The manuscript represents a report on a practical activity that took place. At the beginning, the practical method is described. Its execution led to the creation of this manuscript. The method is not constant but undergoes certain changes during its execution – these changes will be mentioned in the report's chapters.

It should be borne in mind that this manuscript is neither scientific research nor pseudo-scientific; it is not a teaching, not a mimicry of a teaching, not a collage-compilation, not an attempt, nor anything else. It is a record of what occurred. From the very beginning of this manuscript until its completion, it holds perfectly true to Occam's razor – what is written here is precisely about what it is written about, without hidden "cavities" and/or "double bottom"; it is literally and directly "copied" from the perception of the researcher in the process of his practical activity (practice).

A few words about the nature of the activity described here and its goal: it represents an investigation of the investigator himself. This does not imply obtaining any material or other benefit, even in the form of an intermediate result; such an investigation gave the investigator nothing but a single outcome – understanding. The causes and consequences of such "unprofitability" will be examined in detail.

The manuscript is written in the third person, about a certain faceless "practitioner" (investigator). In the context of the work carried out, the practitioner's personality is one of the subjects of investigation, and taken by itself (the personality) is of no significance; only the actual changes (practical results) that occurred with the practitioner's understanding are of significance.

Due to the relative volume of the work carried out (about 10 years of practice), the manuscript is divided into several parts – each is allocated for the description of so-called phases of practice, which differ from each other in properties, characteristics, and duration. Some concepts encountered in different parts (phases) will undergo changes (deepening) as the practice progresses and, accordingly, as the manuscript is written. Thus, the report has a sequential narrative structure but a nonlinear "depth" as it transitions from one phase of practice to another.

This manuscript demands nothing from the one reading these lines.

This chapter presents a description of the practical method.

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

The practitioner was not prepared: he possessed neither knowledge nor experience in the work of knowing himself, nor any understanding of where to begin. Due to life circumstances, he had no opportunity to expend resources searching for an effective technique (method). Therefore, the practitioner used what was at hand: once, he had stumbled upon the technique described in this manuscript as point 2. That served as the start. The remaining parts of the practical method presented here originated from point 2 as a result of the practitioner's 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 two parts in a particular way.

An important condition is the intensity of executing the practical method. At the preliminary stages, the practitioner discovers through experience 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. For the practitioner, this means that practice (execution of the method) completely merges with his life and fills every day, hour, and minute of it. When this important condition is met, the practitioner obtains the first explicit results. These results will be considered in more detail in the chapter "Active phase of practice."

More about the practical method itself, about its parts.

Points 1-3 and some features of their application.

Point 1:

The practitioner looks at himself. He looks not in a mirror, but looks 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 in such a way 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 his 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 fact that the practitioner literally looks at everything that is visible, listens to everything that is audible, and feels 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 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 uncertainty.

The execution of point 3 is associated with a complete absence of meaning and certainty, and may be mistakenly interpreted by the practitioner as not worth spending his energy on.

Thus, 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 him but provide a degree of certainty where it is truly needed. The practitioner 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 primary rule: begin and keep doing.

The other primary rule: begin again and keep doing.

While performing points 1-3, the practitioner encounters various kinds of emerging interferences in his consciousness that actively hinder his search for or his hold on the found direction. The nature of these interferences will be examined in other chapters; here, the mechanism for their removal, its specific features, and conditions of application are described. Within this report, this mechanism for removing interferences is designated as technique #1.

Technique #1 consists in the practitioner utilizing various situations from his life that trigger a noticeable (to the practitioner's attention) emotional reaction. The necessity to apply technique #1 arises precisely at the moment when an interference in the practitioner's consciousness 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. He understands that it is not someone else who has imposed this interference upon him, not someone who has infected him with it, nor is anyone or anything to blame for its manifestation within him; the source lies precisely within the practitioner himself.

The next step is for the practitioner to begin carefully studying the manifested interference. To do this, the practitioner asks himself direct questions and searches for answers to them. The questions are: 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 interference (the thoughts and sensations hindering the performance of points 1-3), carefully investigating the interference all the way to its very source; he pulls on the interference 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 can use it both for a current situation and for situations from long-past days that have left a noticeable 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 firmly memorized and uses them, help him to "snap out of it" and return again and again 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 literally means that real changes have occurred with the practitioner.

