Human beings have a capacity for observing. Outside she/he observes nature, other people, animals, her/his body; inside feelings and thoughts. The observation includes the existence of the observer. The observer (in Buddhism named watcher) is a consistent part of Eastern spiritual tradition and is evident in our daily life: in every moment of our life we can enter the observer and observe. My thesis was that the observer has also the capacity for self-observation and self-cognition. After five years of inner observation (vipassana) the observer in me discovered "the infinite sea of the inner light" - Consciousness (in Budhism named Sunjata or also Emptiness) and recognized it as himself. My thesis was right: the observer is a consistent part of every human being and has the capacity for self-observation and self-cognition.
Existence of the observer we can not proof directly. We can observe only her/his function, means observation. Similar is with the gravitational and magnetic field. We can observe only their functions: gravitational force, magnetic force. Graviton and Magneton are not discovered yet, but in the existence of gravitational and magnetic field nobody doubt. Their functions (gravitational and magnetic force) are evident enough. The same should be with the recognizing of the observer. Observation - the function of the observer is evident enough.
Y (dependent variable)= (f) X(independent variable)
gravitational force = (f) gravitational field
magnetic force = (f) magnetic field
observation = (f) observer
In Psychology of the Observer we practise the observation of our thoughts and our emotions. The main self-healing method is the following: we lay down, the eyes closed, we breathe in a certain rhythm that helps life energy run better through the body. After ten or fifteen minutes we start feeling a pain in certain parts of the body. The pain means that the life energy can not pass, at the location of the pain we have an energetic block. Observing the pain, the energetic block can dissolve. We become aware of the mental and emotional filter that is the cause of the block. We do not go into analysis, we just observe. Observation itself has very strong healing power.
After a certain period of practicing observation we are able to observe our personality in every moment of our life. When I become a perfect observer a question arises: can it be that I can also observe myself? After this quiestion the observer starts searching beyond the thoughts and feelings. The observation turns into self-observation. In self-observation observer becomes self-conscious. Let's look at the meaning of the words "to be conscious" first. They have a similar meaning as the words "to be aware", "to know" , "to watch", "to observe". Let's have an example in the following sentences: Are you conscious of your heart-beat? Are you aware of your heart-beat? Do you know your heart-beat? Can you watch your heart-beat? Can you observe your heart-beat? A human being is conscious of the outer, material world (for example the heart-beat) and the inner, psychic world. Can a human being also "be self-conscious"? What does it mean "to be self-conscious". This has a similar meaning as "to be self-aware", "to know oneself", to watch oneself", "to observe oneself". In a human being the observer is a bridge from "to be conscious of something" to "to be self-conscious". Meditating - observing inside - the observer discovers "the infinite sea of the inner light" - Consciousness (Sunjata) and recognises it as her or himself.
Between our perception and our experience there is a mental filter (in Buddhism named Maya) that contains all our thoughts and emotions, our childhood, our education and the cultural environment in which we live. That's why everyone lives in his own world, why everyone experiences reality differently. Mental filter (Maya) prevents us to enter Nirvana (in Buddhism Nirvana means Oneness with the existence in which duality subject-object does not exists anymore).
Our mental health is in relation to our mental filter. The thicker is the mental filter, the worse our mental health. Mental disease means that the mental filter is too thick. The information chain between perception and experience is broken. The person lives in his own world and acts in a way that is not acceptable for the people around him. Information enters human being through senses, goes through the mental filter and finishes at the observer. The observer is experiencing through all five senses.
reality(object)----senses----mental filter----observer(subject)
Mental filter contains personality, individual unconscious, collective unconscious. The stronger the observer is the thinner is the mental filter and the better is the information chain. The observer is the guarantee for mental health. As long as we can observe the subpersonalities in us we can not go mad. Madness means that the observer is gone. The unconscious parts of the personality take over the body. The person is not aware what he is doing, he can not observe anymore his/her actions.
Practising observation during the whole day for a few days is one of the best medicines for nervous people and people under deep stress. In one week of such a training the observer becomes much stronger and the most neurotic parts of the mental filter bubble up. We become aware of basic mental and emotional blocks that make us nervous. The more the observer is aware of the mental filter the smaller is the gap between her/his perception and her/his experience. The process of becoming aware of the mental filter leads to the discovery of the inner light and is dissolving the gap between the observer (the subject) and the observed (the object). Enlightenment means that the gap does not exist anymore, that the experience is direct. Dissolving the gap brings a perfect stream of life-energy through the body. All energetic blocks are dissolved. The discovery of the observer gives us the possibility to see clearly the our mental and emotional filters and also the basic mental filters of our scientific understanding of the reality.
The Psychology that does not recognises the Observer as a consistent part of human being is closed in itself, means in the human mind. The Psychology that recognises the Observer is open towards Consciousness (Sunjata) and is helping human being to grow beyond national, religious and all other identifications.
