The radical autonomy of Consciousness and how it relates to "free will"

[@hipkiss100]

All praises for this magnificent broadcast ❤ - Ananta- the true nature of the localised field of conscious resonance body as the entire universe . The infinite is what is when all veils are removed . Om peace.✨🔱✨

[@thomasearlspeers]

Love this video, Chris. I’ve been diving into Tantra Illuminated for the last few months. Finding the NST path is like learning the language for something I’ve always known. I’m 44 and have been a “seeker” my whole life. … I found Tantra Illuminated in a thrift store in the mountains of Colorado a few years ago. It was destined. 📿🤘

[@butterfly2332]

What i have found is that the more i do not identify with the seperate self...the more peace i feel. I feel one with the ALL. I am the all and from that i connect in meditation and give everythn to the all. Whatever arises in me i give to the all. Ive come to realise that every experience is neither good nor bad becoz it is born from unconditional love and only exists to teach me somethng about the self and what i am here to learn

[@FaYT02]

It's always comforting to hear this reminded from the other shore. Thank you. 🙏🏻

[@sydpf117]

It is a pleasure and a gift to hear and see everything you offer us. 😊

[@philippedeberg3204]

This clarifies the subject of free will for me, thank you

[@capuletca]

This clarifies your past videos on the topic a lot. It seems to basically come down to: the more one abides in Awake Awareness the more "free will" one experiences, while the more one is identified with the egoic self, one may "think" they have free will but are actually just experiencing bondage to their conditioning.

[@Born-u7h]

But then, at the same time, free will in reality doesn’t really exist?

[@capuletca]

@Born-u7h If u ask me I'd say it doesn't exist to the egoic self-images. The more one abides in Awake Awareness though, the more Spontaneous their actions become. So free will exists and doesn't exist at the same time, it just depends from which angle one is seeing it.

[@christopherwallis751]

@@Born-u7h The will is, in reality, free. But the separate self doesn't possess free will for the simple reason that the separate self is a fiction.

[@workingtoseethelight8244]

I just realized that I am not my body. Wow, I knew it but something just flipped when as I was watching this video and was forced by divine will to pause and be chewed on by my dog Rosie. Deep stuff man! Seriously though, thank you.

[@harkcali]

Thank you for reminding us the true source of freedom is abiding in Consciousness.

[@treysmythstunes]

🙏

[@gaiatrys]

great topic, i've been contemplating it for some time, thanks a lot for sharing your view.

[@christopherwallis751]

@@gaiatrys well I'm trying to share the traditional view on this, not just "my view"...

[@RobinPai-k9j]

Thank you for clarifying yet again the concept of free will. OM 🙏

[@Snowypeak-e3n]

There is no seperate self, but will itself is free.

[@christopherwallis751]

@@Snowypeak-e3n of course; exactly so.

[@theletterq5660]

Thank you for your wisdom

[@holyvoid]

Christopher, we love you! 🕉 🙏

[@MichelleIndianer]

Great talk. Brought some more layers together for me

[@stanilindbeck2180]

❤❤❤

[@shattered_lightsb8381]

As a Trika Saiva I’ve been studying the other schools of Vedanta and the most advanced among them I believe is achintya bheda abheda. Setting aside them being Vaishnava, on a philosophical level they seem most similar to the Trika philosophy, I’m curious what are their primary differences. I guess the biggest difference is that they always keep some level of difference between God and the Jiva, but in the Trika system you can actually realize yourself as Shiva in this very body. Also unlike the Trika they don’t believe the world is a manifestation of Conciousness, but that Prakriti has always existed eternally. In fact, I was debating one of them a while back just for fun and they found it illogically that awareness would manifest anything at all, but that it’s more logical to just say Prakriti has always existed.

[@christopherwallis751]

@@shattered_lightsb8381 they were wrong to invoke logic. Neither position can be said to be logical in any strict sense.

