wouldnot be consciousof space if therewere noobjects in
space, the world is needed for the Unmanifested to be
realized. YoumayhaveheardtheBuddhistsaying:"If there
were no illusion, there would be no enlightenment." It is
through the world and ultimately through you that the
Unmanifestedknowsitself.Youareheretoenablethedivine
purposeoftheuniversetounfold.Thatishowimportantyou
are!
CCCCOOOONNNNSSSSCCCCIIIIOOOOUUUUSSSSDDDDEEEEAAAATTTTHHHH
Apart from dreamless sleep, which I mentioned already,
there is one other involuntary portal. It opens up briefly at
the time of physical death.Even if you havemissed all the
other opportunities for spiritual realization during your
lifetime, one last portal will open up for you immediately
afterthebodyhasdied.
There are countless accounts by people who had a
visual impression of this portal as radiant light and then
returned from what is commonly known as a near-death
experience. Manyof them also spokeof a sense of blissful
serenityanddeeppeace.IntheTibetanBookoftheDead,it
is described as"the luminous splendorof thecolorlesslight
of Emptiness," which it says is "your own true self." This
portal opens up only very briefly, and unless you have
already encountered the dimension of the Unmanifested in
your lifetime, youwill likelymiss it.Most people carrytoo
much residual resistance, too much fear, too much
attachment to sensory experience, too much identification
withthemanifestedworld.Sotheyseetheportal,turnaway
in fear, and then loseconsciousness. Most of what happens
afterthatisinvoluntaryandautomatic.Eventually,therewill
be another round of birth and death. Their presence wasn't
strongenoughyetforconsciousimmortality.