Introduction

The foundation of the project is an individual investigation of consciousness (~10 years).

The project is written in the third person about a "practitioner." Here, the personality of the practitioner is one of the objects of investigation and has no value in itself.

Structurally, the project consists of three documents, arranged sequentially:

– "Report": the practical method and the phases of its implementation

– "Continuation": a view from a different perspective

– "Choice": scaling

In addition to the three main documents, there are materials not included in the project. These materials are collected in "Field Notes" and included as an appendix.

Project Metamorphosis is neither scientific nor pseudo-scientific research, nor is it a monument to the researcher and his activity. The project has some characteristics of "science" – terms, structure, models. This is not a claim to scientific status and not mere decoration, but the use of available methods and means applied to self-inquiry.

Project Metamorphosis is a description of an individual investigation of consciousness which can be used as a tool for self-inquiry. The design and structure of the tool are determined by the properties of the field of application; verification occurs through use.

The project demands nothing from the reader and contains no motivation or restrictions. The one exception, of sorts, relates to the application of the practical method described in the "Report": the result is directly proportional to the intensity of practice.

The practical method presented in the "Report" is neither the only correct one nor immutable. The described method can be modified and adapted to specific conditions. The presented practical method takes into account the peculiarities and inclinations of the human mind.

Report

The document is a report on the practical activity that took place. The "Report" is divided into several parts – each is allocated for the description of phases of practice, which differ in characteristics and duration.

At the beginning of the "Report," a description of the practical method is presented – its application led to the creation of the project. The method is not constant but changes as it is applied – these changes will be mentioned in the report's chapters. The "Report" has a sequential structure, but chapters of varying density.

On the origin of the method. Approximately two years before the beginning of the active phase of practice, a series of events occurred in the practitioner's life that radically shifted the balance of his self-understanding. This confluence of circumstances left no alternative but to begin the practice of self-inquiry.

The practitioner was not prepared: he possessed neither experience in self-inquiry nor any understanding of where to begin. Due to life circumstances, he had neither the strength nor the time to search for an effective technique (method). Therefore, the practitioner used what was at hand: once he had heard somewhere about the technique described in this manuscript as point 2. That served as the start. The remaining parts of the practical method described here originated from point 2 as a result of trials and errors.

The method consists of three parts: points 1-3, two rules, and technique #1. Each part of the practical method carries its own specific function, complementing the other parts in a specific manner.

The intensity of executing the practical method. At the preliminary stages, it is experimentally established that large intervals between executions of the method bring no noticeable result. Executing the method for 20-30 minutes a day is like a formal checkmark "done" in a daily task list. Thus, the practitioner comes to the understanding that to achieve any tangible and explicit result, it is necessary to practice with all possible intensity. This means that practice (execution of the method) merges with life and fills every available minute. When this condition is met, the practitioner obtains the first explicit results. These results will be considered in the chapter "Active phase of practice" and beyond.

More about the practical method.

Point 1:

The practitioner looks at himself. He looks not into a mirror, but at himself with his inner gaze (that gaze with which the practitioner "sees" his thoughts and other content of consciousness). The practitioner shifts his attention so that he understands – he is looking inside himself at something incomprehensible, and this "incomprehensible" is himself. This "incomprehensible" may resemble a certain sharpness within, or it may resemble a certain center in the practitioner's consciousness. The practitioner isolates only the direction of his inner gaze (glance); he needs only the direction, not what is there in the center. When performing point 1, the practitioner strives to determine only the direction of his gaze (glance), and not to find some object in consciousness (a sensation, a thought) and "glue" his gaze to it.

If the practitioner does not succeed in this, if something prevents him from determining the direction – in this case he turns to point 2.

If, however, the practitioner sees (notices, isolates) the direction, then point 2 is not needed for him, and he proceeds to point 3.

Point 2:

The practitioner directs his attention to that which usually fills consciousness as a background: to what is seen by the eyes, what is heard by the ears, what is felt by the body – to the sensory background. The content (background) itself, meanwhile, is of no importance. Only the effort that the practitioner applies to shift his attention from objects in consciousness (thoughts, sensations) to that which is usually filtered out and unnoticed is of importance.

