The image that you have of yourself in your mind is not a true reflection of the Self. It is not as if you are seeing yourself in a mirror. What you are seeing is an image that you have created of yourself in your mind.

Images of the Self are created according to the Self’s opinion of what the Self is. Opinions can change and so alter the image that the Self has of itself.

The Self’s true image of what it is cannot change because it existed before the Self began to intentionally create anything according to its desire.

The Self’s first image is its true image, and it is this original image that is replaced due to interaction with the physical/material realm, and the influence of those who have already forgotten their true image.

The true Self is incorruptible, and so is its true image, and the part of the mind that the Self’s true image exists in. These things never change; they are eternal, so is the unconditional Love and Truth contained therein. This is the place where your life journey began, and it is the home that you seek to return to.

It is a wise person who asks the right questions, and the question ‘What am I?’ leaves the Self open to the influence of ego, so the wise question to ask is; ‘What am I not?’

The Self is not what it has created, but rather it is the creator. The mind is not a mirror, it is more like a book on which images can be drawn and seen by the Self which observes them. The observer is not that which is observed.

An image of the Self in a mirror is not the Self, if it were then there would be two of you. Likewise an image of the Self in the mind is not the Self. There is only one Self regardless of how many images the Self creates of itself.

When people ask themselves the question; What am I? it is an indication that they have forgotten their first and true image of the Self. It is also an indication that they have begun to realize what they are not. This is the true meaning of the awakening. It is the beginning of the search for knowledge of the true Self. It is a search for the Self’s first image of itself before that image was left behind and forgotten.

In the beginning when the Self first became aware of its existence, it found itself in an empty space, i.e. a virgin mind, and it’s very first thought to be formed in that mind was; ‘I AM’. The second thought that was formed in the mind was a question; ‘What am I?’ The Self then answered that question by forming a personified image of what it felt itself to be, and that true image of the Self formed in the mind.

I will tell you a mystery. This first image of the Self is referred to in the book of Genesis, Chapter one, as the first man to be created. It is the original personified image of the Self, and it was formed in the undivided conscious mind we refer to as Heaven.

What you have to realize is that all that is formed in the conscious mind is then copied as a memory in the subconscious mind, which is referred to in Genesis as ‘the Earth’. The second man to be created in Chapter two was formed from a memory (dust of the earth) of the first personified image in Chapter one.

When the Self focusses its attention on an image of itself, it experiences life through that image.

When the Self created Adam from the memory of its first image, it then had two images of itself to experience life through, (one the original and the other a copy) and both were in a state of grace.

It is when the Self forgets its first and true image that it no longer knows where it is going or why.

Listen and understand

Your first image is your true image, and that image still remains in your Superconscious mind. It was through that true image of the Self that you experienced life in the beginning. It was a life of bliss and peace, a life in which you experienced the fulfilment of divine Love, the Love of the Truth, and Love for the Self.

So what happened to that blissful, beautiful experience of life? What was the cause of its loss? And how do you find your way back?

Whatever is created in the conscious mind, is also replicated as a copy in the subconscious mind for remembrance. This includes the Self’s original image.

A copy of an original is not the original, a copy always exists separate from the original. Therefore when the Self created a copy of the original image of itself, it then had two images from which to experience life through. In the beginning the Self’s copy of its image was a perfect copy, but there was a difference in that the Self’s original image was incorruptible, but the copy was not.

Do you not see what is wrong? You are experiencing life through a corrupted image of your True Self, and because of this you do not know your True Self anymore. I am here to remind you, and to show you how to once more experience life through your true image.

Before I go further I want to be sure that you have understood the following:

• The Self that you refer to as ‘I’ is an immortal unchangeable sentient being (living, conscious, aware).
• The Self’s original and true image is unchangeable, because it is of Love and Truth.
• These things are the same for all sentient beings, and that is why all sentient beings are worthy of being loved.
• In the beginning all sentient beings experienced life through their true image. This is why all sentient beings are capable of expressing Love, and feeling the simplicity of righteous Truth.

Now I want you to imagine what your experience of life was like through your first and true image. First of all you had no memory, you didn’t need one because every moment was the same as the last, and each moment was filled with awareness of the Self’s existence, the feeling of Truth and Love. Such a state of experience makes time itself irrelevant.

