yes yes oh hi where are you in Russia okay I didn't recognize you I recognize your voice I see okay go say the question again sorry so sometimes the the teachers um say say tell us to something with the criticism with the maybe in a from the good intention but it sounds like don't do this this is unconscious act so that's why this question came to me that what is the main qualities of the Consciousness I think it's uh first of all love on the first place and then this criticism and something that you doing wrong or something well I think the issue here Natasha is that we want to learn how to come from a pure motivation you understand the word motivation so we want to look we want to understand what's P pure motivation and in the enlightenment context there's we make a distinction between egoic motivation and more of a pure motivation that where there's no no ego or self-interest so is our actions and choices coming from a pure motive a pure motivation or is are we small-minded and selfish so as we spiritually developed we want to go from being small-minded and selfish to to expressing more of a pure spiritually inspired motivation and if you get to know people you can tell over time people's relationship to sex relationship to money relationship to trust trustworthiness get to you get to find out what somebody's what somebody cares about and whether someone has a pure motivation or whether they're ultimately a selfish person and it takes time because most people you can't tell right away you can you can meet a you can meet a person who can seem very selfless and very trustworthy but then you may find out over time that they're not that they're actually very selfish and small-minded have a big ego and other other other people are can be very very be authentically beautiful and very selfless very spiritually developed it takes time to find out these things and a big part of Spiritual Development is cultivating these is cultivating this capacity to have a pure motive or pure motivation learning how to cultivate this capacity for Pure pure motivation and Rel relationship to the choices we make and the actions we take in life and and someone who who expresses pure motivation is someone who's spiritually trustworthy which means they won't take advantage of your kindness or your compassion or your love your generosity that's very rare make sense yes exactly it's how it is that's what I actually meet now in my life I meet many um different um knowledge systems everything is very different like ADV Fourth Way School different things and it's exactly how you say it takes time it takes time are you coming to India this year yes coming soon oh good it would be nice to see you again yes we see us very soon okay good thank you Andrew thank you the next question is from Carrie she is asking what do you say to the thought that it takes a healthy ego to surrender the ego and how does just learning about the levels of development Aid the process of growing up well I think we could say Carrie that a the The Urge towards higher Consciousness which which is experiences the urge towards surrender of the ego for for a higher higher possibility is is an expression of spiritual health when I met Carrie when I met my Guru I said to him I want I'm ready to die but I don't know how I said I said to him I heard myself say to him I'm ready to die but I don't know how so that's the that was the expression of a spiritually healthy higher aspiration which is called ego death and that and from a spiritual point of view from an Enlightenment perspective that's very that's considered to be a very positive Direction not from the ego's point of view but from the true self perspective it's considered to be the a sign of spiritual health and well-being to want to die to the ego so I don't know if I don't know if that mean that's a sign of egoic Health but it's a sign of spiritual health it means that sooner or later your ego's going to be de going to be met with its own death and means and when it's when something very mysterious happens when you Carrie or me whoever we are when you when you whoever you are or me Andrew whoever I am begin to desire ego death or ego Transcendence it's a very mysterious desire because it doesn't come from the ego we're living in the ego all the time but suddenly suddenly we awaken to a part of oursel it wants to die to the prison of ego that we feel that we live in all the time unknowingly this is a sign of spiritual health spiritual well-being spiritual growth not necessarily ego stren ego ego well-being what was the second part of the question Daniel how does learning about the levels of development Aid the process of growing up well the if you learn about the levels of development you get it gives you a map you get a developmental map you get a map of the stages of consciousness stages of Consciousness Consciousness development and this map the map of these stages gives you a clear picture of the trajectory of the evolution of Consciousness for all for all human beings so when you can see this objectively from from a perspective of intellectual Clarity can helps you to start to see that Consciousness exists on a developmental spectrum and when you can see it helps to give you this big picture of reality this big picture of reality in the form of conscious the conscious life when Consciousness becomes self-aware it awakens to itself as within this developmental process and you then you can help you to see clearly where you've been where you've got where you're coming from where you've been where you have come from where you are now and where you're the direction of the future where you're aspiring to grow towards and into in the future and it can help give give one a lot of confidence the whole concept of evolution Evolution as it relates to Consciousness itself it helps one is one F gives helps to give one Faith oh it's true Consciousness is evolved and Consciousness is not stuck in a finance fixed place but is part of the developmental process Consciousness from an evolutionary point of view is a work in