Spiritual Journey (part 3) - Power of Perspective

 

More than a couple of months had passed, since Jack and Jill's last visit to the monastery when they learned about Emptiness. 

Jack's homework had been to to cultivate being aware of being the experiencer in his day to day activities. 

Over the past month and a half Jack had been cultivating his awareness practice, which he had managed to enhance to a level where he was aware of himself as an experiencer majority of  the times. The awareness practice had spilled over into Jack's dream state, where he was able to be moderately aware of his dreams. There were still some actions he struggled with in being aware and one of them related to his anger, which seemed to come unannounced, but at least he had started becoming aware of it during or after the fact. 

Jill's homework had been to cultivate presence, by being in the zone initially at least twice a day and then gradually increasing to all activities she did. 

Jill's work mostly required Jill to find blocks of time to be free from distractions. Jill was quickly able to find time to be in an absorbed state as far as her work was concerned, however being absorbed in mundane tasks and other uninteresting tasks proved to be challenging initially. With continued practice Jill was able to stay largely present during her day.

The awareness and presence practices, had appeared to be hard work for both Jack and Jill and the results had not been apparent initially, but they were transformative was clear to them based on feedback from friends, family and work colleagues. However both Jack and Jill felt they still had a way to go in learning the nuances of these practices, before they could claim mastery.

It was Sunday, they both got up early to make the most of the day, and had already called the monastery to book enough time with the monk who they referred to now as the Master.
The Master was seated in the usual position in a meditative pose at the base of the big statue of Buddha. He greeted them and then said "you both have made good progress over the last two months, much better than most, come have a seat. Today lets strengthen, all that you have learnt so far through your practices".

Turning towards Jack, the Master said "I see you are more aware of your day to day actions, but anger is an emotion not yet visible to you before it arises. Know this that all your emotions need to be accepted as they are, there is no good or bad, some emotions are more deeply engrained in you due to your past habits and so will require more awareness practice to become visible. What do you feel ?"

"I have certainly become a calmer person as a result of this practice and feel I am in control of most of my emotions other than anger. This is also the feedback from work and Jill. However how to I get rid of the anger" asked Jack.

"The first step is to accept the emotion in this case anger, whenever it arises, the next step is to understand what it is that triggers it, surely you are not angry at everything that does not happen the way you want it. Perhaps it relates to certain people, certain situations, find out how you normally react and create an intention to be aware whenever such situations arise in the future. The intent can be further refined by rehearsing what you would consider an acceptable response, so that when you encounter the situation again, your response is aware and considered. Remember the purpose of awareness practice is to shine the light on activity which in the past was carried out on auto-pilot. As the awareness strengthens, you will find all your emotional states will become visible and eventually create a sense of detachment from these intense emotions, reducing the impact of the emotion" said the Master. 

Turning towards Jill, the Master said "I see you are more present in your day to day activities, how do you feel ?". 

"I initially struggled with mundane tasks, but now I have started enjoying everything I do. There are times when the old habits of the mind are triggered and my egoic mind drives my actions, I am not sure how to overcome this" said Jill.

"Remember the years of mind conditioning will not dissolve in an instant, this will require some time and practice. Every time you feel old habits have taken over again, firstly accept the habit for what it is and then surrender to the present, dwelling on the habit will not do any good, practice this and you shall become more present. Always remember that Presence is your natural state and all the habits that have been adopted are just that - adoptions, once you accept them for what the habits are, and surrender to the present, they will disappear" said the Master.

