Part 3: The Unity of Existence ⇒
⇐ Part 1: The Concept of Existence

In [the] major philosophies of the East, metaphysics or ontology is inseparably connected with the subjective state of man, so that the selfsame Reality is said to be perceived differently in accordance with the different degrees of consciousness. ~ Toshihiko Izutsu

When the being understands the concept of existence as concept, he still doesn’t know the reality of existence. That is because he remains in the human state. He still experiences the multiplicity of beings and the unity of existence remains hidden. To attain the realization of the unity of existence, he needs to transcend the human state. In Symbolism of the Cross, Rene Guenon hints at the process:

This station, or degree of the being’s effective realization, is attained by al-fana, i.e., by the annihilation of the ego in the return to the primordial state; such annihilation is not without analogy to the Nirvana of the Buddhist doctrine.

As he emphasizes in Man and his Becoming, the fundamental distinction between the Self and the ego must be grasped. As long as the being identifies with the ego, the higher states are obscured, much like the way a constant cloud cover hides the sun, the moon, and the stars. Such as we are, the ego is drawn to the world. Ego consciousness is dominated by desires arising from lower states; it is moved by the negative emotions of fear, anxiety, worry, depression, and so on. The mind entertains extended fantasies of base desires. Thoughts are feeble, confused, and illogical.

The annihilation of the ego requires the undoing of all those tendencies. It is better to have a guide who can explain the process and give feedback. Through concentration exercises, one develops self-knowledge, including both the good and bad qualities of the soul. Through a process of purification, ego consciousness diminishes and the Self reveals higher states of being.

Knowledge of the higher states cannot be attained by rational reasoning, but only by a higher type of intellect called “intuition”, which is a direct experience or reality unmediated by verbal descriptions. At this stage, there is no longer a distinction between the knower and the known. Rational thinking always assumes a subject and an object, so it never knows existence which is never an object. But at the intuitive stage, existence is not known as an object from the outside, but rather by the knower being inseparably existence itself. At this stage, existence is made manifest and the multiplicity of things are hidden in the bright light of Existence. They have become indiscernible from each other.

This is Knowledge of the Heart.