Each of us is living a separate, unique-to-me or unique-to-you life. These lives consist of lots of people each of whom has separate and unique lives as well. So, my life includes lots of people and stuff that simultaneously (I assume, there being only One Time. Now) exist and appear in their own lives. And just so, I exist in all their separate lives. Yes, it is all One, but a One composed of separate and unique and simultaneous … us?
      Each of these lives occurs in the world. By that I suppose I mean the Universe … the infinite whatever.

A friend has a new Subaru that at a traffic light while waiting for a red light to turn green, essentially turns itself off. Not dead off, just off. And then when the driver steps on the pedal, the engine reawakens instantly. Less pollution? Save gas? I wonder if that is not the way the mind, my mind, your mind, is designed, intended, to function. That is, normally silent, empty. At peace. We are alive and about, but the mind has nothing going on in it; none of the constant, meaningless, purposeless noise we (I) experience regularly … even at night, dreaming, nightmaring. Then, when a need arises — a question is asked, a phone rings, an alert is appropriate, whatever, the mind activates itself, and functions … as needed. Whatever is necessary is done, and then the mind returns to pause status again. Like a Subaru engine. Why not.
      If so, how do we reach that place. Is that Self-Realization? A point along the way to Realization? Is this the purpose of some of the practices Teachers talk about — those that quiet and cleanse the mind … eventually to empty it? Or not?

Which raises the question: How come consideration of creation and evolution never talks about the mind? Today, I am thinking that the purpose, the function, of the mind is to serve as a direct channel — Direct Channel — to and from God. A constantly open connection from each of us, you and me, to the Divine. Not constantly noisy, constantly open. And, just so, by evolution, the mind — my mind, your mind — is learning to be quiet, to listen and respond rather than endlessly chatter.
      And that is where evolution applies. Just as we evolve and improve physically over time, millenia, so do we evolve mind-wise. We start out with a mind that is forever uselessly and noisily in motion, but over time, millenia, our mind evolves, matures, becomes quiet and responsive to … God. Of course we think of evolution as being all about us — all about me — but maybe it is about God too … or only.

Our mind, my mind and your mind, are our link to God. The body — hair to toes — is simply something to live in while we are experiencing evolutionary growth and development of our mind, each of which, again, are our direct link to the Devine, Creator, God.
      Why is the evolutionary process necessary? Because what happens when we reach (remember, that's reach, not achieve) Self-Realization, our minds will be, must be, empty, silent. Why? Because at that event, our mnds — my mind and your mind, each — unite. merge, in, to, God's Mind, and God obviously does not want our stuff crowding and festering in His Mind. I mean, think about what's in our minds? Can you blame Him. So, at that point we each become at one (word?) with, in, of, at, God. What exactly does that mean? I have no idea. But, again, I am certain it is true. Again, remember it was Nisargadatta (a Self-Realized Teacher), I am pretty sure, who wrote that when he spoke to seekers he heard what he was saying at the same time as the seekers heard it. I take that to mean (he did not write this) that his speaking to seekers was in fact God speaking through, as, by, in him. And for that to occur, it makes sense to me that his mind, his voice, has to be clean, empty, junkless. And getting our mind — your mind and my mind — to that condition, that state, is what we are doing here now, albeit slowly, but hopefully sincerely. The spiritual evolutionary process.
      How long does the maturing, evolving process take? I don't know, but my guess is, at least as long as we wonder how long it will take.

Now, when I say, which I do increasingly often, that the purpose of our current lifetimes is to empty, cleanse, our mind — my mind and your mind — so that it can merge into, transcend to, God's Mind without dirtying It or contaminating It. This is an image I have in, yea, my mind: Picture a rural woodsy area with a large river running through it. And here & there alongside both sides of this great river are riverlets flowing into It. In my image, the river is God's Mind, the riverlets are your mind and my mind.
      Mind you, it is just an image.

OK. This morning Nancy and I talked a few minutes about what exactly (of course neither of us knows exactly) exists at Self-Realization while the Realizer is still bodily alive. I say bodily here because I do not know what exactly exists to a Realizer after the physical body dies. It seems clear to me that, whatever it is, it is different from what remans when a non-realizer dies. And of course I do not know what precisely that becomes, either. Both continue beyond physical death — I am certain of that, but just as the two are different so too is undoubtedly what continues.