Thus, the execution of point 2 consists in the practitioner literally looking at everything that is visible, listening to everything that is audible, and feeling everything that is felt. He simply performs this with all possible attentiveness, without seeking meaning in it and without expecting anything.

The practitioner alternates between performing point 1 and point 2 for the precise (explicit) determination of the direction of his inner gaze (glance).

Point 3:

The practitioner has clearly noticed (determined) the direction of his inner gaze and therefore transitions from performing points 1-2 to point 3.

When performing point 3, the practitioner directs his inner gaze in the found direction and looks there. Soon he discovers that in that direction there is nothing visible, concrete, or of any other kind. In that direction, there is only complete indeterminacy.

The execution of point 3 contains no meaning and determinacy, and may be interpreted by the practitioner as not worth spending his energy on.

When performing point 3, the practitioner likewise (as before) does not engage in a search for meaning, does not wear himself out with the expectation of a result, but simply holds onto the direction he has found, directing his attention there.

Rules of practice.

The rules are designed to aid the practitioner. They do not restrict but provide a degree of certainty where it is truly needed. The practitioner simply repeats them to himself when he gets distracted from the practice, when his focus blurs, or when things get difficult.

There are two rules.

The main rule: begin and keep doing.

The other main rule: begin again and keep doing.

While performing points 1-3, the practitioner encounters various kinds of emerging interferences in his consciousness that hinder his search for or his hold on the found direction. The nature of these interferences will be examined in other chapters; here, the technique for their removal is described. In this project, the technique for removing interferences is named technique #1.

Technique #1 consists in the practitioner utilizing various situations from his life that trigger a noticeable (to the practitioner's attention) reaction. The necessity to apply technique #1 arises precisely at the moment when an interference has manifested in its full force: the practitioner finds himself gripped by anger or judgment, filled with resentment, experiencing guilt, envy, jealousy, shame, feeling greed, an irresistible craving for pleasure, absorbed by self-importance, or seized by a fit of irritation. All this and much else in the practitioner's consciousness is the starting signal for applying technique #1.

The first thing the practitioner realizes when he begins to observe these interferences in his consciousness is that they have a source – and this source is within the practitioner himself, not somewhere else.

Next, the practitioner begins carefully studying the manifested interference. To do this, the practitioner asks himself direct questions and searches for answers to them. The questions are roughly these: where did this come from? what exactly caused this within me? what is the root of this? The practitioner uses his honesty, searches within himself for truthful answers, and answers the posed direct questions for himself. The correct (true) answer is felt by the practitioner as a slight joy or lightness upon finding it – as if a certain burden has been lifted. The practitioner studies and untangles the diverse causes and effects, intertwined in a tight knot, sorting out the structure of his personality, his "i".

Thus, technique #1 consists in the practitioner seizing upon the thoughts and sensations hindering the performance of points 1-3, carefully investigating them all the way to their very source. He isolates the interference and pulls on it as if pulling a thread that leads into the impenetrable depths of consciousness, drawing it out into the light until the very end.

The guarantee of the effectiveness of technique #1 is the practitioner's honesty. Using it 100%, the practitioner reaches the origin of all interferences in his consciousness.

Technique #1 is universal; the practitioner uses it both for a current situation and for situations from the past that have left a trace in his memory.

Points 1-3, technique #1, and the rules of practice complement each other, while performing different functions. Through performing points 1-3, the practitioner finds the direction; technique #1 gives the practitioner a semblance of forward movement in the found direction; the rules of practice are needed when the practitioner is left without support and does not know how to proceed further (which happens very often).

In the active phase of practice, the practitioner applies points 1-3 whenever possible, without separating practice and life. The application of technique #1 is episodic – when the practitioner's attention notices an interference, he already knows what needs to be done. The rules of practice, once the practitioner has memorized and uses them, help him time and again to return to the execution of the practical method.

The beginning of practice coincides with the beginning of its active phase. The start of practice is considered to be the moment when the practitioner notices the first explicit result of his efforts. The appearance of a result means that changes have occurred with the practitioner.

