Conversations With Atman

Conversations With Atman

Anandamayi Ma Watercolor by Deborah Olenev

Anandamayi Ma Watercolor by Deborah Olenev

Dear Friends,
Everyone who has worked with me knows that I  consult my intuition before making a prescription, and in cases where I neglect to do that, I can regret it.

The way I communicate with my intuition, Atman  or Soul is that I prepare myself through a daily meditation practice to be receptive, quiet and still, so that I can be sufficiently purified to be granted this blessing.

When I ask a question of my Soul or Atman I make my body into a pendulum. If I sway forward the answer to my question is yes. If I sway backward the answer is no. If my body does not move the answer is neutral. I do not hear any voices speaking to me. I am the one who poses the questions and the answer is given to me through the movements of my body.

The reason I consult my intuition, which I sometimes call God, and now also call Atman, is that my ego is good at the following things:

1) Convincing itself that it is right when it is wrong.
2) Employing reason and logic to try to solve problems that really require intuition, revelation and inspiration.

For the last few weeks I have been asking my intuition, God, or Atman to reveal to me his/her own nature, so that I understand who it is that is guiding me.

There are a few things I know about the qualities of this entity.

1) It feels human to me.
2) It is always responsive and ready and willing to be of service and to guide.
3) It is nonjudgmental and tolerant and is willing to answer my questions no matter how important or petty they seem to the ego.
Here are my conversations with Atman where he/she answers my questions about his/her nature.

Am I channeling the guidance? No.
Is the guidance God?  No
Is the guidance identical with my ego? No.
Is the guidance my Atman? Yes.
Is the guidance wiser than my ego? Yes.

Is the Atman identical with the Self? Neutral.
Is the Atman distinct from God and the Self? Yes
When one realizes the Self does one realize the Atman at the same time? Yes.
But still you are saying that the Atman and the Self are not the same? Neutral.

Is the Atman identical with the Soul? Yes.
Is the Atman identical with God? No.
Are Atman and God separate entities? Yes.
Is Atman parent and God child? No.
Is God parent and Atman child? No.
Are Atman and God equal like siblings? Neutral.

Does the Atman Exist in Everybody? Yes.
When the Ego dies does the Atman continue to Live? Yes.
Does the Atman occupy material space? Yes.
Can the location of the Atman be determined within the human body? No.
The Katha Upanishad says that the Atman is the size of a thumb and dwells in the heart, is this accurate? No.

In people who are not awake to the Atman, or are attached to materialism, do you exert a subtle influence? No.

Are you awake in these people? Yes.
Do you care whether or not they awake to you? No.
Are you nonattached? Yes.

Are you happy when people awake to you? No.
Are you nonattached? Yes.

Are you eternally even minded? Yes.
Should I also be eternally even minded? Yes.
Does this mean even minded in pleasure and in pain as spoken of in the Bhagavad Gita? (Hindu Holy Book, part of the Mahabharata) Yes.

Is the reason you answer my questions that it is your nature to be responsive when called? No.

In deep meditation does the ego merge with the Atman? No.
In deep meditation does the ego merge with the Self? Yes.

If we achieve the epitome of inner silence can we merge in God? No.

Is the relationship between the Atman and the ego love? Neutral.
Is the relationship between Atman and ego dispassion and nonattachment? Yes.

Is the relationship between Atman and ego responsiveness? Yes.

Dear Atman,

Are you the inner teacher? Yes.

How does the Self relate to the ego? Is the Self what we are when the ego is subdued? Yes.

Are Self and God identical? Neutral.

Dear Atman,
Will you ever punish me one day, the way Naciketas’s father punished him, by depriving me of your guidance? No. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Is God the macrocosm and Atman the microcosm? Yes.

Is atheism an accurate view of things? No.
Is God a creative force? No.
Is God the intelligence of the universe? No.
Is God a being? No.

Is God unfathomable and there is nothing that can be said about it? Yes.
If we called God the Unfathomable would that be accurate? Yes.
It we called God the All and the Everything would this be accurate? No.
If we seek to define God will we always be off target? Yes.

Is Atman the indwelling God? Yes.
But Atman is not the same as God? Yes.
Is the Atman our true identity because it is ever changeless? No.
Is who we are the Atman? No.

Are we characters in God’s dream? No.
Are we characters in a dream spun by the ego? No.
Questions on Death

When a person dies does he merge in God? No.
When a person dies does his ego merge in the Atman? No.
When a person dies does the ego remain in a dormant state, which can later reincarnate? Yes.
Is the ego utterly destroyed? No.

When the person dies does the Atman leave the body? No,
Is the reason for this that the body is and always was unreal and there is nothing to leave? Yes.
Is the journey in the bardo, (the forty days following death in Tibetan Buddhism)  the ego’s journey? Yes.

Is it the soul’s journey? No.

Is reincarnation for the soul? No,
Is reincarnation for the ego? Yes.

Is the ego an illusion? Yes.
Is the Atman also an illusion? Yes.
Is there anything that has absolute reality? No.

Are all the Atmans in all the beings individual Atmans? No.
Are all the Atmans in all beings One Atman? Yes.
Are all the Atmans One Great Being? Yes.

Is it possible for the ego to understand the nature of the Atman? No.
Is the reason  for this that the Atman can only be heard in silence? Yes.

Is there a heaven? No.
Is there a hell? No.
Are heaven and hell internal states of the ego? Yes.
Are heaven and hell states of the Atman? No.

Is God omniscient? Yes.
Is God omnipotent? Yes.
Is God omnipresent? Yes.

Is the Atman omniscient? No.
Is the Atman omnipotent? No.
Is the Atman omnipresent? No.

Does God have supremacy in all fields? Yes.
Does Atman have supremacy in the field of the Soul of Man? Yes.
Is this why God and Atman are not identical? Yes.

