From Caetextia To Excitextia
For thousands of years, various schools and teachers have taught the primacy of consciousness as the singular source of all existence. This means that all manifestations of life, including all human beings, arise from this single conscious source. Although it may seem, from the perspective of an individual, that we live in a universe of separate objects and perceive ourselves in the same way, these teachings assert that this perception of separateness is not accurate. They point out that this belief in apparent separateness is an illusion, one that disconnects us from realising that we are the singular consciousness that contains all things.
Why should this belief cause psychological suffering? Because it creates a false narrative about life, one that becomes evident when we look deeper into our experience. The story we construct tells us that we are our thoughts and feelings, and that the environment in which we live is separate from us. In short, we believe that we are separate persons living in a world apart from us. There are many reasons why this story causes us to suffer psychologically.
Essentially, we have reduced our existence to that of a physical object trying to survive. We have stripped away any deeper context of our lives, equating ourselves solely with our mortal form, while our thoughts and feelings become the framework for our existence. We have become "context-blind" or, to use the Latin, "Caetextic"—a term coined by Joe Griffin and Ivan Tyrrell, founders of UK-based Human Givens School of Psychotherapy in connection with autism and psychosis, but here used to describe the experience of self. Living within the context of thoughts and feelings is like being waves on a stormy ocean, constantly yearning for calm waters. We place ourselves at the mercy of our mind and body's survival systems—highly sensitive, evolved mechanisms of protection. Every second, they respond to events and alert us to what may be dangerous or nourishing. This ever-shifting context of thoughts and feelings serves as a finely tuned survival mechanism. Yet, by identifying with it, we become fully engrossed in this narrative.
It’s no wonder we feel 'seasick' when we identify solely with the context of our thoughts and feelings. We try to control them, seeking relief in the separate environment we believe will offer the solution. We see the world as something to possess—viewing it as a "thing" to satisfy our desires. We chase experiences like money, food, sex, relationships, holidays, and other material or sensory pleasures, believing these will alleviate our discomfort. When we obtain these things, we momentarily feel relief from the 'seasickness' of our thoughts and feelings. However, this relief is fleeting. We organise our lives around acquiring these things, only to criticise ourselves when we fail. Based on the belief that we are separate from the world, we create a global media system to report on what others have that we lack, making us feel even worse. Even when we do attain the things we think will make us happy, we remain in a hidden state of impending doom, afraid of losing them, which prevents us from fully enjoying them. The Buddha suggests that life in this world is like living in a burning house—everything is temporary. We live like a person spinning plates, frantically trying to keep them all going.
That is, until we remember that we are the singular source of consciousness, not a separate body and mind. This remembering is not a distant, abstract possibility but an imminent recognition that is always available. It is a matter of recognising that all existence must be a singular, self-contained process, and that as individuals, we must be a manifestation of it. It is then simply a recognition that the present experience, along with our thoughts and feelings, is the door to this singular self-contained totality. This is not a transcendent reality out of our reach; it turns out to be an immediate experience that we have temporarily forgotten. In our Caetextic state, we become so focused on the objective experiences of thoughts and feelings that we cannot perceive the deeper context of our being. This recognition requires no effort. Effort takes us away from it. It is, we find, the only effortless experience we have. It is simply a matter of recognising it. This experience is our Awareness of our thoughts and feelings. This Awareness is all-encompassing. Initially, we may see it as the observer of our thoughts and feelings until, more deeply, we recognise it as their creative source.
At this point, we can radically let go of the belief in being a separate person based on the experience of being Awareness, which cannot be known to have any limitations or origin in the human mind. What we previously believed to be separate people speaking to us are simply thoughts arising from the same single source of consciousness, expressed through separate bodies. Suddenly, the notion of separate personhood falls away. While thoughts from the immediate mind and other minds may still suggest separateness, because we once believed ourselves to be separate and have built up habitual neural pathways of separateness, identifying as the singular consciousness now diminishes their power. These thoughts no longer matter. Reconnected with the Awareness that we are, we instantly rediscover the experience of our innate wholeness, permanence, and peace.
From this point, we can assume the correct relationship to the survival mechanisms of the mind and body. We no longer depend on them for our happiness, but we respect them as careful attunement systems designed to guide survival. Free from psychological dependence, we can listen to them clearly as the clouds of anxious thinking dissipate. Here, we are conscious of the context of the loving aware beingness that is our very nature. We are "context-awakened" or "excitextic"—from the Latin excitavit, meaning "awakened" and contexts, meaning "context"—a term this author has created. At this stage, we realise that the psychological suffering we once experienced was not meant to assist us in physical survival. Indeed, it was obstructing that very goal. Its purpose was to help us remember who we are. Thus, caetextia serves as a beautiful reminder system, guiding us back to excitextia.
Freyja
June 2023