points 9, 8, 7, 6, 5

point 9: holy love

each Holy Idea is a certain mode in which objective reality presents itself to our experience. we are using the term objective reality in contrast to subjective reality, which is reality seen through our inner mental filters that are shaped by our past conditioning.

Ali Almaas

holy love is the quality of existence that makes existence lovable and lovely. it generates feelings of love, appreciation, value, or enjoyment in our heart. holy love is the knowing that objective reality has an intrinsic quality of being lovable. when our reality is fully perceived, we cannot help but feel appreciation and love. holy love is the intrinsic quality of Being that is filled with nonconceptual positivity, or pure goodness.

for point nine, this is the perception and the understanding that this true and one reality is the existence of love, it is love, and it is love in action. it is the understanding that the universe functions according to benevolent laws. it is created by, pervaded by, held by, and constituted of consciousness that is loving. at point nine, the nature of the living daylight dimension of Being is perceived.

the egoic nine, who has a hard time staying true in the moment, sees love as the repression of anger. anger is repressed in point nine because the super-ego fears its expression, and this gives rise to the nine fixation: falling asleep to reality, and the failure to take a stand.

the nine’s story of love means not expressing what you feel, or even not feeling what you feel. one should feel love; if one feels angry instead, well, that isn’t loving, so it’s better to go numb and space out.

Eli Jaxon-Bear

when we really experience ourselves as holy love, there is no condition on what form the expression of the love will take. it is beyond the fixated and dualistic mind. when the nine finally stops indulging in fixation, all of reality that was previously ignored appears. by going numb the nine avoids conflict, and then feels victimized. for the nine, right action is to stay standing in the integrity of the moment, with all its discomfort. it is the willingness to face what has been avoided. in order to do this, the nine has to encounter rage and work through it.

though the laws which govern reality are objective, they are not cold, because these cosmic laws inevitably lead to the creation of organic life, and Life itself, like all natural phenomena, fulfills a cosmic purpose. as soon as the mind’s word mechanism is destroyed, love, the natural condition of the mind, appears. love begins the moment man contemplates the Creation and says “Thank you, God.” all men feel this somewhat, no animal can feel this at all. man alone can know that all comes from God.

Oscar Ichazo

as has been discussed, all the other holy ideas are versions of, or derive from, holy love. the holy ideas are not distinct, they are all facets of the same perception, or specific representations of reality as it is. as we’ll see later, point eight is holy truth, and holy love is the heart of this truth. the body of truth is the existence of reality, and its mind is the intrinsic intelligence of its perfection. the heart of this truth is what makes reality lovable, appreciable, and enjoyable.

we could say that Holy Love is the intrinsic quality of the reality of Being that is nonconceptual positivity. it is pure and unalloyed blissfulness. it is the value-saturated quality of truth. it is pure goodness, the Good of Plato.

Ali Almaas

reality is characterized by this positivity regardless of our state of mind. it is the way reality is, regardless of how we feel about it. furthermore, this positivity or goodness is not dualistic. it is not the opposite of negativity or badness, but rather a goodness beyond polarity, written into the code of the universe. the more this reality touches our heart, the more we feel its goodness despite our egoic judgments of “good” and “bad”. this characteristic of reality is often seen as the blissful or compassionate quality of Being.

the nonconceptual positivity that is Holy Love is not just a feeling. it is how reality looks, how it feels, how it smells, what touching it feels like. in terms of seeing, it is beauty. in terms of hearing, it is harmony. in terms of tasting, it is sweet. in terms of smelling, it has a quality of perfume. in terms of feeling, it is positive affect.

Ali Almaas

holy love is an inseparable quality of existence, so that if we fully experience existence, we also experience its intrinsic goodness. when our experience of existence lacks this goodness, beauty, and delight, we can be sure that we are experiencing reality from the perspective of ego. from the perspective of holy love, reality is what remains when we transcend our conditioned point of view. when this goodness is felt, it pervades everything, and all we need to do is relax into it. we stop fighting life and go along with its natural goodness. we stop trying to make things better, and see the goodness that is already present.

