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Reference: Course on Subject Clearing

SELF is the most basic subject that raises the question, “Who am I?”

We are definitely different from each other in terms of identity. The soul we hear of so much is part of the identity because it is different from person to person. That is why, in some religions we cannot be one with God because those religions look upon God as an identity.

We may be more similar in terms of aliveness (the Spirit). In fact, some religions consider the Spirit to be a universal reality that manifests as all the different identities.

We can be very similar in our viewpoint on reality, especially in the absence of illusion. That seems to be the concept underlying the Atman of Vedas. The Atman is said to be present in all life cycles, attempting to be free itself of illusions, and ultimately becoming one with “paramatman” (God). Thus, Atman is the dynamic form of Spirit that is forever evolving from one life cycle to the next. It is at the core of identity.

In the chart (see below) by David R. Hawkins and Kasey Claytor, the View of Life column may describe the viewpoint (beingness). The Energetic Frequency column may represent the spirit (liveliness). The soul will, then, function as the carrier of the spirit (liveliness). The soul, as the identity, will change from one life cycle to the next, while atman, as the dynamic spirit, shall progress toward the state of paramatman through these life cycles.

Below is a list of key words, reading materials and a glossary. You are free to add key words, reading materials, and definitions from other reference materials as you see fit. The idea is to consolidate your understanding of the fundamental concepts involved in the subject of SELF. The introduction above presents SELF as atman (or spirit) plus identity, but that is just a starting point. Your understanding may take you where it may.

NOTE: The content of this document are just to get you started. You should continue the subject clearing of SELF on your own until you achieve the clarity through your own meditation.

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KEY WORDS

Soul, Atman, Viewpoint, Static viewpoint, Evolution, Life cycle, Death, Body-mind system, Body, Mind, Spirit, Self, Ego, Consciousness, Élan vital, Theta, Thetan, …

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READING MATERIALS

1. Interiorization & Exteriorization
2. The Cleared Individual
3. The Doctrine of No-Soul: Anatta
4. Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 2

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GLOSSARY

Soul
A person’s “soul” is believed to be that aspect of his self that is non-physical, separate from the body, and survives death. It is associated with the sense of “I” or “me”. The soul, in Christianity, cannot be one with God because of its association with personal identity. The belief that the soul survives death seems to come from the experience of the person, that he is separate from the body, as in a lucid dream, under the influence of drugs, or in a near death experience. No identity of the person survives death. In reality, what survives death, is the improvement a person’s life brought to the condition of other lives and the environment. It is the evolution his life cycle brought to the universe.

Atman
Buddha does not deny Atman in the sense of “general awareness” that is evolving life after life. Buddha does deny the interpretation of Atman as “personal awareness,” which is always associated with an identity. When we look at the meaning given to Atman in Bhagavad Gita (Hinduism), it is in the sense of “universal awareness.” Neither Hinduism, nor Buddhism, defines Atman the way Christianity defines “soul.” The Brahmins in the times of Buddha were interpreting Atman in the sense of “individual soul” and Buddha’s purpose was to correct that misinterpretation. Thus, Buddha is not contradicting Bhagavad Gita. Atman is not what the person thinks he is. Atman is the metaphysical essence of the person that goes beyond thought even.

Atman and Soul
The understanding of ATMAN is as basic and important as the understanding of QUANTUM. A quantum is not a particle; similarly, atman is not the soul. A particle has a center of mass; similarly, a soul is centered on ‘I’ – the awareness of an identity. A quantum has no mass, instead it has consistency; similarly, atman has no identity but it has awareness. An electron is a quantum and not a particle; it has no mass. It is mistakenly thought of as having mass. Similarly, your essence is The Static Viewpoint of atman and not the ‘I’ of soul. You are mistakenly thought of as being an identity. The identity is the characteristic of the body-mind system just like mass is the characteristic of matter. Atman is beyond the body-mind system just like quantum is beyond matter.

Viewpoint
A viewpoint is a window into the person’s beingness. It is different from the identity of a person. We use the word “viewpoint” to refer to the evolutionary status of that beingness. In Hinduism this viewpoint has the characteristics of TAMAS (ignorance), RAJAS (passion) or SATTVA (purity). In today’s vocabulary we may plot the viewpoint on a scale from mystery to knowingness (see Meditation from Mystery to Knowing). Life after life a person is trying to progress up this scale towards full knowingness, which he views as Paramatman or God. A personal viewpoint progresses toward the Static viewpoint as it lets go of its fixations. 

Static Viewpoint
The Static viewpoint refers to the ultimate beingness recognized as Paramatman or God (see The Static Viewpoint). It is the eternal beingness from which everything in this universe is viewed fully. The Static viewpoint sees things as they are without fixations. It penetrates everything. Therefore, the eternal essence of a person, and also of the universe, is the Static viewpoint and not some idea of soul. The Static Viewpoint is attained when all fixations are removed from a person, society, mankind, and the universe. Subject Clearing helps one attain the Static Viewpoint.

Evolution
At this stage, the universe is evolving most rapidly through human life cycles. As the condition of life improves so does the evolution of the universe. The conditions of life may be represented on a “scale” from mystery to knowingness. A person is somewhere on this scale in terms of his beingness, or viewpoint. Life cycles after life cycles one is trying to progress up this scale towards the knowingness of Static Viewpoint, Paramatman or God.

Life Cycle
A life cycle, broadly, starts at birth and it ends with death. The whole purpose of life cycles is to bring about evolution to the universe. The contribution of each life cycle to the evolution may not be visible; but it starts to become appreciable over hundreds and thousands of life cycles. Man is the peak expression of the evolution of the universe that supposedly started about 14 billion years ago. Human life cycles have accelerated that evolution by leaps and bounds.

Death
Upon death, the body-mind system gets unplugged and the spirit stops flowing through it. The body-mind system loses its aliveness, and the sense of self also disappears. The body-mind system, ultimately, disintegrates into molecules and genes that carry forward the mental programming from the life just lived. Such molecules and genes are then reused to assemble new and updated body-mind systems that are plugged back in to the life force, or spirit, to start a new life cycle. 

Body-Mind System
A person is represented by his body-mind system. It is a single system because body and mind are intimately connected. The body influences the mind, and the mind influences the body. The body-mind system provides the sense of individual identity. The body-mind system extends way beyond the body.

Body
Body means a physical organism. It refers to the material organism of an individual, human or animal, either living or dead.

Mind
Mind is that part of a human being that thinks, feels, and wills, as contrasted with body: His mind was capable of grasping the significance of the problem.

Spirit
The original meaning of the word “spirit” is “breath” signifying the aliveness of a person. The spirit may be thought of as energizing the body-mind system, the same way as electricity energizes a machinery. In this sense, spirit is not the identity of the person, but a “life force.” 

Self
Self operates as the “center of awareness” of the body-mind system. It refers to itself as ‘I’. The self is a person’s essential beingness that distinguishes him from others. Self is the complete individuality of the person that forms the basis of all his identities.

Ego
Ego is defined as the self, especially with a sense of self-importance. Thus, ego implies that the attention of a person is fixed on “self.” When one has no attention, either on oneself or on the self of others, then there is an extroverted self and no ego.

Theta (Scientology)
The concept of “theta” In Scientology is similar to the concept of “spirit.”

Thetan (Scientology)
The concept of “thetan” In Scientology is similar to the concept of “soul.”

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