Man is like an infinite spring, coiled up in a small box, and that spring is trying to unfold itself; and all the social phenomena that we see the result of this trying to unfold. All the competitions and struggles and evils that we see around us are neither the causes of these unfoldments, nor the effects. As one of our great philosophers says- in the case of irrigation of a field, the tank is somewhere upon a higher level, and the water is trying to rush into the field, and is barred by a gate. But as soon as the gate is opened, the water rushes in by its own nature; and if there is dust and dirt in the way, the water rolls over them. But the dust and the dirt [our stored stuff from life events?] are neither the result nor the cause of this unfolding of the divine nature of man. They are coexistent circumstances, and therefore can be remedied.
Vivekananda, Location 7398
What the fork, crazy lady?
Those words captured my attention today when I breezed through what I have highlighted so far from this massive read, The Complete Works of Vivekananda.I was looking for something that echoed what I heard today from Michael Singer and what echoed what was floating around in my mind about keeping the pause/the space between stimuli and our habitual tendency to react as spacious and pure as possible.
So far in my discussions about the pause, I haven't said a lot about what it is meant to be like, have I? This is what I have come to understand about this space. This pause , this space is the timeless present moment, the here and now. It is presence. It is stillness. It is who we are at our essence.
This pause is supposed to be pure, empty, spacious. It is supposed to be clean enough so we can see the divinity that is there beneath the dust and dirt we have collected. It is meant to be open enough ( with no gates of will barring it shut) so the purifying, hydrating, and life giving flow of Shakti can pour through it.
Who we are as "human", who we are as "being" (a reflection of the divine) meanwhile are all coiled up in a tight container of the mind...trying to unfold bit by bit, attempting to grow. We are not okay in this constraining box but we are doing whatever we can to be okay. We react and those reactions are simply the result, not of our natural need to unfold, but of our trying to be okay all coiled up. We may be unfolding bit by bit, but we are holding back our springing forth nature. We are trying to make this box comfortable instead of just opening up the top so we can spring out and be free...like the water that flows into the field when the gate is opened. We are longing for this freedom...this purification and hydration a free flowing Shakti can give us.
What the heck does that have to do with anything Michael Singer talked about today in his podcast?
Michael Singer is always talking about "not closing". Most of us are closing in reaction to what Life is handing us. This closing is resistance in its ultimate form and this leads to all types of reactivity, and therefore the creation of unfavorable social phenomenon. Our gates, our staying coiled up, our refusal to have the top of the box opened...is our resistance to the reality of what Life gives us and who we are. We are not the dust and dirt in the dry field. We are not the rusty, aching bends and knots in the springs. We are the tanks up on higher ground looking down. We are the uncoiled springs. We are meant for light and spaciousness yet we stay coiled up into these little human dilemmas. We are not okay inside because we live by the dust and dirt we accumulate [our samskaras] rather than the Shakti waiting to pour through us if we would only keep that gate opened.
Open the top of the box we are in and what happens? We uncoil and unfold from the contracted position we were in. We have room to expand and grow. We embrace the light. We are free.
Open the gate of the irrigation field, and what happens? The water of Shakti rushes in...the dirt and debris we were holding onto is flushed away...We are hydrated, cleansed, purified and engulfed in the joy, peace, love and bliss Shakti is.
We just need to realize that what most of us do, how most of us process through life is not the way to go. We have to realize we are not okay inside with all this dirt and debris or this cramped up coiled position. We have to realize that we are doing the blocking with our stuffing and storing. We have to realize that we really don't want it this way. We have to realize that it doesn't have to be this way. We have to realize who we really are. We have to realize that we were meant to spring forth into light...to be immersed in Shakti. We have to realize we are responsible for holding the top of the box closed and the gate shut.
....And we have to be willing not to close.
Hmmm! All is well in my world.
Michael A. Singer/ Temple of the universe. ( February 18, 2024) Learning Not to Close. https://tou.org/talks/
The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda (1989) Kindle Edition
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