Holy Love, like the other Holy Ideas, is a quality of objective reality, so it can’t be there sometimes and not at others, or in one part of reality and not in another.

Ali Almaas

this goodness has nothing to do with concepts like morality or good and evil. evil only exists when we see reality from an egoic perspective. devils or dark forces are manifestations of ignorance. by contrast, holy love is a direct experience of how life feels and affects us. when we have the experience of holy love, we realize that it is omnipresent, and only feels absent when our experience of life is incomplete.

the experience of holy love makes us realize that the truth is loving and lovable, so we love truth for its own sake. when we claim to love truth but hope that it will change us and make us better, our orientation is not in line with the holy ideas. when we see reality as it is, we cannot help but love it.

we can call the presence of Being love, and its unfoldment the loving action of Being. the fact that this lovely and lovable quality is characteristic of everything at all points in time and space means it is nonlocalized.

Ali Almaas

when we localize this love to one person or one situation it becomes restricted. we begin to believe that goodness depends on conditions and circumstances. we are no longer connected with holy love, and instead we are seeing reality through our subjective egoic filter. to experience the whole of existence as love requires that nothing is held back in the heart. if there are feelings that we don’t allow ourselves to feel, this repression acts as a limitation to the perception of holy love.

the understanding and experience of holy love is a prerequisite for experiencing all the other holy ideas. if we don’t know this basic goodness and feel it experientially, the other holy ideas will feel unreal, as basic goodness will be missing from them.

the specific delusion for type nine is that this lovingness is localized, depending on conditions and circumstances. love is believed to be conditional, such that we only experience it at certain times and not others. another way to see this delusion is as an inferiority complex that results in the sense that we do not have any quality that is wonderful, beautiful, or lovable. we feel worthless, diminished, or not good enough. the specific difficulty is a sense of unlovable inferiority. this results in the nine seeing no point in working on themselves, and falling into inertia. their activities feel empty, and their attitude is “at least i’m surviving.” excitement is available here and there, and they fall into distraction with these few meaningful activities. their life is filled with the insensitivity and darkness of the sleep of unconsciousness, but they are not aware of it.

the specific reaction for type nine is falling asleep to reality. they give up, resign themselves, and go unconscious. for Almaas, this is why enlightenment is called awakening. we wake up to what is really here. our conditioning and egoic sense are deeply imprinted, so we do not wake up easily. even when we experience goodness, we go back to sleep. we take conventional reality, with its localized love, to be the full truth.

identifying with the delusion of Point Nine manifests in not seeing, realizing, or believing that you are really who you are; that you are not really Essence and Being, or even a soul. you continue to believe that reality is what the social consensus says it is: the life, world, and personality of ego.

Ali Almaas

point 8: holy truth

as we have seen, each Holy Idea is a characteristic of reality at all locations, at all times, and at all levels. Holy Truth explicates this understanding.

Ali Almaas

on our spiritual journey, when someone invites us to look into our belief in a separate self, we may have the sense that they want to take away our most precious possession. through practice, we come to realize that their invitation came from compassion, as they were trying to release us from our suffering. the more we look into our personal sense of self, the more we see into its illusion, and how this illusion underlies all suffering.

for most of us, truth refers to what is situational, contextual, and happening to a specific person, group, or object. Almaas, like other spiritual teachers, refers to this as relative truth. relative truth can be defined as an accurate description of the current situation on the factual level. it is always changing. when we inquire more deeply into our experience, we come across the essential truth, the presence of the essence itself. at the essential level, the facts of the situation take on meaning, richness, and depth. we feel into the realm of what truly exists, beyond the surface of things.

when point eight experiences basic trust, the head centre opens, and the fact of reality is perceived. we see the nature of what is, or the universe in its totality, as fundamentally existent and as the highest truth. we see that everything forms a unity (we can call this unity by different names, including God, Divine Being, True Nature, etc). holy truth is the perception that God, Nature, or Being, exists as the totality of existence, with nothing outside of It. it is one with the universe, and this universe is pervaded by living presence and consciousness that we experience as living daylight.

