Psychology and Metaphysics- 4

[Guest guest]

Psychology and Metaphysics-4

 

The Sunyata and the Alaya Vinjnjaanam

 

I find myself on a useful track in having noted that at the deepest level there

is a NOTHINGNESS, a nudity of all that the human mind tries to avoid by

assuming various defensive maneuvers that result in the self identifications

with various guises that lead to " I am a Muslim, Christian, Hindu, Buddhists

Communist etc." or the denial of this in terms of the negations " I am NOT this

and that", perhaps the neti neti of the Upanishads.

 

But in having accessed this layer of consciousness then I am immediately

reminded of Nagarjuna's momentous discovery of essentially this NOTHINGNESS

about two thousand years ago and which he called "Sunyata, a word the root of

which is Ta. cuun, cuur, cuul ( < Sumerian sul, sun etc.) and which literally

means a pure Brightness, a Radiance and which has been rendered in many other

descriptive terms as well. It has come to mean NOTHINGNESS only because when

consciousness is formed of this Sunyam, the Pure Brilliance ( > Brahman?), no

object stands along with it except for this inner brilliance. The witnessing of

this Sunyam has the capacity to wipe out every thing that is finite and

conditioning thereby PURIFYING the

mind freeing it or physical and meatphysical identities.

 

We also notice that this UNDERSTANDING that I am articulating here is NOT

possible for the average and nonaverage persons. These people are LOCKED UP in

their little worlds, the average into the the cloistered Psychological Space and

the nonaverage into his ideologies, cults , religions, gurus, scriptures ,

model heroes, rituals and what not making them at times megalomaniac and

demonic.

 

Types of Consciousness and Intentionalities.

 

So just by reflecting back on the little clarity we have attained, we can see

that not only there is linkage between INTENTIONALITY and consciousness but also

a hierarchical structure permeating through them. The average person is locked

up in his worldly pursuits so that his INTERESTS are about earthly existence

material happiness economic acquisitiveness political power and so forth.

Collectively his consciousness is bounded by these intentionalities, the realms

outside being NOT AVAILABLE for awareness. Such realms remain CONCEALED and

hence beyond his reach. There is a kind BLINDNESS in such people but about

which they are blissfully unaware ( till a crisis strikes them)

 

The nonaverage, as we have seen, is one who has extricated himself from this

BLINDNESS so that there is a kind of awareness, very dim perhaps, of this

possibility of NOTHINGNESS, a state of Being in the world that is almost being

dead! But among these there are some mystics, who are calm and bravely face

this NOTHINGNESS, this Sunyam and accommodate themselves to it and because of

which there comes prevail an inner Calmness . But then we notice that this is

possible only if the person has seen the whole range or almost the whole range

of intentionalities that condition the existence of the average and the

nonaverage. Such

a person has to become METAPHYSICAL, one who penetrates behind the guises

symbols rituals of the nonaverage and see the vast range of possibilities for

intentionalities, interests, consciousness and praxis. Such a person within the

average fearlessly braves the DEPTHS and gains a vision of them.

 

Perhaps this is what was meant by Alaya Vinjnjaanam where 'aalayam" is derived

from Ta. aal : to spread out as in Ta. aalamaram, the Banyan Tree characterized

by large and wide spreading branches. When the nonaverage person conquers his

own metaphysical fear of the NOTHINGNESS, the Sunyam, ventures into the

UNDERSTANDING of his own guises and that of others, he gains this aalaya

vinjnjanaam, a consciousness of practically of all the intentionalities that

configure unknown to the person his intentionalities and hence praxis.

 

The Productive and Destructive Processes

 

Let us hold onto these clarities we have attained, something any one can enjoy

provided he puts aside all the mind cloistering identities and thus freeing

himself ventures into his own depths. It is all there in the mind, with the

understanding and therefore it is NOT necessary to quote authoritative texts or

rishies or messiahs or prophets to substantiate them. It is simply becoming

CLEAR or LEARNING about what is already there in the understanding. This

becoming clear is attaining njaanam, where njanam means clear consciousness (

Ta.

njaal: to shine forth)

 

Now when we pause back on this that has happened to me and which has happened to

so many in the world and continues to happen , then we begin to note the

presence of PROCESSES , the productive and destructive ( or more precisely the

disconstructive) underlying the dynamics of intentionalities, consciousness and

they moving from the average to the nonaverage and then to the level of the

mystical, the Alaya Vinjnjaanam . There must the PRODUCTIVE PROCESSES for they

are there in the mind of all installing intentionalities, generating interests

and consciousness and with that praxis of all kinds. And there must also the

DISCONSTRUCTIVE for otherwise the MOVEMENT of UNDERSTANDING from the finite and

cloistered to the larger ideological or ideational and the all accommodative

Alaya Vinjnjaanam and so forth will

not be possible.

