Ankh - The Path in a Picture

Is there a single image that captures the path to enlightenment? That can guide and remind us, in our ignorance, of the road we must seek and of the destination to which we aspire?

The Egyptian Ankh or Crux Ansata provides just such an image, but it bears some explanation to transform a flat lifeless image into a guide and instrument of direction of the highest order.

Here is the insight gained through meditation on the Ankh, yesterday morning. I was prompted to contemplate it by a reference made in a Gnostic podcast I listened to a few weeks back. The idea that the Ankh was a symbol of metaphysical principles for initiates was intriguing and an easy object of contemplative focus in meditation.

In the diagram below, we can see the Ankh symbol in black, with descriptions and indicators detailing the significance of its different aspects.





 

 The central theme of the symbol is the horizontal line that separates the above from below. Above we observe the circular, womb shape and below, a singular line. The creative principle represented by the womb shape is obvious if considered and the fact that it is whole and undivided speaks to the greater integrated totality of creation. The vertical line that emanates from the creative principle, drives forward into the void, separating the horizontal line that demarks its emergence and instantly transforming the hitherto passive void into a seething sea of dynamic tensions of discriminative duality. Left versus right, the spectrum of subjective conceptualisations is immediately created, with an infinite array of unbalanced distortions available for the experience of consciousness.

The vertical line emanating from the creative unity, suggests a divergence from that principle the further removed one may be. In this spectrum of consciousness, one may see the wise and self-realised entities as closer to the horizontal line, while the ignorant and dependent being further removed. Which if viewed in reverse order describes a hierarchy of development bringing one closer to the infinite creative principle from which the finite, individualised consciousness was born. In fact, the vertical line indicates that not only is there a spectrum of consciousness, but that there is only a single point at which it is possible to penetrate that creative principle from the position of individualised consciousness. The vertical line delineates a path back through the void in which concepts of duality and separateness must be balanced to return to the infinite wholeness of the creative totality. The Left-hand Path does not exist without the Right-hand Path and that all such discriminative conceptualisations are but distortions keeping one suspended and isolated in the void and off the path of return. In this graphical way we can see that it is the realisation of the middle-way, of neither identifying with the self nor others while remaining detached from the conceptualisations that entrap the mind within the horizontal spectrum of discriminative subjectivity, that provides our path to enlightenment. That is, a profound realisation of Śūnyatā is the path to the Bodhi mind.

Is it any wonder that there should be such consistency in metaphysical instruction between the ancient Egyptians, the Gnostics and the Buddha? How many ways can the same guidance be given?

May we all balance our discriminative thoughts and raise our consciousness to find the middle way and attain the further shore.

Namaste.

Edit: In the diagram above I have changed the original "Self as All .. Self as Nothing" of the horizontal spectrum to "Individual as All .. Collective as All" as to better reflect the extreme perspectives of Service-to-Self and Service-to-Others conceptualisations. The description of this aspect of the diagram was a little obscure after coming out of meditation. After contemplating my unease over it, I concluded that it is the Collective that is the opposite polarity to the Individual and better represents the extremes of discriminative thought in this spectrum.

Evolve to Progress

“The earth goddess has moved a greater part of her awareness into a 5^th density environment, dragging earth and all related sentient beings along behind her. That is to say that there is an unstoppable force pulling earth and all its life forward into a new realm of existence and experience.”

So says the guide who came in response to my meditative focus on the question of “Why another war?”

I took some time this morning before breakfast to meditate and reconnect with the spiritual life after a number of months of disrupted practice and focus on matters of material concern, such as housing, money and business issues. But it was “Father’s Day” and I dedicated a little bit of time to my spiritual practice. After running through my standard approach to entering the meditative state; breath counting, energising chakras, drawing up the kundalini and seating my awareness in the area of the pineal gland as I have previously described, I settled my attention on to the question of focus in a single-pointed state. Very quickly I was drawn into a vortex of energy that streamed down over me and filled my body with a white light that then radiated out into a sphere around me. The energy vortex then continued through me deep into the earth and I felt my awareness fall backwards, as it were, down into the earth within the column of the energy vortex, coming to rest at the bottom. I immediately felt the arrival of another entity and was in the presence of a guide who had come in response to my question.

Now, I did not challenge this guide nor otherwise question its authenticity as is my usual response when confronted in this situation, as I was automatically filled with a profound sense of gratitude and took to one knee as I gave thanks. My guide bid me to come with her and she would explain what was happening with the world and its focus on war and aggression. Under her control she took me to what she said I would understand as the 5^th density. I had the sense of rising up and arrived in a space that was completely filled with light. This is the density where, she said, our earth mother had relocated and that this relocation has profound implications for all life on our planetary sphere. As we are bound to or a part of (?) her, life will now inexorably transition into a new state of being, that is a new density of existence.

She likened this transition to a filtration process through the energetic barrier between the densities. To pass through the barrier one must shed the discordant energies (thoughts, desires, etc.) that are not consistent with the new energetic level of existence. But as the concentration of entities increases in proximity to this barrier, the discordant energies are becoming increasingly intense as they rise to the surface to be either shed or embraced. This process of increasing discord brings to the fore a conscious choice. A choice of control through fear and an experiential dead-end devoid of freedom and adventure. Or a choice of love, freedom and inspiration.

To the question of what I should personally do to continue my adventure with the earth mother into the new environment, my guide advised that I should continue to open my heart in unconditional love and to apply the wisdom of my experiences, while working on the eradication of base lustful tendencies.

The pull of the earth goddess of everyone against this barrier of transition between densities is separating humanity into increasingly separate and obvious groups. These grouping are reflecting the dualism of choice for differing polarities of “positive” or “negative”, respective to the polarity chosen by the earth mother. Evolving to shed the fear and control of the negative paradigm is making the choice to embrace the positive model of existence chosen by the earth goddess.

Observing the absurdity of the warring factions as country after country is overthrown, leaving chaos and destruction of the civilian infrastructure and communities, with politicians jockeying for position to support the insanity while creating a prison state of totalitarian surveillance through secret laws and courts to prosecute dissenters and whistle-blowers, … the choice is to either embrace the absurdity or to just step out of it and let it flow around you as you are drawn through the density barrier. To evolve into the paradigm of the new density or remain with the old.

(42) Jesus said, "Become passers-by."

Like passing through a sieve, the detritus is left behind, becoming more and more apparent over time and requiring removal to allow efficient filtration of the flow to continue.

(73) Jesus said, "The harvest is great but the laborers are few. Beseech the Lord, therefore, to send out laborers to the harvest."