In looking at Picture C below you can also see how the stem, or central portion of the Ankh, is perfectly consistent with the notion of the Kundalini, as it runs straight up to the head from the coccid, exactly as the Kundalini is supposed to run. Without a doubt, the Ankh’s form is perfectly consistent with the relatively misconceived notions of the Aura and of the Kundalini, which are in fact one and the same single body of Consciousness known as Atman or Ankh, which in turn is the Universal Consciousness that illumines, or gives life to, the human body and mind.

As for the two short arms that spring from the Ankh's stem to each side of the thorax, the one which is easily explainable is the one projected towards the left of the stem. Obviously, that arm of Consciousness is the one that illumines the heart. The arm of consciousness projected to the right, on the other hand, is a bit more mysterious. Ramana Maharshi used to say that our real heart is not the one on the left, but the one on the right. He used to observe that whenever we point to ourselves by pressing our own index to our chests, we do it by touching the right side of our chest, not the left one. He also used to say that it is from the right-side Heart that the Self springs from, thereby asserting that that is the seat of the Self.

In my case, it was when I traced the path of consciousness from my spine to the right side of my chest that the Atman revealed itself to me, with the subsequent Realization of the Self that ensued a few minutes later. Obviously, the final crucial point in my attaining the Atman/Ankh Consciousness came when I focused my dedicated concentration on the right side of my chest, which would corroborate Ramana’s assertion that that is the seat of the Self.

In all of this, however, what really matters is not my having gained direct knowledge of the form that the Atman adopts when incarnated, but my having Realized that the Eternal Consciousness which is the Atman is indeed my very own Identity and that that Identity is none other than the Eternal Consciousness which gives form and gives life to anything that has ever existed and will ever possibly exist.

Regarding the Egyptians and the pervasive representation of the Ankh found in their hieroglyphics, sarcophagi, temples, etc., in light of my Realization of the Self, the logical conclusion to which I arrive is that all those Pharaohs and characters who appear in those representations holding Ankhs in their hands were probably supposed to have attained knowledge of their Eternal Consciousness in their lifetimes.

The Egyptian Priests very likely had methods for inducing the Realization of the Self, probably by bringing the potential initiates to the brink of death, where they would attain direct knowledge of their Eternal Essence, or Ankh. Then they would probably bring the initiates back to life where they would be trained in retaining the consciousness of such Realization so that they could attain Liberation from the shackles of reincarnation whenever they finally passed into the disembodied world.

In my case, I am basically just waiting for that transitional moment to come again, as I have nothing left to do in this world but to burn away whatever Karma I have left to burn in this my final lifetime. This assertion is corroborated by the Tibetan Book of the Dead, which is basically a guide on how to direct the recently- deceased individuals who are ignorant of their Real Identity into the Eternal Light which is the Self. Those individuals who have already attained direct knowledge of their True Identity, however, will immediately run into the Light of the Self as soon as they shed the mental envelope which kept them tied to this world.

Everyone will attain Eternal Liberation in their due time.

The Ankh is the Atman. The Atman is of the nature of Eternal Being-Consciousness-Bliss. I am the Atman; therefore I am Eternal Being-Consciousness-Bliss.

                                                                     

                                                                                    Picture C

                                                The Atman-Ankh-Breath of Life illumining Sal’s body and mind