Вадим Сычевский
Absolute freedom and happiness – our true essence
Soul
It should also be noted that Discernment, Will and Perceptions are our soul. In the Teachings of Yoga, the soul is designated by the term «Jiva» (Sanskrit: jīva – «individual soul»). Therefore, the Yogatattva Upanishad («The Essence of Yoga») says: «The Jiva, experiencing joy and suffering, is created by illusion, so its true essence is the Highest Atman».
In other words, there is the True «Self» (Atman) and there is the soul. Atman is at the source of the soul, that is, the soul is formed, created by the True «Self». Only the Atman has the prerogative of controlling, understanding and creating. Thus, the soul is an illusion artificially created by the Atman due to ignorance. To get rid of this illusion, we (Atman) must return to our original state of Nirvana. When in meditation the work of the soul completely ceases, we enter Samadhi and further, we realize Emancipation. I will speak about this in the third chapter.
Moving data into the World of Phenomena
Astral data, or subconscious data, or data of our soul, is called thought-forms, or thought-images. The work of consciousness at any level is a thought. This thought is discerned based on past data and there arises a desire or no desire to realize this arisen thought. Of course, an image corresponding to the desire and thought immediately arises – hence «thought-forms», or «thought-images».
Finally, the subconscious mind gives a command to the actual consciousness, and we begin to act to satisfy the desire that has arisen. We begin to think, using actual consciousness (the work of actual consciousness is also called «stream of mind»), to speak, our senses begin to work: we look, listen, smell, and so on.
The actions of the physical body and the work of the senses are carried out by energy, or Prana. Prana arises from the work of the soul, i.e. Discernment, Will, and Perception. In other words, astral thought-images, consisting of subtle substance, materialize in the gross world by means of energy. Energy, condensing, i.e. transforming from subtle to coarse, eventually forms material objects of the World of Phenomena, e.g. our physical body.
Movement of data from the World of Phenomena
The above-described process of data transfer works in the opposite direction as well. In the World of Phenomena our physical body acts, our sense organs work, and they come into contact with external objects – we see, hear, smell, taste, and touch. The brain «collects a picture» of what we perceive, and with actual consciousness, we understand what exactly we perceive with the five senses. Further, this information passes into Perceptions – figurative associations arise. Then our past experience comes into play: «Oh, I've had this before» or «This is the first time I've seen it». Finally, Discernment forms a positive or negative attitude to the perceived object and gives the corresponding order. Then the process I described above takes place.
It should be noted here that these processes occur almost instantaneously, we are not aware of them at all, so it seems to us that «this is how it should be», that the ordinary perception of objects and phenomena appearing before us is «reality» – that objects and phenomena are real and have positive or negative properties, bringing us, respectively, joy or suffering. Moreover, it seems to us that we live by our own will, that we are free in our choices, that we do experience happiness and suffering.
Meanwhile, this process of perception and discernment exists solely because of the workings of our false «self», or the Five Aggregates. Therefore, in reality, what we believe to be our «self» and what we experience through this false «self» is an illusion. It is merely the interaction of the moving consciousness and past experience. From this perspective, the false «self» does not actually exist.
One is reminded here of a dialog between Master Kalu Rinpoche[15] and psychologist Jack Kornfield, who asked the Master:
– Could you please tell me in a few sentences the very essence of Buddhist teachings?
– I could do that, but you wouldn't believe me, and it would take you many years to understand what I'm talking about, replied Kalu Rinpoche.
– Still, please explain.
Rinpoche's answer was very brief:
– You do not really exist.
Kalu Rinpoche also has another statement on this subject: «The whole world of phenomena is created by the mind. In what happens to us and around us there is no reality or permanence – everything is fleeting and changeable».
The description of the process of perception and discernment that I will give in the next chapter is a detailed answer to the question «Why do we suffer and what should be done about it?». Consequently, this process should be the focus of our meditation – when the process of perception and discernment is stopped, we will realize our true selves for the first time. First, however, we need to understand the process itself and its constituent parts.