How do I know any of this to be true? Obviously, I don't. In fact, for all I know, I'm making it up. But here's the thing: It figures. Now, if you are an atheist, by which I mean you truly, fully, clearly are certain there is no God, not even a thing even remotely like a God, then nothing on this page — or, for that matter, on this site — makes sense or serves any rational purpose, except perhaps to amuse. But that is not where I am. I am convinced, I have been convinced all my life, that there is a God. I do not know what that sentence means exactly, sometimes even sort of, but I know without a doubt that it is true. And that forces my mind to wonder. Which is why TZF.

I am near certain that at physical death, the personality continues. I'm still Stefan and you're still your name. I expect that, depending upon how old we are at death (in years lived and lives lived reincarnation-wise), we are variably comfortable there, and variably able and therefore likely to take advantage of whatever is there. My experience has been that when travelling to a foreign country, the experience is more fun and more profitable when I have learned in advance a bit about the culture and the language. Here too, I suppose.
      But what about at Self-Realization? If I properly understand what I have read, Self-Realization only happens (must happen) during bodily life, sometimes (often?) as we die. That is, apparently the act of death can click it. But if it has not happened before or into physical death, it will not happen until after physical rebirth (which is another reason I am pretty much convinced that reincarnation is a fact, see here). All the Teachers I am aware of were reportedly (and by the evidence of their Teaching content and behavior) Self-Realized, and it happened during their life time. For example, as I read Matthew 3:16, the appearance of a dove at Jesus/Issa's baptism is intended to indicate Self-Realization.
      About Self-Realization. I have said this somewhere before, and I am saying it again here. I think that what happens (among other things) is, the mind is cleared. Emptied. No content. That is, Self-Realization is not about getting more or achieving more or knowing more. Self-Realization is more about less than it is about more … which undoubtedly evolves into actually being more. Again, my guess is, when the time is right, when we are ready, God generates our Self-Realization in order to use our bodily functions for Herself. To see through us. Hear through us. Speak through us. Here I love Nisargadatta's assertion to a student, I hear what I am saying to you the same moment you hear it (maybe not an accurate quotation, but very close). I take that to be Nisargadatta telling us, I am not speaking to you. God is speaking to you by my voice. And to accomplish that, God had to empty Nisargadatta's mind of the egoic fundamental principle, I am me, and you aren't. That's Self-Realization. For me, that makes sense. It explains, justifies, creation. God is not creating an other, not any others. God is expanding Himself. And — to avoid our perceiving ourselves as I'm God, you're not — God empties our mind … and, maybe, fills it with Himself. Figures.

Bodily death. When I say that we survive bodily death, what do I mean? Obviously, the body does not survive. And yet the few stories I have read of those who have survived death and returned always seem to report that persons they encounter — family, friends — are immediately recognized. I say seem because, come to that, I cannot remember any after death story that included any reference at all to the bodily question. Like, Gee, guess what, everyone looked the same! The reporters seem to recognize the dead people they meet which presumably suggests a bodily resemblance; but, again, I cannot recall anyone ever specifically mentioning that. Why not? And how come this question has never arisen in my mind before? (That's a question for another time.) Clearly, an after death encounter cannot be bodily — the stuff has been cremated. Is the after death bodily experience all mental? (And again I repeat, I am talking here about physical death, death of the physical body. This has nothing to do with Self-Realization … I think.) An exclusively mind experience? In other words, all that exists after physical death is mind, maybe even just one mind in which we all — we and whatever else there is — exist. (Thought: Just as we always have, just as it has always been?) And we perceive each other in a manner that our mind remembers, that is bodily. And just as we (well, I) have not even considered this question until just a few minutes ago, maybe likewise we do not consider it there either. Which confirms what all the Teachers tell us: The world we live in is a mental creation. There is no such thing as a thing.