The relatively prolonged application of technique #1 prior to the start of the active phase (about a year) honed the practitioner's honesty, and now he 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 speculations, and other "crutches" – 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 simply applies points 1-3 and technique #1 without the goal of any personal profit. In this way, the practitioner removes the question of self-deception, fully accepting responsibility for the execution of the practice.

The first real result of the practitioner's efforts is expressed in the fact that the space where thoughts and images replace one another slightly recedes from the practitioner's perception; a small gap appears.

The practitioner discovers through experience that the execution of the method leads to his thoughts changing their characteristic properties: the thoughts slightly lose their color (losing color saturation, as fabric does 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 constant pressure (oppression) from thoughts and other content of consciousness.

In the process of performing the practice, the practitioner observes 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," the practitioner discovers 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 discovers that every time, 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 a "rollback" inevitably follows.

For the practitioner, the "rollback" effect manifests as him feeling powerlessness, fear, and hopelessness for several days in a row. He discovers through experience 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 significant the "rollback".

Locating and illuminating the deepest layers of the i-filter with attention causes very significant and prolonged "rollbacks". Such "rollbacks" have different characteristics and are akin to "dark nights", completely enveloping the practitioner. They last up to several weeks and are accompanied by severe physical suffering.

The practitioner is partly prepared for such a turn of events: the multiple "rollbacks" at the beginning of the "active phase" have taught him not to lose his head, not to try to do something to alleviate his condition – any attempts to ease his plight 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 and necessary 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 "i" deprives them of their influence on the practitioner, leading to their complete "dissolution". The mechanism of "dissolution" itself will be examined in this report; this mechanism is one of the key processes of the practice.

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

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

Having studied this "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 already tempered by the "dark nights" and other unpleasant effects, but standing before this "lake," he understands that true unknown lies ahead; if he dives in, there will be no return. This understanding 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 – complete uncertainty, blackness, and primal fear. The complexity of the choice lies in its inevitability: a choice must be made, only one option can be chosen and only once; 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 not found and will not find any hint; nothing will help him make this most important and difficult decision of his life. Then he remembers the direction that led him to the shore of this black lake. He finds the direction again 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 certain 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 to do in his consciousness — that urge 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 to do gradually fading — "doing" becomes "non-doing," and liberation from the need to do anything occurs.

At times, the practitioner is still visited by "rollbacks". At this stage of the active phase, they become a rare, residual phenomenon, lasting a few hours and perceived by the practitioner 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 pulse noise of blood flowing in the practitioner's body – they become akin to a rustle or a faintly audible internal noise. The practitioner's attention is almost completely freed from "internal" pressure, becoming a precise and reliable tool; when necessary, the attention makes use of this "rustle" (turns to it), which was once dense, heavy thoughts, for solving certain tasks from the practitioner's 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 within him (in the practitioner) 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 inside the practitioner.

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 his 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 practitioner's body-consciousness, the light completely and finally concludes the movements of the mind, rendering it motionless. The light is bluish-white, it spreads through the practitioner, rising from the bottom up. The appearance of this phenomenon is also accompanied by the practitioner's 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 this phenomenon in the practitioner's consciousness – the soft, indifferent light – 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.

Briefly on some consequences of the active phase of practice.

Before the start of the active phase, life provided the practitioner with hints, hinted at something and directed him somewhere, 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 reduced to simplicity; the practitioner falls out of all systems and communities of human life, finds himself on the sidelines of this world, and is left content with the dust that reaches him. 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 forever. The practitioner is deprived of any protection; no natural or otherworldly forces protect him; he becomes completely defenseless.

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 flow is quite active. The practitioner has a reserve of strength, and it is periodically replenished when a layer of "i" is found, subjected to examination, and dissolves (as forces are no longer spent on its maintenance). All this imparts an active flow to the practice. But this active phase ends when nothing remains that is comprehensible to 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 its next, fully 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 his 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 to the practitioner in this phase of practice.

