Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Daily Quote, Tuesday September 22, 2009.

Good morning everyone,

Today we have Monday's and Tuesday's quotes together:

The unconscious mind is as trivial as the conscious.

A great deal has been written about the unconscious mind, especially in the West. Extraordinary significance has been given to it. But it is as trivial, as shallow as the conscious mind. You can observe it yourself. If you observe you will see that what is called the unconscious is the residue of the race, of the culture, of the family, of your own motives and appetites. It is there, hidden.

And the conscious mind is occupied with the daily routine of life, going to the office, sex, and so on. To give importance to the one or to the other seems utterly sterile. Both have very little meaning, except that the conscious mind has to have technological knowledge in order to earn a livelihood.

This constant battle, both within, at the deeper level, as well as at the superficial level, is the way of our life. It is a way of disorder, a way of disarray, contradiction, misery, and for a mind caught in that to try to meditate is meaningless, infantile.

This Light in Oneself, p 20

The sleeping hours are an intensification of the waking hours.

The more you are conscious of your thoughts-emotions, the more you are aware of your whole being. Then the sleeping hours become an intensification of the waking hours. Consciousness functions even in so-called sleep, of which we are well aware. You think over a problem pretty thoroughly and yet you cannot solve it; you sleep over it, which phrase we often use. In the morning we find its issues are clearer, and we seem to know what to do; or we perceive a new aspect of it which helps to clear up the problem.

How does this happen? We can attribute a lot of mystery and nonsense to it, but what does take place? In that so-called sleep the conscious mind, that thin layer is quiet, perhaps receptive; it has worried over the problem and now, being weary, is still, the tension removed. Then the promptings of the deeper layers of consciousness are discernible and when you wake up, the problem seems to have become clearer and easier to solve.

So the more you are aware of your thoughts-feelings during the day, not for a few seconds or during a set period, the mind becomes quieter, alertly passive, and so capable of responding and comprehending the deeper intimations. But it is difficult to be so aware; the conscious mind is not used to such intensity. The more aware the conscious mind is, the more the inner mind co-operates with it, and so there is deeper and wider understanding.

The Collected Work vol III, p 219.

Here is my reflection.

I think that what K is describing here with sleep also takes place in savasana, the deep relaxation taken at the end of a yoga practice. I have, for a long time, thought that the whole point of the asana practice (yoga postures) which proceeds it is to prepare for such deep relaxation, preparing the body to enter deep relaxation. This, in my experience, is where the deep healing takes place. Deep relaxation seems to be a place of awareness and, therefore, without judgement: to be aware is to be without judgement. One cannot be aware and judge. When one judges it is through the unconscious mind: race, culture, family, all the things that sediment into our psyche and become conditioning. In truth, to know is a form of judgement; it is to label, give a name, and make the impermenent appear suddenly permanent. We accept language and naming and labeling as so natural until it is applied to us and then we feel the restriction, and so resist. To relax deeply is to see without the name.

Best wishes

Robert