Robert Barry

Chapter One

The States of the Human Existence

What is the truth? If you experienced the truth would you recognize it? If you recognized the truth would you be able to convey the truth to someone who has not experienced it? Would you even want to? Here are my thoughts.

Before I begin, let me say that this book is not meant to be in anyway religious or spiritual. I guess at this stage you will just have to take my word for it. This book is also not meant to challenge your beliefs or to replace them. If your beliefs work for you, give you support through your life, then I suggest that you may not want or need to discard them. Why discard something that works? Furthermore, this book is not aimed at challenging any established scientific theories or attempting to explain new ones.

The objective is to try and explain the different states of the human existence, the differences between them and how to go from one to the other. I believe a good starting point would be to explain that there are three different states of the human existence, which could be more aptly referred to as systems in which we reside. The three systems are, a belief based system, a knowledge based system, or the absence of both and to which I will refer as a vacuum or a void. These three systems are mutually exclusive. Furthermore, only two of these systems are

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permanent states of existence; the belief based system and the knowledge based system. The vacuum, by its very nature, is unstable and will always seek to fill itself and thus it is a temporary state of existence.

The Vacuum

Although it is difficult to talk about any one state of existence in isolation, I will talk initially about the vacuum as there is very little to say about it and it can be dealt with quite readily.

The majority of babies will be born into neither the knowledge based system nor the belief based system and thus will reside temporarily within this vacuum. Only newborn babies can reside within a vacuum for any prolonged period of time. Eventually all babies will more than likely enter the belief based system. Let me explain how this happens. Imagine there is a six-month-old child sitting on the floor. You sit behind it so that you are not in its field of vision. You present it with a ball. The baby takes the ball in its hand. What will the child do with the ball?

It’s possible that the child, after licking and biting the ball, may throw the ball. After the ball has come to rest the child may watch it for some time waiting to see what the ball will do. If the ball after coming to rest does nothing further, the child may with outstretched arms reach for the ball indicating that it wants the ball again. If you put the ball back in the child’s hands it may throw the ball again. The child may repeat this procedure over and over again. This action by the child may be perplexing for

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any adult to watch as they don’t understand the repetitive nature of the child’s actions.

The reason for the repetitive nature of the child’s actions is because the child does not know that the ball will do the same thing every time it is thrown. Maybe on the fifth or sixth throw, the ball will behave in a different manner. Until the child throws it for the fifth or sixth time it will not know how the ball will behave. The child stops throwing the ball because after several throws the ball has done the exact same thing every time. The child now believes that if it continues to throw the ball, the ball will do the exact same thing every time. The child of course doesn’t know this to be true, how could it, but rather it believes it to be true. The child has now adopted a belief based system which will grow in complexity and strength over its lifetime. For babies, movement from a vacuum to the belief based system happens gently to limit the pain the newborn may suffer.

Many people often wish to return to this state of existence later in life. However, as adults we do not refer to it as a vacuum or void but refer to it instead as a state of enlightenment.

The state of enlightenment is the vacuum of which I speak. Today, it has become the new religion and it continues to grow in popularity as conventional mainstream religions fail to answer our questions and to meet our needs. Many seek enlightenment for different reasons. Some believe they will find the answers to their questions, some look for fulfillment and others hope to find peace.

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Many like to say that they have achieved enlightenment because it is something to aspire to and it is believed to set you apart from and dare I say above the non-enlightened. The ‘enlightened’ like to tell you about the spiritual path they traveled and exactly what they did to achieve this illusive state of enlightenment. Many proudly reveal that they underwent hours, days, months, years of meditating, praying, chanting, yoga, vegetarianism, attending darshan and satsang with realized beings (whatever that means), donating money to charities, reading profusely and widely spiritual literature, purifying themselves by drinking a concoction that some Tibetan monk gave them and abstaining from life’s temptations such as alcohol, drugs and sex.

The enlightened say things like the path they followed raised their vibrational frequency. However, as nobody really knows what it means to be enlightened, spiritually or otherwise, nobody can challenge the veracity of their claim. Ask the enlightened to describe what it’s like and it all becomes a bit fuzzy. Ask them how they achieved enlightenment and you are in for a very long and equally unenlightening story. Seekers of enlightenment often use coined terms and buzz words such as one truth, ultimate truth, be at one with the universe and no-self is true-self which they believe is some kind of catch-all explanation.

This is how a leading expert in spiritual enlightenment, Jed McKenna1, who himself is enlightened, tries to teach a student who is seeking enlightenment;

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‘Enlightenment isn’t when you go there, it’s when there comes here. It’s not a visit to the truth, it’s the awakening of truth within you. It’s not a fleeting state of consciousness, it’s permanent truth-realization; abiding non-dual awareness. It’s not a place you visit from here, this is a place you visit from there. For instance, I myself am enlightened, right here, right now. I am free of delusion and unbound by ego, and although I have had the great fortune of experiencing mystical union on several occasions, I am not presently in that state and I have no plans to return to it.’

As this may not be very clear, he does go on to explain it. He entitles his explanation simply Paradox and I must admit, it’s a beautiful and inspired piece of literature. Here we go;

‘You will never achieve spiritual enlightenment. The you that you think of as you is not you. The you that thinks of you as you is not you. There is no you, so who wishes to become enlightened?

Who is not enlightened? Who will become enlightened? Who will be enlightened?

Enlightenment is your destiny – more certain than sunrise. You cannot fail to achieve enlightenment. Were you told otherwise? Irresistible forces compel you. The universe insists. It is not within your power to fail.

There is no path to enlightenment: it lies in all directions at all times. On the journey to enlightenment, you create and destroy your own path with every step.

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No one can follow another’s path. No one can step off the path. No one can lead another. No one can turn back. No one can stop.

