Continuity of Consciousness

Wisdom Teachings
Inner Realities

The science of Yoga was conceived by the seers of ancient times so that we may enjoy the continuity of consciousness and thus transcend death and gain immortality. All other wisdom sciences give inspiration, but the science of yoga was given as the only science to transcend death.

We believe that we are born and therefore die, but in truth we are unborn. We believe that we are the form of our body because we are deeply attached to the form of the body. However, wisdom teaches us that we live in the form, but we are not the form.

The form is something external to us. It is like a house in which we dwell. Even if we leave the house, we are still there. If we lose our house in a storm, we still exist. If we can accept that we are not our form, we shift our identity from the form to ourselves as dwellers of the form. In this way we enable our consciousness to transcend death and realise that there is no such thing as our death. That means we accept that when the form dies, we ourselves will not die. Thus, death will not cause a loss of consciousness in ourselves. Those who have once had an out-of-body experience are no longer afraid of death because they know that they will not die when they leave the body.

The mundane identity is always mortal, whereas the supra-mundane identity as soul is immortal. The soul is the 'solar principle'. As solar principles we continue to exist, and we take on bodies again and again, life after life. The continuity of identity is maintained. To acquire this knowledge, we were born with a physical body on earth. Earth is called the 'place of mortals' because on the mundane plane the illusion of birth and death prevails, and death appears to be inevitable. We can only overcome this illusion through the continuity of consciousness. To bring forth the continuity of consciousness, identification with the soul is the key. As long as we do not have the awareness of this continuity, we are mortal. The mortal part in us is the lower self. The higher self is the immortal part; it is not subject to mortality.

We gain the ability to experience the continuity of consciousness and thus overcome death by uniting with the pulsation through sustained observation of breathing. We then identify with the pulsating principle within us: THAT I AM is the pulsation. I am THAT I AM. The moment we remember THAT I AM, we are aligned. This is the origin of our being, and we recognise the origin in the pulsation in the heart centre. When we remain in a constant connection with THAT AM I and are grounded in the principle of pulsation, we live in the continuity of consciousness. Therefore, we need to continuously practise staying connected with THAT AM I.

Our problem is: we intend to stay with THAT I AM, but every time so often we forget. Our lower mind has the weakness of forgetting. It cannot maintain the continuity of consciousness. Even knowledge that we receive from books is easily forgotten. Therefore, the knowledge of the continuity of consciousness cannot be acquired through the lower mind, but only through persistent practice and contact with the identity of the soul. The wisdom teachings describe forgetting as death, and death as an interruption in consciousness.

Mostly, people lose consciousness before they die. The thread of consciousness is interrupted, and it has to be found anew in the next life. There is a thread of life and a thread of consciousness. With the thread of life, we are connected to the body, with the thread of consciousness we work through the body. The thread of life enables us to continue to exist even in sleep when consciousness withdraws into itself or goes on journeys and only returns when we awaken. The thread of life forms the way back to the body. At death, this thread of life is cut.

A stable thread of consciousness is related to a stable etheric body. This subtle body of golden light has to be built before the physical body falls away. We build this subtle golden body through spiritual practices, especially by daily observing how we slip from wakefulness into sleep and awaken again. Again and again, we leave the body and return.

Once the etheric body or light body is built, the thread of consciousness remains, even if the thread of life is broken. We can continue our work in the golden body and then there is a continuous progress and steadiness of purpose, regardless of how often we take on a body of flesh and blood. A person who is born with such a stable etheric body remembers very early their goal in life and all that they have achieved in the past.

As long as consciousness is interrupted when we leave the body, we lose the memory, and much of the knowledge gained in the previous life is lost. Thus, we make only slow and cumbersome progress from life to life. If we keep the continuity of consciousness, we know what we did in the previous incarnation. Even if we cannot remember it immediately, we may quite easily remember what was known before through a book or through what someone says, or through our own reflection. If we continually learn and practise remembering things that are essential to our present tasks, we train ourselves to retain continuity of consciousness as well. We do not need to remember non-essential things, only essential things.

Once the etheric body is built, the work and responsibilities increase. This is understood as the third initiation. Disciples who have built their etheric body are not only available during the day, but also at night they are constantly helping. They can offer guidance and encouragement to people during the hours of sleep. This aspect of discipleship is described in detail by Master EK in his book 'Music of the Soul'. As we ascend still further, through constant practice we attain not only the body of golden light but also the body of diamond light. This is the causal body in which the soul dwells. The causal body spreads much light, but even this body is not what we really are. When we are able to free ourselves from our causal body, immortality is attained.

Even before the third initiation we can be used for subtle work if we offer ourselves for that purpose before the hours of sleep. It has to be a conscious endeavour and a sincere request to the Master that he may bless us to help him in his work.

Master CVV accelerates the process of holding the continuity of consciousness if we work with the sound C.V.V. and if we make service an essential part of our life. He said, “You will gain the etheric body. That is my promise.” “I have come to give the body a new form. I give you a new model that will help you to work better and this will help to get better awareness.” “The prayer I give you will enable you to build the etheric body more quickly.” For this we have to work regularly with the prayer: “Utter the sound. I will do the repair work. The repair that takes place in the morning lasts for twelve hours; then utter the sound again and the repair lasts for another twelve hours. Thus maintain the continuity.” The Master also gave the mantram “Prana treat, yoga teach” to take care for our health, to rearrange the forces in the body

The Master promised immortality while we are in the physical body. He himself proved 18 times in his life that there is no such thing as death. Every time he was declared dead, he came back and said, “I have told you that I am not dying”…. The energy spread through Master CVV consolidates us in the etheric body so that there is continuity in consciousness, continuity of the Plan and continuity of intention.

We should work for continuity of consciousness as much as we can. And we should continue regardless of any failures. Every effort has its effect and it is noticed elsewhere. It is never in vain, but strengthens us for the future. Even a small effort in this direction will grow the seed within us. When it begins to germinate, everything accelerates. Efforts on the path of yoga are never in vain.

Sources used: K.P. Kumar Sanat Kumara. Div. seminar notes. E. Krishnamacharya: Music of the Soul. The World Teacher Trust - Dhanishta, Visakhapatnam, India