The Grand Self

- What's Ahead of Us -

Our ideas how the world works shape what we perceive, experience, learn and how much we are able to enjoy. The wider our ideas are and the more we consider possible, the broader, deeper and more satisfying are the experiences that open up to us.

    Now, - a world, in which our personal awareness takes the center-stage must inevitably differ substantially from a world in which matter, space and time are thought to play the main role.

    Yet adopting this fundamentally different - awareness centered - concept doesn't mean that all our present, hard-won insights how matter works would lose all validity. Knowledge how to handle the world of matter is certainly necessary as long as we interact on this particular layer.

    The new, awareness oriented view presented here thus does not challenge the know-how material concepts provide, - it just identifies the limits, the range within which our ideas how to handle matter are functioning, - and it alerts us that outside this range of matter, space and time there exist layers where entirely different mechanisms apply and which are well worth exploring.

    These broader layers interweave seamlessly with the layers of senses and mind we presently are familiar with. Being aware of these more expansive dimensions widens our focus and opens doors to entirely new, fascinating experiences and fulfillment.

    Thus the following portrait of what exists has no intention to compete with any current concept of reality. It is destined for those who experience insight into their Grand Self – Brahman – and would like information how what they now perceive is structured. The purpose of this text is to assist these people, to chart a roadmap of the unknown that lies ahead of them, - so they may know what they expand into, and thus can make full use of their insight.

    So, if the following passages irritate you because they won't support your present views how this world functions, then – please - just put this book aside.

    How does our world look when awareness is at its center?

    The stanzas of the Katha Upanishad outline the 'scenery' we encounter as our awareness explores more advanced levels of functioning. They give us a first idea what to expect as we expand from our current, matter-focused layers (senses, mind) to more advanced levels.

Beyond our senses is the mind.

Above the mind is truth (is recognition of truth).

Above truth is awakening of our Grand Self within us (Atman).

Beyond awakening of our Grand Self (Atman) is the unexpressed (the unmanifested).

Beyond the unmanifested is the Grand Majestic Self. It pervades all, but remains untouched (unmarked) by this.

Whoever (truly) knows this becomes liberated and reaches immortality.

Katha Upanishad II.3.7-8

Beyond our senses is the mind.

What our senses perceive is the matter-oriented layer of our awareness.

    Beyond our senses is the layer of mind, in which we mainly gather and apply know-how how to interact with matter, space, time, and with other, similarly engaged beings.

    While we focus on this layer, our ideas of what we experience may be correct (produce the intended results) or incorrect (lead us astray).

 Above the mind is truth (is recognition of truth).

Beyond the range within which our mind functions, a higher layer exists, on which we recognize truth, - on which we gain deeper insight how our world really works.

    Once we shift focus onto this layer, we experience such great clarity that error is unable to deceive us any more.

    Truth as it is meant here is not any concept or idea deemed more valid, or 'superior', or 'more true' than others. - Recognition of truth as we experience it on this level, is an extremely clear perception, - is thorough individual insight how this world truly functions.

    Once our focus shifts to this layer of truth, we swiftly become aware that all theories, ideas, concepts, philosophies and beliefs we previously maintained, are confined to only the layer of the mind, - that the mechanisms such systems describe do not supply a valid image of reality, - and that they have no functions beyond this layer.

Above truth is awakening of our Grand Self within us (Atman).

Being established in the state of truth, we awaken to our true origin, we recognize our innate, imperishable connection to our Grand Self, but have not integrated this insight into our life yet.

    The Upanishads call this particular state Atman, a layer in which we are aware of our identity with our Grand Self – Brahman - and are striving to reach this highest level of our awareness, but are still influenced by our encounters within a manifested (material) environment.

    While in this layer, we understand that experiencing the environment of matter did enrich us, but begin to realize the limited range of all such encounters.

Beyond the awakening of our Grand Self (Atman)
is the unexpressed (the unmanifested)

Here philosophers and theoreticians generally fail to understand what this really means. 'The unmanifest' - as they usually translate this part of the stanza - is not 'the void beyond everything manifested', or 'a bland principle devoid of attributes' the scholars deem it to be.