The application of technique #1 prior to the start of the active phase honed the practitioner's honesty, and now the practitioner assesses what he notices in his consciousness with sufficient sobriety.

The practitioner's honed honesty, which has yielded real results, is the sole criterion of truth available to him. No other criteria – books, authoritative or other opinions, various concepts, speculations, and the like – will come to his aid, will not provide him with a point of support, will not tell him whether he is going in the right direction. The practitioner can lean only on his own honesty.

The practitioner does not use the practice to achieve anything, does not expend energy on conforming to something, does not compete with anyone, and does not try to prove anything. The practitioner applies points 1-3 and technique #1 without the goal of obtaining anything in return (benefit).

The first real result of the practitioner's efforts is expressed in the fact that thoughts and images noticeably change their properties, and the space where they replace one another slightly expands.

Thoughts and images slightly lose their color (fading like fabric in the sun), become less dense, and their "volume" decreases. This change in the properties of thoughts leads to a reduction in their impact on the practitioner's attention – the attention gradually frees itself from the pressure of thoughts and other content of consciousness.

In the process of practice, it is discovered that technique #1 has a significant impact on the content of thoughts, while the performance of points 1-3 influences their properties to a greater degree. Initially, the content of the practitioner's thoughts does not change, but a change in their properties occurs.

Almost immediately after the start of the active phase, it is discovered that the application of technique #1 entails the emergence of an effect named "rollback" in this manuscript. This effect also occurs from applying points 1-3, but to a lesser extent, less explicitly and intensely than from technique #1.

The practitioner sees that after he finds a deep answer (i.e., "gets to the bottom" of a particular interference's root), his thoughts fade a bit more, lose "density," and always after that a "rollback" occurs.

The "rollback" effect manifests as the practitioner feeling powerlessness, fear, and hopelessness for several days in a row. He experimentally establishes that the duration and intensity of the "rollback" directly depend on the depth of the answer he has found – the deeper the practitioner delves into himself, the more profound the layers he untangles and illuminates with his attention, the more intense the "rollback".

Locating and illuminating the deepest layers of the "i" with attention causes significant and prolonged "rollbacks". Such "rollbacks" are felt differently and are akin to "dark nights", completely enveloping the practitioner. They last up to several weeks and are accompanied by severely experienced physical suffering.

The practitioner is partly prepared for such a turn of events: the multiple "rollbacks" have taught him not to lose his head, not to try to do something to alleviate his condition – attempts to ease it only worsened the suffering he was experiencing. The practitioner learned from his own experience that the only effective way to get through suffering is to endure it honestly and fully. Thus, "rollbacks" and "dark nights" are an integral part of the practice for the practitioner, not a reason to drop out at the very start.

Gradually, having gained sufficient experience, the practitioner understands that living through all these unpleasant moments is living through oneself, one's essence. Honest and complete living through of the deep layers of the "i" deprives them of their influence on the practitioner and leads to their complete "dissolution". The mechanism of "dissolution" itself will be examined later in the report; this mechanism is one of the key processes of the practice.

At a certain stage of the active phase, the practitioner lives through himself to such a depth that he directly approaches the source of self-pity.

This source is perceived by the practitioner as something resembling a lake filled with a viscous black liquid. The practitioner sees that the "lake" is filled with fear.

Having studied the "lake," the practitioner understands that before him is a boundary layer of his own nature. This layer surrounds and guards him, creating the boundaries of his "i," separating "mine/internal" from "other/external." The practitioner tries to find some safe way around it, without disturbing or touching it. He tries different methods but soon realizes that the only way to overcome this layer is to dive into it headfirst.

The practitioner is tempered by the "dark nights" and other unpleasant effects, but standing before this "lake," he understands that the true unknown lies ahead. This places the practitioner before a difficult choice, where on one side of the scale is he himself with all that he has, all that he carefully preserves and is ready to do anything for, and on the other side is nothing: indeterminacy and primal fear. The complexity of the choice lies in its irreversibility: a choice must be made, only one option can be chosen only once, and it will not be possible to return and "re-choose."