holy truth reveals to us that reality exists in the now, as the now. “now” does not mean “at a particular time.” it is prior to and beyond time. when we stay with our experience in the present, not wandering into thoughts of past or future, there is the recognition that now is not a time, not a point between the past and future. rather, now is the whole of the experience that we are having, including the screen on which we’re reading, the chair we’re sitting on, the presence we feel in being here. this presence is Being, and when we see the Beingness of everything, there is an inherent perfection and rightness about it all.

the moment your mind wanders to the past or the future, your focus is not on the intrinsic reality of things. your mind is focusing on the changing of the forms, and the implications you believe these changes have. then you lose the perception of what truly exists right at this moment.

Ali Almaas

when reality is seen from the perspective of holy truth, it has no divisions. it exists as one seamless Being. this Being cannot even be called One, as this implies the existence of Two, and a differentiation between One and Two. for this reason, it is called “nondual” reality. the fundamental fact of reality is this indivisible nonduality. in Christianity it is expressed as the omnipresence of God. in Buddhism it is called emptiness. from the perspective of holy truth, it is clear that there is discrimination within this whole unified reality. we see different forms, colors, and movements within reality. however, contrary to the relative view, those differentiations have no real separating boundaries. the whole of the universe is one living manifestation. discriminated form is understood as appearing within this whole, not as parts separate from the whole or from each other.

the personal entity, which identifies its existence with life in the physical body and calls itself “i,” is the ego. the physical body, which is inherently inert, has no ego sense. the Self, which is pure consciousness, has no ego sense. between these two, there mysteriously arises the ego sense, which is the “i” thought. this ego, or separate personal identity, is at the root of all suffering in life. therefore, it is to be destroyed by any means possible. this is Liberation, or Enlightenment or Self-realization.

Ramana Maharshi

the egoic eight can easily confuse holy truth with their personal view, and use this egoically distorted truth as a weapon. the true realization of holy truth is also the realization that there is no separate self who can take things personally. truth is beyond all ideas, and yet informs every idea. truth is formless, and appears as all form. holy truth arises when we experience ourselves as the Source of all manifestation. holy truth is not static, it is constantly transforming. the moment you move your hand, you know that the universe is not static; the moment you hear a sound, you know that the universe is changing.

holy truth is the perception that all levels or dimensions are really one; that all dimensions constitute a complete state of unity. they are all facets of the same Reality. holy truth dissolves duality, including ego’s sense of separateness. if we want to experience holy truth, we first need to experience Being. it is only in Beingness that we can perceive unity. the following is an example, from Buddhism, of the perception that we have from Being:

how things appear is my being.
how things arise is my manifestation.
sounds and words heard are my messages expressed in sounds and words.
all capacities, forms, and pristine awarenesses of the buddhas;
the bodies of sentient beings, their habituation, and so forth;
all environments and their inhabitants, life forms, and experiences;
are the primordial state of pure and total presence.
Longchenpa

all that exists has me — universal creativity, pure and total presence — as its root. the perception of the unity of all existence — holy truth — is a nondual perspective. it is true existence, independent of the egoic mind. when duality is seen through, our experience of physical reality is imbued with the essential, leaving it even more vivid and real. our body, thoughts, and feelings are part and parcel of this Truth. the practitioner needs to recognize that this state of completeness is the reality of everything right at this moment. it is the most natural of states, simply allowing everything to be exactly as it is. even suffering is its own reality. nothing needs to be done about it.

nonduality is also the view of Dzogchen (the Great Perfection) in the Buddhist tantra. this natural state is the state that is always occurring, even when we cannot recognize it as such. when there is recognition, there is depth, concreteness, beauty, harmony, and the grace of how things really are. everything is seen as always-already perfectly itself. nothing is excluded from holy truth. ego, thinking, and reactivity are all included. nothing falls outside this perfection.

