Saturday, March 6, 2010

The true self

Some say, peace is your true nature, calmness is your true nature, "self" undisturbed and unperturbed by thoughts and emotions is your true nature. This is called realization of the soul. Yoga (serious yoga, not the one that comes on TV) attempts to achieve chitta vritti nirodha or banning of all mental activities.

This state of calmness is what a canvas is to a painting. This thoughtless emotionless state is the plain white canvas. The colors are added to the canvas. Then it becomes lively. These colors are the thoughts and emotions. The plain canvas is lifeless. The painting is lively. It may depict love, violence, anger, anguish, anxiety, grief, beauty or anything else. Still it is lively. The plain canvas is dead.

If you scratch the colors away, you will find the plain canvas. What is so great about it ? Vedas advocated actions for spiritual growth, that too collective not individualistic. There is no silencing of the mind in the Vedas. There is no banishing of thought and intellect in the Vedas. Vedas knew that mankind was evolving and prescribed actions to assist this evolution.

Even Siva at dissolution does not stay in that motionless state for long. Spanda (vibration) starts within himself and he goes into the action(creation) mode again.

There is nothing so great about that "inner peace". It is just yet another state. Over glorified.