Increasingly I am noticing that I perceive life — me, my life, Nancy, our house, our neighborhood, our town, our State, our country, our world, as a single whole, one entire single whole. Not many, one. Not theoretically, actually. Not two people, a cat, a car, a house, friends and relatives, various experiences. Just one, undivided and indivisible. I walk two miles every day (doctor's order decades ago, and I have obeyed her faithfully: Walk briskly, Stefan, not run — now an old man, I do it less briskly, but I still do it), and it's composed of me, the pavement, grass and trees, automobiles, houses, fences, other people, clouds, the sky. Stuff. But lately, every so often, it happens — I see it all as one. It is sometimes accompanied by a chill. And it is impossible (for me) to experience that and not realize (lower case r, I am not making any claim here) that the entirety of existence is composed not of millions of people, billions of trees, quadrillions of planets, quintillions of ants. It is one, one whole. There is no beginning, no ending. No boundaries. No parts. It is composed of parts only in my mind, our minds. In Truth there is no such thing as parts.
      Like a human body. We say a human body is composed of parts, but it isn't really. The parts aren't separate things. Yes, we say they are, medically we need to do that: a head, two arms, a liver, ten toes. And if we lose a leg — say an automobile accident — we still consider what's left a human body. But is it? Cut a leg off a human body, and it isn't really a human body any more. Why? Because a human body consists of a lot of stuff … including two legs.
      I guess the question is, when does a human body cease being a human body? Yea, that's weird, even discomfiting. Let's use a different example, say, an automobile. Remove a wheel, and is it still an automobile? How about if we remove all four wheels, the engine, the suspension system, the doors, the seats, and the trunk? Is it still an automobile? To be an automobile, a thing needs to have, needs to include, all those things. Thus, an automobile really is all of those things. An automobile is not composed of all those parts; an automobile is all those parts.
      We don't see it that way because our mind seems to think in terms of parts. Think about it: We see our lives, we see everything, as being composed of parts. We see the universe as being composed of parts: galaxies, planets, stars, nebulae, quasars, black holes. We see Life that way, too: us and God. Or, if you like: us, angels, devils, et cetera, and God. But it is not like that. Life is a Single Whole.
      And to see that, See That, I have to empty my mind. You too, empty your mind. As I suggested here a few days (weeks?) ago, Self-Realization is a mind emptied of … stuff. Why is it emptied? It is emptied so that we can see the One as one! Not a whole bunch of parts in a basket (another part!) — One. There exists, there is, just one thing, and it is Life, and we are That — That is we. No parts. If we are looking for parts, thinking in terms of parts, we will never see it. It'll be there, here, but we will be unable to see it.

Ultimately there is no individual separate I. The only I there is is all there is. And yet we know a thing, as I see a chair I know today is Wednesday — a sense of many. But at the same time, not exactly simultaneously, an Awareness of One, All is One. Is it a difference between It is and It is here? It is is not … personal. It is here is personal. It answers the question Where? which is Where I am.

If there is only One I — that is, no such thing as me and you, here and there, yesterday, today, tomorrow, yes and no — then there is no such thing as God, no that is God, this isn't. Belief in God is not necessary. It feels good, it lifts up, it reassures. But God is not a thing. God is the nature of reality, the Nature of Reality. The Universe (that's Universe with a capital U) and God are one and the same, One and the Same. God is All There Is. There is nothing but God. God is not a thing I can believe in. God is something I can be Aware of. And ultimately that Awareness is All There Is. And I am Aware of God only when it is appropriate — necessary — that I do so. Otherwise, God Simply Is — and I know it.

What or where is God? I am convinced that God is All There Is. That is to say, there is nothing in the Universe (capital U) that God is not and that is not God. Here is the way I see it. When I dream while sleeping, the dream itself is all I am aware of. For all I know, the dream is all there is. (I say this in the first person because clearly I cannot speak for anyone else's dreaming experience, but I suppose it is similar. Thus, where I say I feel free to substitute we.) And here's the thing about dreams. Dreams seem to be composed of people and things and places and events, but they are not, are they? They are all, the entirety is, one thought — or, if you prefer, one mental phenomenon — and that's all. And just like a dream, that's what my life is, your life is, everybody's life is. A mind event. It is all taking place in the mind, my mind, your mind. That is, each of us has (is?) a mind in which (by which? as which?) I live my life and you live your life.
      All of these lives (and dreams) are taking place … where? In God. Whatever that means. As I understand (?) it, Self-Realization is (in part) about this. I say that with some confidence because I am convinced (based only on educated conjecture) that the crux, the heart, of Self-Realization is a mind free of content. All the noise and chattering that goes on in our minds all day (and night: dreams) is silenced, emptied … to make room for God. Is Self-Realization about (in part) Realizing the Self by shutting up the distractions that fill our lives (our minds, which is where our lives live, are lived) all the time, day and night. God is always there ‒ Here ‒ but we are too distracted being me-not-you to see it, to experience it, to know it.

