Chapter 14 Harmony and Poise Chapter 10: Mechanism of Action

Chapter 14 Harmony and Poise

Today, human beings live in an age of confusion and tension. External challenges persecute an individual and make life full of agitation and sorrow. Therefore, to bring about success and joy in life, the only way left is to control the subjective confusions and intelligently develop one’s inner equipment to face difficult situations. The life of harmony can be lived by rising above our limited egocentric view, and expanding our mind to accommodate a constant awareness of the totality of the world, the entirety of mankind and the vastness and wholeness of the universal problems. To merge one’s individual life with the resonant cadence of the whole is to bring about a harmonious and happy existence.

-MS

Chapter 10   MECHANISM OF ACTION

Our desires and thoughts are rooted in our vasanas. Our vasanas decide what we pay attention to and what catches our eye. The vasanas determine our actions too. However, human beings have the unique opportunity to override the vasanas with self effort. Vasanas are like etchings on a Gramophone record. The song that comes out is what is already etched out. However , we can erase and recarve the etching , but only with persistent effort.

 The great seers looked inwards and paid attention to minds activity and analysed the source and movement of thought and action. The above image shows the mechanism of action originating.

Sensation/ Contact :  Our senses perceive the world. If we are alive we perceive. We might look at a rasgulla and look at the shape , color etc. We might appreciate that they are well made. Or look at a sunset and appreciate. Nothing wrong.

Thought:  After a fraction of second of gap, thought comes in. It creates an image of us eating and enjoying the rasgulla. Or maybe it comes in creating an image of us enjoying the sunset everyday. 

As soon as the image is formed, desire to fulfill the image is born and ready.

      4. Once the desire is born, it will dictate our actions. It becomes the goal.

If we pay attention we can catch the gap before thought comes in to talk to us or create the image. Just paying attention to it gives us the power to delay the thought. If this happens, then we control the thoughts and hence the desire and not the other way around. Just the experience that this is how desire moves in itself is an achievement. We persistent effort we can extend that gap and not become slave of desires.

Meanwhile our vasanas are the ones that determine how our senses perceive and also how thoughts move. But if we can pay attention and increase that gap, the vasanas will get weaker and weaker. Just like camphor burns itself out to leave nothing but fragrance, our vasanas will burn out leaving the divinity within us.

Contributed by RV