Standing there before this "lake," reviewing within himself everything that can be reviewed in search of a hint for the right decision, the practitioner clearly and distinctly understands that he has found no hint and is unlikely to find any; nothing will help him make this important and difficult decision. Then he remembers the direction that led him to the shore of this black "lake." He finds it and, without hesitation, follows where it points – he dives headfirst into the viscous, primal fear.

When the practitioner passes through the boundary layer of his nature, he sees that the "lake" is no more.

Soon after passing through the boundary layer, the practitioner notices the changes that have occurred in him. Everything that previously held value for the practitioner becomes empty for him. The changes also concern sexual attraction: any interaction between a man and a woman becomes a matter of complete indifference to the practitioner.

Instead of thoughts, the practitioner now observes movements in consciousness, resembling fast, light "breezes." The practitioner uses them for solving everyday tasks, without delving into the mechanism of their operation.

Next, the practitioner notices the presence of an urge-driven activity in consciousness — that activity which seeks an outlet (realization) through action, seeking, and other affairs that constitute the practitioner's life.

The continuation of practice leads to this noticed urge-driven activity gradually fading — "doing" becomes "non-doing," and liberation from the need to do anything occurs.

At times, the practitioner is visited by "rollbacks". At this stage of the active phase, they become a rare, residual phenomenon, lasting a few hours and perceived as disorientation, fatigue, or a viscosity of the mind.

Further application of points 1-3 and technique #1 leads to the practitioner's thoughts undergoing even greater changes: the fast, light movements in consciousness diminish ("dry up") and become almost indistinguishable from the noise of blood flowing in the practitioner's body – thoughts become akin to a rustle or a faintly audible noise. Attention is almost completely freed from "internal" pressure, becomes a precise and reliable tool. When necessary, attention makes use of this "rustle" (turns to it), which was once dense, heavy thoughts, for solving certain tasks from life and other simple activities.

The next stage is the concluding stage for this phase.

At this stage, the practitioner feels objects and phenomena as if they are inside him and made of him. This is perceived as a felt geometry in consciousness, somewhat like how a candy is felt in the mouth – from all sides, structurally. The practitioner's mind becomes empty and clear, perception gains depth, as if another set of eyes opens within.

Here, the unification of points 1-3 and technique #1 also occurs.

The unification happens as a result of the appearance of an unusual phenomenon in the practitioner's consciousness. This phenomenon is a light that the practitioner notices in consciousness.

The practitioner investigates this phenomenon, its properties, and finds that this phenomenon (the light) requires no maintenance – it is literally and unconditionally present in the practitioner's field of perception. The light has no source, it is indifferent to everything, one cannot get used to it, it is unchanging, homogeneous and soft, always the same, completely stable and constant. Appearing in the body-consciousness, the light concludes the movements of the mind, rendering it motionless. Initially, the light is bluish-white; it spreads through the practitioner, rising from the bottom up. The appearance of this phenomenon is accompanied by the body fully relaxing, all tensions are released; an unusual, soft sensation arises in the body-consciousness, which is difficult to describe due to its simplicity and depth.

The appearance of the soft, indifferent light in consciousness is the concluding stage of the active phase of practice.

The active phase is the most eventful and rich in various effects; it is also the longest of the three described in this manuscript. It has the maximum impact on the practitioner's daily life.

Some features of the active phase.

Before the start of the active phase, life provided the practitioner with hints, hinted at something, closed one door and opened another. After the active phase ends, this no longer happens and never will again – life leaves the practitioner alone, precisely as he is. Everything is significantly simplified; the practitioner falls out of many systems and communities of human life, finds himself on the sidelines of this world. The previous way of life, accumulated values, people, connections, and everything else that previously constituted the practitioner's life – all of this remains in the past. The practitioner is deprived of any protection.

There is no beneficiary in what the practitioner does.

The flow of practice differs in each of its phases. At the very beginning, despite the "dark nights," "rollbacks," and other difficult moments, the practice flows quite actively. The practitioner's strength is periodically replenished when a layer of the "i" is found and "dissolved" – strength is no longer spent on maintaining that layer. All this imparts an active flow to the practice.