The tendency of the light (its 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 his body-consciousness directly shows the practitioner what needs to be examined.

An obstacle that prevents the light from rising further cannot be eliminated by technique #1 – at this stage of practice, technique #1 no longer works, for nothing remains in the practitioner's consciousness that has any form discernible to the mind. The obstacle is eliminated by direct awareness, experiencing 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, its "flooding" does not occur.

At one of the stages of the formless phase, the practitioner notices that the rising of the light in his body-consciousness (the absorption of the body-consciousness by the light) manifests a proportional deepening of the practitioner's understanding.

Here, "understanding" is literally that volume of consciousness which the practitioner represents (contains within himself), that volume which the practitioner sees and is aware of.

At this stage, the practitioner understands that the once complex and multi-layered mechanism of the "i" functioned as a filter that divided the universal flow of life, allowing through only those streams which corresponded to its individual configuration and could pass through the intricate weave of the filter.

Individual streams of the universal flow of life, having passed through the i-filter, created the individual spectrum of the practitioner's life. In this spectrum, some parts of the universal flow of life were present in different proportions and combinations, but not the entire flow. This unique spectrum was lived by the practitioner and constituted for him the only real reality.

The execution of points 1-3 and technique #1 led to the mechanism of the "i" being gradually, layer by layer, recognized and, as a consequence, ceasing to function (dissolved) – there became nothing to filter, nothing to shield the practitioner's individual consciousness from the universal flow of life.

The practitioner distinctly understands that the manifested and now filling his body-consciousness light is the natural perception of the practitioner not filtering the flow of life through the i-filter. 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. This is the key process of the entire practice.

The practitioner understands that everything at his disposal – his only available resource – is 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 in a furnace, for the example with coal), the concentrate is again transformed back into its primary state from which it was once born. Suffering, fear, despair – this is the binding agent (composition) that is released as products of "combustion" ("smoke") in the process of transformation. The transformation (combustion of coal) occurs through the awareness and complete experiencing of the layers of the i-filter. Thus, through practice, the reverse transformation of the i-filter occurs with the release of the "stored" primary state.

The practitioner directly 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. Consciousness is released during the reverse transformation of the i-filter.

The practitioner understands that he has no other resource for expanding understanding (consciousness). He has only what he already has. Also, in the course of practice, he understood that other methods of interacting with the i-filter do not transform it into understanding – avoidance (in any form) of the awareness and experiencing of the layers of the i-filter leads to the strengthening of the filter, binding consciousness and making it more complex and stable.

The continuation of practice leads to the practitioner eliminating all obstacles on the path of the filling light. After the elimination of obstacles, the practitioner's body-consciousness becomes filled with light.

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

Here, "artifacts" literally means formations in consciousness, parts of the i-filter.

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 by him as light.

The practitioner becomes clear about the function of the i-filter: having accumulated a critical "mass" (having reached the limit of complexity/stability), the filter is simultaneously both the trigger mechanism for initiation and the "fuel" for the realization of the method described in the chapter "Practical method". Thus, the practitioner clearly understands that the i-filter is an integral part of the practice, but one that is many times larger in scale than the two phases described so far in the report. The practitioner sees that in reality, the practice has its roots in the distant past, in the times when the origin and gradual accumulation of the "mass" of the i-filter occurred – this happened long before the appearance (before the birth) of the practitioner in this world.

Here, "the accumulation of mass (complexity) of the i-filter" is the accumulation of "heavy" feelings/emotions as layers in consciousness, with their subsequent transformation into causal patterns and conversion into a starting configuration for a "next," more complex and "massive" i-filter; the inheritance of earlier causal patterns (imprints).

Here, "heavy feelings/emotions" are fear and derivatives of fear.

The practitioner sees that fear and its derivatives are a necessary mechanism for increasing the "mass" (complexity) of the i-filter.

The transformation of the entire deep and complex structure of the i-filter gives the practitioner a direct understanding of its structure and origin.

At this point passes the conditional boundary between the phases of practice: the current formless one and the completion phase.

