Is it possible to realize an unparalleled clarity of the mind?
— uncovering this illuminated state beyond the egoic sense of self
Vic Shayne
author
13 Pillars of Enlightenment: How to realize your true nature and end suffering
People are conditioned to being attentive to movement, goings-on, action, words, and thoughts. We are trained this way and rarely stop to consider this fact.
Our minds are taken up with an endless flow of ideas, fears, interests, celebrations, amusements, dreams, repulsive concepts, and memories. Thought is a preoccupation that fills most of our waking moments. But what if we were to actually stay still long enough to see what is between thoughts – or to question who, or what, it is that is having thoughts? What would we notice? What would this do to the perception of what we are and what reality is? Have you ever done this? For most, this is not a pursuit that ever occurs to them. And for those who wander into the unknown, it takes a bit of time to be able to step back from having a relationship with thoughts to becoming the independent observer of them.
Thoughts create who we think we are
The early yogis of India, as well as the Taoist philosophers of China, discovered that thoughts clutter and distract the mind; and they create the sense of self that believes it is the doer, creator, thinker, and controller of the world of the body. Though the acquisition of knowledge is useful for a life requiring practical action, safety, building things, negotiating, interrelating, communicating, traveling, becoming an expert in your field, creating comfort and technology, and basking in the world of ideas, such preoccupations actually keep us from knowing what we are beyond the limited sense of self. This is because to know what we are requires no thoughts at all, not even the most practical thoughts — and not thoughts about what we believe ourselves to be.
“Yoga is the cessation of the movements of the mind.
Then there is abiding in the Seer’s own form.”
― Patanjali, The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
The ending of thought
When the dependency and distraction of thought is gone, something greater than a life of possessions, movement, ideas, memories, achievements, desires, accolades, and attachments is revealed.
Taoist master Lao Tsu said, “To attain knowledge, add things everyday. To attain wisdom, remove things every day.” That which is removed is everything that can be thought or dreamt of, and all that is real to the senses. From my own experience, when thought completely disappears there is an indescribable clarity of the mind and a newness to everything. And, even when thoughts arise, the mind is so quiet that thoughts blend in with the movement of the world “out there,” with all its contents. In this state, consciousness alone is present and it perceives itself in every expression. This is a difficult reality to grasp, mainly because we have become so reliant on thought that we seek reasons for even the most natural occurences.
For this great clarity to happen, everything you believe, remember, and know comes to a complete end in favor of being the present, the uninterrupted totality. Not, being IN the present, but actually being the present. This results not from a willful act or from effort, but from the realization of what you are not.
Filled with stillness, thoughts come and go and there is a realization that they emanate out of the stillness of your own Self. Being addicted to thought and preoccupied with the world of the body is the obstacle. Being free of thoughts and the sense of the egoic self results from a process of negation, not mentation.
The space between thoughts and movement
Thoughts seem to arise or fall out of nowhere; and then they return to nowhere. And when thoughts disappear, the sense of what we believe we were — the “me” — is clearly known not to be the creator of thoughts, but instead it is the space in and out of which thoughts and all else arise. The self, the person, however, recognizes thoughts after they occur. It takes a very clear and attentive mind to see this; and until we can see this clearly we go on believing that we are the doer, the creator, and the innovator of thoughts, and the mastermind. But, alas, we are actually the effect and not the cause.
The egoic self is literally an afterthought that takes credit or blame for what happens in life — all within the span of an endless space. When you are awakened to this you realize you are the space and not the events nor the experiencer.
Freeing yourself from thoughts
The Hindu author, mystic and philosopher Patañjali (2nd century BCE), said, “Life cannot be known by the mind; its secrets cannot be learned through the mind. The proof is the ceaseless strife and contradiction of opinion among those who trust in the mind. Much less can the mind know itself, the more so because it is pervaded by the illusion that it truly knows, truly is.” He was speaking of the ego mind, the self built of thoughts, images, and the entire contents of consciousness.
Woody Allen said, “Anything worth knowing cannot be understood by the human mind.”
In the silence between thoughts there is something amazing that occurs, something beyond words that enters the awareness, but is not formed by, or into, a thought. This something is also nothing at all and is the fundamental state out of which all arises.
Sufi poet Rumi said, “Free yourself from your own thoughts,” but if we go deep enough perhaps it becomes evident that once it is realized that there is no self, then it also becomes obvious that there really is no “one” who becomes free. This is because there was never a “one” — a “me” — in the first place; and there has never been a “one” who is in bondage.
Perhaps the most common question that is asked regarding this topic is “How can I do this?” I have written about this extensively, but I will continue to cover this question in subsequent articles.
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I agree with what you write all of the time but today's wording of being the space in which my nama rupa arises rang a deep bell that is still reverberating. Thank you.