Finishing Singh's powerful book on death leaves me with two mostly unanswered questions: once we have obtained the "ground of being" in death, do we continue forever in this union? And, two: to what extent is this power present in the partial reality that we perceive in everyday life?
For number one, Singh leaves us questioning; in some religious mythologies, we continue our lives much as we do here, except we are not frustrated by want or disease. It is the life of Riley. This often includes a vague notion of living in closer harmony to God. For others, we are born again in the cycle of karma, living out many lives until we have burned away the chaff of our mundane desires and defenses. In many of the books I have read on the afterlife - of those who have experienced Near Death, they usually reiterate the first alternative, perhaps because most of these came from a Christian cultural background. I will leave this question open for another time.
In number two - the "power's" involvement in our impermanent lives - Singh does tell us that those who pass certain thresholds DO often develop special powers such as ESP, telekinesis, clairvoyance ad so on. She does not get into it, but the reason for it, given her overall approach, is obvious: once one has left the tight strictures of our small ego-selves, this greater power of creativity, which transcends spacial and temporal limitations, may start to appear in our lives. Yogis and saints tell us the same, and warn those on the spiritual path against such powers - not because they are evil, but because they can seduce the acolyte into remaining at the level of small miracles, leaving aside the path to Union. These powers might also be too tempting for the still-intact ego, and cause an abuse of power that leaves the soul far worse off morally than it was before - as the mad scientist or evil sorcerer.
However, Singh does not answer the question for us regular spiritual peasants: does the power (aka, the Absolute, or God) come into our lives in noticeable ways or are we opaque to such things in our extremely limited outlooks?
It seems obvious to me that if all is from the Absolute, then even our little worlds are a part of this energy. Then of course the Power is in our lives - if we are open to see it. That is the big "if." I recall reading an author's autobiography where he talks about his old Kentucky mountain grandmother. She lived in a small cabin in a "holler" with no running water or electricity, and so had no immediate communication with the broader world. Still, when his parents would load he and his siblings into the station wagon, his grandmother would have a large meal prepared for them, as well as extra beds put down and so on. When he would ask her how she knew, she would tell him she just knew. The same has been shown to be true with pets - who often are waiting for their masters at precisely the right moment even after days of their absence (this has actual experimental validity - and many of us pet owners know this to be true already). "Primitives," those who live in technological and social simplicity, generally have such inexplicable powers as well, just as some young children do.
In fact, it seems that 'miracles' happen all around us as well as in our lives - except we do not see them. The fully developed modern ego, as understood in Singh's transpersonal models, is purposefully closed to such phenomena. Quite simply, in sleep, in meditation, and by death, we become better acquainted with them - that is, in the moments where the ego-wall is weakest, the greater power can be witnessed.
This is what is meant by my favorite phenomena, "synchronicity," or, as Carl Jung defined it, "meaningful coincidence." It is the greater reality popping up in the middle of our ego-dream. It is the right exact change at exactly the right time, the long-lost friend calling after a thought about him, the tire blow-out that keeps you from the pile-up accident on the high way. It need not always work to advantage, but it does work beyond our abilities to understand. It happens when we can clear our thought patterns enough, our internal feedback loop, so that a wider view can pop in. It knows when Uncle Joe is coming, when an accident will happen - and when death will come. It is our spooky factor, the wink from beyond our little world that lets us know something else is going on. It comes from the world that is beyond space and time - and beyond limits of power - but it is just a peek. Any more and we would go mad, be seen as being mad (as are many saints, at least at first), or become hopelessly neurotic in an attempt to not go mad. The power bounces around our conceptual walls like so many moths before the flame, but even more so - for the very development of this "flame" is directed by the power. Know it our not, it is not only around us but in us. "If we but had eyes to see..."
And with that I end the exclusive talk about Singh's singular book on death. Read it and you will agree that most if not all fits. Which mean we are so much more than most of us can possibly imagine. FK
For number one, Singh leaves us questioning; in some religious mythologies, we continue our lives much as we do here, except we are not frustrated by want or disease. It is the life of Riley. This often includes a vague notion of living in closer harmony to God. For others, we are born again in the cycle of karma, living out many lives until we have burned away the chaff of our mundane desires and defenses. In many of the books I have read on the afterlife - of those who have experienced Near Death, they usually reiterate the first alternative, perhaps because most of these came from a Christian cultural background. I will leave this question open for another time.
In number two - the "power's" involvement in our impermanent lives - Singh does tell us that those who pass certain thresholds DO often develop special powers such as ESP, telekinesis, clairvoyance ad so on. She does not get into it, but the reason for it, given her overall approach, is obvious: once one has left the tight strictures of our small ego-selves, this greater power of creativity, which transcends spacial and temporal limitations, may start to appear in our lives. Yogis and saints tell us the same, and warn those on the spiritual path against such powers - not because they are evil, but because they can seduce the acolyte into remaining at the level of small miracles, leaving aside the path to Union. These powers might also be too tempting for the still-intact ego, and cause an abuse of power that leaves the soul far worse off morally than it was before - as the mad scientist or evil sorcerer.
However, Singh does not answer the question for us regular spiritual peasants: does the power (aka, the Absolute, or God) come into our lives in noticeable ways or are we opaque to such things in our extremely limited outlooks?
It seems obvious to me that if all is from the Absolute, then even our little worlds are a part of this energy. Then of course the Power is in our lives - if we are open to see it. That is the big "if." I recall reading an author's autobiography where he talks about his old Kentucky mountain grandmother. She lived in a small cabin in a "holler" with no running water or electricity, and so had no immediate communication with the broader world. Still, when his parents would load he and his siblings into the station wagon, his grandmother would have a large meal prepared for them, as well as extra beds put down and so on. When he would ask her how she knew, she would tell him she just knew. The same has been shown to be true with pets - who often are waiting for their masters at precisely the right moment even after days of their absence (this has actual experimental validity - and many of us pet owners know this to be true already). "Primitives," those who live in technological and social simplicity, generally have such inexplicable powers as well, just as some young children do.
In fact, it seems that 'miracles' happen all around us as well as in our lives - except we do not see them. The fully developed modern ego, as understood in Singh's transpersonal models, is purposefully closed to such phenomena. Quite simply, in sleep, in meditation, and by death, we become better acquainted with them - that is, in the moments where the ego-wall is weakest, the greater power can be witnessed.
This is what is meant by my favorite phenomena, "synchronicity," or, as Carl Jung defined it, "meaningful coincidence." It is the greater reality popping up in the middle of our ego-dream. It is the right exact change at exactly the right time, the long-lost friend calling after a thought about him, the tire blow-out that keeps you from the pile-up accident on the high way. It need not always work to advantage, but it does work beyond our abilities to understand. It happens when we can clear our thought patterns enough, our internal feedback loop, so that a wider view can pop in. It knows when Uncle Joe is coming, when an accident will happen - and when death will come. It is our spooky factor, the wink from beyond our little world that lets us know something else is going on. It comes from the world that is beyond space and time - and beyond limits of power - but it is just a peek. Any more and we would go mad, be seen as being mad (as are many saints, at least at first), or become hopelessly neurotic in an attempt to not go mad. The power bounces around our conceptual walls like so many moths before the flame, but even more so - for the very development of this "flame" is directed by the power. Know it our not, it is not only around us but in us. "If we but had eyes to see..."
And with that I end the exclusive talk about Singh's singular book on death. Read it and you will agree that most if not all fits. Which mean we are so much more than most of us can possibly imagine. FK
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