Attention
Implies the Absence
Of Any
Distraction or Distortion
N. C. Ramanujachary
N. C. Ramanujachary
Eyeglasses
can only restore right vision at the physical plane reality
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The following article is
reproduced from “The Aquarian
Theosophist”, June 2012 edition.
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We, human-beings,
have “vision”. Eye is the sense organ. Vision has many meanings but is commonly
understood as seeing. The total vision has broader and too wider connotations.
It includes invariably far-sight, planning and designing for the future. But in
general we are not satisfied with normal seeing, would speculate many other
things beyond and behest.
Let us first examine the matter of “seeing”. We have
two eyes. Some people even talk about a “third eye” or an inner perception.
They say seeing is not complete without that. The third eye which was available
with the earlier races of mankind got reduced and absented itself. This has
become the ‘pineal gland’ which is another story.
We have a perception which normally includes the
ability to see, hear, etc. We have five senses of perception. Some people even
talk about the extra/higher sensory perception. The sense organs known to us as
means of perception are: Eye (Seeing), Ear (Hearing), Nose (Smelling), Tongue
(Tasting) and Skin (Touching). Sabda,
Sparsa, Roopa, Rasa, Gandhas are the aspects of the sense organs, as we
well know. These sense organs collect the data of perception and report to the
Mind (also considered the Sixth organ by some, besides being the coordinator of
the five senses.)
Mind is supposed to be the data-base for the senses’
perception, outer and inner. Mind has no physical locale, but we feel it and do
not agree when someone suggests that we do not have the mind. Attention is the
collective action of the mind. It is a Principle and an agent for inner
perception. Storing, retrieving, recollection and propelling for action
thereupon are its primary functions.
Perception is also a way of understanding or regarding
something, the ability of understanding at the same time the true nature of
that something. We may name it as Insight or the faculty of Intuitive
understanding.
Attention and Alertness are the states in the
Awakening of the sense organs. They become possible only when the mind is
capable of collectively functioning; when all the sense organs effectively
perceive.
Mind has a great role in human conduct and behavior.
Considering the human principles and their aspects, mind is very vital in
importance so far as functioning is the matter.
Theosophically speaking, mind is said to be the “fifth
principle”. A human being has seven principles at his command. As the fifth
principle, mind can independently propel action or report to its higher
principles, Buddhi and Atma.
Popular idea in the theosophical connotation is that
“Atma-Buddhi-Manas” is the Real Man or Inner Man. Man is the master of his
business and its administration when he functions as a Total Man, devoid of the
subjection or influence of the impulsive psychic and physical aspects of
functioning. When he is functioning only at the level of psychic and physical
modes, he is only partial and parochial. He is behaving as a fragment of his
Total Being. We are not concerned, at this point, with those who think that
what is seen is enough and the search beyond is futile.
Coming back to the sense organs, eye is considered the
principal of them, for the simple reason that it is the first organ which
senses. On the analysis we made of the Total Man, we have to consider the eye
only as a beginner of perception, only as a representative of the five senses
and organs. Even when we say “Vision” it is complete only by the total or
collective action. To the outer vision, we have also need to add on the inner
vision. We shall deal with the eye, as an illustration in our total
examination, but will not forget that the other four are conjoint with it all
the time. We call that “attention”.
Attention implies the absence of any distraction or
distortion. These are to be totally eliminated from the scene of perception.
When there is distraction or distortion the vision is not “true” or “real”.
When we see a thing before us (our eyes), we can as well make it heard, smelt,
tasted and touched too. We see the object first and the act of seeing intently
brings up the other aspects to our observation. They are radiated to us
invariably from the object itself. They are “subjective” but are brought into a
sort of objectivity because of our perception.
We desire to see things both objectively and
subjectively. When there is total attention, the subject and object become one.
The seeing (or vision) has to be total and faultless.
To put it in other words, we must see things as they
are, and not as we wish them to be or as they prima-facie appear only in a
form. Yadha-tat and Yadha-vat are the Sanskrit words to indicate things as
they are. So, the effort is to see things as they are. This is the “State of
Faultless Vision”.
It is common that the vision gets distorted or
disoriented, for various reasons. Age may be one, self-opinion or pre-conceived
notion is another.
When the eye suffers this we approach an oculist.
Similarly for each organ we have specialists who help us set right the matter
by removing the fault. Thus we get back to be the right visionaries. This is so
as far as the outer organs are concerned. What happens to the faults affecting
the inner organs is a separate matter. This is concerned with the inner enemies
of the man, such as anger, irritation, envy, jealousy, pride, and there is a
long list. Unless these are also remedied and the vision is set right, we
cannot say the vision is faultless. These are to be attended to if we so desire
to have a faultless vision. Otherwise, we can rest where we are.
We will now consider how the Faultless Vision can be
attained. This is a sort of “mysticism” (id
est, the process of becoming one with all or filled with “That” and nothing
else) at a lower level. But without mystifying ourselves, we can make this
vision a common knowledge and become total human-beings.
For attaining this, the primary step is Concentration
(Dharana).
Dharana is described as “the intense and perfect
concentration of mind upon some interior object, accompanied by complete
abstraction from everything pertaining to the external Universe, or world of
the senses”. This can also be termed as “one-pointedness”.
In other words, we must become indifferent (Udasina) to the objects of perception and see only through the mind (Manonetra). This mind, again, is the
maker of illusion. Illusion replaces or kills the Real. So, we must become
capable to trespass the total field of illusion, created and projected by the
mind. We must here remember that two traits of the mind are Avarana and vikshepa (id est, covering
things and projecting non-available things).
