I often wonder whether we can ever see through ourselves? Generally, we identify with our thoughts so closely that it is quite difficult to separate ourselves from our mindset. Our mindset develops with constant interactions with society and also the churning of these experiences. Some of us have been financially quite insecure during our childhood and therefore money becomes the pivot of our existence. Some work hard while some learn to cheat and steal. Some of us are deprived of love in our relationships and therefore love and care become the pivot of our life. In any country with a huge population, generally, there are very few who carry power and respect and therefore most people want social validation one or the other way. Then we learn with our experiences the ways and means to get what we desire. Some develop a mindset to work hard, while many develop a mindset of shortcuts and using the labor of others to project their work. Some develop a mindset to control and dictate the direction, while some get used to following the commands of others. Different people develop different mindsets which appear useful to them for their survival.
Whatever mindset we develop, it is very difficult to see that from a distance. We identify so intimately with our mindset that often most of us are not able to differentiate between us and our mindset. Mindset appears to me like the operating system of a mobile such as Windows, Android, or Mac. At the end of the day, a mobile phone is just the assembly of certain chips into a body, with the operating system, and applications with data. If we remove any of these elements, it does not work. Similarly, human beings are just an assembly of their body, mindset, and their experiences. If we remove any one of these, human beings can't function. However, at the same time, all these may change. If a part of the body gets damaged, the same may be transplanted. Mindset may transform and we keep having new experiences almost every day.
The fundamental question then is why do we get so obsessed with our mindset? I think we can try to find some answers from operating systems like Android and Mac. Android is open source and therefore it allows everybody to develop applications. All such applications are welcome on the platform and therefore naturally it is more prone to viruses. The openness of the platform is used by hackers and fraudsters as well to cheat people using Andriot-based mobiles. Mac follows a club approach and is therefore quite expensive but secure.
We too have this constant struggle between security and openness. Generally, as a child, we are open to almost all types of ideas. However, as we grow older, we have more and more experiences of attacks by malware and become more and more confined and closed. As we become closed, probably, we cling more tightly to our mindset. It becomes more difficult to examine our own mindset. Probably, we need to answer a fundamental question as to who is the observer and who is observed in the process? Until we answer this question, probably the process of meditation and observation is a farce.
Probably one example may help us solve the puzzle. A tree is made of leaves, branches, stems, and roots. It takes water from the roots and makes its own food by a chemical reaction taking carbon dioxide from the air which reacts with the water available in the leaves to make glucose and oxygen. This oxygen is converted by the plant in different forms to make different parts thereof. Thus, all these parts of the plant already existed in the universe in a different form. We too are made of tiny cells. All these cells are made of protein, glucose, water, and many other chemical compounds. Mere the sum total of all these elements does not make a living human being. These elements continue to exist even after death. What moves away from the body is Prana. When Prana comes into contact with all these elements, that makes a living human being. Mindset and memories are acquired by human beings from their societies and parenting. But the entire dance of life is taking place on the stage of Prana which may also be called consciousness. Therefore it is consciousness which is the observer and this entire interplay is observed. However, mostly we identify so thickly with the observed that the observed becomes the observer. A mind that is just a creation of consciousness can never understand consciousness. However, a person who has never experienced freedom from the mind will always get tricked by the mind and find all these to be imaginary and theoretical. Probably that's a defense mechanism of the mind to retain control over its kingdom. That is one of the greatest hindrances in the process of meditation.
Comments