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In the early stages of our investigation, objective experience seems to veil, obscure, our essential Being. And for this reason, there is a turning away from objective experience. That’s the inward-facing path. “Life returns to Thee in all the pauses of her breath.” But later on, it becomes clear that objective experience shines with our Being, shines with the light of pure Knowing. Objective experience is no longer a veiling power but a revealing power.
These are the two meanings of the word ‘Maya’ in the Vedantic tradition. ‘Maya’ is usually translated as ‘illusion’. This is the first meaning; the power of objective experience to veil or obscure our essential Self from ItSelf.
But the word ‘Maya’ also has another meaning (less often explained in the traditional literature) and that is the revealing power of Maya, the creativity of Maya, where objective experience is no longer seen to obscure our Being but shines with it, celebrates it, announces it.
To begin with, the movie seems to veil the screen. Later, it is seen to shine with the screen. And in between these two points of view, it may be necessary to turn the movie off in order to see clearly the screen. We are always seeing the screen. This is, by the way, a conventional screen; we are sitting on the sofa. We are always seeing the screen, but we are not seeing it clearly. It is colored by the movie and therefore, we think it is a landscape. So, if we do not see the screen clearly, if we think the two-dimensional screen is a three-dimensional landscape, we may have to turn off the movie. This turning off the movie is the turning away from objective experience. It is the Vedantic path; the inward facing path. It doesn’t really require the turning off of experience, but rather the turning away from experience in order to see clearly what I Am.
But then we turn the movie back on again. And having seen clearly the nature of the screen, the obscuring power of the movie has been removed. The movie no longer veils the screen; it shines with it. It celebrates it.
So, once we have turned away from experience in order to know clearly who I Am…, even in the midst of experience, everyone is experiencing themselves…, most people do not experience themselves clearly and therefore, this turning off of the movie, this turning away from experience is necessary, in almost all cases, in order to see clearly what I Am.
As a result of this necessity to turn away from objective experience, as a result of the recognition that objective experience veils our Being, in many of the traditional approaches (both in the Eastern cultures and in Western culture) objective experience has been considered with various degrees of distain, various degrees of rejection. But in this approach, this turning away from experience is only half the journey; only the first half of the journey. It is necessary to return to experience, to redeem experience from its veiling hour…, to see and to feel that:
Experience shines with the Reality of our Being.
It shines with the light of pure Knowing.
It announces and celebrates the Presence of Consciousness.
Once it becomes clear that all experience is a coloring of our own Being (that experience or mind is the activity of Consciousness) then experience no longer poses a threat. It is no longer something we have to defend ourselves from. We may continue to seek refuge on a daily basis in the privacy and silence of our own Being, but we do not feel that we leave that refuge when we go out into the world of experience. We take ourselves with us wherever we go. We are safe; not only in the sanctuary of the Heart but we are safe in the midst of all experience.
That doesn’t mean to say that we no longer experience grief and sorrow. It simply means that we no longer defend ourselves against such experiences. We are totally open to them, and as a result, they lose their sting. We find it hard, for instance, to distinguish between grief and love. Anyone that has lost a close companion knows that.
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Excerpt from “Meditation: 'I' Is the Source of Our Longing”
In the early stages of our investigation, objective experience seems to veil, obscure, our essential Being. And for this reason, there is a turning away from objective experience. That’s the inward-facing path. “Life returns to Thee in all the pauses of her breath.” But later on, it becomes clear that objective experience shines with our Being, shines with the light of pure Knowing. Objective experience is no longer a veiling power but a revealing power.
These are the two meanings of the word ‘Maya’ in the Vedantic tradition. ‘Maya’ is usually translated as ‘illusion’. This is the first meaning; the power of objective experience to veil or obscure our essential Self from ItSelf.
But the word ‘Maya’ also has another meaning (less often explained in the traditional literature) and that is the revealing power of Maya, the creativity of Maya, where objective experience is no longer seen to obscure our Being but shines with it, celebrates it, announces it.
To begin with, the movie seems to veil the screen. Later, it is seen to shine with the screen. And in between these two points of view, it may be necessary to turn the movie off in order to see clearly the screen. We are always seeing the screen. This is, by the way, a conventional screen; we are sitting on the sofa. We are always seeing the screen, but we are not seeing it clearly. It is colored by the movie and therefore, we think it is a landscape. So, if we do not see the screen clearly, if we think the two-dimensional screen is a three-dimensional landscape, we may have to turn off the movie. This turning off the movie is the turning away from objective experience. It is the Vedantic path; the inward facing path. It doesn’t really require the turning off of experience, but rather the turning away from experience in order to see clearly what I Am.
But then we turn the movie back on again. And having seen clearly the nature of the screen, the obscuring power of the movie has been removed. The movie no longer veils the screen; it shines with it. It celebrates it.
So, once we have turned away from experience in order to know clearly who I Am…, even in the midst of experience, everyone is experiencing themselves…, most people do not experience themselves clearly and therefore, this turning off of the movie, this turning away from experience is necessary, in almost all cases, in order to see clearly what I Am.
As a result of this necessity to turn away from objective experience, as a result of the recognition that objective experience veils our Being, in many of the traditional approaches (both in the Eastern cultures and in Western culture) objective experience has been considered with various degrees of distain, various degrees of rejection. But in this approach, this turning away from experience is only half the journey; only the first half of the journey. It is necessary to return to experience, to redeem experience from its veiling hour…, to see and to feel that:
Experience shines with the Reality of our Being.
It shines with the light of pure Knowing.
It announces and celebrates the Presence of Consciousness.
Once it becomes clear that all experience is a coloring of our own Being (that experience or mind is the activity of Consciousness) then experience no longer poses a threat. It is no longer something we have to defend ourselves from. We may continue to seek refuge on a daily basis in the privacy and silence of our own Being, but we do not feel that we leave that refuge when we go out into the world of experience. We take ourselves with us wherever we go. We are safe; not only in the sanctuary of the Heart but we are safe in the midst of all experience.
That doesn’t mean to say that we no longer experience grief and sorrow. It simply means that we no longer defend ourselves against such experiences. We are totally open to them, and as a result, they lose their sting. We find it hard, for instance, to distinguish between grief and love. Anyone that has lost a close companion knows that.
~ ~ ~
.
Excerpt from “Meditation: 'I' Is the Source of Our Longing”
Times 37:50 to 50:28
(Thanks to Amaya Aum for the transcription)
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