By Swami Nishchalananda
The yogic texts tell us that ‘identification is the cause of bondage and non-identification is the key to wisdom’. What does this mean? Basically, it means that rigid self-identification (identification with the ego) keeps us bound in fix ed ways of thinking and behaviour. By ceasing to totally identify with our personality we allow space for a fundamental dimension of our being to reveal itself. Selfidentification moves on to a deeper level, our perspective changes and we start to have a more objective attitude to our ‘own’ mind. As a direct result of this we are gradually freed from the fetters of emotional and mental conditioning.
There is no end to thought patterns and mental fluctuations. We can’t stop the mind thinking, just as we can’t stop the heart beating (at l east without suffering disastr ous consequences!). The mind by its nature is always active both in daily life and even when we sleep.
Though the mind is necessary in order that we can live and function in the world, from the point of view of wisdom, it is also the veil which prevents deeper understanding. We need it — and yet it is an obstruction to insight. All mystical paths, including yoga, tell us that to realise the profound depths of our being we need to ‘see’ beyond the conditioned functioning of the mind. Indeed, the one definition of yoga recorded in the classical Yoga Sutra tells us in no uncertain words: yoga is the cessation of the patterns of mind.
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February 2018
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