    Meant here is that particular layer in which yet unexpressed desires and fears reside.

A picture may help to illustrate this:

    [ Please keep in mind that the following image attempts to show something that essentially eludes illustration.

    And - please also don't forget that the image is meant to provide orientation for those perceiving what is described, to offer an explanation for their particular perception and to help them explore and use this insight for further expansion. ]

    The purpose of experiencing this - our - reality is to enable us to physically experience our ideas, ideals, desires and fears (the themes of our life) until we gained optimal insight from them, and until the (completed) themes cease to engage our interest and emotions.

    To facilitate this, all our current experiences, - everything we do, think, feel, believe, react to, suffer and enjoy, - happens on the surface of a sphere.

    Yet during the course of our life new desires and fears continuously crop up that are distinctly different from the ones we engaged in before.


    These cravings (and dreads) that will manifest in our 'future', and which we have not yet encountered, reside in a kind of 'cloud' that surrounds the physical layer we currently focus on. –

    I'd like to call this layer of yet unexpressed, yet unmanifested longings - 'Desire-structure'.

Desire-structure
with the sphere of our current experiences in its center

    
    The 'Desire-structure' is considerably larger than the sphere of our current experiences. This indicates that the 'sum total' of unexpressed desires is far greater than what currently manifests within our physical environment.

    The yet unexpressed longings and dreads encompassed by this 'desire-structure' are neither static nor amorphous.

    They are held in an intricate structure governed by the longing's intensity, by the weight they carry for our process of learning, by the interaction between different and conflicting longings, by their relation to the desires and fears other beings sustain, how close they are to their manifestation, by the degree of probability of their manifestation, by their fitness to be expressed in our currently perceived environment, and – last not least – by the level, or layer of awareness we currently focus on.

    Nor is this intricate structure in any way fixed or static.

    All the above factors are continuously balancing against each other, thus amplifying or neutralizing certain longings, forming desire-clusters that may jointly and cooperatively manifest, arranging themselves for simultaneous expression, or transforming into more subtle or more gross versions of itself.

    The structure is continuously influencing the level we live and act in.

    And we continuously influence the structure by everything we experience on the physical level and by the emotions that accompany these events.

    In this kind of 'feed-back' the physical events we confront on the 'material' level are of minor influence. The major factor that alters the structure are our emotions, - their intensity, their orientation, their subtle, underlying content, and the energy with which we transfer them into action.

    We begin to perceive this layer once we orient our awakening self (Atman) towards linking up with our Grand Self.

    Yet this is not a process of 'acquiring' a 'higher' state, as if we'd be adapting something 'foreign' to our life. It's more the realization that the Grand Self is actually what we really are  now and have been all along, even if we weren't consciously aware of this.

    And though it may feel as if we have lived exceedingly long time in this state of reduced comprehension, the moment we become aware of that Grand, Majestic Core within us, - the moment we realize who we truly are, - these restrictive times look mere transitory to us, like a mirage, like a long, intense dream we just woke up from.

    And as this realization dawns, our life also changes. We now shape it deliberately to fit the expanded comprehension we now are able to access. We complete a process that began when our focus shifted to the layer of truth.

    A person aware of and familiar with the desire-structure is able to re-arrange his - or others' - desires to fit a more productive pattern, or shift basic longings into higher ones.

    The desire-structure itself is limited. The permutations and variations it contains, and their possible expressions in physical form are not infinite.

    This can be likened to a computer. The machine offers a multitude of variations and expressions that possibly could never manifest in all totality, - but the apparatus itself is limited. No matter what happens inside, or is displayed, or is steered by it, the machine itself and everything it does constitutes only a small part of our life – and there's a huge world outside of it.

    Likewise there's an 'outside' to the desire-structure that is unfathomably huge. While attaining first insight into our Grand Self, we get a notion of this huge 'outside', - which we perceive in its true grandeur once we progress beyond 'the unmanifested'.