[@genxzero9478]

Chaitanyamatma

[@polarisstella]

Thank you

[@roshenrejiidiculla9577]

thanks very much for your videos on tantra.

[@IonutLumi]

Thank you for this. Could you please clarify about the other type of subjects? Does Sadāśiva have free will?

[@christopherwallis751]

@@IonutLumi , 'He' is nothing but free will.

[@ar4203]

In "my" experience(yes it is "awarenesses" not a personal me, just awareness knowing itself by being itself...) the Will is acknowledged& fundamental/not anything or willing some thing other than itself/its own being, but it is absolutley "free" will/movement/dynamic etc...I simply dont understand how we can "negate" the will in any way... yes the "personal self" is an illusion, doesnt exist, etc but if what we actually are as is known in direct experience this fundamental aware being &willing, and dynamic free will is fundamental of that as experienced/acknowledged, than it would seem that we(as nothing other than this awareness) have& ultimatley ARE this willing& movement capacity, I just dont see how we can negate this Will, is there some experience which negates this will aspect of Self/Awareness or is this just an interpretation or perhaps there is something obvious kr logical Im not seeing because Will appears fundamental in my experience

[@SvacchandaWisdom]

There is a very strange prophecy still told in Kashmir and said to have been pronounced by a wandering yogi around the year 1020 when Abhinavagupta and his scores of disciples were entering the Beerwah cave never to be seen again. The prophecy was that the glorious polymath Abhinavagupta would be reborn as Kapiraja, King of the Apes, in the future. Locals do not believe that this prophecy has been fulfilled and some have taken it to mean a kind of Hanuman figure. But what occurred to me today during meditation: Another well-known word for kapi or ape is actually hari. Isha and raja are synonyms and both can mean King or lord. So hari-isha or Hareesh can also mean King of the Apes. Could it be that our beloved Hareesh is Abhinavagupta's reincarnation as King of the Apes?

[@easylee3612]

I remember when I came across your video called "what is non-duality". Thanks to this, I understood, saw and felt what it was all about. The absence of a subject, center is the absence of the owner and doer. The will is free :) However, I do not understand why concept of consciousness appears in this context. What do you mean by consciousness? Isn't this the core of separation, ..source, space, substance, autonomy, cause, perciever, seer etc. conscious of, some kind of relationship, knowledge, self-awareness? ..self in disguise? I also don't understand the idea of true nature, „my real nature”, losing it and the search for it. If there is no separate entity, so quest and path of self-realization isn't a illusory manifestation? This is already done so what's the point? How could you lose it, know it if you are absent and if there is no differece from what is?

[@christopherwallis751]

@@easylee3612 these are good questions. Here the meaning of the word consciousness is different from how the word is used in the West and even in Buddhism. Consciousness or awareness (the words are used interchangeably in this tradition) here simply means the capacity for experience -- the capacity for *any* experience whatsoever, and the context in which all experience arises. Nothing to do with separation or substance or cause or relationship or even 'seer' per se -- all of those come and go but awareness remains, as it is the prerequisite for experience of any kind. As for your real nature (which we could call aware beingness), you can't possibly lose it but you can fail to recognize it, as nearly everybody does. The quest and path of self-realization is not an illusion, it is the quest to fully realize what you are, to fully recognize your true nature. Sometimes we use the metaphor of someone looking through a window in the evening: their own image is reflected in the glass but they don't notice it, since they're looking through it and observing all the things beyond the window. Then if their eyes focus on the window itself, they recognize their own image in the glass -- it was there all the time but they were overlooking it and attending instead to objects of awareness. This is just a metaphor of course but it can be an effective pointer to what we're talking about here. Once the recognition has really happened ('really' referring to the non-conceptual direct recognition rather than its conceptual correlate), then there is a whole process of unravelling the tension and/or falsehood that has built up through not recognizing one's true nature for so long. That is very much *not* "already done". (Not sure I get the drift of your final question, but hopefully this is enough for you to chew on.)