Can I get guidance directly from God rather than from Atman? Neutral.
No disrespect intended. I am very very grateful for your guidance. Yes.

Is the Law of Karma a true law? Yes.

Do you experience the cycles of waking, dreaming and sleep the way I do? No,
Are you awake all the time? Yes.

On Healing

Dear God,
Is the reason that we sometimes do not get the remedy right when testing patients because you are not omniscient? Yes.

Do you always give the best guidance you can based on the information provided to me, and my ego’s understanding of the case? Yes.

Do you feel bad the way my ego does when someone doesn’t improve under our care? No.

Is it also the case that sometimes people’s cases are too complex, too multidimensional, or too advanced that we just cannot help or can make only a minor difference? Yes.

Is the reason you do not feel bad, because you are nonattached? Yes.

Dear Atman,
Do you help me with my clients out of love for me and my clients? Neutral.

Do you help me because you care about me and my clients? No.

Do you help, because you are responsive and whatever you do you do well? No.

Do you help, because you know my intention to do well and you are granting my desire? No.

Do you help me with my clients, because I believe you help me with my clients? Yes.

When I believe is the help genuine? Yes.
Do people chose their diseases? No.
Do the diseases chose them? No.
Does it happen due to correspondence with the inner and outer (resonance)? Neutral.

Is illness generated by God? No.
Is illness generated by the Atman? No.
Is illness generated by the ego? Yes.

Dear Atman,
Is it okay if I share what you have revealed to me through my writings? Yes.
Is this revealed truth? Yes.

To be continued…….

Addendum

Here is a little more information about Atman that I got from the Katha Upanishad. These quotactions are extracted from The Thirteen Principal Upanishads translated from the Sanskrit by Robert Ernest Hume, second edition.

In this Upanishad a young Brahman boy gets his father irritated by asking one too many questions, and his father says, “I offer you to Death (Yama). So the boy goes to Death, but death is away on a three day expedition, and the boy waits for him, having nothing to eat for three days.

When Death returns home, he is embarrassed to have kept this young Brahman youth waiting for so long, and violating the rules of hospitality, so in order to make recompense he offers the boy three boons.

The first boon the boy chooses is to be returned home to his father.
The second boon he chooses is to gain an understanding of the Naciketas sacrificial fire.
The third boon he asks for is to understand what happens to people after they die.

Death readily granted the first two boons, but tried his best to get out of granting the third boon. This is what he says:

“Even the gods had doubt as to this of yore.
For truly, it is not easily to be understood. Subtle is this matter.
Another boon, O Naciketas choose!
Press me not. Give up this one for me!”

Death had expected the young boy to choose worldly riches, cattle, beautiful maidens, long life, but the boy is not interested in transitory pleasures.
Here are some excerpts from Death’s words of wisdom:

The Eternal Indestructible Soul, p. 347

The wise one, (i.e. the soul, the Atman, the Self) is not born nor dies. This one has not come from anywhere, has not become anyone.
Unborn, constant, eternal, primeval, this one
Is not slain when the body is slain.

If the slayer thinks to slay.
If the slain thinks himself slain,
Both these understand not!
This one slays not, nor is slain.

The Soul Revealed … p. 349

More minute than the minute, greater that the great Is the Soul (Atman)
that is set in the heart of a creature here.
One who is without the active will (a-kratu) beholds Him
and becomes freed from sorrow–
When through the grace (prasada) of the Creator (dhatu)
he beholds the greatness of the soul (Atman).

The Subtle Perception of the All-pervading Soul, p. 352

Though He is hidden in all things,
That Soul (Atman, Self) shines not forth.
But he is seen by subtle seers
With superior, subtle intellect.
…..

A certain wise man, while seeking immortality,
Introspectively beheld the Soul (Atman)
face to face. p. 353
….
Degrees of Perception of the Soul, p. 359

If one has been able to perceive (Him) here on earth
Before the dissolution of the body,
According to that (knowledge) he becomes fitted
For embodiment in the world creations.

_____

I wish you the best of health and a happy life.

In love and service,

Deborah Olenev CCH RSHom (NA)

P.S. I am like a senator at the end of his term who is no longer seeking reelection. He follows his heart and does what he feels is right. There is no one he has to please. No one’s vote that he is seeking. Whether fellow citizens believe in him or not is inconsequential. He believes in himself and follows his own conscience.

Note regarding blog comments:

Dear Friends,
I appreciate your visiting my website and reading my articles and taking the time to write your comments. I welcome your comments and will post them if it looks like what you have to say will be helpful to others. I may not write a comment back, but will let the article itself present my point of view.

I am no longer responding to people’s questions regarding personal health matters on my blog, because it becomes stressful for me due to the volume of such questions that I get.

Also there is no way I can actually answer these questions properly without familiarizing myself with the person’s  health.

For anyone who is interested in working with me, please complete the appropriate questionnaire and send it to me. This way I will know that you are ready to move forward with a consultation.

I wish you the best of health.

Peace be with you,

Deborah Olenev CCH RSHom (NA)

2 comments

  1. Dear Stefan,
    Thank you for your comment. I am happy that you found this article beneficial. When we cultivate a relationship with our Atman, we are never alone, and carry the wisest and most loving companion with us in every moment.

    In love and service,
    Deborah

    • Stefan Pfaender on May 7, 2021 at 1:19 pm

    Dear Dr. Olenev,
    I enjoyed reading this blog post. It was healing and enlightening. You have given us all very valuable tools to use in our lives. I have benefited greatly from this advice. If I have any health problems, I would easily trust you as my doctor. I will also remember, from now on, to use my body to help me ask for answers to Life’s persistent questions.
    Thank you,
    Stefan

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