 

Thus I remain baffled. There are processes there in the world independent of me

and which configure my intentionalities along which disconstructing them and

ushering me into the wider and wider realms of consciousness i.e.. processes

that make me LEARN , destroy the BLINDNESS that surrounds my understanding.

There are processes already there in the world which not only bless me with

possibilities for me to be but also make me CLING to them , attach myself as if

I am that which is presented and make me BEHAVE accordingly. Then there are

processes that disrupt destroy annihilate and hence disconstruct so that I am

FREED of them. This also means that before that I was sustained in my Being in

the world as thus --

as a Muslim, a Christian, an Agnostic, a Communist and what not.

 

Thus our free inquiry has led us rediscover the Muttozil, the THREE basic

processes already there and which the Hindus are fond of ascribing to the

Mummuurties -- Brahma Vishnu and Rudra.

 

These Gods lead the mind to the Aalaya Vinjnjaanam, the most comprehensive

consciousness .

 

But hold on -- now another disclosure: if the mind is led to Alaya Vinjnjaanam

and through these processes ( forget the gods if you don't like them), behind

the Sunyata there must be another DEEPER LAYER of processes that underly these

three ! These are not simply the metaphysical but rather the meta-metaphysical,

the absolutely transcendental. There must be another level of presenting --

allowing there to be the little intentionalities of ordinary life, the larger

intentionalities of the metaphysical life that includes the all comprehensive

Alaya Vinjnjaanam as well! And there must also be another level of

Disconstruction -- that of withdrawing the whole world, the Maha PraLayam or

Maha Sangkaram !

 

With this we come to the recognition of presence of Panca Kritiyas, the five

fold UNIVERSAL

PROCESSES that underly the dynamics of not only the existential struggles of the

average and the nonaverage but the whole cosmos in which our existential dramas

are enacted!

 

The Saivites are fond of seeing this as the Dance of Siva, a vision that is

possible for anyone who dares to explore one's own consciousness freely. It is

there already only to discovered and appropriated.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

=======================================================

Dear friends! You are most welcome to visit the following websites I maintain:

 

For World Saivism : http://ulagan.tripod.com/index.htm

For Dravidian Philosophy: http://loga.tripod.com/tindex.htm

For Agamic Psychology :

http://ulagank.tripod.com/agapsyindex.htm

For ArutkuRaL studies:

http://arutkuraL.tripod.com/index.html

For studies of Tamil Sacred scriptures in

English: http://arutkuraL.tripod.com/tmcampus/tmc-open.html

For SumeroTamil and related studies:

http://arutkuraL.tripod.com/sumstudies/sumcampus.html

=======================================================

 

 

[Guest guest]

hello, just a few simple words, your words nothingness and sunyata caught my

eye/mind. what came to my thoughts was that the one who in his search for

SELF and arrives at the level/ understanding where witnessing of

sunyata/nothingness/zero is recognized then finally if the witness drops his

interest in appearances of nothing and absorbs into his own SElf[witness

turn back to

thy self], then all is one, always the only real point is yourself as the

unformed unexperienced SELF.the source, final reality, that which is ever

steady!

 

yours truly....jaya

 

 

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[Guest guest]

Dear Jaya,

 

Thank-you -- very interesting observations I admit. I shall follow them up soon

with the next

insaltment. Your remarks makes me feel that I am writing something interesting

to a  quite a

number of people. A friend in Yoga Psycholgy recalled the words of Aurobindo and

which makes me

curious about what Aurbindo has said about supermind etc.

 

In akandabaratam  I write a lot more. Those who are interested in coming to know

the

philosophical wisdom buried in the Tamil literature are most welcome to

to the group

( blank email to <akandabaratam->)

 

I shall also write to the Vedantins about matters that are of general

philosophic interest.

 

Loga

 

JAYA wrote:

> hello, just a few simple words, your words nothingness and sunyata caught my

> eye/mind. what came to my thoughts was that the one who in his search for

> SELF and arrives at the level/ understanding where witnessing of

> sunyata/nothingness/zero is recognized then finally if the witness drops his

> interest in appearances of nothing  and absorbs into his own SElf[witness

> turn back to

> thy self], then all is one, always the only real point is yourself as the

> unformed unexperienced SELF.the source, final reality, that which is ever

> steady!

>

>             yours truly....jaya

>

> ---

> Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.

> Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).

> Version: 6.0.344 / Virus Database: 191 - Release 2/04/2002

>

>

> Discussion of Shankara's Advaita Vedanta Philosophy of nonseparablity of Atman

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