As the farmer turns over the land for cultivation, self review turns over our representations of ourselves and views their experience from the perception of the receiver. It creates an assessment of their understanding and ability to respond to our communication.
Such a review can turn the entire experience of self into a farm, making it self critical and impossible to manage. A review is therefore undertaken with reference to one point in our experience that is kept stable.
Past efforts were undertaken in relation to a guru whose every word is the command of the student. It imprisons the vast array of information in the mind and allows for examination, only those issues that the guru engages.
Today, such reviews are undertaken quite freely in society on account of the stability we experience. The sensation is supported by the established nature of our social and physical experiences. We realize that the changes in us do not interfere with the regular working of society, where society aligns itself with its own imperatives for order and organization. In a sense, we are substituting the social infrastructure for the guru.
In relation to the society, the individual's sense of the social identity is held fast and its stability forms the basis for us to review all other experiences in us. In time, we cultivate a second self identity in us, that of the individual. This overcomes problems related to the social self and can, in a relation between the two, cultivate an interaction between the social and individual selves, that is also our relation to the society.
We begin, in some cases by referring to past text on the experience of self contemplation and borrow from past practitioners the art of self reflection that we soon incorporate as our practice.
' Who sent the mind to wander afar?' asks the Upanishads.
The text is a compilation of early insights into the nature of the world's experience. Together with the Puranas and the Vedas, it forms the basic writings of the Hindus from the early days. Legend has it that it was brought into perception by the ' forest people ' or Rishis.
The way that these texts were brought into our attention is similar to the way that we are making the inquiries today. We are therefore encouraged to view the texts as the mind of an individual in the past. We apply their insight into the nature and experience of the society today and trim away all else that is in the nature of a universal application and does not form part of the social identity in these times.
Much of the work of self awareness of previous times is today experienced as the dreams of the innocence and may be engaged as such in the practice of the new individual. Such is the vigor of the reformer, who embraces the past teachings, with the new ardor of the times.
One's review therefore indicates the course of our development from early innocence to the current social condition. On reflection, we realize that it takes a lot of nerve to undertake the work of review the way we do. The extent to which we rise to the endeavor is an indication of our own needs. Much of the past teachings are stored in us like fond appellations of our social identities, like a badge of achievement by our civilizations and societies. In engaging them, it feels a little like the boar avatar of Vishnu, raising the world again from the oceans.
The changes we bring engages the social imagery of our times with the perceptions of past passions regarding life in the world. It may even be a little like ' Romeo and Juliet' in Los Angeles. The point is, it prioritizes our needs for transformation.
To go tearing into the personal nature of the individual is seldom a pleasant thing.....too many fond memories. An effort must be made to understand the times when these writings were undertaken. It provides an understanding of their basis and it helps us to make that approach with the mind of a reformer.
In India of the period 500 BC, a profile of the individuality of the Indian was starting to emerge. In the efforts at unification of the empire under the Emperor, Chandragupta Maurya, all the differing tribes were brought together into one mix, under one national identity. The period was referred to as the Mahajanapadas (great leap forward). Indians refer to this as the sampradaya, the sum total of what they are. In subsequent unification efforts, other tribes in the plains and the south came together to form a new mix.
This came to suggest a mix of the human faculties of mind, heart and jiva in a new experience, so as to produce a new TP formula in the experience of the manasa. The formula has been changing ever since. In approaching the experience of the sampradaya in the TP formula, the practitioner learns to view it as the triangular forms of innocence, reform and human experience. No doubt, more changes are necessary to refine the experience over time.
From 1000 BC to the present, the wheel of the sampradaya has been rolling in line with its own intrinsic design to arrive at its optimum. Along the way, the effort has been helped along by the personifications of the changing TP experiences, who have helped to guide the process along. From Mahavira, Buddha, Krishna and Christ to the bards such as Kalidasa, logicians like Shankaracarya, new approaches by Sivan/Sakti, empire builders like Vengada Salabathi, householders like Paramasivan/Mahesvari, Sri Rangga & family, mother goddesses & daughters and noblemen such as Sri Ramachandra and Devi have contributed to the effort.
These are the reformers, commencing a repackaging from the days of the Vedic age in 2500 BC. They share the interest for reform with the rulers, Kings and social leaders.
Beyond the Vedic age, one sees one's common heritage as being derived from the Egyptians and Sumerians. What this means to the average Indian today is the opportunity to inquire into the early mind of man, when Scythia and Parthenia appeared as the early human experience that subsequently divided itself into the major social groups we see today.
