Dear Friends,
Namaste!
The great Taoist master Chuang Tzu once dreamt that he was a butterfly fluttering here and there. In the dream he had no awareness of his individuality as a person. He was only a butterfly. Suddenly, he awoke and found himself lying there - a person once again. But then he thought to himself, "Was I before a man who dreamt about being a butterfly, or am I now a butterfly who dreams about being a man?"
We promised ourselves we will talk about dreams!
Let’s go back to fundamentals. As we have seen (and will keep repeating ad nauseam), Sage Patanjali has defined Yoga as “Yogah Chitta Vritti Nirodhah” (Yoga is cessation of wavering of our attention so that it experiences Absolute Reality instead of Relative Reality). So far we have defined “Chitta” and “Vritti” quite loosely and therefore the exact meaning of Yoga has eluded us. Not any more!
Let’s understand “Chitta” (attention) and its “Vritti” (wavering) precisely so we know the accurate meaning of Yoga.
According to Yoga-Shastra, “Chitta” means the intersection between the subject and the object. Who is the subject? Subject is the one who sees (“Drashta”). What is an object? Object is anything that is seen by the subject(“Drishya”). So what is “Chitta”? It is a means for the subject to perceive objects.
In order that we further understand “Chitta”, let’s take an analogy. Let’s say there is a mirror and we see the outside world only through this mirror. In this case, we become the subject, the outside world becomes the object and the mirror is called “Chitta”. Obviously, what we see in the mirror will keep changing depending upon where we ‘focus’ the mirror. Similarly, we keep experiencing different things (or objects) depending upon where we focus our attention.
There is a problem though! The mirror is not perfect. It has a defect. Due to this defect, we do not see reality for what it is - at its absolute, constant and glorious best. We see it as relative, mutant and distorted. This defect is the most fundamental defect and is known in Yoga-Shastra as “Avidya” (ignorance).
How does “Avidya” cause distortion of the reality? Let’s take a very famous and oft quoted example in Yoga. A rope may appear as a snake in the mirror due to the defect in the mirror. What the observer sees is what is projected in the mirror and not the reality! Thus the observer may get (unnecessarily) alarmed! On the other hand, this mirror may project a snake as a rope and the observer may not take evasive action which may lead to disastrous results!
This distortion of reality in the ‘mirror’, i.e., in our awareness or attention or consciousness, caused by ignorance, is known as “Vritti”.
The whole objective of Yoga, as we have seen from its very definition, is the Cessation (“Nirodh”) - or removal - of this Distortion (“Vritti”) of Reality in our Awareness (“Chitta”). However, the distortion is only an effect and defect is the cause. Similarly, wavering of our attention is only the effect and ignorance about Reality is the cause.
Yoga believes in attacking root cause of any problem to fix it permanently. Therefore, Yoga is all about removing the ‘defect in the mirror’ or our ignorance about the Absolute Reality.
When the defect is removed, the mirror becomes clean and pure and reflects nothing but the true nature of the objects including the subject! In fact one of the ‘objects’ for the subject to ‘see’ can be the subject himself/herself!
So, when the subject observes himself/herself as the object in a mirror that is ‘clean’ and ‘pure’, the subject and object reflect their original state of oneness.This experience of oneness or non-duality is the consummation of Yoga which is nothing but the process of joining the subject and object together. (We will recollect that the literal meaning of Yoga is to ‘join together’.)
This state is nothing but the state of Enlightenment (Discovery of the Absolute Truth) which is the cause. The effect is acquisition of Eternal, Infinite and Irreversible Bliss. The person experiences that he/she is nothing but perfection, happiness, eternity, pure consciousness and existence! The feeling is “Aham Poornah” (I am complete!).
The process of purification is better known as Evolution. Upon reaching the destination, a journey must end. Likewise, upon acquiring eternal, infinite and irreversible bliss, which is the ultimate aim of each and every living being, the evolution is complete. Nothing else remains to be achieved for such a person (“Tasya Kaaryam Na Vidyate”).
How is all this related to sleeping and dreaming?
Dreams become easy to explain once we understand the interplay between the observer and the observed through the ‘mirror’.
Let’s figure out how next week...
Salut!
No comments:
Post a Comment