spirituality and the consciousness of man

These questions were suggested by Harif Madhya, a close associate of Adonis, in which he gave penetrating insights of direct knowledge into the quintessence of spirituality. 

Harif:  What is the brain and the mind?

Adonis:  So many who are deeply interested in the consciousness of man have pondered such a question.  Whether or not one may consider it relevant or nonrelevant in the pursuit of truth, I will nonetheless indulge your question.  Now without falling into theory and mere speculation the first factor of your question is the brain.  Let us start from there.  No sane, thinking human being would refute the fact that there is a brain within our skull.  The brain of man is a vital organ of material, composed of matter with an endless array of nerves that has many various functions that it consists of.  It controls the many important functions of the body and senses. 

Now the vital factor of your question is that of the mind in which much has been debated and questioned.  What do we call mind?  Is mind merely the activity of the physical brain as thought, memory, emotions and imagination?  All this is the nature of the mind.  Without mind there is no such thing as the world.  As in deep sleep, there are no thoughts and therefore no world as we think there is.  To understand this, is to discover that the world does not exist on its own.  It is a projection of mind.  There is no mind outside of thought, memory, emotions and imagination.  Likewise, there is no world beyond these things.  Our consciousness is its substance and our mental substance is consciousness.  The inner and the outer are one and the same.  All things, seemingly different because of name and form are actually one and the same.  

Is there a division or relationship between the brain and mind?  Is there an intelligence beyond both the brain and mind?  Surely, these are vital questions to ponder if you are at all a serious, thinking human being.   As long as the mind is trapped in time and restlessness, you will never know and I cannot tell you.  It is for you to see for yourself so you do not fall into theories and fancy ideas.

Harif:  What is suffering and why do we suffer?

Adonis:  There is the idea of suffering and the fact of suffering.  If you are interested in an idea then I am not the one to ask.  If you are inquiring into the fact of suffering then that, we can go into.  Now when you ask the question, 'what is suffering,' from where does that question arise in you?  Are you asking because you want to be free of suffering or is it a question of pursuing knowledge?  On the most part, as human beings we tend to put up with suffering as if it is inevitable and therefore we never ask if it is necessary for humanity to be trapped in suffering.  When we look into our lives and the lives of others, we may see countless sorrow, which is the burning fire of suffering.  This sorrow comes from the lack of fulfillment of our desires.  Whether it is of one desire or many.  As long as your desires are not fulfilled, we call that sorrow, do we not?  Now to ask what is suffering is only a small part of your question.  If there is such a thing as sorrow that is within you, surely you would want to know and understand from where does it come, what is its movement and does it have an end.  Ultimately, what we are truly interested in is rather or not it can end.  If it has a beginning, an origin, then certainly it can end.  Its essence is desire and fear.  So I ask you, without desire, is there suffering?  That may or may not be obvious unless you go deep into understanding yourself.  If you are willing to look and listen, you will see that sorrow is a movement of mind as thought.  Therefore, to be free of thought as desire and fear is to be free of sorrow.  Which means, when the mind is still and quiet, there is no sorrow.

ADONIS ALEXANDER
(Author of Secret Sayings of Adonis)

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