Enlightenment is closer than your skin, more immediate than your next breath, and forever beyond your reach.

It need not be sought because it cannot be found. It cannot be found because it cannot be lost. It cannot be lost because it is not other than that which seeks.

The paradox is that there is no paradox.’

Beautiful right? And makes absolutely no sense! If you wish to be a seeker of enlightenment, I wish you the best of luck. I guess you could be doing worse things with your life. However, I can categorically say, and I feel compelled to say that this book has nothing to do with spirituality, enlightenment or spiritual enlightenment – if there is a difference between the two. This book presents to you the three different states of the human existence and how you can go from one to the other. More particularly this book concentrates on the two permanent states of existence and how you can go from one state of permanent existence to the other using a clearly defined method, which is almost two thousand years old.

Before I leave the topic of enlightenment let me describe it in relation to the different states of the human existence. Then should you wish to continue its pursuit, you will know exactly what you are pursuing, how to pursue it and when you have found it.

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Enlightenment or spiritual enlightenment is not the knowledge based system of which I speak. I truly hope that this was clear, but I did feel the need to delineate this fact because the word enlightenment is often used to suggest knowledge. The best way to describe enlightenment is to imagine that the belief based system is a sphere and that you reside on one of its diameters. To the left of the sphere’s center is negative belief and to its right is positive belief.

Don’t confuse negative with bad and positive with good. Let me give you an example. To the right of center, one might believe that ice-cream tastes good, and equidistant to the left of center, one might believe ice-cream does not taste good. All beliefs reside within the belief based system. At the center of the belief sphere is the vacuum. Enlightenment is the state of experiencing this vacuum. You will find that as you try to approach the vacuum with intent, you may overshoot it. For example, you may start on the right side believing in God, overshoot the center, and find yourself not believing in God in equal measure. Of course, the opposite can also happen. Like a pendulum you may swing from one side to the other for some time which will create a great deal of change, confusion and frustration in your life.

Meditation is often used in one’s path to enlightenment. Meditation is a means of trying to extricate oneself from the belief based system. You can only ever approach this result without successfully achieving it because you cannot permanently reside within a vacuum nor reside within a vacuum for very long for obvious reasons and as I have already explained. Meditation

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reduces the energy invested by the meditator in the belief based system. This results in a reduced amplitude of the pendulum swing, allowing the pendulum to more closely oscillate about the center or vacuum. As the energy of the pendulum decreases and the amplitude of its swing lessens you will approach the vacuum. When as much of the energy as possible has been removed from the pendulum, it may oscillate quite slowly about the vacuum providing a certain residence time therein or the pendulum may temporarily cease to oscillate providing brief residence within the vacuum before beginning to oscillate again.

During meditation you may be disturbed by internal noise, such as a thought or thoughts, or external noise, such as the sound of traffic. These noises will add energy to the pendulum, pronouncing its swing and rendering you further from the vacuum. This is the journey of the one who seeks enlightenment, and therefore each path to enlightenment will be different as there are an infinite number of diameters within the belief sphere.

The vacuum itself contains neither belief nor knowledge, nor can one reside there permanently. Those who have experienced this vacuum, claim to have achieved enlightenment. The only problem I have with this word is that it’s defined by some as the state of having knowledge or understanding. This is not correct. Within the vacuum there is neither belief nor knowledge and thus the use of this word to describe this state of existence is a misnomer. The enlightened also describe the occurrence of enlightenment as a temporary state of bliss. This I wouldn’t entirely disagree with to the extent that ignorance is bliss

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and as I have already said, residence within the vacuum is temporary. Lack of knowledge can often result in blissful happiness as it is often more comfortable not to know certain things. However, on entering the knowledge based system, I do not promise you ignorance, bliss and eternal happiness. What I promise is the truth.

Almost all people currently reside within the belief based system and thus the belief based system will be well known, though this may be the first time you have ever heard the term. The belief based system has greatest effect, control and strength when one’s mind is in the past or future and can lose a lot of its strength in the present. Likewise, the vacuum is more readily achievable when one’s mind is in the present. This is because like suits like. The past is strongly subject to opinion, as is the future and the belief based system is built on opinion. The present, however, can be more accepted for what it is and thus can be less strongly subject to opinion.

The belief based system only exists when you leave the knowledge based system because outside of the knowledge based system you must have an alternative permanent residence because you cannot permanently reside within a vacuum because of its very nature. Therefore, as those who have achieved a state of enlightenment will agree but may not know why, you cannot reside in a permanent state of enlightenment. Why? Because you cannot reside within a permanent state of vacuum. A vacuum is unstable and will always seek to fill itself.

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There is an underlying residual effect of being within a vacuum that cannot be fully understood because the residence time is so brief. Therefore, it can only be written about by those who have experienced it, in such vague terms that even they don’t understand but rather they recognize the vacuum on a level commensurate with the time they dwelt there within. Clear? Okay, let’s move on to the important stuff!

The Belief and Knowledge Based Systems

As I previously said, almost all people currently reside within the belief based system and thus the belief based system will be well known. What I mean by almost all is in fact all. Not a single person on this planet today resides within the knowledge based system. I do understand, however, that I am not the only one living today who has witnessed the knowledge based system.

The best way to describe the belief base system is to imagine your life within a room in which there is no light. There is no light because you are wearing a blindfold. You were born wearing this blindfold. As you experience the room in all the ways that you can, you develop certain views about the environment in which you live. A lot of the views you adopt in life will have been influenced to various degrees by your parents and the education and experience you receive over your lifetime. However, at the core of one’s experience in the belief based system is fear. Because you reside in darkness, the overriding emotion will always be fear. When you remove your blindfold, you will leave the belief based system and enter the knowledge based system.