Beyond the unmanifested is the Grand Majestic Self. It pervades all, but is unperturbed (unmarked) by this.

The ultimate layer to reach is the Grand, Majestic Self - called 'purusha' in this stanza.

    The Grand Self is all-pervading. - It is manifest within everything we ever experience.

    Yet all during the time we spent interacting in a physical environment, it stays impartial and unperturbed by what we confront within these surroundings.

    This being impartial and unruffled does not mean the Grand Self won't care about our material experiences. On the contrary, It is vitally interested in all we encounter and highly enriched by it.

    Though it seems inconsistent to be impartial on one side, and taking great interest as well as being enriched on the other, this discrepancy is easily dissolved by a simple analogy from our own life: - When we e.g. lift a cup of coffee to our lips to drink it, we just do it without ever thinking how much time we spent as a toddler to train this particular control of our limbs. As an adult we never recall what went on within us during that confounded time of learning, how often we failed, how many things we needed to lift to gain this ability. We now just raise the cup impartially, unmoved and unperturbed by what happened during this training.

    In the same way the Grand Self is enriched by the endresult of our experiences, but unmoved by what happened during our 'training' sessions within a manifested (material) environment.

    This sequence of layers, this construction-blueprint is recorded in many Upanishads, - some providing further details, some adding one or more layers, some splitting one particular layer into a number of 'sub-layers'. Yet they all corroborate the above picture of how an awareness-centered world is structured.

Whoever (truly) knows this becomes liberated
and reaches immortality.

Since the sum total of physical permutations is limited, so also our interest in them - inevitably - is limited.

    Once we are fully satisfied to have experienced all we ever wanted to experience while facing our desires in physical form, we realize that 'We' are that part of the Grand Self that experienced all this.

    Then – with nothing remaining unfulfilled – we integrate this 'experiencing part' of us into the Grand Self we really ARE .

    Our focus shifted completely to our Grand Majestic Self, we now are forever free (liberated) of any restriction the confine of physical manifestations imposed upon our awareness, and - since death is only possible within this confine - we also moved beyond death.

This movement of our awareness 'beyond death' gets confirmed in another part of the same Upanishad:

The One aware of everything – the Grand Self – does not die;

nor is It ever born.

…

It is unborn, eternal, everlasting, ancient.

The Grand Self is not slain even when the body is slain.

Katha Upanishad I.2.18

Now, - this material sphere on which we interact at present is quite a dangerous place: - Everyone ever dwelling here before us, invariably died.

    So we know death to be the only event of which we can be one hundred percent certain that it will come to pass in our life.

    And we abhor the thought that our present reality will ultimately end.

    Yet there is something living deep inside of us, - within each one of us, - something that is aware, - something that, even if only once in a blue moon, gives us a notion that we are so much more, so much nobler, so much greater than all we manifest during the jumble of our daily life.

Smaller than the small, greater than the great,
the Grand Self resides within the heart of every creature. …

Katha Upanishad I.2.20

    And this 'something', this deeper, impartial awareness, apparently stays on. That what is aware within us, that what is hidden deep within ourselves, that 'something' doesn't die.

    So, if everything else dies, but this doesn't, then death must have limits.

    What – then - is the range of death? And how do we consciously move beyond its sphere of influence?

The Grand Self … is undecaying, … eternal, …
beginningless, endless,
subtler than intellectual comprehension, everlasting.

If we perceive this, we become free of the jaws
of death.

Katha Upanishad I.3.15

    Death only applies to the (material) forms - our bodies - we use to interact within the environment of matter, - or within the environment of our dreams.

    Our awareness adopts these bodily shapes to explore its desires (and dreads) in physical form.

    Once we - our awareness - learned what we intended to learn by this, the body has fulfilled its purpose and falls off.

    We - our awareness - continue to exist, - enriched by our experiences within material limits.

    Our body is like a car we drive for a while, yet once we reach our destination, we get out and engage in entirely different themes.

    For as long as we focus only on the interactions of our material forms, these forms all have expiration dates.