"Everything that appears is perfect as is and is continually changing and hence not the absolute truth, once you recognise this then that which you perceive becomes yet another perspective of the illusion. The more broader your perspective, the less entangled you are in that which appears as an illusion. For example he who has lived his entire life in a village, sees everything from the perspective of the village, but he who has travelled across villages and towns and cities will have a more broader perspective. One who has travelled across multiple countries will have a still more broader perspective, but someone who has travelled across planets and galaxies, even more broader. So it is with awareness, awareness from the point of view of the ego is more broader than awareness from the point of view of the body, but awareness from the point of view of the experiencer / self is even more broader. However, when all dualistic concepts are dissolved, the perspective that remains is that which is the broadest of all - that of oneness. Everything at its core is one and when one realises this, which is everyone's natural state of being, there are no two, the mental structure of me, mine, ego, etc are all dropped. This change will begin to happen as one becomes more present, the actions that one takes are not by or for me and you, but for the only one and it is then that a shift in perspective occurs " said the Master.

"Any activity that is carried out from a perspective of oneness is going to be all inclusive, full of love, creativity, natural and wholesome, it will be free from doer ship and hence free from all entanglements. This is the perspective from which everything must be perceived and acted upon. Remember you are emptiness and the perspective from this is the broadest, but you are also the various forms, which is limited, with limited perspectives.

All form based perspectives are sub-sets of this broader perspective and consequently lead to bondage and entanglements. Once this is known all you both need to do is be aware of which perspective you are operating from and try to adopt the perspective of the experiencer as a minimum, even if you can't operate from presence. The tip here is to continually remind yourself by asking the question 'what perspective am I perceiving things from now ?' or alternatively ask yourself the question 'what am I thinking right now ?' and you will discover, you instantly become present for a few seconds or a minute. 

You are both doing well, continue your practice and come back to me in a month" said the Master.

Both Jack and Jill thanked and bowed to the Master and took his leave, walking out of the monastery, keen to apply what they had learnt in their day to day lives.

As they walked past the monastery, there on the monastery gates, on a black board they saw the following thought of the day and it resonated with their learnings today.

"It is easy to believe we are each a wave and forget we are also the ocean" 

 Spiritual Journey (part 1) - Relationship, Spiritual Journey (part 2) - Emptiness

Illusion ( part 7) - Awareness and Presence

 

After ten years of study, a monk attained the rank of Zen Teacher. One rainy day soon after his advancement, he journeyed to visit his old Zen Master.
 
When he walked into the house, the Master greeted him with a question.
“Tell me, did you leave your sandals and umbrella on the porch?”
“Yes,” replied the Teacher.
“And tell me,” the Master continued, “Did you leave your umbrella to the left or to the right of your sandals?”
The Teacher realized he did not know the answer, and that he had not yet attained full awareness and needed to deepen his practice.
 
Just like the Zen Teacher, on a day to day basis most of us are carrying out activities on auto-pilot and later wonder if we turned off the cooktop or if we closed the door of our house when we left home or did we leave the iron turned on. All of these are indicators that we have not been fully aware when we were carrying out these activities.
 
For those that are on the Path of Knowledge, awareness implies being the witness to all that appears while remembering that I am the experiencer.

 

What is this awareness ?
 
Colloquially speaking the word awareness is used loosely to imply having knowledge or a perception of something. However in this particular context we will define awareness as a special kind of mental activity, where the knowledge of the experiencer is present. When in awareness the attention maybe focussed on a single activity or multiple activities.
A pre-requisite to being in awareness is the realisation of the self and a prerequisite to which is the knowledge of the experiencer.
 
Why do I need to be self realised in order for me to be in awareness ?
 
Before a house can be built, special attention is given to the foundation of the house. The stronger the foundation, more stable the structure that sits on the foundation will be. The knowledge of the self and the illusion is the foundation on which the awareness sits. Self realisation is the knowing that consolidates the knowledge that has been gained of the self. If for example, the foundation of the house is not reinforced with concrete any shift or settlement of the land is likely to make the structure of the house unstable and lead to cracks initially, but in adverse cases collapsing of the house. So it is with knowledge of the self, if it is superficial and not based on knowing / realisation, then the resulting awareness easily drifts with the object that is observed.
 
Just like the house needs to be anchored to a foundation or a boat needs to anchored with an anchor, the awareness needs to anchored on the self, without which it will continually drift.
 
