Head-y Heart Games

Taken from Google Image search

A friend recently accused me of employing hindu head games. He didn’t mean the accusation literally and the context in which the accusation came is too removed from here to really go into. What he was getting at – from a superficial level – is that I push people into areas of thought they may not go on their own and that person’s unfamiliar territory often causes them to rethink a few things. Little by little, this gets the ball rolling in other directions and if the effort is maintained and followed through, it can bring wonderful changes and growth. However, this is something I think runs far deeper than even he realizes and I want to discuss, as briefly as I am able, what I think might be the very best of Hindu head games.

In many branches of Hinduism, we’re taught that our (little) self isn’t much to speak of although usually very problematic and that our (big) Self is our truest essence and is a sliver of God and is essentially the same from one person to the next. This bit of belief is actually of supreme importance.

There’s a story (which I’m certainly about to butcher) of a robber running into a monk on the roadside one day. The robber either attempts to rob the monk or asks the monk for a boon or something along those lines. By the end of their discussion the monk has convinced the robber that he can give him a mantra that will bring the robber more riches than the monk could ever hope to possess, let alone be robbed of. The mantra was, “Mara.” I now forget what the exact translation of that is supposed to be, but I think it was along the lines of “bitter” or “Devil” – certainly not anything positive, which apparently appealed to the robber’s sensibilities. And so off goes the robber, repeating his mantra, “Mara” hoping that he’ll gain riches from it. The monk, though, has tricked him. The thief starts off, “Mara, Mara, Mara, Mara…” and, as would happen naturally with speech the ending of one repetition is sewn into the beginning of the next and so the thief gradually and almost seamlessly goes from, “Mara, Mara, Mara…” to “Maramaramaramaramaramaramara…” which little by little is the same as “Rama, Rama, Rama, Rama…” And so, the thief has been subtly “tricked” by the monk into chanting one of God’s names and is thereby changed into a good person. End of story.

If there are Hindu head games, this story surely illustrates one – and one that is paralleled in the concept of self / Self.

Most people live and behave very selfishly – centered around the (little) self. This is the only identity some people ever realize in life. I need this. I need that. I am this. I am that. This feels good to me. That does not. However, most teachers (although not all) within the Hindu belief system encourage their students to go deeper and deeper into things like meditation, prayer, and jaapa. Sometimes these practices appeal to people who are seeking peace or happiness. “Look within” says the Hindu guru. And so, in an effort to serve what they perceive to be their self, people might start this – their motives at this point are almost invariably selfish (little). They’re entering these efforts perhaps to escape thoughts and energy that habitually cycle and recycle around and around within their minds. Like seeking the most comfy spot on the couch to chill out, these people enter sadhanas for the results the think they will get. And they may get them.

But there’s something else they’ll get, too. (Big) Self-realization. A major difference between this and the thief / monk story is that the monk pretty much tricked the thief. In other settings, his kind of guile isn’t needed or employed. Still, if we were to take a clear look at why many enter sadhanas of various sorts, we’d find a great many reasons that are (little) self-centered. And yet they enter, and with any luck they gain depth of experience here. And so then what happens?

They go deeper and deeper into their practice. And as they do, they gain an increasingly clearer picture of the (big) Self. As more time is spent gaining familiarity and transparent access to the (big) Self, the very definition of that Self is experienced and the seeker will eventually learn that This is common to all sentient things. As that new experience becomes increasingly familiar, a weird thing happens. You enter through the door of you, but as you learn of the Self and experience it, when you come back out you are using the door of that same Self – but in others. That is, you realize and experience That which is you to be identically true and paralleled in every living thing. This is the essence of a teaching of Jesus I referred to a couple posts ago where we’re told to love our neighbor as our self. It’s like diving into the swimming pool in your own back yard, but surfacing in the pool in your neighbor’s yard.

Some pools are above-ground and some are in-ground. Some are heated and others not. Some are circular, some are rectangles, and others are amorphously-shaped. Yet the water in your own pool (in each pool) is not different than the water in their pool (or any other).

Our neighbor, truly, IS our Self and I think this is the best Hindu mind game.

Aum Shri Mahaganeshaya Namaha
Aum Shanti

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All We Carpenters

Image taken from Google Image search

I’ve almost always been a people watcher. I like people about as much as I don’t like them and anyone who’s near me on a daily basis will attest to the fact that I’m generally pretty great at sizing someone up and discerning bullshit from non-bullshit. As I age I’ve gotten better and better at discerning the parts that go into the makeup of an individual. Through the years this has added to my people watching experience. Truly, the human façade we wear in this life is a quilt composed of our experiences, thoughts, and emotions.

For a long time, when I was a little younger, I watched folks and mostly wondered what it was that made me different. I’d notice one thing or multiple things and would then kind of compare whatever I noticed to whatever was recognizable within myself as the closest corresponding factor – the closest parallel. To a small degree, this still happens but the context has shifted a bit. I still notice the differences but it’s very rare that I make the comparison or contrast.

As I continue aging and maturing (mentally, spiritually, etc…) this continues to be something I often do. I’m more able than ever to discern someone’s ego, their mind, and at times I feel like I can even see a little behind all that crap and nearly glimpse the part inside of them that is The Same within myself. At times this has bitten me in the butt because I find myself, at times, less willing to dance with the egos I encounter – something pretty much necessary within our three-dimensional universe. Of course, the way around that is to reach through those egos to some place deeper within people and interact with that instead. This is the place gurus often operate from and this route usually takes more patience to achieve progress, but the relationships that often result, or that change as a result, make that scenic route worth it.

Sometimes, being aware of these components of other people allows you to see yourself more clearly. We’re all (essentially) the same after all, no? Sometimes, for me, seeing something in someone else helps me recognize the same within myself. I’ve heard often that when we encounter someone we don’t like, or who has qualities we don’t care for, that which we feel repulsed by is actually something from within ourselves reflecting back to us. In many instances, I agree with this. In other instances, I think this isn’t true. Either way, whether you’re seeing in someone else that which is in you or whether you’re witnessing something in them that doesn’t apply to you, after a certain point you’re able to take a snapshot of what you see in another and use it as a gauge for your own self. This can be a very humbling experience and one that produces surprising growth.

They say you should pull the plank from your own eye before attempting to find the splinter in someone else’s, but I tell you lumber is the same regardless of the magnitude.

Aum Shri Mahaganeshaya Namaha
Aum Shanti