    Yet once we - our awareness, the center of our being - move beyond this limited focus, beyond total identification with our physical shape, - that what is moving beyond, that never dies, that is beyond the expiration of our outer cover.

So, what is this, - what is that 'part', that 'agent' within us that never dies?

    And – why is it here? - What are its aims?

It was born of old
out of desire to expand
originating beyond the unmanifested.

Residing secretly within the shelter of the heart
it looks forth through beings.

And all This - actually - is you.

Katha Upanishad II.1.6

born of old

We - our Grand Self - created and entered this manifested world – like we do in dreams - out of desire to experience ourselves, to perceive our Grand Self – our origin - from a 'virtual' outside perspective.

    This 'generating a seemingly detached (separate) existence' is what is meant by 'born' here. It doesn't imply that the Grand Self was 'born out of (or created by) someone or something other.'

    Based on the foundation of what is known (of what is old); - out of a longing to explore what is new, what is beyond the old, to experience, to expand into the unknown, - out of this thrust and intention our current manifested (material) environment was born.

out of desire to expand

There's nothing static about our Grand Self.

    Its nature is ever-growing fascination with discovery, - with expanding into the unknown, - with exploring and becoming aware of its immense abilities and powers.

    Thus the desire to expand is at the heart of all our present encounters as well.

    The Grand Self created this manifested world and then immersed itself in it to dissolve, to neutralize, to 'burn' any flawed concept, idea, longing and fear that may impede its very nature of expansion.

    'To burn by purifying fire' is the term used by the Katha Upanishad to indicate this neutralizing process, - which indicates the intensity and power behind this vibrant drive for ever increasing clarity.

originating beyond the unmanifested

This tells about the 'interface', the starting point from whence the manifested world gets generated. It is a special power, a special aspect of the Majestic Grand called 'Seed of Nature' that is expressing here.

    It means the origin of our world lies far beyond the cloud of unexpressed desires surrounding our sphere of action I chose to call 'desire-structure'.

    It means that our origin is greater than the sum-total of all that ever manifests within our current sphere of physical expression.

    It also means that our awareness is older and far more majestic than what our focus is engaged in now, - and most likely also greater than all we ever deemed possible before.

Residing secretly within the shelter of the heart
it looks forth through beings.

This Greatness, this Grand Sublime from whence we sprang, resides within our present form, is hiding right within the shape we currently inhabit.

    It does not openly reveal Itself, It stays hidden not to disturb our current focus on discovery.

    Yet the Self opens up to those wanting to see, who know where to look, and who are continuous in this endeavor.

    'The shelter (the cave) of the heart' is where to find our Grand Self, as it is mentioned in many Upanishads. But – in the original, ornate language of ancient Sanskrit - this doesn't mean our body's physical heart, but our emotions, our feelings that drive the center of our existence, that provide the very power to sustain our actions.

    Sure, - for the last two hundred years we focused more on our intellect, training it well, and reaching astonishing technical achievements on the material layer where our senses operate. Yet - taking these practical technical advances for a holy grail, - we forgot all that emotions are actually the driving force in our life.

    Our intellect can never cause us to fall in love, - to engage in risky actions that seem not logically feasible, - to motivate us to venture into the unknown or put energy behind a new endeavor, - to generate a new idea that seems to come from nowhere.

    It's our emotions, our intuitions, our heart that makes this happen.

    And here, in this – our – emotional center, we find the Grand Self.

    It's here within us all the time, looking forth through our eyes, experiencing what we experience, being aware of our feelings, yet staying hidden, secret, knowing not to interfere – unless we want become awake to It.

And all This - actually - is you.

We are the ones immersed in this environment of matter now - to discover what is real and what is not, - what works and what leads to dead ends, - what generates a beneficial outcome and what does not, - what makes expand and what causes stagnation.

    We engaged in this venture entirely of our own volition - and, - to be able to focus on this task exclusively, we also agreed to lower perception of our grand origin to a mere hazy memory. This state of our awareness will continue for as long as our attention stays focused on this process of discovery - to at the end find again the awe-inspiring greatness of who we really are.

