Viveka

As the mind, so the person; bondage or liberation are in your mind only.
-Sanskrit saying translated by Satchidananda (Yoga Sutras; 2011)


Viveka is a Sanskrit word that refers to the process of trying  to see and understand the permanent aspect in everything and then to ignore all that is impermanent. Hmmm!

Say what crazy lady?

Connecting the Dots

I was able to connect some more dots today in my reading of  the Sutras, ACIM and the words of my Buddhist mentor Thich Nhat Hanh.  If I had to use one word to sum up that connection it would be Viveka. 

Once we are able to discriminate enough to tell the difference between what is real and what is unreal; what is temporary and what is eternal; what is ego and what is Spirit we will be free of the bondage of all worldly things... will we not?  We will no longer be trapped by illusions. 

Two Gifts; Two Pictures

Chapter 17, Section IV. of A Course in Miracles describes this discrimination beautifully in their description of the "special relationship."  The ego uses the special relationship as it does all its puny gifts to allude us into choosing it over Spirit.  It presents its gift as a picture  in a beautiful frame that draws in our attention and keeps us there. Frames are nothing but a way to present a gift. It is the frame that is beautiful in ego's gift to us, that keeps us there...not the picture.  The picture is dark and fuzzy offering nothing but empty promises but the frame is beautifully jewelled  in its promises to save us from all the awful things this world has to offer. Ego's gift is nothingness offered in a frame of worldly promises.  Take the picture out of the frame...and what do you have as a gift from ego?  Nothing.  Ego's gifts (all things external) are temporary and impermanent. 

Spirit, God, Life, Truth....however you want to look at it...offers a gift too in the form of a picture.  The frame it comes in is plain and ordinary....not worth considering too much ...worthy of  being ignored for anything but its ability to present the picture to us.  We call the frame... "time".   It is the picture within it that is worthy of our attention. If we take time to look at the picture we will be mesmerized by its beauty.  It is full of light and promises that are already fulfilled.  It is eternity we see. It is Truth. Spirit's gift is always permanent and real. If we take that gift from the frame...it will shine even more!

Discriminating Between Real and Unreal, Impermanent and Eternal

If according to the Sutras, we were to liberate the Purusa or True Self from its bondage with nature ( all external things like circumstances, bodily sensations, emotions, thoughts, the  mind and the body which form picture frames around who we are)...we would be free. We reach freedom through the mind's ability to tell the difference between what is real and what is unreal; what is permanent and what is impermanent. Only the True Self...Spirit...Truth...is permanent.  Does that make sense to you?
We need to remember two things:

1. Every experience in the world is mental. To change our experiences, we change our minds.What we put our minds on we "experience". In order not to experience something we need to remove our mental attachment from it.  One simple way of doing that is by objectifying the experience.  If you are feeling pain, for example.  Instead of saying..."I am unwell.  I hurt."  Ask yourself this question.  "Who is hurting? " It is not the True Self that is hurting.  It is not the picture within the frame.  The True Self just witnesses and observes your body having pain.  Ask then: "Who knows the body is having pain?" When you analyze the pain as something objective...it will diminish its hold on you or go away because you lose your attachment to it.
2. Truth never changes, though the form (or frame) it is presented  in may change. Satchidinanda offers this analogy.  A tree dies to become a log, a log is cut up to become planks; planks are carved into a chair; the chair may be later cut up to become firewood and the firewood may be burnt into ash.  Several frames were put around the real picture throughout the physical  changes.  The tree's essence, however,  never changes or goes away regardless of what happens to the physical form. If we really knew that, wouldn't we be free of suffering...knowing that we cannot destroy the picture, no matter what we do to the frame?  We really do not lose anything. 

Seeking the picture that is real and eternal within the frame; seeking the truth over the illusion offered by ever-changing physicality is the process that will free us. Finding the True Self is the answer, is it not?

Thich Nhat Hanh in peace is every breath (2011; page 37) shares these beautiful words in a Gatha recited to bring us back to the Island of our true self.

I am water reflecting what is real, what is true;

And I feel there is pure space inside of me.

I am free.

 

How freeing is that?

 

All is well in my world

 

 

References

 

Foundations for inner Peace. (2007). A Course in Miracles. Combined Volume. Third Edition. Mill Valley: Foundations for Inner Peace.

Sri Swami Satchidananda (2012) The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Yogaville: Integral Yoga Publications

Thich Nhat Hanh ( 2011) peace is every breath. New York: HarperOne