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

Here, "parallel perception" literally means a process of perception that has no "reference point" relative to which it occurs; a non-relative mode of perception (without division and comparisons).

By the end of the formless phase, being filled with light and manifesting as consciousness without artifacts, the practitioner is fully aware of this light, its structure, and its origin.

Also, by the end of the formless phase, the application of the practical method (following its unification) is concluded. In the subsequent practice, the practitioner utilizes only his understanding.

What follows is a necessary description or, rather, a simplified schematic sketch of what the practitioner sees-understands. Such a sketch in itself has no significance, but performs the function of a road sign. The sketch is not what the practitioner directly realizes; such a schematic sketch is an approximate interpretation (likeness), abbreviated enough to be relatively simple and understandable, while remaining expedient.

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

Here, "potential" is capability, possibility; potential has no properties, it is literally the not-happened.

The practitioner does not separate "potential" and "space," therefore in this schematic sketch "potential" and "space" are not separated and are one: potential is space, and vice versa.

The natural state of potential is its non-realization. Initially, potential contains nothing within itself, while simultaneously having the possibility to contain everything without exception. Potential also contains the capability for the realization of such a possibility.

The realization of potential occurs due to a certain 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: appearing, it realizes the potential immediately and completely fully, without delays, without phases of development, instantaneously. Such a realization is the case where there is neither chicken nor egg, but there is a causeless appearance of both, the manifestation of everything from nothing.

The practitioner understands that the realization of potential has no reason other than chance.

Here, "chance" means something that has happened, but possesses no definiteness like cause, dimensions, coordinates.

The realization of potential occurs at once – in a dimensionless instant, having neither duration nor coordinates. 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 description within the framework of this sketch, using words (the instrumental possibilities of language), of 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" (arisen during the realization of potential) are interconnected, do not exist independently or separately, but only together and only as they were realized.

Here, "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 (something like 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, the "bouquet" itself as a whole (as realized potential) appears absolute – there is no other process of which this realized "bouquet" would be a part.

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

Thus, within the framework of this schematic sketch, the "bouquet" is a "vertical" connecting link between the bottom and the top.

At the very top of the sketch is an area which the practitioner perceives as maximally complex, entirely consisting of all possible realized properties of space. The complexity of this area is maximal to such a degree that this area has a peculiarity: it knows itself. It is also appropriate to say that this area consists of direct and immediate knowledge of itself. The peculiarity of this area is that it is (possesses) consciousness.

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

Consciousness (knowledge of itself) is not limited to the uppermost and most complex area where it realized itself. Consciousness is the entire "bouquet". Therefore, despite the fact that in this sketch consciousness is located at the very top, it, nevertheless, is present throughout the entire (non-existent) "height" of the "bouquet" of properties. 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. The light of consciousness does not reach the foundation (the potential) – consciousness cannot illuminate that which has not occurred.

The beginning of the completion phase is chosen as the moment when the practitioner, seeing the original picture (that formed the basis of the sketch), clearly understands that the realization of potential in no way exhausts it, but only realizes the appearance of the entire system, where on one "side" there is unrealized, and on the other – fully realized potential.

Thus, seeing the entire original picture as a whole, the practitioner realizes 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.

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

The practitioner's understanding of the relative nature of consciousness is not a mystery revealed by the practitioner, nor is it the result of his efforts; it is like remembering what he has always known.

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 "place" where the loss of indeterminacy occurs.

Turning his understanding towards the moment of realization of potential, the practitioner clearly sees a certain gap separating the happened (consciousness) from the not-happened (potential).

Studying the gap he has discovered, the practitioner understands that the gap definitely takes place, yet it has neither dimensions, nor coordinates – the gap is fully indeterminate, immeasurable and unidirectional (irreversible).

Studying the gap, the practitioner understands that the gap is truly random – indeterminacy is its fundamental property.

Another observed property: from the gap – from perfect indeterminacy – emanates the light of consciousness.

The gap is reality.

Upon perceiving reality (the gap), the practitioner's perception undergoes a transformation: now the practitioner perceives the world as already happened, as an echo or a shadow of reality. The division into "past-present-future" dissolves on its own.