How do I gain this essential knowledge of the self ?
 
To gain the essential knowledge of the self, illusion and oneness, the path of knowledge is the easiest path to follow. This path has been taught by various gurus such as Ramana Maharishi, Mooji, Tarun Pradhan. The Three Day Program (takes approximately three hours in total) is one of the quickest way to gain this essential knowledge.
 
How will this essential knowledge and being in awareness change my life ?
 
When one drives from point A to point B they can either drive in the general direction towards B and hope to reach there, frequently stopping to ask for directions and at times getting lost or they can take a GPS which can take them through the shortest route, saving them time and money. So it is with knowledge and awareness, in of itself, it is of no use, however when used correctly, essential knowledge and awareness can save time, energy and effort by providing the most optimal path to the seeker's goals.
 
Without essential knowledge, most people are going around in circles, repeating the same mistakes, caught up in ignorance hoping for a different outcome. With essential knowledge, that which is necessary is only retained, everything else is discarded.
 
Where does awareness sit with respect to the intellect ?
 
The body mind structure is a multi-layered structure, with intellect being one of the higher layers of this structure. Most people have experienced that decisions that are made using the intellect are more logical and rational, compared to decisions made by lower layers such as emotions, feelings or physical desires.  Similar to intellect, awareness is another layer, which is higher than the intellect. Just like the intellect can be used to govern the lower layers, similarly awareness can govern the intellect and the layers below it. Actions carried out in awareness are devoid of the sense of doer ship and free the seeker from the consequences of the actions.
 
Is there a layer higher then awareness that a seeker can aspire to ?   
 
Awareness is the highest layer of the body mind structure that a being can aspire to and as such is also a mental activity. There is however a state wherein the mental activity stops, in this state the seeker becomes one with existence, the experience and the experiencer merge. This is the state of being or presence.
 
What do I need to do to be in this state of presence ?

The body mind structure that we are born with is an amazing structure that functions most efficiently on its own, with various checks and balances already in place to ensure it remains stable, survives and evolves. The various organs of this structure perform their functions seamlessly, without any intervention. However when one organ gets excessively prioritised over everything else then the body mind structure becomes unstable, for example when mind related activity dominates to the point that a separate egoic identity is created then the structure becomes unstable. This egoic identity then becomes the master and makes decisions, drives outcomes that perpetuates its survival even though it may be to the detriment of the overall body mind structure. Creating thoughts that strengthen it are far more important to it, even if they create toxicity in the body. So it is that as the egoic identity takes control, fear, anger, lust, greed, attachment rule the roost, despite the fact that all of these have adverse impact on the physiology of the body. Over time the natural state of the body mind structure is forgotten and new habits, new beliefs driven by the ego take root. 

Presence is this natural state which despite the control of the ego, still shines from time to time. When one sees something spectacular, their mental activity stops for a few seconds and then they are in this state of presence. Everyone has experienced this state at one time or another, but people have forgotten this is their natural state, which is minus the conditioning, the beliefs, the ego and the thoughts. This state is right here, right now and to be in this state nothing needs to be done. The act of doing and ignorance has masked this state of presence, we all are already in the state of presence. Just dropping the doing will simply get one in this state. 

It is easy to say drop the doing, but an egoic identity that has overtaken one's being is very hard to overcome. I realise there is nothing I can do to be in the state of presence, but there must be something I can do to reduce the stranglehold of the ego ?