Chapter 2
The Process of Perception and Discernment Leading to Suffering
Never was there a time
When I did not exist,
Nor you, nor all these kings;
Nor in the future shall any of us cease to be.
«Bhagavad-gita», 2.12.
Freedom, happiness, and lack of self-awareness
We often use the definitions of «freedom» and «happiness» in our daily lives. This is so because this is our true original state – the state of freedom and happiness in the true sense. However, everyday freedom and happiness are conditioned states: they are always determined by something, such as the amount of money one has, or one's social status, and so on.
When we attain Enlightenment, however, our state can be characterized in two points.
First, our ordinary consciousness ceases completely, with the result that all our past accumulated experiences and information (i.e., our karma) cease to influence or control us. If we want to use them, we can do so, but they do not affect us. In other words, the chain is broken: action – getting experience – formation of desires – new action – new experience. This is true, or perfect, freedom – freedom from all past experience and information. It is a state of perfect Tranquility: consciousness and, consequently, past experience are stopped.
Second, receiving new experiences and perceiving new information also does not affect us. Here, as in the first case, the consciousness also does not come into motion, as a result of which experience does not take root, is not fixed, does not form new desires or no desires, i.e. does not form the reasons for the next actions. This is the state of perfect Contemplation and absolute happiness because there are no more suffering and illusory joys that lead to suffering.
Thus, wherever we are, whatever world we are in, we always unconsciously strive for these two states, freedom and happiness, because they are our true original essence, they are us. In other words, paradoxical as it may sound, all living beings strive for Enlightenment and Emancipation, that is, freedom and happiness. However, because of ignorance[16], they try to find these states externally, in external objects and phenomena, without seeing that these absolute states are inherent in them from the beginning, are their true nature, or True «Self». This is very similar to the situation when you are standing knee-deep in clean drinking water and are thirsty. Pay attention to your own experience and you will see that this is exactly the case.
For example, when we have gotten what we want, the object of our desire, which fully satisfies us, do we want something else at that very moment? No, because we are completely satisfied and our consciousness is stopped at that moment. This is freedom and happiness, the state of Nirvana. However, in an ordinary situation, it is achieved by possessing an object. Then this object ceases to exist or simply bores us, and we start searching for a new object. Consequently, consciousness guided by desires will endlessly move from desire A to desire B, from desire B to desire C, from desire C to desire D. And there will be no end to it. «Movement of consciousness» can be replaced by the phrase «worldly desires». Therefore, the state of Nirvana is the complete destruction of worldly desires. It is realized through the cessation of consciousness. Thus, freedom and happiness are the absence of any desires, or movements of consciousness. However, in everyday life, we attain this state solely through the possession of objects (external or internal), that is, our everyday state of freedom and happiness is conditioned – we are totally dependent on these objects.
The process of perception and discernment discussed below is what forms the life of all unenlightened living beings. This process of perception and discernment exists solely because of the workings of our false «self», or the Five Aggregates. We mistakenly think of this process as our own life, the only possible reality.
The process of perception and discernment
1. Movement towards objects
First of all, we all perform actions. If you sit down in a comfortable chair, close your eyes, and relax, you will be able to stop only the actions of your body and will not utter words, but you will not be able to stop the flow of thoughts in this way. We are in constant movement, at the expense of which we try to find and get what we think is right, necessary, and good, what we think, because of past experience and information, will make us free and happy. On the other hand, by our incessant actions, we try to distance, destroy, or in some way remove from our lives, what we think is bad, wrong, unnecessary, and negative. Our actions speak of our dissatisfaction: we don't have something, we are constantly lacking something, and we try to find it through endless actions of body, speech, and thought. But, what are we lacking, what are we looking for? We are looking for ourselves. All our actions are an attempt to find our True «Self», that is, the very freedom and happiness that is truly us.