[@easylee3612]

@@christopherwallis751 I understand, thank you. If the nature of consciousness, of everything, is freedom, I wonder if this whole journey towards freedom makes sense. Something here is really making an effort, evolving, discovering something, or what happens happens, what we call self-sense, this tension appears or not and that's it?

[@christopherwallis751]

@@easylee3612 in a way both are true. There is a journey towards realizing and experiencing the unbounded freedom that already exists everywhere as everything. We call it a journey metaphorically, though it's possible this realization could happen in an instant. If it does, the unraveling of falsehood and delusion follows the realization. But it's important not to confuse belief and realization here. The former is mental, the latter is visceral.

[@jeandimitriadis2050]

About the traditional view, I'm not clear how the limited power of action/agency (one of the five veils/coverings, tattva #7) of the individual fit with this teaching. If it's a limited form of the divine power, doesn't the tradition grant that there is at least some power of action/agency even at this level?

[@christopherwallis751]

@@jeandimitriadis2050 Yes but it's not actually independent or separate in any way. It's an _apparent_ limitation of the autonomous agency of consciousness that is creating the illusion of individuality.

[@jeandimitriadis2050]

@@christopherwallis751 Thank you for clearing this up. Much appreciated. May this sink in on a deep level!

[@roshenrejiidiculla9577]

Dear Dr Hareesh, I was writing some blog posts about Tantras. I was viewing ur videos on VBT. Can I have your permission to add ur books and videos as reference to my blog posts. I am also happy to share about ur book also.

[@christopherwallis751]

@@roshenrejiidiculla9577 of course

[@roshenrejiidiculla9577]

@@christopherwallis751 Without Christopher Wallis's tireless efforts to illuminate the depths of Classical Tantra, this blog series would not have come to fruition. His teachings have provided the foundation and inspiration for exploring these profound concepts, making the timeless wisdom of Tantra accessible to a modern audience. We owe a debt of gratitude to Wallis for his unwavering commitment to preserving and sharing this invaluable spiritual tradition.His seminal work "Tantra Illuminated" has become a phenomenon, selling over 50,000 copies through word-of-mouth alone - a testament to its impact and relevance. His subsequent books, including "The Recognition Sutras" and "Near Enemies of the Truth," have further cemented his reputation as a leading voice in the field of Tantra and spiritual philosophy.

[@treysmythstunes]

So, you are saying, free will is an illusion to the false self. To the person trapped in the vicious cycle of self-imposed NPD abuse, they are a performing marionette, putting on a show only for themselves in a mirrored prison room, with no choice without karmic repercussions. Whereas, when you are aware that you are a portion of the Self - (the One in All), then you have radical freedom, thereby _regaining_ your freewill - as you will _choose_ to be harmless and respectful?

[@christopherwallis751]

@@treysmythstunes well, it's not quite that simple. Please see the other four videos in this series to understand better... there's a playlist.

[@treysmythstunes]

@@christopherwallis751 ok, thank you.

[@christopherwallis751]

@@treysmythstunes The performing marionette analogy is not so far off, as long as we understand that there's no one pulling the strings apart from the person's own biology and psychology (with all the influences encoded there). Are you asking whether someone with NPD would become free of it if they have a spiritual awakening that stabilizes?

[@jayjaynondual]

Disidentifying the role of a (me) with a borderline ex of my imagination vibrates clearer. Do (i) operate the body, or control the plain of representation? This dream like appearance of being gaslighted by supposed (other) of a superego exposing a superficial sense of (i). Though (Shiva) is a word, there points a way to Aware dreamlike recognition that (things) may not be happening as one naively insists.