The field of Illusion is, in philosophic terms, named
as the field of “Asat”. From the
region of this Illusion (Asat) we must proceed to the region of the “Sat”
(Real). Seeing the illusionary forms, hearing the sounds of “roaring as to
whispers, to cries of bellowing elephants, as to the silvery buzzling of the
golden firefly” - which is in the range common with practitioners of meditation
(Dhyana), must be stopped. The art of right meditation will not provide for
these illusions.
From the field of forms, we need to get into the field
of ideas or concepts. The latter field too gets absorbed into a higher region
later.
The form of clay gets unified with the mind of the
potter (designer). This happens before he makes the form. This is what we call
Ideation. We must get into the mind of the form-maker (creator) to start with.
This is termed as the “higher-mind of the soul”, which is equally earthy, and
it attempts to separate us from the Sutra-Atma
(string of existence, the silver thread that binds us to our creator/Master).
This earth, the hall of (Asat) sorrow, traps to enclose us in itself. Yet, it is also the
“entrance leading to the twilight that precedes the valley of True light”.
That true Light burns without a wick or fuel, and no
wind, however strong, can extinguish that. Wick is the physicality and fuel the
psychic nature, symbolically put here. Because one has passed the hall of
sorrow not responding any longer to the earthly perceptions, the entrance
welcomes him. At this stage, one sees the Self-in-Reality (svasvarupa). Then alone
one can attempt to see or become the All-Self (Parasvarupa). One has to rest in that Eternity.
Figuratively speaking:
One has to cross the hall of ignorance, then the hall of learning, and
enter into the precincts of the hall of Wisdom (Jnana). This is not easy. Great struggle is needed to get over the
hall of learning, for it is more flowery and attractive, alluring one to rest
in it (Pandtya-prakarsha).
To put it in common phraseology:
One must first get out of the outer senses (destroy
the psychic body);
Then, the Inner Senses (clean up the mind body); then
Step into the region of Wisdom (Jnana) (purify the heart).
The region of wisdom is the Bliss. Here one is “born
in heaven”, not breaking away from the Universal Parent. One is in his “Heart”,
with the Inner Ruler Immortal (Antaryami).
Resting with him is merging with the One and living there. Now, one becomes one
with the path of onward journey. The Inner Ruler or the Inner Man is the
pilgrim and sets on his further journey, having unloaded the physical and
psychic luggage. This unloading is the removal of the sorrow of the world to an
extent. Killing the Desire, including the love of life (Kama and Thrishna) are the marks for this. Then the desire to
follow the nature’s changeless laws comes up. By working in aid with nature,
one becomes a friend to Nature, when “she will open her ranks” and takes one on
to the “portals of her secret chamber”.
The rungs of suffering and pain are silenced by the
voice of virtue, which are variously made as indicated below:
“Kill desires, make your vices impotent. Make your
sins dumb. Silence the thoughts and fix attention on the Master (who have not
yet seen but only felt). Merge your senses into his senses.”
It is said, in other words, that the rose must become
again the bud by killing all memory of past experiences, and become as innocent
as a child.
Now the aspirant’s flesh (body) is passive, head cool
and soul firm. All the thick dark clouds of matter have evaporated.
The light of the One Master radiates now. Hearing and
seeing merge here and all psychic senses also merge in unity with the Master’s
eternal radiance.
Now the human-being becomes only a doer, witness,
radiator and the radiation too. All the five impediments to the organs are
destroyed.
Human being remains as a vehicle (Upadhi) and becomes conscious of the Spiritual Self. The merger
with the All-Self eventually occurs. One becomes the Light, Sound and Master of
himself. This is termed as the state of Samadhi
(in equilibrium with ALL) and that is the state of Faultless Vision.
This state need not be considered very high, above the
reach of human beings and unachievable. That is “latent” in each one of us, the
human beings, and can be made patent by constant attention and vigilant
approach to life.
Oversimplifying again, it can be stated as a
consistent effort to: rectifying one’s own faults, making readjustments for
orientation, and radiating the radiance. Thus the human-being becomes a god on
earth, but not of the earth. He is the real agent of the Supreme
Principle that guides and elevates the universe, upon this globe.
Human kingdom is asserted to be the fourth hierarchy
on this globe. That statement can be worked out to become “Real” by each one of
us. We only need devotion to this duty and earnestness in endeavor (Bhakti-Shraddha) coupled with reverence to nature and the Absolute that is the
original stature of nature.
Human being is endowed with the creative
forces/energies such as Will, Wisdom and Activity (Itchha, Jnana, Kriya Sakti-s). Human will has no barriers, when
covered with selflessness and altruistic spirit.
One may wonder whether all this is possible for men
and women of the world. One has to intellectually visualize things well before
practically attempting the achievable goal. Unwavering conviction brings the
needed firm determination. Only when one is in conformity with the opinion and
convinced of its necessity, the doors of opportunity open before him. Nature
and life are too beneficent to mankind and are ready to guide towards the True
Light. In all these matters, verbal understanding is first necessary and when
it is right it would naturally lead on to the ultimate.
The acquisition of the Faultless Vision is only a
first step in the long pilgrimage of human being. As one thinker remarked, the
first step is the last step. When it is
taken in right earnest, there will be no looking back. The journey is, of
course, long. When the radiance of the Light pours in, there is only Bliss and
no more tiresomeness.
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On the task of
the esoteric movement during the 21st century, see the book “The Fire and
Light of Theosophical Literature”, by Carlos Cardoso Aveline.
Published in
2013 by The Aquarian Theosophist,
the volume has 255 pages and can be obtained through Amazon Books.
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