However, because of the action of Avidya, or to put it simply, ignorance, we look for ourselves in objects external to us. What are «objects external to us»? It is generally believed that there is an external and an internal world of man.
External world
The external world includes all the objects and phenomena we encounter in our daily lives in the material world. We meet other people, listen to music, watch movies, eat and drink, observe and participate in a wide variety of events, and so on and so forth. In the external world, our physical body and external senses act in contact with objects and phenomena of the external world. The information received through the external senses is perceived by the surface consciousness.
Objects and phenomena of the external world are created by the work of both our consciousness and the work of consciousness of the people surrounding us.
The statement that everything is a manifestation of consciousness work often raises questions or disputes. So let me give a simple example to illustrate how the work of our consciousness manifests itself in the external world.
I practice martial arts. For practicing blows with hands and feet I use a heavy punching (boxing) bag, which hangs in my house. Do you have a punching bag at home? If so, this means that you and I have similar consciousness work. In other words, we have data (information and past experiences) that creates in us a striving, a movement of consciousness, or a desire to practice martial arts, which is why we have punching bags hanging in our homes. On the other hand, if you have no interest in martial arts, and no desire to train, then there will be nothing to manifest in the world around you in the form of objects (punching bags) and phenomena (trainings). Accordingly, there will be no punching bags, «pears» or makiwaras in your house.
Of course, the punching bag did not appear in my house in some miraculous way – it was made by people at the factory producing sporting goods. Thus, the punching bag hanging in my house is not only a manifestation of my desire to practice martial arts, but also a manifestation of the consciousness of the factory employees; the sporting goods store clerks, and other people, such as the delivery service. However, and this is the most important point, if I didn't have the desire to practice martial arts, then no matter how many punching bags were produced in the factory and sold in the stores, none of them would ever show up in my home.
Therefore, the external world is a manifestation of the work of our consciousness. The work of consciousness is determined by the previously accumulated data – information and experience, i.e. karma. Therefore, if we look in more detail, the objects and phenomena of the external world are our karma.
Inner World
Our inner world is also a manifestation of karma, or the data contained in our Five Aggregates. Bad karma is usually understood as something terrible, such as a car accident or serious illness, and merit is usually understood as something like winning a million dollars in the lottery. Of course, both the accident and the winnings are also manifestations of past karma. However, karma does not only manifest itself in the form of such exceptional events. For example, unpleasant thoughts or, on the contrary, pleasant memories are also manifestations of karma.
The manifestation of karma in the inner world is the work of Discernment, Formed Experience, and Perceptions.
The work of Discernment is, for example, the information that pops up in our minds that makes us think in a certain way, ideas and thoughts based on the information that we have previously received.
The work of Formed Experience, for example, is our desires and no desires based on past experiences that cause us to take certain actions to satisfy them.
The work of Perceptions is, for example, memories of pleasant or unpleasant moments in our past that arise in the form of images.
In other words, how and what a person thinks about, what judgments he makes, what memories pop up in his mind, what desires make a person act in one way or another – all this is the result of karma accumulated by this person in the past and past lives. A person lives in accordance with his karma.
So, the images, experiences, and information contained in our Aggregates 3–5 relate to our inner world. However, these subtle or formless objects are also external to us. That is, they are not originally us: the images, experiences, and information were simply received by us from the outside and accumulated in our false «self». Therefore, they are still objects external to us. Any object perceived by us is not us. This is evident from the very fact of its perception. However, being in the unawakened state of consciousness, we cannot exist without perception of external objects. That is why we perform endless actions with body, speech, and thought aimed at searching for more and more external objects in relation to us.
The root cause of this endless search and perception is Avidya, ignorance, or lack of self-awareness. The manifestation of Avidya is the movement of our consciousness. The workings of consciousness and the data received form our false «self», or Five Aggregates: in the false «self» the data of our actions, or karma, accumulates. What sets this data of the Five Aggregates in motion is our consciousness. What causes the consciousness to move is us, or the Atman in the state of Avidya.