    There's total freedom to explore all avenues we feel the need to venture into.

    And also the outcome isn't fixed. What we're exploring now - as strange or haunting, as boring or jubilant, as painful or joyous it may appear to us at times – all this is open-ended.

    All we experience expands and enhances our present being - and, in consequence, the Grand Self as well; - 'the small' reflecting 'the large'.

    And - all this - truly - is grand, riveting adventure.

The Grand Self stays aware and awake within us, even while we're asleep, even while our awareness is blanked out of our body.

That identity who is awake in those that sleep,

shaping desire after desire,

that, truly, is clear, transparent awareness,

is The Expanding – Brahman, is the Grand Self, is called immortal.

…

And all This - actually - is you.

Katha Upanishad II.2.8

… shaping desire after desire

There's ever new and ever greater desires rising within us in a natural way - there's ever-ready motivation to seek new, intense (ad)ventures, and there's the powerful intent to move beyond of what we know, beyond of what we already are aware of.

    All this, truly, finds its root, its origin, its vital inspiration in the Majestic Self.

    It is our Grand Self's drive to explore the unknown that's at the heart of our fascination with discovering. The Self even generated and shaped this manifested world to discover ever new aspects of itself for this purpose.

    Thus it is perfectly all right to have desires, to seek their realization in material and non-material form, to engage in ventures that explore the unknown, that go beyond the 'old', beyond of what we know.

    Thus never think that to reach the highest you need to void yourself of desires, to forego creating the new, to give up exploring the unknown.

    The Grand Self is never stagnant, - and thus too our life is ever changing, is ever presenting us situations we're unfamiliar with. It's just a matter of understanding, of accepting this fundamental force within our existence, - and using its power for our growth.

    But to really access this power, might it not be helpful to know in which 'way', or 'form', or 'fashion' the Grand Self is apparent right now, in our daily life ?

Inside of us the Grand Self resides within our emotions, within our drive for expansion. - But since the Self is all-permeating, it shouldn't really be that difficult to find signs of It in our present surroundings as well.

    Now, - while focusing and operating on a layer where matter plays the central role, - locating some 'thing' might be as simple as opening the right cupboard, or traveling to a set of coordinates, or going to a particular street corner to then possibly find there what we are looking for.

    In an awareness-centered universe however, this doesn't work. Awareness - as we experience it now - never stays firmly linked or fixed or attached to a particular spot, or location, or object, or situation, and also not to a particular time.

    We know this from our years at school, when sat in class and our mind was here, there, but definitely not on what the teacher was saying. - We know this when we are driving a car, and our attention drifts to the meeting or task ahead, to a person we love, or dislike, or to the next junction ten minutes further down the road, – and our mind constantly strays so far from that fast-moving vehicle we sit in that we could easily ask, who – actually – is steering the car. – And these are only two simple examples.

    So, - if our awareness is far too agile to pin it to a particular spot or situation, how – then – could we possibly locate within it the even more elusive all-permeating Self?

    We need a different approach.

    To locate something that's present within everything, but pretty much hiding in plain sight like our Grand Self, it's useful to identify specific mechanisms that show how the Self interacts with our awareness, - mechanisms that are subtle and not in the forefront of our thoughts, - something we might take for granted and thus do not generally observe, - interactions that take place even though our attention is continually shifting, - something that stays continuous, some underlying layer or force beneath the highly transitory impressions of daily life.

    To our present, technically oriented time, such method might seem far-fetched. But in ancient times the people definitely were familiar with tracking expressions of their Grand Self this way. The Upanishads list abundant instructions where and how to look exactly in this manner, - and also, - and this may prove even more helpful at times, - where not to look, - i.e. where and how we'd never find our Grand Self, no matter how hard we try, what venerated methods we employ, what holy places we visit, or how much pious effort we put in this direction.