our belief in duality is what holds the ego together. this belief arises due to the loss of the perception of holy truth. when this holy idea is lost to our experience, we end up with a distorted and mistaken idea (a delusion) about reality. when there is no perception of the fundamental unity of all existence, we perceive duality, and believe that to be reality. when point eight is caught in the experience of dualism, it has a sense that something is fundamentally wrong. something has been destroyed, and someone is to blame; they are guilty of injustice and should be punished. the more deeply the eight moves into blame, the more they realize that they feel guilty for not being real or sincere. the eight’s need for revenge comes from the need to make another suffer for what they did, with the hope that a sense of unity will be restored.

for point eight, the specific delusion is duality, stemming from a loss of basic trust. the loss or inadequacy of the holding environment results in the specific difficulty, which is a sense of guilt, badness, or fundamental sinfulness. the loss of basic trust becomes the specific reaction, which is blaming.

there is no greater mystery than this, that we keep seeking reality though in fact we are reality. we think that there is something hiding reality and that this must be destroyed before reality is gained. how ridiculous! a day will dawn when you will laugh at all your past efforts. that which will be on the day you laugh is also here and now.

Ramana Maharshi

point 7: holy wisdom, holy work, holy plan

Reality exists as a succession of moments, each experienced as ‘the present,’ and it is only by existing in the present that the constant unfolding of the Cosmos can be experienced. only by working in the present can real work be done and real results achieved.

Ichazo

there is an evolution or transformation that happens from moment to moment. holy wisdom allows us to perceive this evolution, in both its design and its process. holy work is the actual transformation progressing from one stage to another, and holy plan is the design of the evolution. from the perspective of holy wisdom, we experience the macrocosm replicating itself in the microcosm. we see the world in a grain of sand. for holy wisdom to arise, the sense that everything is good and workable (basic trust) and the sense that the unfolding of reality is complete need to be established.

basic trust means that if you are allowing yourself to be present, and there is a continuity of Being, then there is an unfoldment of your natural resources, including all the essential aspects, intelligence, and perceptions, as well as things like understanding what needs to be done.

Ali Almaas

knowing that things are unfolding to a holy plan relieves us of the need to make our own plans. if we can perceive the holy plan, and let ourselves trust and be present, our unfolding becomes one with the unfolding of the universe. we let go of our egoic plans and manipulations. the loss of this idea leads to fantasizing and planning, as we try to manufacture our own separate creation. for point seven, this manifest as either guilt for not doing holy work, or justification— in the name of holy wisdom— for acting out their fixation. holy work is the result of realization, beyond action and thought. when the ego finally surrenders to the love that dwells in the heart, when one’s life becomes truly dedicated in service to love, then life itself is holy work.

holy wisdom allows us to perceive the natural evolution of the soul; a human being moving towards transcendence. holy plan is the design of this evolution, and holy work is the actual evolution itself: a transformation that we can directly witness, a progression from one step to the other, going in a particular direction.

the perspective of holy work unveils several insights. firstly, presence, directly experienced in the now moment, is Being, and hence, the now moment is an entry into Being. secondly, presence is a succession of moments, each experienced as now. it is an eternal now, or eternal presence, unrelated to the concept of time. the unfoldment of reality is experienced as a succession of now moments, and each now moment is experienced as always now. when we experience Being in its pure nowness, no thoughts about past, present, or future arise.

thirdly, the unfoldment of presence is the unfoldment of the universe. unfoldment is Being in flow, and this flow is the very transformation and evolution of the universe and everything in it. it is like a fountain, where the water is continually unfolding into new forms, yet remains water. if we fail to perceive the universe as the unfoldment of presence, we see it as governed by cause and effect. in other words, we only see relative truth. holy work grants us access to ultimate truth, and we realize that every moment arises afresh, not as the result of the previous moment. holy work is renewed every moment.

holy work is the experience of the cosmos as a constant unfolding of existence. holy plan is the awareness that this unfolding is not a chaotic or random process, that it progresses according to its own natural laws. we perceive the pattern in the unfolding, and we can see how intelligence develops and evolution proceeds. holy wisdom is the actual practical living that takes place, as understood within the context of holy work and holy plan.

so our work here is basically a way of seeing the unfoldment, understanding the unfoldment, facilitating the unfoldment, and surrendering to the unfoldment.

