Viveka talks – exercise 13.
Remember: this article/chapter is tokenized, and you may buy it as “writer’s NFT!”
Points to consider
“The Cave of the Mind” is one of the most important chapters in the book. It doesn’t speak directly about viveka but explains how all this came about. “All this” means literary the whole world of experiences, everything you perceive, think, and know. It also explains how and why one particular point in consciousness made a mistake and forgot its place in wholeness. Actually, the right way to say this is that from the very first moment of forgetting, this particular point is making the same mistake all over again, every time something happens related to it, inside it, or around it.
That particular point is – you. It is the feeling of the separate existence of a “somebody”, a subject that exists independently from the rest of the uni-verse. That feeling is wrong, of course, because nothing in consciousness is separate from anything else. And since, as per viveka and common sense, everything IS in consciousness, everything is connected in one wholeness. The feeling of separateness is false. It is an illusion created by a vantage point that, being conscious of itself, has a false impression of being in the center of everything else—that center becomes all-important. Everything else revolves around it.
In reality, however, consciousness is de-centralized. No part of it is more important than any other part. Each point in it, whether a thought, a feeling, perception, or any other experience, has the same value. That value comes from the truthfulness of existence. Each point in consciousness is true.
What is not true is the feeling that all those points, all events in consciousness, belong to someone. The illusion of the center (I-ness) creates a sense of belonging. The sense of belonging creates a further false impression and the illusion continues indefinitely.
Actually, it continues until a particular property of consciousness becomes a tool for slowing down and finally destroys the advancement of illusion.
Here is a quote from Chapter 13:
“One of these elements, one of these points of consciousness, is the point you conveniently but erroneously call – yourself. Shankara and Vivekachudamani would call it – atman, the Self. Not exactly you, but what is behind you – maybe a soul would be a possible word to label that function. Anyway, the inner structure of consciousness enables innumerable vantage points from which consciousness looks around and observes all the fun activities created by itself, becoming aware of its existence.
Without going into details (there are details!), each vantage point, atman, Self, or soul, whatever you want to call it, surrounds itself with tools for experiencing delicate finesses of creation. One of the tools is called buddhi. That word is sometimes translated as intellect, sometimes merely as mind. The first translation is better, although intellect may sound somewhat elitist. Buddhi (the faculty of discerning) is in pair with Citta (the faculty of „being aware“). Buddhi is a part of the mind because buddhi can not apply viveka (to discern) if there are no thoughts. The manomayakosha is the „cave of the mind“, and in it, there is also buddhi, capable of using viveka, and behind all that is a vantage point, atman (functional element of One consciousness), which is no different than Brahman (One consciousness as a whole).”
Complicated? It may sound so, especially when you follow the natural expression of the oneness of consciousness. There are myriad layers upon layers BEFORE the mistake is made, and forgetfulness becomes the reality of “you”.
Please, read and reread this chapter. It is worth the effort. Once you get it, everything will become much clearer.
Bear in mind that the whole process is natural. Even the dreadful forgetting is a natural result of the mirroring of consciousness onto itself.
And so is the remembering. The cave of the mind contains all that is necessary to restore the wholeness, even when it seems all is lost in the black hole of the I-ness.
***
The whole process is self-referral. It happens in the consciousness because of its property of awareness.
However, we can split the self-referral process into a few phases. The first phase is the original (you may call it “divine”) self-referral process when the consciousness observes itself and „splits“ its functions into three (subject, object, and the channel between them).
This process continues until all “natural laws” are created and the stage is ready for even more “splitting” in the form of different experiences. All is well, fun, and happy when the “splitting” is divine. The problem starts with this (a quote):
“The second wave of self-referral processes starts when a specific vantage point turns its attention to itself. Theoretically, the same thing should happen as in the original splitting of one consciousness into three „parts“ or functions. However, the formation of a new „eternity“ inside the present one is just a repetition of already present interactions, a redundancy that is not fun anymore. Nevertheless, consciousness is conscious and, thus, unstoppable. It wants to continue creating new experiences (having fun). The only solution to the problem of repetition of the already created network of the inner structure is separating that particular vantage point from the wholeness of One consciousness. That specific vantage point must FORGET that it is a part of the whole. And it forgets.
And that is how YOU are born! That is how I-ness came into existence.”
The original self-referral multiplication of consciousness is similar to what happens when you put a mirror in front of a mirror. You’ll get endless reflections. But, if there is already a mirror inside the mirror, and you put it in front of another mirror with a mirror inside it, you’ll get a ridiculously complicated picture that is impossible to follow. That’s how original forgetting came about. It was caused by the second wave of self-referral processes inside the consciousness. Due to the nature of consciousness, that was inevitable. For the first time, the illusion of separation is created, and that illusion is the cradle of Maya; unborn, divine-rooted Maya – because she is a part of reality from its beginnings.
***
The rest of the creation process is history. The emergence of all the bodies, including manomayakosha, follows. Identification follows. Separation deepens. The worlds of experiences are created.
However, in the mids of all that mess, one faculty is born: the faculty with the ability to remember. But, before remembering, this faculty brought about a whole new playroom and a wonderful new toy: language.
In the playroom of language, viveka, the mortal enemy to Maya, will be born, trained, and cultivated.
Questions for thinking
This time I don’t have questions but suggestions for mental exercises.
- Imagine the mirror in front of a mirror. Each reflected mirror has the same ability to reflect as the original one. The same happens when one point in consciousness relates to another (thinks, feels, perceives). With this picture in mind, ask yourself the classic “Who am I” question. Watch what your mind is doing, trying to answer it. You are literary creating a “you” with the answers.
- Note that, before you try to answer the “who am I” question, there was no defined “you” in need of an explanation. There were experiences, and now you are constructing the “what you think you are” from these experiences.
- Think about the “divine network” of self-referral “events” and “things” in consciousness. They represent natural laws. You can discover them, but you can not change them. Still, they are IN consciousness, readily available for you to know them. One question, though: do you understand that perceptual consensus (the fact that every conscious being experiences basic natural laws in the same manner) is the perception of a “divine network” representing the early phases of the creation story?
- Maya is just a natural law. With the senses, you’ll perceive its results. With the mind, you can perceive her directly. Sit in front of a mirror and watch yourself for a minute. What you see is an illusion, but this illusion is not your enemy. Change your attitude towards Maya. She gives you trouble, but not because of being what it is. The trouble is in forgetting and the birth of “you”.
It is your turn now. Write your thoughts, comments, or questions.
Leave a reply