The inner spiritual journey can be thought of as progressing in two steps from the lowest state of consciousness to the highest state of Consciousness. Our usual (and lowest) state is as an individual identified with our Body-Mind-Intellect and experiencing the pleasures and pains of life. This is the “false-you” or Perceiver-Feeler-Thinker (P-F-T) state. The second “seer-you” (sakshi) state is where one is not identified with the B-M-I but stays instead as a detached, uninvolved witness to the worldly happenings and personal experiences. The third and highest (the “real-you”) state is where the witnessing seer and the witnessed world both merge into that state where Pure Consciousness alone is. At this point the individual merges with the Totality, the Brahman, the Ultimate Reality. What follows is an excerpt from the book “The Elegant Geometry of Our Inner Path to Enlightenment”.
” From ∞ to 2 to 1 that is 0
“The ascent from the false-you to real-you can be thought of as going from infinity to two in the first step, and then from two to one or zero in the second step. Let me explain. In the false-you state of consciousness you consider yourself as an individual living among countless other individuals encountering an endless series of experiences bringing you sorrow and joy. This is the ordinary state of consciousness in which we live. Here you have your family, relatives, business associates, community, the nation, and the entire world to contend with. The sheer infinity or plurality of the seen-world confronting you is staggering, confusing and overwhelming.
“As a seer-you, you get released from this maddening infinity to being just two: You and Īśvaraḥ (God). You calmly and comfortably witness the worldly happenings for what it truly is: A play of Īśvaraḥ. Other people and objects in the world are only acting in that play exactly as directed by Īśvaraḥ. You enjoy the play in both its tragic and comedic acts.
“Finally, as the real-you, your individuality merges in bliss with the totality and what remains is the One and Only Brahman. Some may choose to call this ultimate reality as “zero” or “nothing” rather than as One, based on its unmanifest, imperceptible nature. Hence a jīva’s final destination could be labeled as One or as Zero.”