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Are you divine?
Who are you? When asked such a question most individuals would reply that they are a human being, with a body and a mind. Most of us have wondered what happens to our being when the body dies. Do the personality and identity dissolve along with it? If a higher aspect of our being survives the body’s death, did it exist before the body was born? If so, how long has it existed for, and will it exist forever?
To even attempt to answer such questions we need to define the nature of our being. If our being survives death, then it is obviously more than just an individual body. If we believe it has incarnated many times on this earth and has donned many different bodies and assumed many personalities, then what is it that has survived throughout and between such sojourns?
To even attempt to answer such questions we need to define the nature of our being. If our being survives death, then it is obviously more than just an individual body. If we believe it has incarnated many times on this earth and has donned many different bodies and assumed many personalities, then what is it that has survived throughout and between such sojourns?
This is where the idea of the soul comes in. It is assumed, at least by most of the world’s religions, that we have an individual soul. Again, if we believe in reincarnation, we may also posit that the memories of individual lifetimes are stored by the soul as seeds, or potentialities, between lives; and that these have an impact, albeit an unconscious one, on our current dispositions and behaviours.
Finally, we can ask whether there is anything of our being that remains unchanged and unaffected by anything that we experience as an individual soul? We can call it “pure being” because it seems to reflect our essence or originality. Does this pure being live forever? If so, then would the comings and goings of an individual’s body have any relevance to it? Moreover, is my pure being different from your pure being?
Where can we look to answers to some of these basic questions? Most religions have something to say about such topics. I think I must have annoyed some clergy in my younger years by pestering them with questions such as, “Will I live forever? And if so, what is the difference between me and God?”
They would wince, reflect for a few seconds, and say something that they hoped would satisfy my curiosity. I remember one of them saying that we are all, in essence, a part of God. I also remember being struck by that answer and feeling somewhat confused. “If God is infinite and absolute,” I thought, “then each part of God must be infinite as well. So why couldn’t he say that we are God? Why was it forbidden to even entertain such a notion?”
Yet, I was constantly entertaining such a notion, the implications of which were staggering. If I am ultimately divine, that would mean that my being is immortal. That would further imply that the real me was never born and never dies. This thought certainly left me reeling with excitement. The trouble was that it was just an idea. I had no experience of my real Self as divine.
I realized very quickly that the answers to such questions could not be approached by relying on conjecture or imagination. Nor were they the subject of analysis or reason. They simply could not be understood by the imperfect instrument of the human mind. These were not points of an intellectual argument or some concepts used for ego gratification, but rather they represented the loftiest levels of our awareness. As you might guess, I am not talking about human awareness here.
I also understood that our capacity to ask such questions demonstrated that deep down, we must have an inherent knowledge of our underlying true nature. Moreover, I had the sense that if I put my attention on these issues sufficiently, eventually some kind of light would shine through and provide me with the direct illumination, for which I was seeking.
The reader at this point might think I am presenting a hypothesis here —— that our nature is ultimately divine. They may consider this proposition to be plausible, but they might think that further evidence would be necessary if they are to be convinced. What proof do I have? Or they may have already reached a similar conclusion but wonder that if their existence is so divine, why are they so wrapped up in their mundane daily affairs?
First, I can’t offer proof that your nature is divine. You have to get that knowledge for yourself. But maybe I can make suggestions about how to get that direct experience. Perhaps I can also suggest ways to maintain that state of divinity once you have attained such insight or revelation.
As I imply above, divinity is not a subject for your mind. That means it is not sufficient to think you are divine, or to just say it, or to try to behave in ways that you think divine beings might behave. All of these actions fall way short of having the knowledge of the self as divine.
In other words, there is a difference between thinking and knowing. This is a critical point because the intellect cannot grasp the nature of the divine. We can use various adjectives to describe divinity: unchangeable, undying, absolute, formless, all-pervading. But these are all descriptions that the intellect uses to try to understand something that is not fathomable.
The intellect of a human being functions solely in the realm of space and time. Anything beyond this dimension is beyond the horizon of its appreciation. The true nature of divinity cannot be held as a concept, simply because ideas are finite. The divine is absolute, meaning it has no limits, dimensions or qualifications.
An even more subtle understanding is that divinity is not even an experience. Experience relates to the human mind. The process involves an experiencer, the experience, and an object of experience. When you leave the realm of mind, this distinction dissolves. The experiencer, the experience and the object of experience become one and the same.
The divine being experiences itself, or knows itself, as being. However, for the sake of expression, I will refer to this process as the “direct experience” of divinity. One can only directly experience their divinity when they drop their mind.
What do I mean by dropping the mind? As long as there are waves in the mind, meaning thoughts, we are still dealing within the realm of mental experiences. But I am not speaking about trying to control your thoughts through an effort of will or somehow banishing them from your mind’s eye.
When you “try” to do anything, your ego-mind is involved in the application of your individual will. The process I am referring to relates more to a surrender of the ego-mind to the divine. This is not necessarily an easy thing to do. It is neither an accomplishment nor a goal. It is a state of just being.
The significance of what I have just said is that we have a human nature (body-mind-ego) and a divine nature. Our human nature represents a manifestation that is constantly in flux —— appearing, changing and dying. Divinity is immutable and eternal. It represents our originality.