Ali Almaas

the specific delusion of point seven is the belief that we can or must direct our unfoldment; the belief that we can plan our life, that we can know what should happen next, or what direction we need to take in terms of inner experience. holy work happens whether we know it or not, but without the realization or recognition of it, no transformation is possible.

the specific difficulty for point seven is not knowing what to do, resulting in feeling lost. in the absence of a sense of holding, a state of deficiency is experienced, in which we feel that we should know what to do, but we don’t. we lose the flow of presence and feel disoriented. the specific reaction for point seven is planning, or trying to create an orientation or direction for future actions. this reaction implies the absence of trust that there is already an inherent plan oriented towards our actualization, and that all we need to do is be true to who we are in the moment, so that the unfolding can happen naturally.

planning indicates that you have an idea in your mind of how you should be and how you should live and what should happen within yourself and in your life. this means that your orientation comes from your mind, and that it is determined by a goal that you are attempting to arrive at in the future. it’s coming from your lower intellectual center, instead of your higher intellectual center, the source of the Holy Ideas.

Ali Almaas

point 6: holy strength, holy faith

[Holy Faith is] the awareness that the Cosmos is a self-regulating mechanism, existing in a state of balance, and as long as the objective laws which govern this balance are respected, an individual can exist in a state of harmony with Reality, moving toward his own personal fulfillment. Faith is a Holy Idea, not a belief. it is the certitude that each of us has an Essence and that this Essence, coming from God, belongs to God.

Ichazo

for point six, there is either no trust, earned trust, or trust blindly given to a group. these are all forms of fear-based, or ego-based trust. point six is afraid of fear, and views courage as the absence of fear, whereas true courage is the willingness to stay present when fear is felt. when we can fully allow fear and experience it without reacting to it, it does not affect the choices we make. we perceive fear as pure energy, as opposed to its identified form, which is energy employed in “saving someone.”

true courage is to be terrified and to still surrender into the unknown depths of your heart. this is the secret of the silent mind.

Eli Jaxon-Bear

simply put, holy faith is the recognition and experience of essence: knowing our own true existence as perfect, intrinsically good existence. the realization of holy faith leads to the experience of holy strength, as the strength of the soul lies in its nature as essence. essence is the fundamental nature of soul, and this gives it a feeling of strength. holy faith is a kind of knowledge, conviction, or certainty. it is based on direct experience, not mental constructs, and it is not faith in a person or entity, but faith in reality. this faith is a constant and reliable perception, and contrary to our usual interpretation, we are what comes and goes, not it.

holy faith is the experience that Being is the reality and inner truth of every human being. whereas holy origin (point four) is the experience that we are never disconnected from our center, holy faith is realizing that this center or Source actually exists, whether we feel connected to it or not.

so the primary insight of Holy Strength and Holy Faith is that Essence exists and that it is really your true nature.

Ali Almaas

recognizing an essence is not yet holy faith, although it is a necessary element. faith has to become an objective experience based on a transformation of the bodymind. the essence becomes a certainty. when this happens, we don’t need to remind ourselves of it, because it has transformed into consciousness itself. two important insights are necessary for holy faith to arise. the first is that truth exists in a fundamental way, it is not constructed by ideals and beliefs. this recognition subsumes the insights of holy truth, holy love, and holy perfection. the second insight is that this truth is the reality of Being, not separate or independent of it. when we experience holy faith, there is trust, confidence, security, and a sense of support, relaxation, and courage. it feels similar to the feeling of deeply trusting someone. faith is a very important development on the spiritual path, because it transforms the bodymind, bringing it into alignment with reality. as with all the holy ideas, holy faith leads to a sense of holding, or a basic trust.

