My whole concept of spiritual awakening is not about gaining anything new but the falling away of images that produce the notion of a separate self. This sense of separation or conceptual thought “me” is the seed from which different forms of suffering arise. When the “me” illusion dissolves, it takes down every other illusion along with it.
The outcome of such a dissolution is peace of mind brought about by a pristine awareness that never leaves. The peace of mind remains intact even during moments of uncertainty, chaos, and confusion. While nothing can stop the pain in the moment, but the pain in the moment does not become suffering in horizontal time as the incessant thinking.
It is not that the mind remains permanently blissful with select emotions. When the illusions are dropped, there comes about an acceptance of things the way they are. Therefore, every emotion, sensation, feeling and thought is allowed, felt, and released from the body. Nothing is resisted or labeled as desirable or undesirable.
There is no dialogue proceeding an unpleasant sensation. For example, when anger arises, it is not blocked but felt completely without any resistance. When resistance is not offered, the original content (anger, hatred, resentment, malice, jealousy, etc.) does not have the energy to propagate in horizontal time.
It is only the pseudo-subject “me” that takes ownership of the afflicting content and carries forward them as thinking. “Why did I get angry?” “I should not have reacted,” “I am unworthy of love,” and so on. In the awareness, the “me” does not have the strength to modulate and amplify the afflicting content; therefore, there is no suffering.
All suffering comes from the conditioned mind or the “me” illusion that always looks to strengthen itself. It is the belief that I’m separate from my environment. It lives in fear, constantly safeguarding itself from perceived threats. It lives either in the dead past or an imaginary future projection that comes from the past content.
Suffering is the separation between the conceptual thought “me” and the content of consciousness. The “me” is the root of all illusions. When there is no more separation, everything is seen for what it is. This union is called Yoga. As it was said by Jiddu Krishnamurti, it is freedom from the known. The whole mind (or no mind) is in unity with everything, whereas the conditioned mind, living in separation and fragmentation, acts out of fear and anxiety.
“It is always the false that makes you suffer, the false desires and fears, the false values and ideas, the false relationships between people. Abandon the false and you are free of pain; truth makes happy, truth liberates.”
Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
The conditioned mind cannot see anything new. It always sees the past. The actions that come from such a mind are also habitual or conditioned reactions. We continually live in the shadow of fear and insecurity and expect peace and happiness, which is not possible. We seek to cover up the void within by chasing happiness and fulfillment in the outer world.
We think more fame, more money, and more adulation will give us happiness, but all of these things bring more misery because the pit of darkness grows deeper the more you try to fill it with objects of the external world. We don’t want to face the ugliness of it, and hence, we come up with superficial solutions to avoid it.
This can easily be verified by examining one’s own thoughts, ideas, beliefs, and general perception about things and life in general. Therefore, the conditioned mind becomes your key to freedom or doorway to the whole mind. Nothing needs to be done other than witnessing the tricks played by the conditioned mind. At some point, the seeing becomes impersonal, and that itself brings about an end to the afflicting inner chatter.
There cannot be any transformation in our relationships unless we look at what’s going on within. There cannot be a possibility of love until we keep clinging to the images that are a part of the illusory self. Clinging is the bondage that brings suffering. The whole idea of spiritual work is not to break identifications but to dissolve the knots of clinging.
We may identify with our religion, work, profession, ideas, and beliefs, but we don’t cling to them. What you cling to clings onto you. The only way to enjoy life and traverse it peacefully is not to take it too seriously because everything is transient and impermanent. To fully live life with complete spontaneity and vitality is to recognize that this present moment or now is the only reality. Being in the here and now is your refuge. In this awaring presence or now, you will always be peaceful. It is your most natural state that is rooted in peace, harmony, and unity with everything. This is what spiritual masters call real home. You’re always in the here and now. To see it, just BE.
“The mind creates the abyss, the heart crosses it.”
Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
