Conference hydra::dejavu

1571.0. "Nirvana" by TNPUBS::PAINTER (let there be music) Fri Nov 01 1991 15:31

{From: "A Cosmic Book", by Itzhak Bentov with Mirtala, p.67-73}

A Guided Tour of Nirvana

Encounter With Naga

You are now floating in the dark void.  Below is Manifest Creation, a 
translucent, shimmering sphere containing All-there-is and appearing like 
a small lost balloon in the vastness of the infinite void.

Suddenly you notice a dot of light in the darkness and you move quickly to 
investigate.  It looks like a barred window, with light coming through it.  
You move closer.  A beautiful, warm light and vibrations of love are 
pouring out through the window.  Naturally, you want to go in, but, 
unfortunately, the head of an enormous snake shows up in the window.  He 
hisses and says in snake language, "What do you want?"

"Well," you say, "I'm just a tourist, interested in finding out what this 
is all about."

"Well," says the snake, "this is Nirvana, and once you get in, you can't 
get out.  So, do you really want to go in?"  And before you know it, the 
big snake slithers around the wall and hisses at you angrily.  Now you can 
see his size: He is tremendous!  His head is as big as a good-sized living 
room, and his fangs are like large tusks.  He appears very fierce and 
belligerent.

He repeats again, "Do you really want to go in?"

Well, with this kind of welcoming committee, very few people would be 
encouraged to enter and most would have second thoughts about it.  You say 
to the snake, "Will you open your mouth a bit wider, please?

He is clearly caught by surprise, and certainly has not been expecting this 
response to his hissing and carrying on.  So he opens his mouth wider, and 
you can already see his big throat.  Then you say, "Open just a bit more, 
please."

The snake looks puzzled.  He stops hissing and is, obviously, at a loss 
about what to expect next.  At this point, you jump right down his throat 
and keep going.  Now comes a long trip through the snake's belly, and lo, 
you emerge into the light of Nirvana from the other end of the snake.  
(Even the guardian of Nirvana, like all other snakes, has two ends.)

Well, you did it.  It's not the most dignified way to enter Nirvana, nor 
is it a very legal one, but you are in.  You leave the snake behind to 
ponder the consequences of all that happened and go about exploring 
Nirvana, before he gets around to doing something about your illegal entry. 
 
It is really a nice place.  What a contrast to the dark void outside!  It's 
difficult to describe the good "vibes" and all-pervading light.  As you 
move along, you find high thronelike structures, all luminous, with people 
sitting cross-legged on them, meditating.  Some angels are hanging over 
them, apparently for decoration.  Bliss pervades everything.  The people 
are totally unaware of what is happening around them, for they are immersed 
in their meditation, experiencing constant and intense bliss.

Upon closer examination, you find that this state of bliss is caused by 
pure consciousness - the void flowing through their bodies.  It enters 
their heads and flows down and out of the bottoms of their spines.  From 
there it flows into the Manifest Creation, which is located below them.  
You are able to examine the heads of these people, to find, to your 
surprise, that they contain no thoughts.  The thinking process would 
interfere with and alter the flow of pure consciousness.  These beings are 
drawing the flow of consciousness through them, but are not affecting it in 
any way.

Seeing all these pure and exalted beings, you begin to feel remorseful 
about the trick you pulled on the snake.  Not wanting him to get into 
trouble with the authorities because of your illegal behavior, you go back 
to the cashier's window to apologize.  The snake - let us call him Naga - 
turns out to be a good sport.  "Well," he says cheerfully, "win a few, lose 
a few; you can't win them all.  It was a neat trick you pulled on me."  
Encouraged by Naga's attitude, you start asking him about his work and 
about Nirvana in general.

"Nirvana, as you know," he says, "is really a blind alley of evolution.  
People are interested solely in their own bliss, and they don't care about 
others.  That's why I'm supposed to scare them away from here.  But if 
they decide to come in anyway, in spite of my warnings, it's their right.  
They worked for it and are entitled to their bliss.  However, they will not 
evolve beyond this."

Emboldened by Naga's friendly behavior, you ask him for a guided tour of 
Nirvana.  "I guess I can take off," he says, "business is slow today."  And 
with that, he flips out his enormous forked tongue, picks you up, deposits 
you on his back, and off you go.  Naga slithers rapidly among the thrones, 
making some snide remarks here and there.  You notice that the people in 
Nirvana are practically all Easterners.  "Yes," says Naga, "the West has 
not discovered it yet.  And besides, Westerners seem more active and tend 
not to come here.

You find that by whispering sweet things into Naga's ear, and especially by 
scratching him behind his hear, you can make him quite talkative and 
downright humorous.  He has a good, dry humor.  "Traffic has been very slow 
here in the last few millennia, and it's getting worse.  Nowadays people 
care more for each other, and wanting to help the evolution of their 
fellow men, they bypass Nirvana.  We are considering closing down the place 
or operating with only a skeleton crew," Naga points at his protruding ribs 
with a sigh.

Soon we are back at his post near the window.  You cay goodbye to your new 
friend, scratch him behind the ear once more, kiss him on the nose, and off 
you go, back into the void.

The Blue-Collar Workers

It occurs to you that if most of the traffic of enlightened souls is not 
into Nirvana nowadays, then there must be a better place for them to go, 
and you set out to look for it.

It doesn't take long before you run into a group of people sitting 
cross-legged in the dark.  As you take a closer look you see that one 
fellow is much taller than the others.  He seems to be the Buddha.  You 
slowly recognize the other people as famous yogis, who have departed a long 
time ago from the physical level; there are also some more recent arrivals. 
They all seem to be sitting cross-legged, except for one figure, resembling
St. Augustine, who is walking around with a cross as if it were a placard. 
He looks as if he is picketing the place. 

Upon closer scrutiny, you find that these people are every bit as developed 
as the Nirvana - even more so.  Pure consciousness flows through their 
bodies, entering through their heads, where again no thought process is 
visible, and emerging from the bottom of their spines.  From there it flows
into Manifest Creation.  The difference is that these people tamper a
little with the void as it flows through them.  They are adding a slight
vibration to it, prebiasing the flow of consciousness, in order to produce
a certain effect on the evolution of their particular planets.

You may recall from the previous chapter how tendencies are imparted on the 
flow of pure consciousness by the layers of letters at the outer boundary of 
Manifest Creation.  One group of "Blue-Collar Workers" is adding an extra 
twist and direction to the tendencies imparted to the void by the layers of 
letters.

We have here, then, a group of people whose compassion makes them work hard 
for the evolution of beings on their respective planets.  They are, in 
effect, a planetary lobby, doing a twenty-four-hour-a-day job day in, day 
out.  They have renounced the option of eternal bliss in Nirvana, and 
instead sit in the dark void, doing thankless jobs.  But we all know, this 
kind of selfless work eventually pays off.  They will keep evolving, and in 
time leave the population of Nirvana far behind.

RE .1

	"There ain't no Garden of Eden"
	"There ain't no angels above"
	"Things ain't what they used to be"
	"And this ain't the Summer of Love"

				, CURRENT 93

								- JIM CAD*