The active phase ends when nothing remains in consciousness that can be defined by the mind. Throughout the active phase of practice, the value of things is lost, meaning is lost, no solid ground remains underfoot, the previous life irrevocably concludes. Further, practice transitions into the formless phase.

The unification of points 1-3 and technique #1 occurs soon after the light has manifested in the practitioner's consciousness. These events – the manifestation of light and the unification – are interconnected, do not occur in isolation from each other and are that conditional boundary which separates the active and formless phases. The diverse effects of the active phase conclude and do not manifest further.

Observing and studying the light, the practitioner discovers that the light has the property of revealing those "places" in the body-consciousness where remnants of his "i" still persist. The revelation occurs as the light rises in body-consciousness – rising from the bottom up, the light encounters obstacles on its path and concentrates there, revealing and illuminating them. What was previously invisible becomes visible in this phase of practice.

The tendency of the light (its observed behavior) – to gradually fill the body-consciousness – is perceived by the practitioner as a given, as the natural flow of practice. Observing this tendency of the light to fill body-consciousness, the practitioner understands that the obstacles hindering this natural process must be eliminated. The concentration of light in specific places of the body-consciousness indicates to the practitioner what needs to be examined.

An obstacle that prevents the light from rising further cannot be eliminated by technique #1 in its former (pre-unification) form – nothing remains in consciousness that has a form definable by the mind. The obstacle is eliminated by living through it and patience. The process of eliminating an obstacle is similar to observing a small islet during high tide: the water gradually rises, the islet becomes smaller and smaller until it disappears entirely. If the practitioner does not observe the islet-obstacle, the "flooding" of the islet does not occur.

At one of the stages of the formless phase, the practitioner notices that the rising of the light in the body-consciousness proportionally expands understanding.

Here, "understanding" is literally that volume of consciousness which the practitioner represents, that volume which the practitioner sees and is aware of; understanding is a direct consequence of living through. What has been lived through means it has been transformed into understanding (into a volume of consciousness).

At this stage, the practitioner understands that the multi-layered mechanism of his "i" is something like a filter (i-filter). The filter divides the universal flow of life and allows through only those streams which correspond to its individual configuration and can pass through the intricate weave of the filter.

Individual streams of the universal flow of life, having passed through the filter, create the individual spectrum of life. In this spectrum, some parts of the universal flow of life are present in different proportions and combinations, but not the entire flow. This unique spectrum is lived by the practitioner and constitutes for him the only real reality.

The execution of the practical method led to the mechanism of the "i" being gradually, layer by layer, "dissolved" – filtration ceases.

The practitioner understands that the light which has manifested and gradually fills the body-consciousness is the natural perception, not filtering the flow of life. The practitioner finds nothing unusual or extraordinary in such perception.

Here, "natural" means eventfulness undistorted by intervention, unfiltered.

At this stage, the practitioner understands the process that produces the "dissolution" of the i-filter – it is a process of transforming one thing into another. Transformation is the key process of the entire practice; it occurs throughout its entire duration, at different scales.

Everything the practitioner has at his disposal – his available resource – is already initially present "on board" and concentrated in the form of the i-filter. Such a "concentrate" is similar to chemical fuel, for example, coal. Under certain conditions (combustion), the concentrate is again transformed back into its primary state from which it was once born. Fear, suffering, despair – the binding substance, released as products of "combustion" (smoke) in the process of transformation. Transformation (combustion) occurs through the awareness and complete living through of the layers of the i-filter.

Thus, through practice, the reverse transformation of the i-filter occurs with the release of that primary state from which the i-filter was once born.

The practitioner sees that the reverse transformation of the i-filter leads to a deepening of understanding, to an expansion (of volume) of consciousness. He understands that the primary state of the i-filter is consciousness; it is released during the reverse transformation of the filter.

Other methods and strategies of interacting with the i-filter do not lead to transformation: avoiding the living through of the layers of the "i" strengthens the filter, increasing its stability.

The continuation of practice leads to the obstacles on the path of the filling light being transformed into light.

The practitioner understands the nature of the light – it is consciousness devoid of artifacts, its primary, empty original form.