The simplest steps a seeker can take is, choose a path, find a guru and remove the ignorance. To enter the state of presence, nothing needs to be done, nothing can be done, however beyond the foundational knowledge of the self, illusion and oneness, below are some techniques that can be used to loosen the grip of the ego and prepare a seeker to enter the state of presence -

• Nature. Being in nature, alone, in silence is known to connect one to their natural state. The more picturesque and overawing (snow covered mountains, glaciers, beautiful gardens) the experience, the more quickly and the longer the natural state can shine. The important thing to remember is to not get addicted to the experience, rather use the experience as a gateway to enter the state of presence.
• Music. Music can create a similar effect to nature if one is musically inclined and connect one to their natural state, which is empty of any qualities.
• Physical activity. Similar to nature and music, intense physical activity such as sports can lead to state of being. In this category is included various physical activities related to breathing called pranayama, balancing chi (called tai chi), yoga (various forms of physical and meditative practices), all of which have the effect of quietening the mind or at times shutting down the mind such that thought related activity is dropped.
• Acceptance. A seeker may be musically inclined or inclined towards sports or any other experience, whatever it may be, is an opportunity to be present. Every experience no matter what it is, whether a seeker likes it or not is an opportunity to be in presence. Stronger the the likes and the dislikes, easier the possibility of entering presence through attention and absorption. The key here is acceptance of what is. Stronger the emotion associated with the experience, the easier it is to transmute the energy to become present. 
• Attention and Absorption. Keeping the attention on what is being attended to, excluding all other objects can lead to an absorbed state which makes the experiencer one with the experience. The more absorbed a seeker is, the more stronger the presence. There can be situations when the boundary between the seeker and the object of attention disappears and the seeker becomes one with the object of attention. If one experiences such states, there is nothing to be scared of, as the bondage of the body mind will always bring the seeker back to its egoic identity. Attention and absorption offer very well tried pathways especially on the paths of devotion in loosening the ego. 
• Awareness. Being in awareness of the self is one of the most tried and tested way to loosen the grip of the ego and get detached from the egoic identity. Being aware of the thoughts and the ego provides a ready pathway into presence. With practice the body mind structure gets habituated at continually being in awareness. Another technique that uses inclusive attention, creates a state of heightened alertness, with the body mind structure aware of all that appears to it. 
• Surrender. Letting go and surrender is another failsafe mechanism in reducing the grip of the ego. More details on surrender and how to achieve it can be found here.

It is worth noting presence is right here right now if a seeker is willing to drop their ignorance.

Why should I aspire for presence and what are the benefits of being in this state of presence ?

Presence is not a state you can achieve by doing something, you are already in this state, so aspiring for it will not make you present. The mind incorrectly believes that doing something will get one to the desired state, unfortunately presence is beyond the mind, hence no amount of mental activity or physical activity can get one into the state of presence.

In a state of presence, the being is one with existence, free from suffering, liberated from karmic or any other bondage. There is eternal freedom, nothing to do, nowhere to go, no one to impress, no desires. All that is unnecessary is dropped, there is eternal freedom.

      

In summary, presence is the most natural state of a being, nothing needs to be done to be in it, yet it is the state that provides eternal liberation and freedom from suffering.

Surrender

 

Once there was a great Zen master called Banzan. He spent many years in the pursuit of enlightenment but it eluded him. Then one day as he was walking in the marketplace, he overheard a conversation between a butcher and a customer. “Give me the best piece of meat you have” said the customer. The butcher replied “ Every piece of meat I have is the best. There is no piece here that is not the best.”

Upon hearing this Banzan became enlightened.

So you are wondering how did this happen. When you accept what “is” every piece of meat - every moment - as perfect or is the best, you are enlightened.

At that point you are no longer trying to control, change, influence, aspire, achieve - you are content. Nowhere to go, nothing to do, no one to impress. You have suddenly become free. A key element of achieving this freedom is you have surrendered to what “is”.

So what is this surrender ?

It is the art of letting go, relinquishing control to another. In the olden days when there were kingdoms that went to war, one of them would be winning and the other would surrender, preventing further bloodshed. Sometimes the surrender happened when one kingdom was close to being defeated, but sometimes it happened even before the war when one kingdom realised the supremacy of the other in their fighting ability. To avoid bloodshed they surrendered.

A key element of surrender is to give up control to someone more powerful or perceived to be more powerful. To surrender to another individual who is bigger, stronger and brighter than us, comes easy to all of us, however to surrender to someone who is equal to us or perceived by us to be weaker than us is hard.