A dear friend has died. It's okay. No condolences are necessary. She lived a full, happy, constructive, healthy, positive, charming, loving life. Yes, she was nuts, but in her own wondrous way. Come to that, aren't we all — each in our own way. I learned a lot from her. She and I spent hours, fun hours, long hours, talking about all there is, including death, the truth of it, so she knew, and was not afraid. But still, I — among so many others — will miss her.
      And, yes, when I say died, I mean the body she had been inhabiting. She was never born and never will die. Life is permanent and infinite. I suppose I have said that a dozen places on TZF, and I will likely say it another dozen times before this day, any day, is done. But sometimes a reminder is necessary … and healthy. So here are the questions in my mind today: Is my departed friend aware she (her body) has died? At what point in the death process has she, will she, did she, become aware of what happened? Yes, of course, we know what happened. Does she? Did she observe the body's death? Oh look, it's dying or even Goodness, it's dead. I have read reports of others who have died and returned ‒ that is, been clinically dead only a short while, seconds or minutes. But I do not remember any of them answering these kinds of questions. They tell us it is wonderful, beautiful, nothing to fear. But what about the details, the people they meet there? Are they in bodies? Are they dressed? Do they eat food? Is there furniture — chairs, desks, windows, doors? When a person whose body has died meets another person there whose body has died, do they appear as they did here, embodied? That is, how do they recognize each other? When they speak to one another, is there sound? Do they share a cup of tea or a glass of beer? Come to that, do they pee — beer does that to some of us. And if so, where — are there public restrooms? Yes, of course, all these are silly questions. Even disrespectful. My friend would have loved them. We'd have laughed together. But these are all questions that assume, require, a body … a body which in these cases is dead, cremated or otherwise done away with. Do we recreate the body? Or a semblance of it? And if reincarnation is a fact, which body? Or is life-after-death all in the mind ‒ even as I have wondered on TZF umpteen times about live-before-death, what my name and your name is right now. And here's the real question: How come we don't talk about death, the dying process? Teach it in school? Yes, I understand ‒ and applaud ‒ the separation of church and state. But this is biology, isn't it? So, after this class, cross the street to a church where consider the religious aspects. But this is an experience awaiting everyone since Adam and Eve. Why aren't we curious about it? When a woman becomes pregnant, she attends classes to learn about the birthing process ‒ books, activities, clothing, diet, what to do & what not to do. Where are the how-to classes about death? I am an old man who has lived a full life in several countries, and I have never heard serious consideration of death as an experience — something we do, everyone of us. Why isn't physical death — not as an event to mourn but as an inevitable and proper aspect of this physical life experience — ever considered in school, in college, in church, anywhere. At least teach us that death is not the opposite of life, that death is the opposite of birth. That at death, the body dies, nothing else. Okay, we're afraid of death, so we don't want to talk about it. But is it possible the reason we are afraid of death is precisely because we do not talk about it?
      All that said, I am grateful to my friend for all the good, wondrous moments we shared together over so many years. And today, for generating my consideration of this issue here, an issue which is too often ignored or avoided until it's too late.
      Godspeed, Tonia.
      Also consider this.

Nothing bodily means anything.

There is no such thing as free will. (I Am That pg 356)

Recently, when sitting silently, I am occasionally experiencing moments which I labelled dead time until reading in I Am That pg 218: Did you notice yourself becoming unconscious? Yes, occasionally, and for a very short time (there is in the same book another better consideration of these moments, but I don't remember the page). These moments are definitely not sleep. They are unlike anything I have ever experienced. I am not aware of their happening or occurring until after, when I regain consciousness. How do they feel? There is no feeling. They just are, in and of themselves. The description that comes to my mind is I was turned OFF. Not dead, not asleep, not unaware … OFF.

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