"you (or Adi Da) view the self as some sort of unfortunate burden that we are somehow saddled with"
That is probably because of some distortion on my part. I am not presently enjoying the revelation of my own ego!
Here's another explanation, from an Adi Da discourse called
"THE TWO MOMENTS OF ENLIGHTENMENT" from the book "SCIENTIFIC PROOF OF THE EXISTENCE OF GOD WILL SOON BE ANNOUNCED BY THE WHITE HOUSE"
There is no "ego". There is no "matter". The "ego" or the independent self, is a presumption in or of the mind, based on the conventional psycho-physical self-reference.
And "matter" or the independence of the body and all other apparent forms, is likewise a presumption in or of the mind, also based on the conventional psycho-physical self-reference.
Once insight awakens relative to the conventional psycho-physical self-reference and it is Realized to be itself only a condition of (or contraction of, or superimposition upon, or modification of) the native Being-Energy wherein all conceptions, presumptions, perceptions and sensations arise--then "ego" (or independent self) and "matter" (or the independence of forms) become transparent in the Unconditional Being-Energy (or Radiant Transcendental Consciousness) that is always already the Condition of "I" and all the "forms" that arise as experience.
This Realization is the first,primary or foundation Moment (or level) of Enlightenment.
When this Realization begins to be both profound and stable under all experiential conditions, the Transcendental Being begins to Radiate or Shine in Excess of conditions themselves. That is, the primary Realization of the Real Condition of the body-mind and all experience is ultimately Demonstrated as the Outshining or Bliss-Transfiguration of psycho-physical phenomena by the Radiant Transcendental Being, the Living Divine.
The Blissful Excess of Radiant Being or Love, is the ultimate or Perfect Moment (or level) of Enlightenment. And that Process of Transfiguration gradually produces all the possible forms of Transformation of experience, including all possibilities within and beyond a single human lifetime, culminating in eventual Translation into That in which all phenomenal changes always already inhere.
If this does not EXACTLY agree with the picture given in Walsch, it should not be surprising. There are 7 stages of life and the realizations in each differ. Further, there is lots of evidence that suggests that the Divine explains things in terms of that which can presently be conceived by the particular listener.
Namaste!
Jim |
