There’s a scene in a novel I read recently [it may be in Clavell’s Shogun] where a Samurai is minutes away from publicly committing suicide – an honorable way to die for a Samurai: the ultimate sacrifice made willingly for his liege.
In his last moments of consciousness, the Samurai turned his attention away from his conscious thoughts to his typically subconscious actions, heightening the experience of his body/mind’s last sights, sounds, smells, and physical sensations.
The truth is we’re all traveling our own version of the Samurai’s path – and have been since birth. Yes, our own end is coming. That’s a Truth: something we know with absolute certainty in the pit of our stomach, intuitively, instinctively without engaging our mind.
Controlling your thoughts
The message here is, don’t ignore the fact that you’re dying – albeit, hopefully not in the next few minutes! For God’s sake, embrace it: knowingly, willfully and consciously live every moment as if you were that Samurai taking his last few steps in this body/mind.
Raja Yoga is the science of meditation, a practice in quieting your thoughts to experience a heightened sense of awareness and ultimately attain a deep intuitive understanding of the nature of the universe – and, in the process, heightening your appreciation of self and others!
Post body/mind
Some people believe that consciousness – the awareness OF our thoughts – survives the death of our body/mind. The theory is that:
- consciousness never changes – the penultimate goal of Raja Yoga is to prove to the individual student beyond a shadow of a doubt that unlike your body and mind which can be controlled at a sub-cellular level – consciousness can’t be affected at all. It’s of a different, subtler dimension or energetic frequency. Yours is the same today as it was the first time you opened your eyes, though obviously WHAT you’re aware OF changes constantly!
- consciousness exists – but it never changes, it doesn’t “do” anything; thus, it’s NOT a mental “function”; however, without it you wouldn’t know you were alive, let alone reading this!
- consciousness is individual and universal – consciousness OF our thoughts is IDENTICAL, although our thoughts are different!
Bottom line – and here’s where FAITH comes in: what happens to our individual, unique consciousness when our body/mind dies?
THAT’s the $50 question folks! Raja Yoga leaves it to each of us to contemplate and decide for ourselves. That entirely individual aspect of the practice is what makes it universal: Raja Yoga is NOT a religion; however, recognizing a) there’s only one Truth, and it doesn’t matter how you get to it – and b) that faith is a source of tremendous personal strength and courage, Raja Yoga promotes faith: encouraging us to devote our love and lives to something other than ourselves.
This is part of the philosophy or spirituality behind the science of meditation: the act of literally trying to draw closer to consciousness, or in practical terms, to realize the miracle, unity and interconnectedness of all life, thereby honoring yourself, and all that have come before, and will come after you.
In short, “Love all. Serve all.”
Namaste, Allan