Here, "artifacts" literally means formations in consciousness consisting of consciousness in a "solid" aggregate state, like ice floating in water.

Previously, the practitioner perceived the initial form of consciousness as light because areas containing artifacts were still present in it, and relative to these "dark" areas the empty initial state of consciousness was perceived as light.

The function of the i-filter in the practice of self-inquiry: the i-filter develops and grows, accumulating mass. When the mass reaches a critical magnitude, the filter loses stability and balances on the edge of collapse. The loss of stability initiates the practice of self-inquiry; the i-filter becomes the fuel of the practice.

The transformation (living through) of the entire complex structure of the i-filter gives a direct understanding of its structure and origin.

Very deep layers of the "i" structure have peculiarities and are difficult to understand (they are closely connected with the body). These layers are not dark but thin and almost transparent, barely discernible. These layers have no relation to the practitioner's life but were inherited by him and became the foundation of the "i" structure. Studying these inherited layers, the practitioner discovers that the formation of the i-filter and the accumulation of its mass began long before his birth.

The practitioner sees and lives through the echo of distant events contained in the layers he inherited. Having lived through them, he understands the causes that became the foundation of the current situation. Studying these layers brings much into perspective and makes it possible to avoid going in circles, repeating the same thing from cycle to cycle.

Thus, "the accumulation of mass" is the accumulation of "heavy" layers in consciousness, with their subsequent conversion into a starting configuration for the next, more complex and massive i-filter; accumulation is part of the mechanism of inheritance.

"Heavy" layers consist of fear and its derivatives. Fear is the means of accumulating and increasing the mass of the i-filter.

At this point lies the conditional boundary between the formless phase and the completion phase.

The formless phase of practice is not as saturated with events or phenomena as the previous one. However, in its course, the practitioner undergoes significant changes. Such changes affect the practitioner's mode of perception, turning it from "sequential" into "parallel".

Here, "parallel mode of perception" is a process of perception that has no "reference point" (origin of coordinates); the absence of distance and other distinctions between the perceiver and the perceived.

By the end of the formless phase, the practitioner is filled with the light of consciousness without artifacts. The practitioner understands the nature of the light and its origin.

At the end of the formless phase, the execution of the practical method (after unification) is transformed once again. An inversion occurs: what previously required directed effort becomes everyday life.

What follows is a simplified schematic sketch of what the practitioner sees-understands. The sketch performs the function of a road sign. The sketch is not what the practitioner directly realizes – it is an approximate interpretation (likeness), abbreviated enough to be relatively simple and understandable, while remaining expedient.

At the bottom of the sketch, at its foundation, lies potential.

Here, "potential" is possibility, capability; it is literally the not_happened.

In this simplified schematic sketch, "potential" and "space" are not separated and are one: potential is space.

Potential is symmetric to itself (there is no second pole, it is non-relative) and has no limitations (there are no parts, there is no structure). Therefore, the natural, original state of potential is non-realization: potential contains nothing within itself, while simultaneously having the possibility to contain everything without exception. Potential also contains the capability for the realization of this possibility.

The realization of potential occurs for an indeterminate reason. Such a reason does not appear from outside, is not born of external processes – such a reason is already contained within the potential (the capability for realization). This reason is ideal: it realizes the potential completely and fully, without delays, without phases of development, instantaneously.

The realization of potential has no reason other than a chance one.

Here, "chance" means an event that has determinately occurred but has no other determinacy: no cause, no dimensions, no coordinates.

The realization of potential occurs in a single instant, having no duration. In this instant, something like a "bouquet" arises – the potential of space is unfolded by this "bouquet" of absolutely all possible properties, variants, and combinations.

Here, "bouquet" is a necessary image for the sketch, representing the "form" and content of the realized potential of space.

The unfolded "bouquet" of properties is a self-sustaining "construction" and is structured such that every one of its internal properties exists only because other properties are present in the "bouquet" that support it, and it supports them. All properties of the "bouquet" are interconnected, do not exist isolated from each other (independently), but only together, instantaneously.