    Of course the Grand Self is present within everything, - the same way as in our dreams we certainly are present within everything we dream, within all that appears to surround us. – Yet here, in our dreams, our identity, our focus also does not rest on all that is expressed, but is centered on the I, the experiencer in the middle. With this I, this central experiencer, we have an interactive agent to explore the features of our perception in great detail, with hands-on probing agility, and with the capacity to walk around and act in our high 3D dream environment.

    In our present world of focus, WE are that I, that experiencer in the middle. Thus - to steer this current world of focus more efficiently - it's useful to identify single features of our Grand Self, - to gain a clearer picture where and how it connects to our 'physical' being and to our awareness, - to then click into its immense sagacity and power.

    The more aware we are how this connection manifests, the more of its intense, creative force flows into our life, - to enhance all we experience within ourselves and within our current surroundings.

    The next stanza shows where – and how - to find signs of our Grand Self in daily life, in our very environment, within the dynamic interactions that make our day.

…

Consisting of vitality the Grand Self enables us
- the awakening self - to explore the senses.

Consisting of mind It enables us to expand
our  ideas about this world.

Consisting of comprehension It enables us
to explore time.

Consisting of bliss It enables us to explore

dissolution.
…

Subala Upanishad V.15

Consisting of vitality the Grand Self enables us - the awakening self (Atman)- to explore the senses.

Expressing Itself as vitality, as life-force - called prana in Sanskrit - the Grand Self shows Itself in the vivaciousness with which we explore usage of our senses.

    Hence the verve to explore all our senses goes back to our very origin, to the driving force at the foundation of this world. And therefore it is entirely OK to use all our senses to investigate, engage in and discover what has been manifested for us - what actually we manifested for ourselves to explore.

    With this vivaciousness and power being the heart of our entire sense-perception, never believe anyone suggesting that - to access your Grand Self - you must abstain from using one or more of your prized senses. Such people are simply ignorant of their Grand Self.

    Use the vital force at your disposal to its fullest.

Consisting of mind the Grand Self enables us to expand our ideas about this world

Yet our senses are not all there is to this world, specially since their scope is limited.

    Beyond our senses mind is manifested. And we know from personal experience that mind is probing, trying to identify what we perceive, discerning ever finer features, finding connections to other observations, searching for ever better ideas to explain what we confront in our life.

    This probing, this drive to determine what we perceive, and to expand our thoughts and concepts - is at the heart of how the Grand Self enables us to ever broaden our grasp of this world.

    The direction into which we choose to expand our thoughts is entirely our decision.

    Yet - as mentioned before – while we focus on the layer of the mind, we better be aware that our ideas how this world works may surely produce intended results, - but as easily may also lead us astray.

    So - to give us vital feedback which ones of our ideas truly work and which ones don't, there's a mechanism that radically shows us exactly that, - and that is time.

Consisting of comprehension the Grand Self enables us to explore time

Time enables us to experience and test our ideas and concepts how the world functions like under a magnifying glass, - until we found out which of our ideas work, and which ones don't.

    Our current concept of time – the line of time we are familiar with, - is certainly well suited for making appointments and measuring something in an quantitative manner. But it entirely fails to explain the various speeds with which time passes subjectively in our life, - like the minutes we wait for a root-canal treatment at the dentist's that appear to us like hours, - like the hours we spend with someone we deeply love that appear to us like minutes in the end.

    Yet the ONLY time we EVER REALLY experience is this SUBJECTIVE time.

    Subjective time experiences are vital intervals during which we test and dissolve flawed ideas and undesired conditions, and also verify and strengthen concepts that work.

    When we experience a process of learning, our mind 'stretches' time. We exercise and observe what we want to understand for sometimes quite extensive time-spans to take in many details like in slow motion.

    Though this may sound strange, it's actually a process we are highly familiar with.

    When we e.g. decide to learn to drive a car, everything we do, - every lever we press, - the judging of the traffic in a street, - avoiding obstacles etc., we exercise in a deliberate, controlled way.

    This slow motion, this stretching of time enables us to really comprehend, to really condense new insights or skills into ONE holistic experience.