progress It's a process that's in progress It's going somewhere new higher deeper so it helps you to see where you've come from where you are now where you where you're potentially going in the future in this lifetime or in future lifetimes this can help to give you a lot of confidence spiritual self-confidence about not being inherently stuck but seeing yourself as as being inherently part of a process it's going somewhere we're all part of a process that's going somewhere but most people don't know it most people aren't aware of it but when you see it clearly you become aware of it it gives you a lot of confidence in the third face of God we call the process perspective it's very spiritually enlivening and spiritually inspiring means oh I'm going somewhere I often refer to as way as as you realize that you're on a moving train you're not stuck Consciousness is not stuck even if it feels at times like you may be stuck that your ego may be stuck it's a small part of a much bigger picture where we're all we're all moving it's like we're part of a an ocean a body of water that's moving conscious Consciousness is moving we're all moving moving moving on an evolutionary trajectory and when you realize that that's the case it's very uplifting it's very encouraging it's very inspiring thank you sure the next question is from Rodney he is asking when asked who and what am I what flow of awareness comes to mind for you nothing particularly nothing particularly because Rodney I think that since my Awakening in 1986 I take for granted I take for granted at a preconscious level who who I am as Consciousness and the source of Consciousness itself so I don't have a particularly dualistic relationship to the deeper dimensions of myself I take them for granted in in a very positive sense of what that means I presume that that's where I'm coming from that's who I am not in a dualistic way but in a in a in a pre from a preconscious attitude of of already knowing that to be the case and not doubting it my Guru made very clear to me that the that the difference between he said Andrew the difference between enl and unenlightenment is doubt difference between Enlightenment and unenlightenment is doubt so when you stop doubting it's the end of Duality so when I put my attent so when I put my attention on the source of Consciousness in that way I don't have a particular experience just take it for granted what I'm hearing you say is that and I'm hearing you say is you're experiencing your yourself as made of awareness as as as a pure expression of open empty awareness without an agenda without a perspective it's just available to whatever arises am I hearing that right on a good day definitely okay yeah okay on a good day definitely but that you said it more beautifully than I could but the the the the issue just to make clear in terms of the our our dialogue here is that um is that Consciousness can be a felt experience which you beautifully described if it can be a felt experience and it can also be a precog a precognitive knowing and it's important to know they're both equally valid what creates The Duality is the doubt but when there's no doubt there's no Duality I don't know when I posed the question I was coming from um I really appreciate what you said because it's beyond where I was coming from uh but what I was thinking of is um yes I'm made of awareness when what am I I am an expression of this incomprehensible mystery which we we experience as our our universe and my conscious is one with all of you with all Consciousness and but the uniqueness of my perspective is is only rooted in the fact that I have different DNA and different life experience and culture and background it's not that the awareness itself is any different than yours or or everyone else here or anyone who I might find frustrating and irritating as well as love uh that that it's all we're all made of that one thing and the the the my experience of a separate self or my experience of of ego whatever is just a kind of reification of my perspective not really anything real just it's relatively It's relatively real yeah that's right it an illusion can be real it's a real illusion we like to make the distinction between that which is relatively real and absolutely real oh thank you so that which is absolute is absolutely real that which is relative is relatively real that which is relatively real has some reality to but is relatively real but it's not absolutely real yeah is much more more helpful way to think about it I just want to add wanted to add to the discussion that um in terms of the I agree with every you stated very clearly so you're you're very articulate you have a good clear understanding of the territory we're speaking about so you express yourself very well just want to add to it that the cognizance of Consciousness and the cognizance of Consciousness can be experienced at different levels of depth between as and different individuals that goes back to the stages of development in some ways no not necessarily that's that's that's more the growing up part the wak I'm thinking about the waking up part which is just the co the Cog Consciousness the awareness that the awareness of the infinite nature of Consciousness so yeah that can be experienced at a very superficial level as very mild and can experience it it can be deeper and deeper and deeper and de deeper and deeper felt experiences of the depths of the ocean of Consciousness in oneself even though we're all we're all experiencing the same Consciousness as you described it we're not all experiencing that Consciousness at the same level of depth than you very much the more of the depth we experience the more enlightened we are thank you thank you the next question is from Aura it's two parts uh the first is could you please explain what is supermental consciousness and the second question is how can we catalyze exponential growth in Collective Consciousness and bring about positive systemic change well in terms of the question for the further about supermental Consciousness you have