You Are Not Book.indb - Stephen H. Wolinsky Ph. D.

ealizing death / 163
Wolinsky: Just do it as an experiment. You will notice that
the brain is very connected to the auditory and
visual centers. If your tongue does not move, it
is more difficult for thoughts to arise.
Question: But I thought that thoughts are universal.
Wolinsky: That is at a different level. Thoughts are collective,
yet the “I” thinks it has them.
Question: What is sleep?
Wolinsky: When the body goes into deep sleep, the I am,
which is made of consciousness, thins out; hence,
you lose body consciousness. This is sleep. When
body consciousness begins to solidify more, you
get into the Dream State, and when it solidifies
more, you get the waking state. When consciousness
thins out even more, there is unawareness.
This, too, is Samadhi or as Baha Prakashananda
called it, sleep Samadhi. When the consciousness
thins out, yet a knowing consciousness is
still there, you have Samadhi. With witnessing,
which is where you witness the no-state and/
or are conscious of everything as the same substance.
When the consciousness totally dissolves,
you get Nisargadatta Maharaj’s question: “Eight
days prior to conception, who were you?”—this
unawareness prior to the appearance of the I
AM or the “awarer.” When it totally dissolves
along with the consciousness of the emptiness
and the ONE SUBSTANCE that is total Samadhi
without seeds.