    Once we have mastered a new skill, we - from then onwards - do not apply it in slow motion any more, but just do it without ever thinking about the extended time it took to acquire that ability.

    When we were a toddler, we needed years to learn the muscle coordination to pour water into a cup without spilling. As an adult we do this effortlessly, sometimes even while carrying on a conversation that diverts all our attention.

    We stretch time to 'slow motion' to give us opportunity to explore our ideas how to acquire a skill, and to get rid of those that don't work.

    This extension, this exploration of time to intimately get to know, to truly comprehend what works and what doesn't, is an expression of our Grand Self.

    And yet one further step: - The fact that we ONLY experience SUBJECTIVE, STRETCHED time while we focus on our physical environment tells us that all our present existence is one great process of learning, of exploring new insights and skills, and of discovering ever deeper meaning within everything.

    We may not be aware that we are learning something, but this doesn't mean that we don't. – To become more conscious of this process and to be able to steer it, it pays to identify what themes engage our focus so intensely that our subjective time expands while we experience them. Once we know which topics have such firm hold on our attention, it becomes much easier to conclude them - if we so desire.

Consisting of bliss the Grand Self enables us to explore dissolution

Experiencing bliss is a fantastic way of knowing that we broke through to a level of greater vision or deeper understanding.

    The rising of bliss always indicates that (inner) blockages just have been thoroughly removed from our life.

    Bliss marks the very moment we break through. With crystal clarity we now recognize what blocked our awareness just seconds ago. It feels like stepping into the light, like finally being able to see. Vast freedom floods our heart, - we are electrified by insights that eluded us before.

    Our outlook is now completely altered. We make out new paths, detect new meanings, cast dread and worry from our heart. A sense of future expansion rises within us, - and an excited certainty that future, deeper insights will also be revealed.

    This type of inner comprehension requires no prior knowledge and no special training or ritual. It rises naturally as we remove inner blocks that barred us from perceiving the more expansive layer.

    Yet the ecstasy we experience during such breakthroughs is just a foretaste of this intense expression of the very nature of our Grand Self.

    The clearer we perceive this fantastic existence within us, and the more we orient towards It, the more of this bliss flows into our life.

    Thus it pays to invest time and energy into removing any block that may obstruct this supreme, exulted feeling.

    These four simple lines show us where exactly to direct attention to find subtle expressions of the Grand Self.

    Such signs can be found in all layers on which we focus.

    And once we begin to identify and click into these expressions in our immediate environment, the widening of our awareness accelerates.

    Yet it is entirely our choice and freedom to what extent we use this insight.

Describing something as elusive as the Grand Self, which is nonetheless present within everything, is quite a challenge. The knowers of old - the rishis - chose two distinct approaches in The Upanishads to rise up to this task.

    Roughly half of them list what is not the Grand Self, is not Brahman, in the attempt to sketch an image of something words and concepts are thoroughly incapable of relating.

    This type of 'negative' portrayal matches other approaches of that time, which show a liberated being just by its outline, leaving the space empty that normally displays the person.

    In our daily life we never really deal with something non-describable, but - it's easy to sense the stirring helplessness, the intimate craving in the way the ancient knowers tried to convey to us something so enlightening, yet so utterly elusive.

The Grand Self - Brahman - is uncreated, not caused by anything else nor set into anything else, devoid of sound, touch, form, taste and smell, imperishable, not dim, not impressive, unborn.

    Whoever becomes permanently aware of this to be his own awakening self (Atman), never experiences suffering any more. …

Subala Upanishad III.1

    Yet even if all this focuses on 'negative' characteristics, - what our Grand Self is not, - it still opens us a 'king's' way in our troubled times to find much coveted security: - Once we are firmly anchored in our Grand Self, we ourselves become untouchable by fear.

This great unborn Self

    - undecaying

    - undying - immortal

    - beyond fear,

    - called 'The Expanding' - Brahman, -

is indeed fearless.

    Whoever is truly anchored in this knowledge, he becomes that fearless Self.

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad IV.4.25

    Yet an equal number of positive depictions exist, trying to stimulate the exact same motivation within us to find our Grand Self.