the absence of holy faith leads to an absence of faith in human nature and nature as a whole. we distrust our own nature, and see human goodness as simply the result of adaptation, devoid intelligence or essence. this may lead to the belief that there is no such thing as essence, that man is basically corrupt, and that goodness or essence either does not exist or only exists outside humanity. consequently, life becomes a fight for survival, full of insecurity. the specific delusion for point six is cynicism (there is no true nature): the belief that people are entirely motivated by their selfishness, and an accompanying contempt for human goodness and sincerity. we don’t believe in human goodness, and we also don’t believe in grace or universal goodness. when we encounter goodness, we are suspicious, expecting it to be a trick. in this way, we invalidate our own experience.

the specific difficulty for point six is the belief that reality is not supportive, leaving us insecure and fearful. we believe that it is not possible to be held adequately, that true support and nurturing are not possible or available.

the loss of the Holy Idea, the loss of the holding, and the development of distrust are all components of the same process, and they happen simultaneously over the course of the first five years or so of life.

Ali Almaas

the specific reaction for type six is an expression of distrust or cynicism, a defensive suspiciousness of others and the world. this defensive suspicion may be tainted with paranoia, aggression, and hostility. we are constantly on the lookout for danger. in the counterphobic six, this specific difficulty is denied, and actions— often in the form of risks— are taken to prove that we are not fearful or paranoid. the real difficulty that arises from cynicism is not so much a distrust of others or the world, but the belief that we ourselves are devoid of good human qualities. we need to remember that all of us have point six in us, and all of us can experience this cynicism.

cynicism is a delusion; it is not intrinsic to our consciousness. it is the product of a particular ignorance, and the insight that will resolve it is the perception we call Holy Strength and Holy Faith.

Ali Almaas

the holy ideas of the central triangle of the Enneagram (9,6,3), namely love (point 9), faith (point 6), and hope (point 3), are the three primary “theological virtues” in Christianity. they are also distinguished from the other holy ideas in that they are essential if we want to travel the path of transformation. they are the essential elements that the bodymind needs in order to make the journey home.

love of the truth motivates the soul to want to set out on the journey; faith sustains and supports it as it proceeds; and hope gives it the optimism that things will unfold in the right way. objective love reflects the recognition of the intrinsic goodness of Being; objective faith reflects the recognition that Being is one’s inner truth and also one’s support, strength, and ground; objective hope reflects the recognition of the optimizing thrust of its dynamics.

Ali Almaas

point 5: holy omniscience, holy transparency

because every individual is intimately connected with the entire cosmos by the operation of objective laws within their own bodies, there is no separateness or alienation except as a mental hallucination. because the cosmic laws govern every aspect of ourselves, there is no possibility of hiding from the Cosmos, or avoiding the results of natural processes. when we understand this, we are completely at peace with our past.

Ichazo

holy omniscience is the Universal Mind, the multiplicity of existence within its unity. Universal Mind includes everything that exists in its various manifestations, its richness and continuous transformation. whereas with holy truth the emphasis is on the unity of everything, holy omniscience emphasizes the differentiations and discriminations within this unity. holy transparency is the same oneness, but from the viewpoint of the individual. it is the understanding of our place within existence.

this [holy omniscience] is the perception, the realization, the understanding that everything that exists is interconnected and makes up one thing. the boundaries experienced by ego are not ultimately real, so separation and isolation are illusions.