Most of us have been brought up to be in control of our lives and hence we struggle to let go especially when it involves something as esoteric as the universe, nature or god. All of these are things that we rarely think are superior than us in our day to day activities, because their superiority is not visible (unless of course you are caught up in a natural disaster of some type). Our habit of being in control never allows us to let go.

This begs the question when to surrender?

Stephen Covey in his book Seven Habits of Highly Effective people talks about - sphere of control and sphere of influence. He says highly effective people prioritise their effort on the sphere of control. In other words, they first focus on things they can control rather than things outside their sphere of control that they can only influence. Extending this thinking further, anyone who is trying to spend too much time on trying to control things in their sphere of influence (that is things they have no control over) such as how others behave, act and perceive you, they are not only ineffective but also become stressed and suffer anxiety in controlling uncontrollable things. It is these things that one cannot control one must surrender as a starting point. This is the secret of being effective and being stress free.

What about day to day items that are in my control should I surrender those too ?

On a day to day basis we are continually thinking of our goals, outcomes of our actions that we are trying to achieve. Always thinking about outcomes of our actions binds us to the results of our actions and makes us stressed if the expected outcome is not achieved.

Surrender of the outcomes of all day to day items is a must if you wish to lead a stress free and enjoyable life.

How can I surrender the outcomes while still not loosing control ?

Being in control and surrendering are mutually exclusive, you cannot have both at the same time. You have to choose between the two.

That is all very well, but when I get involved in an activity with a deadline or a target, I can't stop thinking about the outcome while doing the activity and this stresses me out. What can I do to not get entangled up ?

If like most people you are heavily outcome / achievement focussed, chances are you are always thinking about the outcomes all the time, possibly even in your dreams. If this is the case it is likely you are too vested in the outcomes and you see failure to achieve them as a personal defeat. In such a scenario a distance needs to be created between you and the outcome. Below are some things you can do -

• Become aware and observe yourself doing an activity, any activity as a starting point would be fine. The more you become aware, the more you observe and the more detached you become from the activity. This practice of being aware can be cultivated even while doing nothing, just watching your breath, the trees, birds, etc.

• Attend to one thing at a time, do not multi-task. The more you focus on a single task at a time, the more your attention / concentration grows and the longer your attention span. The more stronger the concentration the less you will have background thoughts about outcomes. If you want you can choose to be aware of the activity as an observer in the background, with a focus on just one task. This is called attention with awareness. There is a path of knowledge program specifically designed to help you achieve attention with awareness.

• The above two will sharpen your attention to a point where you are not easily distracted and the awareness practice will keep you detached from your outcomes and make you balanced. As you practice this, there will be times when you enter an absorbed state or a state of presence. You are no longer thinking, you are just in a state of flow, where neither the outcome matters, nor the journey matters, the present moment is all there is and you are in a state of bliss. In such a state, you have surrendered to the activity and become one with it. In this state you become an instrument of the universe, there is no doership, you are totally free from results of your actions.

If I surrender things in my life, won't I be out of control, I will miss all my work, study and day to day deadlines. I will never be able to accomplish anything. How is this effective ? Isn’t this asking me to not plan at all, just surrender?

No on the contrary your life becomes very easy. You still must plan, have goals, set targets and have a clear intent. Once your intent is clear and goals are set you must forget about them and focus on the task at hand initially through attention and awareness practices and eventually being in the “present “ moment by surrendering to the “what is” or the present. As you experiment with this you will find rather than missing deadlines you are achieving them well before time. This is something to be tried with small tasks until you grow in confidence in surrendering big things.

This is the only way you can enjoy what you are doing, avoid stress, focus on perfection, be deliberate and conscious in your actions and above all free from the results of your actions.

In summary surrendering like this makes you free of suffering, anxiety of achieving and above all frees you from me and mine and makes you one with the entire existence and above all, always in bliss.