The human mind has a typical problem. The belief system is quite hardwired. The belief system takes over the sense of self, which is why it's quite difficult to challenge one's belief system, especially if it's not done at an early stage of life. When we discard our beliefs, we are uncertain about life. A vessel full of beliefs has no space to receive anything. But an empty vessel may receive anything. That's why that emptiness without awareness is quite dangerous.
Awareness of what? In that domain, everything is unknown. We are not sure. We may easily mistake hallucination to be some real spiritual experience, and that's what happens to many people who move along the path. That's why the role of the Guru is quite emphasized. However, Gurus come with their own set of risks, and often Gurus manipulate more than provide the right guidance. Most popular Gurus have commercial interests, and that's why it is difficult to get the true guidance there. That's why I find the help of Gurus, especially the ones having huge commercial empires, quite a risky business.
The path of spirituality is the path of dropping the self. That's why self-inquiry and self-observation are two important tools in the process. We observe our behaviour. If feelings like anger, jealousy, frustration, and revenge are growing, that means we have a very strong identification with the self. If feelings like love and compassion are growing, that means we are moving along the right path. When we inquire into the root cause of these feelings, we get to know that the reason is our strong identification with the self. The moment we become aware of this, we become a witness to that identification, and the identification loses its grip. We also see through self-inquiry that the moments we react, our identification with that self gains strength.
The more we stay in that witness state and the more we get liberated from that identification. It does not require any guru or technique. However, I realized after doing Vipassana that it is difficult to be a witness at the level of thoughts. It is almost impossible to observe thoughts as a witness. We tend to identify with the thoughts very quickly, and after that, we go back to our past and start thinking of the future. That's no witnessing at all. That's just thinking. That's why witnessing the sensations in different parts of the body is easier. Since these sensations represent our memories only, that's why by witnessing these sensations, we can actually witness our thoughts. The crucial test is whether we retain the awareness of breath while doing so. Our brains are quite vulnerable to hallucinations in that state, and I have seen many people hallucinating reality, and that's why one should be really mindful while practicing mindfulness. Practicing mindfulness mindlessly would have greater dangers than living life ordinarily.
Comments
If someone's hallucinating reality, or doing mindfulness in a wrong way, that's their reality.
But you cannot live someone's else's reality. And that's why you cannot raise questions towards them.
Their reality is pure. In the substance, their experience.
You suggest a way to reach the top mountain or. You suggest a way to keep climbing, whereas some of us die daily because of things that your words, vedas cannot explain. Something that has never been thought about or never been pondered upon. The challenges of 2025.
And yet you choose to say things that have been observed a millenia ago.
The mind is more complicated than it ever was.
And so are the forces who choose to contain it.
There are split seconds of 'meeting with the god' and then there's ocean of illusion.