[@treysmythstunes]

@@christopherwallis751 It seems highly unlikely - I would like to hear of an example. Part of this idea was from The Little Shaman ("audience of one".) The reason is due to the internal fake ID - stuck to the False Self's "tyranny of the ordinary" (Archontic matrix' competitive controller pseudo-reality.) - - Even, of course (especially) in the world of PhD's and yogis - we see the rampant guru-savior, or materialistic, relativistic and reductionist identifications - which keep up the facades. I enjoyed your book 'Near Enemies of the Truth,' but I only agreed with most of it! To me, it is inappropriate and plain wrong to be-lie-ve _anyone_ knows the entire truth. Gurus are passe to me exactly because as an anti-salvationist, I recognize the obvious - nobody has eyes in the back of their heads and thus no one person has the entire, full, 365o picture. For example, in none of these comments do I hear mention of the Matrix machine-beast, and how it demands we pay: rent / mortgage / utilities. Or if, supposing the person is intent on autonomy and sovereignty as much as possible - here and now - and while in a respectful, meditative, clear head-space, is living trash-free in the wild or on BLM land, foraging, hunting, fishing, doing animal husbandry, or carrying around a pet cow in India; - could it be these people have freedom of will (if harmless,) after taking care of their basic needs? I mean, obviously our bodies need to eat. Spiritually, mentally and physically, it seems there are earned degrees of freedom. Perhaps full free will is possible - for those few embodied souls so radically free - they know how to garden, manifest, or hunt their food, while remaining in full reverence to the Source. Is Babba G a real being? So, my response is to posit here that maybe, while in or @ the money-machine matrix, we have a (large or small) multiple-choice question of predictable choices based on our habits, dogmas and collective holograms. Whereas the "rare bird" with free will, can _then_ make their own choices -(admittedly, within the divine love and harmony of the light of the Creator,) - when fully awakened, from a nearly infinite number of choices - (in those limited moments) after they are certain they can keep their body and spirit fueled. The programmers of the slavery system certainly did a masterful job of obscuring, diluting, or even preempting and negating our free will - but none of those Jr. gods - no matter how talented they are at holographic entrapment - could ever -_-fully-_- take it away from the enlightened ones in pure discernment and clarity. Our hijacked academia can also obviously seem to serve -or- drastically obscure our inherent freedoms _far_ further. Western Academia sure seems to make for a slick human farm management system - if intellectuals fall into its verbose electric fences! Thus, despite these caveats, your thoughtful responses to the many comments on the playlist proves to me pretty well that though you've suffered from academia, you are not a narcissist. However, all of these debates seem to reedify the last line on the first book I read about Tantric philosophy, 'The Tantric Quest,' - "Spontaneity is the Highest Level of Awareness." IF it is possible - it is going to take a lot of shadow work and healing - to even be open to remembering it's possibility. Thanks for your answers _and_ questions. 😇❤‍🔥🙏

[@Snowypeak-e3n]

I don't think this is correct btw. Shiva can mean trans-individual consciousness but what it means is just the self. KS is not saying we are expressions or manifestation of freedom, we are freedom. U are unnecessarily bringing notions of contingence and independence from Classical logic.

[@christopherwallis751]

@@Snowypeak-e3n this is a simple misunderstanding. when I spoke of being an expression or manifestation of freedom, I was specifically referring to the human organism, not its essence-nature (sva-svabhāva), which indeed is not an expression of anything else.

[@shattered_lightsb8381]

I think the next best work of Abhinavagupta that should be translated after Tantraloka is his Īśvarapratyabhijñā-vivṛti-vimarśini. It’s arguably his most philosophically intense work, it also includes direct refutations of key doctrines of Advaita Vedanta. On a side note, thank you very much for your translations of Tantrasara, Spanda Karikas and other texts. I find them much more clear than any other translation I’ve come across.

[@christopherwallis751]

@@shattered_lightsb8381 it's very difficult to translate, but there are a number of great scholarly articles written on it.

[@shattered_lightsb8381]

@@christopherwallis751 thank you, could you point me to some of those articles?

[@christopherwallis751]

@@shattered_lightsb8381 Isabelle Ratié and Rafaelle Torella are the main two authors to check out, on academia.edu

[@ellenmarie2772]

Thank you