The Silence of Reality
Spiritual Evolution or Consciousness Involution.
S.Pucelle -
Whether you consider yourself a spiritual person or not, whether you think spirituality has played a positive or negative role in history, it's undeniable that we humans have been engaged in these activities since the dawn of time: study, meditation, fasting, prayer, recollection, devotion, purification, discipline, thus marking the evolution of humanity.
In the search for knowledge and wisdom, we can ask ourselves the following question: How can we know what is real?
It is common to question one's existence and place in the world after experiencing trauma, loss, spiritual phenomena or other troubling events. Existential questioning generally revolves around the nature of reality, the nature of being human, our origins and our destination after death. The philosophical discourse on the possibility of understanding the nature of reality is complex and constant.
As sentient beings, we are confined within the limits of our minds and intellectual capacities, relying solely on our subjective perceptions.
This is a legitimate question since most individuals assume the opposite; even if we could claim to know the nature of our experiences' idiosyncratic character, the fact that we are physically limited beings prevents us from knowing anything about the nature of non-mental tangible reality as it is.
Nevertheless, we need to recognise how incredibly inconsistent our subjective impressions can be. It can be difficult to persuade others that their thoughts and feelings are inaccurate.
Considering the above, we are more likely to doubt the laws of physics than our thoughts because of the strength of our subjective impressions.
We are led to believe that perception and reality are identical, with the mind constructing its own reality.
We can observe and analyse the limits of human language and reason to discuss reality. Negating its concept is one valid approach.
This epistemological approach to the nature of reality is known as apophasic rhetoric, i.e. obtaining knowledge through negation.
While empirical constructs can serve as a bridge to the nature of reality, it cannot fathom its essence.
The question remains: What is reality, and what is ultimate reality?
We are material beings since we are born, live and die. Our physical body is subject to many imperatives, including the demands of its environment. The senses enable us to experience and interact with the world, transmitting information to our cognitive apparatus through conscious mental experiences such as thoughts, feelings and perceptions. Most people understand this process, but how does consciousness arise in the brain?
In modern philosophy, this question is called "The hard problem of consciousness" (David Chalmers).
I consider that most of the answers lie in understanding and using the method of esoteric involution. Evolution and involution are concepts that have both universal and individual expression. These concepts are found in many traditions, such as Yoga, Neoplatonism and Christian Mysticism.
The terms Nirvritti refer to involution and Pravritti to evolution in yoga. Many yoga practitioners are familiar with the Sanskrit term Vritti, which refers to the fluctuation of the mind, as cited in the Yoga Sutras.
Sri Patanjali defines yoga as "Yoga Citta vritti Nirodhah". Yoga is the control of mental fluctuations - Sutra 1.2.
Citta is our field of consciousness, Nirodhah is the voluntary act of control, and Vritti is the fluctuation of our consciousness that captures our attention. The process of Pravritti, or evolution of the field of consciousness, occurs through innate, unlearned mechanisms; our consciousness is drawn to an internal or external stimulus and judges or identifies with it. The process of Nirvritti, or involution, is a deliberate refusal to respond to external or internal stimulation.
By fixing the Heart/Mind on a support (Alambana Sanskrit), usually an object of devotion or concentration, in order to subvert the evolutionary process of consciousness and trigger its involution.
Some experienced meditation practitioners can enter a state of pure awareness in which there are no thoughts, feelings, perceptions or even notions of self, time or space.
The path to reality has long been part of various mystical philosophies. These philosophies postulate the existence of an absolute reality akin to universal consciousness or a creative force. Once again, these concepts are perhaps best left in a state of non-representation as they escape interpretative understanding. But they also describe with conviction the existence, within each human being, of the potential of a governing instance similar to or of the same nature as the omnipotent force that oversees the cosmos.
The Mandukya Upanishad (Hindu philosophical-religious texts) describes a state accessible to every individual called Turiya, which is indescribable, incomprehensible and unfathomable to the mind, but ultimately realized as the one true self, an unchanging, infinite, immanent and transcendent reality. The term literally means the fourth state, beyond waking, dreaming and deep dreamless sleep.
In Greek philosophy, and notably in Neoplatonism, the term Henosis refers to unification with the essence of reality.
According to Neoplatonism, the soul is purified primarily through philosophy, which leads to noetic perception (inner wisdom, spiritual perception) and, ultimately, mystical union.
In Christian Mysticism, the Ground of the Soul is not just an entity but a state of being. It is a state devoid of all limiting determination, embodying infinite potential and unconstrained freedom. Coming from an immaterial and purely spiritual world, it can nevertheless descend into the physical world and temporarily connect with a body, which it then controls and uses as a tool to free itself from the conditioning and constraints of matter.
Modern language is considerably impoverished in spiritual vocabulary. Culture has been submerged by the ideas and concepts of psychology, discarding an entire vocabulary of human experience. We can accept that knowledge of reality is not a birthright and that we are born with limitations concerning the nature of our being.
The ancient civilizations and wisdom of the past teach us that this is not an unabating truth. These facts generally remain hidden from human consciousness, which is then overwhelmed by sensory impressions and unable to grasp what the highest part of consciousness perceives. Yet there is a way to overcome this ignorance by reversing the ontological process of consciousness.
Firstly, by taming sensual activity in relation to the world, recognizing their unremitting character and the unsatisfying nature of sensory pleasure to provide happiness.
Secondly, by renouncing the authority of the mental process in our relationship with reality.
This is achieved through meditation and the cultivation of watchfulness and stillness of heart/mind. In the yoga tradition, these qualities are called Abhyasa, practice, and Vairagya, renunciation or Nepsis, attention, and Hesychia, silence, in Christian mysticism.
This may seem unrealistic to some, and only relevant to those dedicated to renunciation. But this is not the case.
Indeed, there is a gradation of spiritual endeavours, and cultivating an inquiring mind is accessible to everyone and constitutes a genuine beginning. Furthermore, it's not a matter of renouncing the world and its attributes but of developing the so-called "inner man", which refers to the spiritual aspect of a person. This innate reality is detached from its opposite, the "outer man", the visible, external aspect of the person. This inner truth can be polished like a reflecting mirror towards a higher consciousness. The equivalent in yoga is called Antaratma Sadhana, the innermost quest.
Different states of knowledge can be achieved through our participatory embrace of all experiences beyond the senses while developing an inwardly objective relationship to the silence emerging from such practices.
The only way to know that we exist as conscious beings is to experience our own consciousness.
If you would like to practice with us an approach that combines body relaxation and stillness of mind, consider one of our online Yin Yoga & Meditation classes. Click on the button below to view our online course schedule.
