I'm just building on that Rupert if I understand it, awareness is focused in the present, in the waking state and hazy in the dream state and unfocused in the deep sleep state. I'm just wondering what happens to awareness in coma or when we die because from

what we've said it's always ever-present, is always pure. You see that then the body is an image in the finite mind and the finite mind is a localization of infinite consciousness. I'll say that again: the body is an image in the mind, right now, when I say the mind, I mean the

mind in the broadest sense of the word. The body is a mixture of images, sensations and perceptions which appear in the mind, yeah, all you know of your body now is the image of it and the sensation of it. It appears in your mind, so the body, the body is an image in the mind, but the mind itself is a

contraction or a localization of consciousness. So if you imagine infinite consciousness, the nature of consciousness is infinite, it's not possible for infinite consciousness to know a finite object, yes, because imagine infinite consciousness like an infinite space and now imagine a little finite

object appearing in that space. That finite object would displace a little bit of consciousness' infiniteness and therefore consciousness would no longer be infinite, it would be finite. So it's not possible for infinite consciousness to know a finite object. In order to know a finite object,

infinite consciousness must seem to cease being infinite and become finite. Infinite consciousness must become the finite mind. It's only as a finite mind that consciousness can know the world. That is why in deep sleep we don't know the world because consciousness is totally defocused.

it has let go of all its association with the
mind and the body it's gone back to itself and it is infinite consciousness knowing its own
being alone in order to know something other than its own being consciousness must as it were
ceased looking at itself ceased knowing itself as

it is and become a finite mind how does it become
a finite mind it identifies itself with a form it simultaneously creates and identifies itself with
a form it is this mixture of consciousness plus form that creates the finite mind or consciousness
plus the body creates the finite mind it is only

as that finite mind that we can know a world that
is why even when we have a dream the dreamed world is always seen from the point of view of a dreamed
person yes if you're walking down the streets of London if the streets of London appeared to you in
your dream you are one of the people on the street

and the street that you see is seen from the point
of view of the person so in order for a dreamed world to appear in consciousness consciousness
has to appear to locate itself the dreamed person it's only from the point of view of the dreamed
person that consciousness sees the dreamed world

likewise now it's only from the point of view of
the body that consciousness is seeing a room and consciousness has to seem to limit itself as a
form as a separate subject in order to know a separate object but in order to know itself it
doesn't need to identify itself with the body

it knows itself by itself so in Tahrir Tahrir is
just the experience of consciousness knowing its own being without needing to take the form of
the finite mind indeed once consciousness takes the form of the finite mind it cannot know
itself as it is because just as the infinite

consciousness cannot know a finite object, so a
finite mind cannot know infinite consciousness. If consciousness wants to know the world, it has
to focus; it has to narrow its vision. It has to
assume the position of the body, and it is only
as that body-based consciousness that it can

know the world. But in order to know itself, it has
to gradually relax the focus of its attention, let
all those limitations drop away until there is
nothing limiting itself. That is the experience of
tahrir, or just a simple knowing of our own being,
consciousness knowing itself without the agency

of a finite mind. That's the same as – yes, when when
the body dies, remember the body is an appearance
in the mind. So when when the body dies, just a
particular localization of consciousness disperses. Your your finite mind is a localization of
consciousness. When the localization dissolves,

the consciousness doesn't dissolve. As a friend of
mine, Bernardo Kastrup, put it, he said the finite
mind is like a whirlpool in a stream. All there is
to the whirlpool is water. When the body dies, the
world pulled dissolves, but nothing disappears
because all there is to the whirlpool is water.

The water remains, but it's no longer – it no longer
precipitates in the form of the body-mind. So the
mind is like a precipitation, or like a whirlpool;
it's a localization of consciousness, and the body
in the world appear in that localization. When
the body disappears, that localization disperses.

However, as the – as the localization disperses, its
contents are still in consciousness. So there's
no reason why another localization shouldn't
form, but contain the elements of the previously
dispersed whirlpool. Which would explain why the
– why they could eat, for instance. It could explain

successive lives they're not successive lives
they're successive precipitations of finite
mind and there's no reason why the residue of
one finite mind as it disperses into the stream
shouldn't take the form of another well pour
another finite mind so in the did this could

explain how how what is normally considered to
be the theory of reincarnation or a theory of
reincarnation that has nothing to do with bodies
physical bodies being born and dying no physical
bodies never come into existence we never go
we never go further down from consciousness

and mind we never go down to matter everything
we know of matter that is the body in the world
is an appearance in the mind in the finite mind
consciousness precipitates as the finite mind and
appears as the body in the world and then when it
relaxes it ceases to be the finite mind the body

and the world disappear as it focuses again the
body in the mind come into existence and this this
successive contraction and relaxation it happens
on different timescales it happens every time a
perception comes to an end there is this momentary
relaxation and contraction it happens every 24

hours when we fall asleep it happens on a bigger
scale when we die and when we're born they're
just different different lifespans different
timescales for this same process of consciousness
contracting or localizing and relaxing localizing
and relaxing as it localizes the body in the world

come into existence as it relaxes it goes out
of existence it is very very interesting here

What Happens to Awareness after Death?

Rupert Spira

Awareness in different states of consciousness

Awareness is focused in the waking state, hazy in dreams, and unfocused in deep sleep.

The body is an image in the finite mind, which is a localization of infinite consciousness.

The body is a mixture of images, sensations, and perceptions appearing in the mind.

Infinite consciousness cannot know a finite object; it must become a finite mind to do so.

In deep sleep, we don't know the world because consciousness is defocused.

The finite mind and the experience of the world

To know something other than itself, consciousness must become a finite mind by identifying with a form.

Dreamed worlds are seen from the point of view of a dreamed person.

Consciousness limits itself as a form to know a separate object, but doesn't need to identify with the body to know itself.

Tahrir is the experience of consciousness knowing its own being without the finite mind.

To know the world, consciousness must focus; to know itself, it must relax its focus.

When the body dies, a particular localization of consciousness disperses, but consciousness itself doesn't dissolve.

The finite mind is like a whirlpool in a stream; when the body dies, the whirlpool dissolves, but the water (consciousness) remains.

Another localization of consciousness could form, containing elements of the previously dispersed one.

Successive lives are successive precipitations of the finite mind, not successive physical bodies.

The body and the world are appearances in the finite mind.

Consciousness precipitates as the finite mind and appears as the body; when it relaxes, the body disappears.

This contraction and relaxation happens on different timescales (perception, sleep, death, birth).

Birth and death are different timescales for the same process of consciousness localizing and relaxing.