Hunting the 'I', 4: pitfalls

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There is another rather harmless mistake which

happens regularly to beginners.

Many of them are blessed with various glimpses of

the higher life, which they have entered. These carry

the stamp of a genuine change of consciousness, and

of course the sadhaka is happy, and convinced that he

has made real progress. There is no harm in it, because

he soon has to face the fact that his 'experience' is fading

away, never to return. When this happens again and again,

he learns to understand these sparks as what they are,

glimpses from another dimension which want to teach him

to discriminate between the different dimensions but which

also lure him on in his spiritual endeavour. They only become

a pitfall, when he, by vanity or impatience, gets stuck in one

of them, taking it for final Realisation. Then his further progress

is blocked.

 

The mark by which this pitfall is recognised is 'I' have realised...'

This 'I' can only be a 'wrong I', because it is not the 'I' that realises.

....

 

With this idea he gives his 'personal I' a strong chance to

develop into a 'spiritual I', which is much worse than his

original quite ordinary 'I', strenghtened by all his previous

spiritual effort. The result is a spiritual pride, the worse the

more advanced the sadhaka has become, because his

attainments, serve only to confirm his 'right' to be proud of

his success.

 

But even if he perceives the gentle Voice from within, warning him

against his trend going on in him and reminding him of the secret

of real 'attainment', silent humility, and even if he is quite prepared

to accept the warning, there is still the risk that the cunning ego

now is concealing itself behind his pride in his humility!

There is only one remedy against these and all other pitfalls on

the Path to Realisation: Alert Awareness, relentlessly focussing

on the treacherous ego-I.

 

.....

 

The most cunning pitfall on the path of sadhaka is the last one,

hidden in Realisation Itself.

 

The first Revelation of the Self is temporary.

"Jnana, once revealed, needs time to steady itself." (Talks, 141)

 

The danger is not in the sliding back; it is natural to most sadhakas

and is met quite naturally by continuing one's practice faithfully,

which in its turn will lead to further Revelations of the Self until

finally there is no sadhaka left, but the Self only.

 

If, on the other hand, the sadhaka tries to 'hold on' to that first

Revelation, in spite of his Inner Guide warning him, (Who is holding

on?), then the ego-I slinks again in where the Self is veiled again and

distorts the Revelation of the Self into the cry of victory: 'I have

realised!'

 

Blindfolded by the Bliss of the final 'success' (whose success?) he

never stops to scrutinize his condition and thus never finds out the

truth; That he became a yoga-bhrashtha, one who has fallen out

of his yoga, his 'union'.

 

The new and definitive disguise of his ego-I is 'the Guru', and this

last and most powerful pitfall never releases him, because he

never recognises that he is its victim.

There are nowadays many whose Guru-pitfall caught them even

much earlier on their path.

 

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Lucy Cornelssen: Hunting the 'I', from pp.48-51

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Oh, so many and complicate pitfalls! Really? Who can master?

 

Perhaps the simple point and solution of all this is never to give up surrender

and

atma vichara, never and at no time, until it finishes itself, until there is

nothing left

to surrender and search becomes impossible by itself - then what can go wrong?

What can become a pitfall?

This should be a safe path without such things happening - isn't it? Isnt' it?

I can't help but I simply trust in!

 

 

In HIM

Gabriele