A. H. Almaas

aversion is an attachment inspired by fear, whereas pursuit is an attachment motivated by desire. all fixations display this duality.

when the ego contemplates omniscience, it believes that it can be attained at some future time by learning everything appropriate. the mind of point five uses this belief to justify attachment to mental objects. by contrast, holy omniscience is the state of an empty, silent mind. it does not stem from knowing but not-knowing. it is blissful emptiness and clarity. fives may come across as very non-attached, but the withdrawal and isolation they display are signs of deep attachment. their attachment is to privacy, protection, and the fear of emotional overwhelm. even more fundamentally, point five is attached to the mind and its ideas. true non-attachment is the giving up of the mind and its thoughts, a surrender of the mentality to a deeper realization of the truth of oneself. only in this way can we be free from the attachment to outcomes. true non-attachment finds its way naturally when we are free of the need for an outcome.

holy omniscience views the totality or wholeness of reality as a multi-colored fabric. it is the experience of oneness with an accompanying sense that everything is interconnected. holy transparency refers to oneness as seen from the individual point of view. from this viewpoint, the individual is an inseparable part of the whole, or from reality. the individual is realized to be one of the differentiations of the Universal Mind.

the universe itself is a living being which, through the differentiated forms of life in it, evolves into ever-increasing sophistication and complexity. each living form is a way through which the universe can experience itself. in the human being the universe has the capacity to self-reflect. to know the truth of holy omniscience is to know that we are the eyes of the universe.

your job is to make that eye completely transparent and completely open so that you can give the universe an experience of itself in all its dimensionality, in all its variety, in all its colors and flavors.

A. H. Almaas

the experience of holy transparency is experiencing oneself or the bodymind as transparent, meaning the individual is not separate from the universe. the individual has a localized consciousness, yet is also continuous with everything else. Almaas calls this a “particularization, an individualization, a personalization of the unity.” the same view is present in the Buddhist Vajrayana teachings, in which everyone and everything is described as vibrant energy, all co-emerging. in the Vajrayana teachings the energetic body is depicted as rainbow-colored and transparent.

all we really know is that the unmanifest manifests the universe — and we know this from our own experience, which provides the perception of the human being as both an individual and an organ of experience for the whole universe. experientially, the sense is that the whole universe is behind you, and you are like a window through which it sees.

Ali Almaas

for Almaas, our spiritual work is not to rid ourselves of suffering, but to be a clear window for the universe. we become free of our subjective sense and realize our Being-sense. we realize our oneness with everything, and the grandness of being an expression of it all.

when this “objective” way of experiencing ourselves is lost, the specific delusion of point five arises, namely the conviction that we are a separate entity, existing independently, distinct from others and the rest of the universe. we build a fortress with impenetrable walls around us, and become an isolated individual, with boundaries separating us from everything else.

from the perspective of holy truth (point eight), there are no discrete separate objects, and from the perspective of holy omniscience we see that there is no separate self. when a tree arises within our awareness, there is nothing but sensate-perception, which is fully made of us (awareness). the fact that our thinking mind calls it “tree” and imposes a separation on the experience has nothing to do with actual experience. separation is purely conceptual, or thought-based. non-dual reality is beyond, or prior to, thought. it is direct perception.

as we experience more objectively, we see that true independence is being independent from the mind that separates us from the universe. true independence, then, is independence from falsehood. when we think being independent means not depending on others or not needing this or that, it is evidence that we are seeing through the subjective lens of ego.

A. H. Almaas

the conviction of separateness is based on the assumption that our bodies define the boundaries of consciousness. ego is first and foremost a body-ego, and the delusion lies in taking these body-boundaries to define and limit our sense of who and what we are. when we see through this in direct perception, we see that ego boundaries are only mental constructs. the boundaries define a difference but not a separateness. think of the body as a wave in the ocean. though the wave has its temporary form, it is still made of the same ocean. though there is localized consciousness, we are still ultimately made of awareness.

the specific difficulty for type five is experiencing ourselves as small, isolated, empty, and impoverished. Almaas calls it a state of deficient isolation. the specific delusion is the belief in separateness. the specific reaction is to withdraw, to break contact and hide from reality.

we recognize that, as human beings, we are organs of perception for the universe, and that this Holy Idea explicates the place of the human in relation to the living universe. through us, the universe experiences or knows itself fully, not only physically, not only emotionally, not only mentally, but on all the spiritual dimensions as well.

Ali Almaas