The Grand Self, being unborn, yet residing secretly within our heart, -

Its body is earth and It moves through earth, - yet earth does not know Its Grand Self.

Its body is water and It moves through water, - yet water does not know Its Grand Self. -

Light - air - space - mind - comprehension – the sense of being the central experiencer - intelligence - the unmanifested - the imperishable - death – all this is the Grand Self's body and It moves through all this, - but this all does not know its Grand Self.

This inner Self, existing within everyone and (expressing within) everything, beyond any wrongdoing, - this supreme and radiant being is called Narayana ('The Story of Man').
…

Whoever pursues this is led to liberation.
…

 Subala Upanishad VII.1

'The Story of Man' - Narayana

According to ancient lore Narayana is the name carried by that 'entity' in whom the entire know-how how to manifest the world we currently experience, is encapsulated.

    Once our universe is about to take expression, this knowledge gets activated in a distinctive sequence of events, until the state is reached we now perceive.

    Narayana is not the Grand Self in its totality, but constitutes a part of it. It is a personification of that power through which the entirety of our present state of being takes on existence.

    Yet the name given to that special 'entity' carries a crucial clue about the distinct character, the particular 'flavor' of this manifested world we find ourselves immersed in at present.

    Translated into English 'nara' means 'man' or 'human being', - and 'yana' denotes 'story' or 'expression'.

    As 'Ramayana' - one of the two great epics of ancient India - is seen as 'The Story of Rama', Narayana may similarly be interpreted as 'The Story of Man'.

    Yet 'yana' is also found in a number of other words that provide further clues to what we presently are involved in. In this manner 'na-yana' means 'eye', which often stands for 'observer', while 'paraa-yana' and its derivates translate 'being so destined', 'so inclined', as well as 'the one to be worshipped'. Taking such further associations into account is typical for ancient Sanskrit and its allegoric structure.

    All this considered, the meaning of 'Narayana' would expand into

    'Expressing, Observing and Honoring the Special Destiny and Inclination of Man' -

    in short: - 'The Story of Man'.

    To identify the fundamental character of what manifests around us and within ourselves is the challenge we placed before us. We entered this world to explore the special character of man as it expresses in physical form.

    But there is yet another - even wider - implication.

    Everything man - i.e. what we experience within our current context, - is just one particular 'flavor' of what can be expressed. It is not all that can manifest.

    So if our current world is just one version of all possible expressions, - as Narayana, the name given to our present world of focus implies, - there most certainly are other worlds in which entirely different 'flavors' take on existence.

    Most likely our desire-structure and its sphere of physical experiences is just one of many variations in which our Grand Self expands awareness of Itself. - In fact there might be a multitude of alternative such structures out there in various stages of development.

 Picture - Multiple desire-structures

All these descriptions are only partial, trying to portray something that - in all truth - is far beyond words.

    To those aware of their Grand Self such depictions are like black and white photographs, like flat sepia images of a 3D scenery they experience for real in splendid colors and in fantastic depth.

    And still these inadequate pictures give insight into the grandiose scenery sprawling yet undiscovered within us - to be explored at any time we choose.

Whoever has found and is awakening to that Self (Atman)

that has immersed itself into this perilous, obstacle-ridden world,

he is the maker of this universe, for he is the maker of all that manifests.

His is this world; indeed he is the world itself.

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad IV.4.13

While becoming aware of our Grand Self, we also realize that we have entered 'this perilous, obstacle-ridden world' - i.e. our very own creation / projection - of our own accord to face the manifestation of our desires and dreads in material form.

    It dawns on us that - if we ourselves create this world as our very own 'dream', - this makes us master of this, - our very own - world.

    Thus - to explore our 'new' position of formative power, we need to find out how to actually handle the subtle mechanisms we are so intricately involved in creating. And here it helps immensely to connect to the actual power-base of our creation - our Grand Self, - to access its enormous abilities and make them our own. This is the reason why it pays to gain clear and permanent perception of the Grand Self.