Divinity, therefore, never appears or disappears. It has always been. The implications here are truly staggering. If you can connect to your inner divinity, you will come to know that you were never born, nor will you ever die. The body-mind (in fact, the world) are just a dream, a false reality. We just need to wake up from it.
Is there a technique that could offer you a path to your originality? Is there some formula you can use to know your Self as divine? I have found three key ingredients that will lead one’s attention to their divinity:
implementing a regular practice of meditation; finding a spiritual teacher who knows their nature as divine; having a strong desire to unfold one’s inner divinity. Any technique that connects you to the divine must involve the transcendence of human consciousness. But the transcendence I speak about is very specific. For instance, you can use psychotropic drugs to alter your consciousness and open your mind and senses to some incredible experiences. But you are still dealing with mental and fleeting experiences here.
The transcendence I am referring to is a state of being that is always there but which you cannot detect with your mind or senses. It is the reality behind the mind and between the thoughts. And while this reality permeates the thoughts, it has nothing to do with your individual identity because as long as you consider yourself to be an individual, you are a human being.
How do we dissolve our individual identity and become one with our absolute nature? The first step is to develop a practice that reverses a mistaken impression that we have had since the moment of our birth: that we are defined by our humanity, by our existence as a form —— namely, that we were born, that we exist as a body, and that we eventually die.
The most effective method I know for transforming human consciousness into divine consciousness is meditation. I don’t mean meditating on your thoughts, or on an object; but rather, meditating on your being. This type of meditation requires regular practice because it is difficult to undo many years of identification with your body-mind.
How do you meditate on your own being? Some people use a mantra or sacred sound to shift the frequency of their thoughts to a more refined level. Others use their breath to calm their body and mind and lift their awareness. Some people chant to open their hearts to a more sublime reality and achieve a mindless state. Others simply meditate on the blue-black space in front of their closed eyes until their mind dissolves into it. All these methods trigger, what is called, “the Kundalini energy.” This force is described by the ancient yogis, who noted that as the Kundalini rises through the etheric spinal cord, the consciousness likewise rises through the different dimensions or planes of existence until it finally blows through the top of the head. At that moment, the person transcends their individual identity and achieves a beatitude that is beyond space and time.
All this sounds a bit mechanical. The important thing to remember is that by attaining a mindless state, your inner divinity is revealed to you. Meditation has the advantage that the more you do it, the more the texture of your consciousness is transformed. Eventually, your life will become a meditation in itself, and you will be connected to your divinity throughout.
Maintaining a regular practice of meditation is a challenge because there are so many distractions presented by this world. There is plenty to keep us busy and occupy our minds. The world pulls at us from so many directions. The key is to turn our attention inward and reverse the flow of our consciousness. This is not an easy thing to do.
Again, I have found meditation to be the best way to do this. Meditation will foster a detachment from the world. Gradually its hold on you will diminish and you will no longer feel its pull. A detachment is also fostered from the body and mind. Your thoughts and feelings will no longer seem so immediate or compelling.
Is meditation the only way to reach the divine? Prayer is also a way to open a spiritual channel; but in prayer, one generally prays to an agency outside of their being, and hence, a certain duality is maintained. In meditation, on the other hand, the being focuses on itself, until no such separation exists. For those looking for a specific technique of meditation, I provide a guide to what I call “space meditation” at the end of this article.
The second factor related to uncovering your inner divinity has to do with finding someone who has already attained that knowledge, and who can help guide you to a realization of your divine nature. The relationship between a spiritual teacher and their disciple is a very personal one. You just have to make sure that the teacher is not only knowledgeable but egoless as well.
Finding the right spiritual teacher is not something that happens merely through an effort of individual will. I believe that the forces that pull the seeker to the teacher happen on a level that is not comprehensible to the human mind and has nothing to do with happenstance.
The teacher who is, himself or herself enlightened, will provide a mirror in which the divine is most directly reflected. Their very presence will lead you to states that transcend human consciousness. This presence is reflected in their words, their gaze, and even their thoughts. All can lead to deep transformations on the part of the disciple.
The final factor related to uncovering one’s divine nature has to do with desire. It is not enough just to think about it. If you want to uncover your inner divinity, your life’s purpose must be to unfold the knowledge that your being was never born, and will never die. This goes beyond faith and philosophy. It is more like an awakening of consciousness from the human to the divine.
A Space Meditation
A meditation technique for tuning into your divine nature is to focus attention on the blue-black space in front of your closed eyes. You should not strain while gazing at the space, but rather keep your eyes relaxed. The gaze itself should be at a point between the eyes and slightly above the line of sight. You can imagine that you are staring several inches in front of your face.
There is a reason for this point of focus. It corresponds to a centre of energy known as the Ajna chakra, or Third Eye. When the Ajna is activated, the mind gets blown to other dimensions beyond the linear or rational plane. Sometimes heat or pressure is felt in the brow chakra, and its activation may result in seeing brilliant lights and interesting visions. If you are wise, however, you will not get preoccupied with such experiences.
The important thing is to maintain your attention on the space. The lights and curly-cues will eventually dissolve, but the space will always remain. At some point, the fullness of the space will envelop you. That space is the background of pure consciousness, which permeates all.
When you are focusing on the space you are not focusing your attention “out there”, on something apart from your being. That is because you are not using your physical eyes to look out in front of you. Rather, your being is focusing on itself. When you merge into the absolute space, your divine nature will then be revealed to you.