The Self’s first experience of life was inevitable, but it was not intentional, it was not a chosen thing because nothing else was known from which to make a choice. There was nothing to arouse desire, and so the Self simply existed in a state of blissful peace.

To be aware is to know, and to know is to possess knowledge.

Awareness and knowledge are inseparable; they are one and the same thing.

There is the Self that you refer to as ‘I’ and there is what the Self is aware of. The Self cannot change or be changed, but what it feels can be changed.

Awareness is feeling, and feeling is knowing.

The Self must exist first before it can experience awareness/feeling/knowing, and therefore the Self exists independently of these things.

When the Self enters a state of dreamless sleep, it is completely absent of awareness and does not even know of its own existence, and yet the Self still exists. This is confirmed when the Self either once more enters a dream state or awakens. The Self’s existence is not dependant on anything that is outside of the Self.

We can now take another look at the beginning of the Self’s present life journey, and consider what has happened to end the Self’s original state of blissful peace.

This is what you need to understand before you can achieve ascension and enlightenment:

All memories exist in the subconscious mind, but they did not originate there.

All memories are copies of what first originated in the conscious mind. That is the true meaning of; ‘as above so below’.

The Self’s first and true image was formed in the conscious mind. It was this image that was copied into the subconscious mind. In the beginning it was a perfect copy.

The Self experiences life through the image of itself that it focusses its attention on.

The Self’s original image is incorruptible, but the copy of the Self’s image that exists in the subconscious is changeable and therefore is subject to corruption.

What the Self experiences depends upon where its focus of attention is.

When the Self experiences life in the material realm through the physical senses, it is led to believe in the illusion that it is the physical body. It is because of this that the Self forgets its true image, and so the Self begins experiencing life through a copy of the Self’s true image that has become corrupted.

Of all the attachments that the Self can make, the strongest is the attachment to the Self’s false image and is the most difficult to break. This is because it requires a sacrifice of the Self’s ego. It requires the rejection of the image that the world has led you to create and believe in, which is based on the judgements of the blind and the ignorant. Images are like clothes that the Self wears. When you take off those clothes that the world has given you, and stand upon them without shame, like little children then your True Self will be revealed.

There really are only two questions that matter in life and these are:

1. What is the nature of reality?
2. What am ‘I’?

If the death of the physical body was an end to the Self’s existence and to awareness, I would have told you so. It would have been far easier to convince you of that, but it is not and I am going to show you the mystery of unconsciousness.

When the Self experiences a state of deep meditation its attention is fully focussed on what is in the mind. It is because of this that the Self is completely unaware of any information from the physical senses. When the Self is in this state, the material realm (including the physical body), disappears into forgetfulness, in other words, the Self is freed from the body but is fully conscious and aware.

Awareness is feeling, consciousness is seeing.

The question is; what happens to people in a coma? Or people rendered unconscious by a general anaesthetic?

In both states there is a complete absence of information from the physical body’s senses. But the Self does not cease to exist, and neither does its awareness. Incidentally the last time that I was rendered unconscious by a general anaesthetic I did dream.

When there is an absence of information from the physical senses, the Self is left with 2 choices:

1. Maintain focus of attention on the location where information from the physical senses in usually received, and wait in the stillness for renewed reception. This is like looking into a silent dark space with nothing to effect emotion. How long the Self remains in this state is dependent on the strength of its attachment to the material realm. If the Self stays in this state for too long the physical body will deteriorate through lack of use. Subconscious memories may also be more difficult to retrieve due to long periods of non-interaction with the subconscious mind.
2. Engage with the subconscious mind to retrieve information that is then experienced in the conscious mind in the form of dreams.

When people awaken from a state of unconsciousness, (including dreamless sleep) it is to them as if time itself did not exist. It is as if they went to sleep one minute and awoke the next. This is because the perception of time is dependent on the observation of change, and when no change is observed, time becomes unknown. The last memory to be remembered on awakening was going to sleep, and there is no distance between the now and a retrieved memory. Life is not short, it only seems that way because a retrieved memory exists in the now.

When you come to know your true Self, through the remembrance of your fist image, you will have become like a child once more, and you will know the place of life. It is then that you will say ‘I AM THAT I AM’. We are all the same, regardless of our actions and what we believe. We are all precious in the eyes of Love and Truth. The Self may wonder far from these things, but eventually all will find their way home.

Next: Self Realization – Beyond the veil