Where or what is the clear light? How to recognize it

The clear light can be seen as a maximum amount of information and of energy, a kind of bombardment of information from all directions, so condensed and intense that the separation between you and it can become invisible and "you" stop being "you" and become one with it. Of course, this bombardment is going on all the time, but we have encapsulated ourselves within strict boundaries that keep us safe from that "other side". This formation of boundaries, this strict formation of barriers, classifications, categories and banishments forms what is you... it is you!

In order to receive more information, in order to let the infinite flow of information all around you flow into you and become you, your inner posture has to change. The basic attention posture of the Being has to be transformed. Through language, socialization and other forms of conditioning, we have been trained to discard enormous amounts of information in order to reduce the amount that we have to deal with. Even though we face this great maelstrom of vibrations and forms, we reduce everything to easily classifiable shapes and ranges. We didn't start out doing this. We were trained to do it. So now we must train ourselves to open up. Instead of discarding, we will accept. When we start to do this, more information flows in and, with it, a great previously invisible energy.

SILENCE IS FULL OF INFORMATION

ENERGY HIDES IN SILENCE

In order to hear the silence, to truly delve into it and explore it, we have to learn to make a special effort. This is the second conscious effort of which Gurdjieff spoke. The first one accurs in the moving center. This one occurs in the intellectual center. It involves a shifting of attention and a change in the way that attention works. It is not automatic and it won't happen overnight. You may have it for a time and then lose it for years. Then it may or may not come back.

The text and Experiments in this chapter are designed to lead you to an exploration of the Clear Light and to a space where you can make this special effort. It isn't somewhere else. It isn't in the future or in the past. It is now. But you have to come back to NOW in order to hear it, see it, feel it.

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Experiment 1: A Conversation with the Silence

1. Go to a very quiet place: a forest, a quiet street, a garden, a beach, etc.

2. Quiet your mind through any process that you find effective. Close your eyes. Breathe deeply and quietly.

3. Listen closely for the start of the conversation. Let the silence begin to talk.

4. When you hear the first message from the silence (which can come in the form of any of the little or big sounds that you have around you) internalize it, make it yours, allow yourself to understand it in a very deep sense.

5. Now respond. Talk out loud and respond to what the silence has said to you.

6. Now be quiet again and wait for an answer. Wait as long as necessary until the answer becomes clear.

7. Again internalize and swallow this answer whole.

8. Respond once again.

This Experiment can go on for a long time. Start with 5 to 10 minutes. Later you can decide to prolong it.

Experiment 2: Instructions from the Void

1. Go to the same place that you went to for Experiment 1 (or very similar if the same place is unavailable).

2. Stand up straight and breath quietly and deeply for a few minutes.

3. Now listen to the silence very closely for several minutes. Listen until you hear a distint instruction for how you will move your hand. Don't stop listening until you KNOW what you will do.

4. Now do it. It should be something small and simple.

5. When you are finished, thank the void and come back to the initial position. Listen closely again for what you will do with your hand.

6. Continue doing this for 5 or 6 times, 7 at the most. At the end say thank you and leave.

7. The whole experiment should not take more than 15 to 20 mins at the most. If you find that it's taking longer, revise the way you interpret the words "instruction", "listening" and "void".

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If we see all actions as "coming from somewhere" or being "caused by something", then we can still distinguish among them by saying "where do they come from?" or "what are they caused by?" In the most general terms, we will pose three distinct possibilities:

1. They are caused by external influences

2. They are caused by internal influences, habits or programming.

3. They are caused by the void, the nothingness.

It is the third kind of action that we are looking for... but which we can't "find". It's not "outside" or "inside"! Once we think we have it, it is certainly gone... although there may be traces of its passing. In these traces, we may find clues as to how it came about and what it "felt like" when it was here. These clues may help us later to "allow it" to happen. Ultimately we don't "make it happen"... if we did it would be "ours" and if it is "ours" then it's not the true silence, the void. So the best and only thing we can hope for is to develop the ability to "allow it" to occur, to not block its passing through us. Maybe it will become our friend and visit more often. Maybe.

[ Where or what is the Clear Light? ] [ The Blank TV ] [ Human Call and Response ] [ Call and Response with the Clear Light ] [ No Thought ] [ Silence ] [ Noise and Music ] [ Chaos and Information ] [ Safety ] [ Shame and how to overcome it ] [ Build Up and Release of Energy ]