It may be a little complex but it takes a little time to adjust to the volumes of information that come our way. It also introduces to the individual the experience of objectivity and non-attachment to issues that grows in him as the decorum for self inquiry.
In exercising his plough therefore, the individual is opening up his mind for introspective inquiry. In doing so, he is also coming to understand the world.
The computer and the Proto Experience
In an experience that examines a vast scope of facts, which when put together creates the character of a society, the individual needs a common goal that would unite and harmonize the organization of these facts. He does this by engaging a specific definition of the identity of the human. Hence, only matters related to the human experience, in the way that the human views his experience, is prioritized for review. The remaining issues are relevant to either the innocent dreamer or the reformer. These are offered for review to agents of the dreamer/reformer in the individual and does not form the responsibility of the human.
The dreamer experience relies on the anima/animus and is made up of a curious menagerie of animal 'spirits' that combined with the past experience of the humans to form a semblance of society.
In a deep sampradaya experience, we may be engaging the subtle experiences of fishes, birds, reptiles, mammals and marsupials. Each was incorporated into the growing human consciousness on account of its peculiar development in the evolution. This includes the fishes' natural tendency for dividing issues, the bird's mental alertness for spontaneity, the reptilian experience for will and organization, the mammal's love for its young and the marsupial's quest for self understanding.
This is at a basic and primitive point of experience in the sampradaya, wherein the individual is able to relate to the trees, lakes, sky and earth as the experience of nature. The experience is not unlike primitive tribes in the forests today and our attraction to these is growing in the world's experience.
The experience, while primitive, brings a profound sense of affirmation from the world around us and strengthens our experience of ourselves as an achievement of nature in its creative endeavors.
In time, the mind, heart and jiva, grow in their relation to the issues and create a specialization of their own in their relative identities. Each becomes capable of functioning on its own and brings a clearer understanding of the experience, away from other issues.
In delving into the spectrum of information, the human will realizes that nature itself undertakes an organization of its own in relation to the faculties. He comes to meet such a will in the Amara Thibum which acts as the fundamental guide. He also comes to meet the separate agents for the mind, heart and jiva.
In addition, the human may come across credible past efforts by historical man to improve upon the organization. Works relating to Krishna, Sri Ramachandra and Sivan/Sakthi often stand out clearly. The practitioner may note that his closest ally for the human condition is Sivan/Sakthi.
In today's environment, the information technology platform is a treasure trove of information, big and small, that helps to place these experiences in perspective. What is hard is when overcoming past complications where the individual acted without discernment as to his identity. In such situations, conflicts may arise and must be dealt with.
At the base of all this knowledge of the self is a division of all information into two parts. One part deals with the issue of domain or the location of the human experience according to space and time and the other, the epistemology of knowledge, or how human activities are organized to form a basis to structure and perceive knowledge a certain way. Much of this is congruent to the idea of the human nature; living as we do in separate genders, cultural orientation and the nature of the passions that accompanies the experience.
In this, it is similar to computer protocol, that relies on a language and set of commands to respond to its functions. It brings a touch of the mechanical to the human experience but in comparison to the convolution of sensations, sometimes experienced, it is a rare opportunity to make clear issues that would otherwise be blurred.
In primitive and underdeveloped societies, the profile fits closely the experiences of proto man. Without the burden of too much experiences, the proto individual is able to gain easy access to the domain/epistemology experience that allows him to see things simply in terms of right and wrong and respond accordingly.
Living as they do next to the rest of the world, it sometimes leads to a curious mix of cultures and inter-dimensional relations. Strangely, the mind of the proto may most resemble the workings of a computer and if we allow the opportunity, the proto may surprise many with his understanding.
To the urban individual, self discovery comes together with hefty bags of our perceived sense of progress. There's more to do and the rewards are more, but the quantity of information processed, in an environment based on social decorum, far exceeds the volume managed by protoman.
List of Issues
The steps in the process may resemble something like this " open review of the architecture of the consciousness, affirmation of existing phenomenon, links and relations, universal / global and individual self identities, male and female, children, youth, fathers, mothers and grandparents, good and evil, passion vs knowledge, duties in life, nature of the will, individual vs group volition, motivation, the world and its divisions, the stars and the constellations, the nature of matter, self integration in society and relations, nature of matter, god and Charles Darwin etc.
At the risk of being proverbial in such an environment, it ought to be said that it's all within our capability to do so.