"Properties" are the properties of potential (space), distributed at the moment of its realization from the simplest to the most complex; such properties include spatial metrics, all possible types of interaction and natural constants (boundaries or laws) – all of this is distributed layer by layer in this sketch from the bottom to the top, where each layer is formed by properties of a certain complexity and is the basis for the subsequent layer with even more complex properties – a gradient of complexity of properties.

The practitioner understands that the absence of independent existence of the properties (separate from the "bouquet") is the reason that processes born from such properties are also relative and interdependent. At the same time, there is no other process of which the realized "bouquet" of properties would be a part – the "bouquet" is non-relative.

The sketch describes the "bouquet" as a certain construction of layers of property complexity, having "height". In what the practitioner sees, there is no "height" – any such layer of properties literally has no thickness, being simultaneously both a boundary and the area which it divides. What is shown as a vertical distribution of complexity of properties (the gradient) is more accurately defined as the nesting of some properties within others. However, describing this nesting implies an increase in dimensionality, which would noticeably complicate the entire sketch, making it redundant.

Thus, in this sketch, the "bouquet" is the vertical connecting link between the bottom and the top.

At the top of the sketch is an area that the practitioner perceives as maximally complex, entirely consisting of all possible realized properties of space. This is the area where the maximum concentration of complexity has manifested another property of space – consciousness.

Here, "consciousness" is literally the fully realized potential of space; a process without component parts, continuously (non-discretely) knowing itself.

Consciousness is not limited to the uppermost and most complex area, where it realized itself fully (at the limit of concentration). One could say that here consciousness is like a searchlight that shines from the top of the drawing to its very bottom. As one approaches the foundation (towards potential), the intensity of the searchlight's light decreases to the same degree as the complexity of properties in the layers of the "bouquet" decreases. Consciousness is the entire "bouquet". Therefore, despite the fact that in this sketch consciousness is located at the very top, it is, nevertheless, present throughout the entire "height" of the "bouquet" of properties. The light of consciousness does not reach the foundation (the potential) – consciousness cannot illuminate that which has not happened.

The beginning of the completion phase is chosen as the conditional moment when the practitioner sees the original picture (the basis of the sketch) and understands that the realization of potential in no way exhausts it. Realization gives birth to the entire system (the "bouquet"), where on one "side" lies the unrealized, and on the other the fully realized potential. The movement that inevitably arises between these "sides" as a potential difference is consciousness.

Thus, seeing the original picture, the practitioner understands the relative nature of consciousness.

On this, the schematic sketch from the chapter "Formless phase of practice" has fulfilled its function, having indicated the nature of consciousness, and in itself has no significance.

The practitioner's understanding of the relative nature of the process "consciousness" occurs instantaneously. Such understanding is continuous (non-discrete) and does not create a boundary dividing the practitioner's understanding into "before" and "after." Instantaneity is not a certain point, pointing to which the practitioner could say: "it appeared right here, and before that it was not."

The practitioner's understanding of the relative nature of consciousness is not a mystery revealed by the practitioner and not a reward for his efforts; it is like remembering what is already known but forgotten.

The understanding of the relative nature of consciousness leads the practitioner to the study of the properties of reality.

Here, "reality" is the moment or "place" where the not_happened becomes the happened; the conditional "place" where the loss of indeterminacy occurs.

Turning to the moment of realization of potential, the practitioner sees a certain gap separating the happened from the not_happened (potential).

Studying the gap, the practitioner understands that the gap has neither dimensions nor coordinates – the gap is indeterminate, immeasurable and unidirectional (irreversible). The gap is truly random; indeterminacy is its fundamental property. From the gap emanates the light of consciousness.

The gap is reality.

Previously, when the practitioner saw how the properties of thoughts change, he lost belief in them: thoughts turned out to be not an islet of stability but temporary phenomena. Exactly the same happened with the practitioner's "i". Now, seeing reality, he knows nothing about what he sees: in reality there is nothing that can be seen, understood, and remembered. The perception of reality (indeterminacy) has explicit consequences: the division into "past-present-future" is lost. Everything that was previously "real" now becomes already happened – an echo coming from reality.