The observer gives us a new understanding of time. The stream of change that we perceive in reality is constant and irreversible: change A transforms into change B, change B transforms into change C and so on. The constant stream of change gives us the impression that time is passing: change A we experience as past, change B as present, change C as future. The past, the present and the future do not exist as physical reality, they exist only as a part of the mental filter between our perception and experience. Once we become aware that time is just a barrier between our perception and our experience, we jump automatically into the direct-meditative experience of reality and ourselves. We experience the steam of change in the eternal "here and now" of eastern mystics. We become aware that with clocks we measure only speed, duration and numerical order of the stream of changes, which take place "here and now" in Consciousness. Let's have an example: Our bodies are getting older every second. These life transformations give us the wrong impression that time is passing. Through our meditative experience we see our bodies getting older in this present moment.
According to the General Theory of Relativity, time is passing slower when a force of a gravitational field is increasing. That means only that the speed of change (physical and biological) is slower in stronger gravitational field. Let's have an example. At the ocean in Goa the gravitational field is stronger than on Mount Everest; in Goa the clocks are a bit slower than on Mount Everest. That means only that the speed of change is slower in Goa as on the top of Mount Everest, and time is not passing neither in Goa nor on Mount Everest.
An observer really can observe only the distances but not the space. He can observe only the inner space that is the part of the mind. Also "space-time"of Einstein Relativity exists only as mathematical model, means only as the part of the mind.
An observer can observe in reality only a finite distance. The distance between two material objects in the universe is always finite. The idea of "infinite distance" is an contradiction. An infinite distance plus 100 miles is still an infinite distance. The infinite distance does not mean a distance that can be expressed with some finite number of miles or years of light, exists only as a mathematical model. The same is with infinite pressure, temperature and density that exist according to the theory in the black holes behind the Schwartshild radius. In reality we can observe only finite pressure, temperature and density. The word "infinite" describes something that can not be understood by the mind. My experience is that the nature of Consciousness (Sunjata) is infinite and that the nature of matter is finite.
Zen and Buddhism experience Consciousness (named Sunjata or also Emptiness) as a Unified Field of the Universe. The whole universe is floating in Consciousness and is made out of it.
My understanding is that Consciousness is pure unstructured energy, matter is structured Consciousness. The entropy of Consciousness is constant (Ec = K), Consciousness does not follow the second law of thermodynamics. Matter is made out of Consciousness, so the entropy of the entire universe is also K (Eu = K). The universe is an eternal phenomenon. It has never started and will never be finished. Big Bangs are cyclic. In black holes the matter transforms back into Consciousness. At the certain point the expanding of the Universe will stop and contraction will start. In a big black hole material Universe will be transformed back in the Consciousness - The Unified Field of the Universe. The new big bang will happen. Oscillating of the Universe is in India called Breathing of the Brahma.
Considering Consciousness as a Unified Field of the Universe gives us a new understanding of evolution. The evolution on the planet Earth is only a part of the universal process: in the whole universe, matter is evolving towards Consciousness. Because of different physical conditions the biochemical composition of organisms developed elsewhere in the universe may well differ from the biochemical composition of the organisms on Earth. But organisms with a certain degree of consciousness, converging towards the Consciousness, must have definitely evolved everywhere. In the Universe exist thousands of solar systems similar to ours. Conscious organisms have evolved all over the universe. On planets similar to our planet the chemical evolution has developed further to biological and spiritual evolution. The universe wants us to become more conscious. We do not have much choice.
Geocentric approaches understand human society as phenomenon on the planet Earth. There is no relation between society and the universe. Considering evolution on the Earth as a part of the universal process means that human society is also a cosmic phenomenon. Society is a bridge from animals and to enlightened human beings. That's why society should support spiritual growth of the individual in every possible way. Let's see some important points in which science can support spiritual growth:
With the development of high conscious individuals, the development of society will follow automatically. In general terms: more consciousness means less entropy, less distraction of nature, less police and army, less criminals, more love, beauty and health.
Today we have a clear scientific evidence that the evolution on the Earth develops constantly towards more conscious living organisms: from organic sisters to first living cells and then further on towards human being. Thatsway is also the natural function of all human activities (science, technology, medicine, economy, art, education, politic) to support the growth of the human consciousness.
The natural function of the economical profit is to invest the part of it into human consciousness growing. On the planet Earth we are still not aware of this fact and we invest to much in new production. The consequence of hiperproduction is global pollution of the planet and his atmosphere. The profits of hyperproduction are less than the costs for revitalisation of the global pollution. The global economy of the planet has negative results. Because of global pollution we are losing millions of dollars every day. It is very important that in future we invest in human consciousness growing. More consciousness means less social entropy: less pollution, less illness, less criminal, more love, health, creativity and beauty.
Amrit S. Sorli