Add to that a reading list and you're okay for 30 summers. Mixed with the daily routine of life, it becomes ordinary, and is identified with the normal course of a lifetime.
High Risk Areas
It wouldn't be untrue to say that a person takes their life in their own hands when they begin such an inquiry into the meaning of life. The risks can be very real.
For a start, the practitioner is disengaged from contact with his ego. This releases the functioning of the mind to play with its untethered images, much like a theater. From here, it learns to apply itself and be creative. It's purposes are defined and aim at fulfilling its own sense of void in the ego.
The experience of loss of contact with the ego, unhinges the mind from its usual concerns. This introduces a frivolity in matters and the practitioner is forced to seek contact with the jiva or reproductive function to substitute for the ego. The world of the jiva however is not populated by real people. It is instead populated by memories of past lives and experiences in the cittas. The mind experiences loss of contact with the routine of social reality. Beyond the usual experiences of alienation, the individual learns to stand on their own two feet and speak for themselves, representing issues that may be of unique self importance.
In some ways the experience of theater brings the individual to an area of its strongest and fondest recollections. It engages them but hungers for something solid. The experiences of anxiety and paranoia are encountered but the practitioner learns to direct it to his search. These are powerful forces, no longer bound to society and the world, but expressing themselves as the nature and will of the individual. They seek the permanent, the one that will resolve the many. Its force pushes open doors and makes the memories of yesteryear respond eagerly to the individual's pointed needs.
As the individual places these experiences in context, he realizes that he is recapitulating his experiences for a summary or description of its purpose. The mind observes and learns and goes with the flow until it is able to put together short schemes of experiences that may tie to a whole and explain the causes for an attitude or quality trait found in the individual today. As joy accompanies discovery, the individual realizes that he is coming to know some things for sure. This stabilizes the sense of alienation.
The certainty that these small discoveries foster, raises the dormant TP factor. He has to apply himself now to understand its workings, the trigger for his impulses and find a way to moderate the experience. He sources his needs from the physical world around him and adapts it for his purpose. Soon he is cultivating an application, testing and evaluation of results and will be able to remedy the diminishing parts of his experience. He grows and looks forward to more growth.
The experimentation continues to draw risks, especially in a work environment, financial commitments, relations and other steadfast social conditions. A social glitch experienced would threaten the fragile nature of the experience to-date. The individual must learn to endure.
His own grand expectations can take a heavy toll. The individual must keep his expectations measured and assess their impact on his confidence. Learning to bite off only what one can chew is a good measure.
The Celt
A coat or a gown, when worn on a person, expresses a whole sense of the one individual. It is a convenient way of viewing the growing reconstruction of oneself and bring it to common parlance. It is also convenient as a fabric of identity that draws many fine threads from the experiences of the cittas.
The term Celt is drawn from a historical community of Europeans in Western Europe and parts of Great Britain. Their traditions and druid ways still attract a great deal of interests. Their history and efforts at the cultivation of a community, has a remarkable place in history and is the basis of much of the world's social experience.
Their experience forms a remarkable role model for the individual today, and a study of English history is a useful effort for understanding our beginnings of the experience of society in the world.
In the individual, a similar phenomenon is taking place for the re-consolidation of lost experiences and the rediscovery of new ones. The cultivation of acceptance for these new views and the eventual institutionalization of these beliefs are an important part of the achievement.
Even while the individual is working at substituting for previous beliefs, he is at the same time working to preserve the previous concepts as a basis of comparison for his new perceptions. He hopes to transform the original and bring into experience a sense of common aim, love and the relation of the common self to its new perceptions.
In the individual, this implies a return to the relationship he had with his dream of innocence and put it in perspective. In addition, he needs to fine tune his reformist attitude. This is to alter its experience as a pathfinder to that of a surfer riding the wave. While the reforming role relates to the achievement as ego, the human moderates the experience by relating to and participating in the needs of the world and society.
The cream of the achievement lies in the encounter with the source of nature. One comes to view that as that in us that seeks to fulfill its enthusiasm for its own continuity of evolutionary zeal. The human engages such a personality in him and comes to terms with his own contribution. It may be the beginning of a new friendship. Such a friendship, where it is experienced, would be viewed as a phenomenon in the 21st century. The sensation is that, the human experience may well be coming to express itself clearly in the annals of creation for the first time.
In this, we may be coming to a greater conscious experience in the way that we relate to the physical world and universe.
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