Here, 'the happened' is literally that which has lost indeterminacy and acquired determinacy; has lost reality and acquired the label 'relatively real'; 'the happened' emanates from reality, like a wave from a source of disturbance, but is not reality itself – does not possess independent reality.

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 zone. Within this zone, complex and shifting interference patterns formed from those separate streams of the universal flow emanating from reality that had passed through the filter. Limited by the shadow zone, the practitioner's understanding perceived this complex and unique interplay of light and shadow as "I" and "my life", which had an independent reality and full determinacy.

Since then, the practitioner's understanding has undergone a change. He now sees that no determinacy possesses this independent reality. Determinacy is an illusion. Determinacy is an artifact in consciousness, closing off reality.

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 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, through the loss of determinacy, strives to return to its "original state" – to return into reality.

This force created the world where the practitioner appeared.

The return to the "original state" can be accomplished only upon the full exhaustion of the difference between the realized and unrealized potential of space. The exhaustion of this difference occurs in the process of practice, through direct living and transforming into understanding all that is relatively real, by means of those methods and resources that are available.

After the discovery of this force, further practice proceeds on the basis of the practitioner's hypothetical assumption. It can be verified only upon the completion of the current phase of practice. In this report, the assumption is presented because the practitioner continues his practice based on it. Thus, in the course of the final stage of the completion phase this manuscript-report acquires some features of a life description.

The hypothetical assumption is based on the properties of consciousness already studied by the practitioner. He sees that consciousness simultaneously possesses relative and absolute (non-relative) properties: consciousness possesses determinacy with the simultaneous absence of another process, within which the knowledge of itself occurs. Such a "blend" of the relative and the absolute creates movement without a mover, observation without an observer (perception without a perceiver).

"Observation" (perception) and "movement" occur relative to the source – reality. Thus, consciousness is not detached from reality, but is burdened by the "burden" of relative properties.

The practitioner sees that consciousness is like a reversible mechanism which uses itself (its "body") to create complex constructions within itself (artifacts, illusions, determinacies), in order to then transform the created constructions back into its "body." The reverse transformation exhausts and ceases the relative properties and processes in consciousness.

The practitioner understands that such observed reversibility is the realization of the natural nature of consciousness. The practitioner calls this "self-knowing." The process of self-knowing leads to the loss of determinacy of relative properties and processes, ceases them and liberates consciousness from the "burden" of relativity.

From this follows the practitioner's hypothetical assumption. The assumption is this: having been relieved of the "burden" of relativity, the practitioner's consciousness will, through the loss of determinacy, return into reality (the source).

However, not all necessary conditions for the accomplishment of the return are fulfilled: the practitioner still has a physical body, possessing natural needs and limitations. And although the practitioner sees that the body is now filled with pure consciousness, nevertheless, the body is the final layer of the i‑filter – it is the last "frontier," creating separateness.

The practitioner sees that his body performs a necessary function, being a reliable shell for the storage and carrying of the i‑filter. The body and the i‑filter are of the same nature and are integral stages of practice. The difference between them consists in the fact that the body is an echo of very distant events, it is adapted and very stable. Whereas the i‑filter consists of relatively "fresh" (young) layers. Such layers are unstable and sufficiently easily subject to reverse transformation into consciousness.

Here, "stability" is literally the complexity of processes and their interconnections, achieved in the course of natural evolution (homeostasis).

Thus, the final part of the completion phase is built on the hypothetical assumption that with the loss of the physical body, the practitioner's consciousness will lose the last obstacle on the path to a return into the "source."

The nature of the assumption is such that it cannot be verified and included in the report. Nevertheless, such an assumption (extrapolation) is extremely probable. The practitioner continues the practice right up to 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. The flow of life passes unimpeded through the practitioner, without filtration and separation. The practitioner's actions fully coincide with the vector of the force that created the world where the practitioner appeared. The practitioner acts in accordance with it, representing an impulse of this force, which occurred in the form of the practitioner himself and is directed towards a return to its source.

This report is this impulse – packaged into a small text, it entirely consists of the understanding.