"The happened" is that which has lost indeterminacy and acquired determinacy; the happened emanates from reality, like a wave from a source of disturbance, but is not reality itself; the happened is relatively real.

The practitioner understands that he had never before seen reality – it was closed off from him by the i-filter. His attention was turned entirely toward the shadow zone created by the filter, and his understanding was limited to this shadow zone. Within that zone, complex, shifting interference patterns formed from those separate streams of the universal flow (emanating from reality) that had passed through the filter. The practitioner's understanding interpreted this complex and unique interplay of light and shadow as "i" and "my life". The interplay of light and shadow was real and fully determinate for the practitioner.

Since then, much has changed. Now the practitioner understands that any determinacy does not possess independent reality. Determinacy is an illusion that creates an interpretation of reality within itself: a frame imposed on indeterminacy.

Further, the practitioner discovers that the very fact of the gap's (reality's) existence is a random asymmetry, which occurred as the difference between realized and unrealized potential of space. This difference generates a force (an observed tendency), which manifests itself as a striving toward the elimination of the asymmetry. The force (tendency) is manifested in the fact that everything realized from the potential of space strives toward the elimination of the difference and a return to the original balanced, unrealized "form".

The return to the original "form" can be accomplished only upon the full exhaustion of the difference between the realized and unrealized potential. The exhaustion of the difference occurs in the process of self-inquiry through transformation and, as a consequence, cessation.

After the discovery of the force (tendency), further practice proceeds on the basis of the practitioner's hypothetical assumption (hypothesis).

In the practitioner's understanding, the world where he appeared is a process of eliminating asymmetry (a striving toward original symmetry), which arose as a chance spark in the unrealized potential. The practitioner himself is a local node of a complex pattern of many different relative processes within the arisen asymmetry.

The hypothesis is based on the properties of consciousness already studied and on the absence of a probable and verified alternative interpretation. The practitioner has discovered that consciousness simultaneously possesses relative and non-relative properties. Such a "blend" manifests itself as movement without a mover, perception without a perceiver (subject). "Movement" and "perception" occur relative to the source – reality. Thus, consciousness is not detached from reality (very close to reality), and at the same time is loaded with relative properties (as a process).

The practitioner has repeatedly lived through the "dissolution" of artifact layers – both late and early ones. This led to the understanding that consciousness is like a reversible mechanism that uses itself (its "body") to create complex constructions (artifacts) within itself. Reversibility is expressed in the fact that consciousness is capable of transforming the arisen constructions back into its "body." The reverse transformation ceases the properties and processes of which the artifacts consisted, leaving at the output the original formless consciousness.

The hypothesis is this: the reversibility of consciousness is applicable to consciousness itself, as a process. Having discovered itself, consciousness is capable of ceasing the relative part of itself (as a "blend") – the movement (or the process of knowing itself). This will relieve consciousness of the load of relative properties and lead to the loss of determinacy. The loss of determinacy will "return" consciousness to the original symmetry of unrealized potential.

Such a hypothesis is an extrapolation of the operating principle of technique #1 to its ultimate scale. The loss of determinacy (cessation) has exactly the same mechanics as in the smaller-scale case of investigating interferences during the execution of points 1-3: having discovered itself as a process, consciousness ceases itself. Consciousness needs nothing, having everything necessary "on board": the mechanisms of creation and cessation are built into consciousness and are symmetrical.

The practitioner understands that the body and the i-filter are of the same nature and are necessary conditions of practice. The difference consists in the fact that the body is an echo of very distant events; it is adapted and stable (homeostasis). Whereas the i-filter consists of relatively "fresh" (young) layers. Such layers are sufficiently easily subject to reverse transformation into consciousness.

The practitioner sees that the body is filled with pure (conditionally) consciousness and is the final "frontier," creating separateness. Verification of the hypothesis is possible only after the loss of the physical body. The nature of the hypothesis is such that it cannot be verified and included in the report. The loss of the physical body is the event horizon of life.

In this report, the hypothesis is present because, on its basis, the practitioner continues practice-life until its natural completion.

The continuation of practice occurs in such a way as not to delay the moment of testing the hypothesis, but also not to strive for it.