Below is a list of terms that have different meanings to different people. So that there’s no confusion, this is how we use them at Our Undoing. In alphabetical order, they are….
1st-person perspective or identity – experiencing oneself as Spirit.
2nd-person perspective or identity – experiencing and/or believing in Spirit as a separate, relatable being because one does not identify as Spirit. For example, an avatar, Buddha, Jesus.
3rd-person perspective – experiencing and/or believing in a god of worship, one whom we serve, above and beyond us, because one does not identify with or even relate to Spirit.
Being – Being, God, No-Thing, Spirit, Truth. When capitalized, these terms are synonymously describing ultimate consciousness–consciousness prior to and inclusive of all things. Sometimes they are used for stylistic purposes and sometimes to delineate certain aspects of ultimate consciousness. Being denotes Spirit as the action of consciousness prior to and inclusive of all things.
brain-self – or brain-projected self. This is the ego, the self, I, you, divorced from nature, ecology, and heart. Typically, “Westernized mind.” Typically associated with rationalizing. Typically associated with the masculine and with taking.
ego – the self, yourself, you, I.
enlightenment – understanding confusions about human nature, reality, and Truth so deeply that one is irrevocably–even if partially–transformed.
God – Being, God, No-Thing, Spirit, Truth. When capitalized, these terms are synonymously describing ultimate consciousness–consciousness prior to and inclusive of all things. Sometimes they are used for stylistic purposes and sometimes to delineate certain aspects of ultimate consciousness. The word God is used to imply you as Spirit.
heart-self – the sense of self that transcends and includes brain-self. More open, joyful, caring, and free than brain-self, the integration of brain within heart is often mistaken for enlightenment. Typically “non-Westernized mind”. Typically associated with the feminine, giving, and receiving. Brain-self dissects nature as a separate and above entity; heart-self is interconnecting with nature from true equality.
human nature – our fullest expression. Wholeness. I Amness as a stage upon which we live, not a state that we visit. The opposite of how the term is commonly used.
I Am – the realization of the 1st-person perspective. Spirit-as-self. Also, I Amness.
insights – expressions of the deep absolutes of reality and our place in it. Truths. Clarity.
Isness – that which timelessly is, whether one knows it or not.
kundalini – transpersonal energy that comes fully awake in the body when the personal dissolves. To the extent that it is possible, kundalini fixes that which the person has broken, ignored, or never knew existed on physical and subtle levels, to help one express full human nature and prepare one for 1st-person identity as Spirit.
Love – undefinable feeling of Being that expresses as (at least) transpersonal joy of existence, inclusivity, compassion, aliveness, understanding, forgiveness, innocence, oneness, wholeness.
meditation – inquiring into confusions so deeply that the acts of questioning and listening lead to understanding, which dissolves confusions.
necessary illusion – a healthy illusion. An inevitable condition. Existence, especially physical existence. An appearance that, while a shallow or surface phenomenon, hides a great depth. Akin to a parable.
nonlocality – experiencing oneself as everywhere/everything happening all at once. Timeless, formless Being experiencing oneself as space-time (and therefore all contained within it) through human perception.
No-Thing – Being, God, No-Thing, Spirit, Truth. When capitalized, these terms are synonymously describing ultimate consciousness–consciousness prior to and inclusive of all things. Sometimes they are used for stylistic purposes and sometimes to delineate certain aspects of ultimate consciousness. The term No-Thing is used to illustrate the fact of consciousness prior to and inclusive of all things, how and why existence works, and how nothingness/thingness and timelessness/time seem to unfold along a timeline, but are actually both simultaneous and unfolding.
nothingness – when we talk about consciousness prior to and inclusive of all things, nothingness is the void representing the “prior to” aspect.
oneness – experiencing all selves as oneself. Experiencing all the contents of Being as oneself. Experiencing Truth, which is underlying the necessary illusion of separation.
positive negation – clearing away the false definitions and beliefs of a subject so that the truth of it is revealed on its own terms.
right action – the correct action that one performs without an interval of time and thought. Truth’s action through-and-as self. Selfless action akin to reflex. (The action of self is reaction.)
self – thought. The content of human consciousness that acts as an operator for reaction. Because of this, the self typically believes it is different from thought.
Spirit – Being, God, No-Thing, Spirit, Truth. When capitalized, these terms are synonymously describing ultimate consciousness–consciousness prior to and inclusive of all things. Sometimes they are used for stylistic purposes and sometimes to delineate certain aspects of ultimate consciousness. Spirit denotes the impersonal, loving aspect of ultimate consciousness that is enjoying and spreading joy through all of existence.
thingness – the content and action of Being manifesting. Reality.
transcend and include – to become a fuller expression of oneself through clarity without repressing or banishing any of the healthy (necessary) aspects of illusion.
transcendence – to experience a broader sense of being as a state of consciousness one enters and exits. To experience a broader sense of being so totally that it becomes one’s new stage of consciousness, one’s “new normal.”
Truth – Being, God, No-Thing, Spirit, Truth. When capitalized, these terms are synonymously describing ultimate consciousness–consciousness prior to and inclusive of all things. Sometimes they are used for stylistic purposes and sometimes to delineate certain aspects of ultimate consciousness. Truth is implicit order and the force delivering it. Truth denotes the pure expression of Spirit as the deep absolutes of reality: love, morality, ethics, and clarity all happening at once, timelessly in and as Spirit. Truth in action through-and-as people is what’s called right action. Time and separation go hand in hand. Thus, when Truth hits the time stream, it dies. It shatters into verbalizations. Truth becomes truths. Insight becomes insights. These are ideas, fodder for people to mull over, debate, use or discard as they see fit. Meaning becomes subjective and the absolute becomes relative, except as a tool of oppression.
truths – the whole of Truth broken into shards of itself called “insights.” While they provide clarity for the perceiver, that clarity gets lost in translation when shared or taught. The absolute becomes relative except when used as a tool of oppression.
ultimate consciousness – used synonymously with Being, God, No-Thing, Spirit, and Truth, ultimate consciousness is consciousness prior to and inclusive of all things.