Maya, attachments, and the ordinary awareness

[Guest guest]

The question of discarding attachments and conditioning is central to many

spiritual paths. People speak of transformations, giving up of conditioning

etc., and attaining a finer and finer level of understanding and quality of

being. This is clearly a valid perspective and the paths of Yoga are based

on that. Even Advaitins emphasize practical aspects of Sadhana and the

advice given by sages in different traditions is a natural outgrowth of this

view. Perhaps the Jnana path can be fully embraced if there is a radical

cognitive shift where a total awareness perspective becomes primary and

predominant. In such a case, it is not clear what Sadhana is appropriate or

even what the meaning of Sadhana is. If Awareness is the essential nature of

Brahaman, and it is clear that we are Awareness, this makes that what is

considered distant very near, or even more than near, without any distance

whatsoever, as it is only one's own self and nothing else. No attempt to

grab or experience anything extraordinary can be fruitful here as the Self

is self-contented and is of the nature of simple tranquil awareness which is

the essence of wholeness. So great Sages rightly question what Sadhana can

be practiced beyond the serene Self-awareness which is one's own natural

state. In this paradigm, the radical understanding and awareness spoken of

in the scriptures is known to be essentially not different than the ordinary

understanding and awareness. Resistance to this acceptance maybe considered

Maya, and is based on the perceived gulf between ego (perhaps called

Jeevaatman) and Brahaman and by implication the distance between where we

are now versus where we will be in the future. It is assumed that after we

have dropped various conditions and attained a high level of detachment,

wisdom, understanding, etc., that we will be in a position to experience

perfection, see Truth or be with God, or merge with Brahaman. However, if

one fully embraces wholeness of the ordinary (the everyday usual) awareness,

what next step could there be? One can ask the following: How can one

discard that (attachment or condition) which truly does not belong to It?

And how can one discard that which one Is? This is a profound meditation,

which is the acceptance of the ordinary and conditional awareness with the

full knowledge that this is the unconditional awareness. Once the Heart of

Attention has fundamentally shifted to Itself, that Itself is the fuel of

the effortless effort which eventually burns up leaving nothing behind. When

the Ground of Being absorbs all attention and all effort, what is there to

discard, and how, and by whom? Such a questioning may start at the

intellectual level but will not stay there if pursued. Of course, I am not

opposed to discarding various types of conditioning and attaining finer and

finer levels of detachment and understanding at all. If you are for it, I am

for it.

 

Harsha