to ask Sor bindo which is right I think that's the term he uses so I can only guess it what he meant but supermental Consciousness would be would be the expansion of consciousness beyond the small self beyond the ego which would be the the transcendental Consciousness and I would and I would I would choose to interpret what he meant by the supermental Consciousness as the awareness of of ego transcending Consciousness that is out that is propelled by Evolution it's the become it's the becoming of the universe becoming conscious of itself as The evolutionary impulse as the psychic being this is a trans egoic evolutionary aspiration that we experience as the psychic being waking to that ecstatic evolutionary compulsion in the universe Awakening to itself in Awakening to itself within us and when we transcend it the small self it's like yeah that's my understanding of that that clear wait yes thank you and the second part of the question was danela how yes how can we catalyze exponential growth in Collective Consciousness and bring about positive systemic change well it's like it's like doing anything else where it's it's by coming together with other people that are committed to that committed to creating the most perfect conditions to that would give give rise to exponential growth on a collective level so if you create the most ideal conditions for exponential growth to be catalyzed it will and it just depends how how important it is to us how much time we put into it how committed we are to it but the more committed we are with more other people that are committed we come together to do to to catalyze the wakening of Consciousness on an individual Collective level and it can happen quickly but uh the problem tends to be that for most people this is a hobby it's something we do in our spare time it's something we do in our spare time but if you meet other people who are fully devoted to the exponential growth and emergence of higher Consciousness and this can become electric and profound and supremely powerful and this then the superal context Comes Alive between us so when you enter into a collective context like that you feel there's something there something there there there's thee there's the metaphysical presence of this evolutionary aspiration is being felt between these individuals not not not just from within each individual but between the individuals there's this evolutionary aspiration that can feel as a as a palpable vibration itself so that that would be when this supermental aspiration was being shared as a conscious experience together which is what I'm trying to give rise to by the way but it's if it's a very uh it's a very it's a very esoteric aspiration it's a perennial human aspiration but it's a very esoteric aspiration because it's very happens it happens in this very his higher and very refined States Of Consciousness and also his very high and refined expressions of human ambition you know profound spiritual ambition when the Awakening of profound spiritual ambition in a group of individuals who want to do something miraculous together we want to give rise to that which is truly miraculous together and it it becomes it becomes the our primary spiritual aspiration and uh and our motivation in life is to give rise to supermental presence of the supermental intelligence really so we can give rise to a different world does that answer your question yes thank you okay this was the last question and that was a good one questions were very good is there any other questions so pora you understand how in evolutionary Enlightenment we we we make a very important distinction between and it's a very esoteric distinction most people don't know about it between the the being Enlightenment and becoming Enlightenment youw that distinction so I use rammen Mahari as the primordial most profound expression of being [Music] enlightened and S orindo is the most profound expression of becoming enlightenment so one one is the experience of Enlighten the enlightenment of pure pure being pure isness the other the other is about Awakening to Enlightenment that's going somewhere it's on it's on an adventure it's on a journey towards the future and they're both very powerful expressions of Enlightenment but they're very different they're they're power oxic and embracing these two dimensions of Enlightenment is a very fundamental practice in the in in the teaching of evolutionary Enlightenment we want to we want to learn how to make this distinction philosophically metaphysical metaphysically and experientially we know what the difference is philosoph philosophically and metaphysically we know what the difference is level of our own personal experience there's ego Transcendence and The Awakening to the being enlightenment this ego Transcendence in The Awakening to the becoming alignment but they feel very different the in the being alignment we transcend ego in the experience of peace and Stillness silence emptiness The Becoming Enlightenment is the Awakening to The evolutionary impulse the current of Consciousness that's moving towards the future where Consciousness is evolving and complexifying going somewhere that's the experience of of ecstatic potential it's calling us from the future and they're different states of Consciousness that's the point they're different states of Consciousness they're paradoxically very very different but they're both expressions of Enlightenment and I think to understand the meaning and significance of Enlightenment in the 21st century from the perspective of this teaching we need to become experts at both of these forms both of these states of Consciousness terms of at at an experiential level and also at a level of understanding significance of one and the significance of the other and how they work together create a full picture you understand good well it's been delightful everybody thank you so much I really appreciated your questions and the sincerity of the questions thought felt like we went very deep so I really appreciate it thank you so much everybody thank you