Perceptions and the Practice of Yoga
Divine Life
Society Publication: The Path to God
Realisation - Part 1 (Preparing for the Practice of Yoga)
by Swami Krishnananda
In our perceptions of the
world of persons and things, there is a continuous negation taking place of the
indivisibility of the Self. It is so because of the fact that perceptions are
based on a divided consciousness. There has to be a division between the
subjective side and the objective side, between the perceiver and the
perceived, in order that there may be perception at all.
This dichotomy between the
location of the seer and the seen is precisely the contradiction of the
indivisible nature of the Self. Thus, we may say that we are perpetually
negating the existence of the Self in everything that we do and in everything
that we see, cognize, or perceive through our sense organs.
The moment the Self is
negated, the consequence thereof follows automatically: the character of
non-Self inundates us. We become at once other than what we are. We become
fear-struck from every side because of the fact that we have lost our Self. The
greatest fear is the loss of one’s own Self, and that fear is perpetually on
our head like a Damocles Sword – because of the fact that there is a continuous
negation of the Self taking place in our perceptions through the sense organs.
It is, therefore, no wonder
that we are unhappy throughout our life. We have fears from all sides – tapa, as we call it; adhyatmika, adhibhautika, adhidaivika tapa
harass us. We have fear from our own psychophysical constitution also: It may
fall ill, or it may even die. That is a fear that we have in regard to our own
self. We also have fear of the people around us. And above all, there is fear
of nature, whose wish and will are not known to us even a little. From every
side there is insecurity, as it were, and, therefore, there is not a moment of
peace for anyone in the world.
Perceptions are of two kinds.
These categories may be designated as general and abnormal perceptions. If we
can see a thing, be conscious of its existence but not be emotionally disturbed
about it, we may consider it as general perception. But if any perception
disturbs our feelings, this is certainly not a normal perception. It is not
normal because we seem to be dualistically involved in the knowledge of the
existence of some person or thing in front of us, and not indivisibly involved
or, more properly, normally involved. Very rarely do we get disturbed in this
manner.
Finally that none of our
perceptions are commensurate with what we may call spiritual perception. The
world perception is not spiritual, as it usually goes in our day-to-day life.
It is so because the character of Selfhood cannot be recognized in any object,
in spite of the fact that every object has a Self of its own.
In the same way as in every
pool of water, multiple though the pools be, the same sun is reflected, the
Universal Self is reflected in every individual person as the Self of that
particular person or thing. Therefore, everyone has a Self – not a Self, the
very Self Itself. Yet, in perceptions, the Self is not recognized. Neither can
you see my Self, nor can I see your Self. You see me as a personality seated
here, and I also do the same thing in regard to you. If this is the way in
which the world goes on, world experience cannot be regarded as spiritual
experience. Therefore, we call life in the world as samsara, which means an
aberration from the nature of Selfhood. A deviation from truth is called
samsara. We move away from the center of our personality, away from the root of
the Self, to that which is other than Itself.
You may ask me, “Is there
anything other than the Self?” There is certainly nothing other than the Self.
Then what is the meaning of the deviation of consciousness from the Self to the
not-Self? The not-Self actually is not a person or a thing. It is the manner in
which consciousness adapts itself to persons and things outside. Your judgment
of values is what will determine the spirituality or the unspirituality of
things. The things in the world are neither spiritual nor unspiritual; they
just are, as they ought to be. But the perceptions differ on account of the
non-recognition of the Selfhood, or the character of subjectivity in things.
When I look at you, I see you
as an object outside – a person who is not me. The whole point is that: Here is
a person who is not me, and how will I deal with that person who is not me? If
it is not me, I cannot deal with that person in the way I deal with myself. So
immediately there is a conflict arising between the seer and the seen. The
not-me is the whole problem. When we say ‘mine’ or ‘not mine’, we make a
distinction in our judgments of values.
I mentioned that in our
perceptions there are two modalities, the general and the abnormal, and we are
prone to both these types of perception every day. Unless we are free from it,
we cannot actually even commence the practice of yoga.
Excerpts from:
Perceptions and the Practice of Yoga – The Path to God
Realisation - Part 1 (Preparing for the Practice of Yoga) by Swami Krishnananda
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