Self-investigation is a process that involves testing some
of the long held beliefs. If some of the beliefs are seen to be false then that
results into old words acquiring new meanings. In this article, I would like to
present three such words: progress, process and possibility – which have
acquired new meanings for me through the process of self-investigation.
Progress: Right
from school days the word progress carried significance. Initially, it meant gaining
height and weight and getting good marks in exams. Later on it meant getting
into a good college, getting a good job, getting married, owning stuff like a
house, a car etc. Somewhere along the way, I came across books by two spiritual
teachers – J. Krishnamurti and Ramana Maharshi. JK said – root cause of human
suffering is the process of becoming. And Ramana said – there is no separate
entity there to progress. I don’t know why but I took them seriously – at least
treated these as serious hypothesis to be tested. This was twenty years ago. And
I haven’t found any evidence to disprove them so far. As a result, the word
progress has acquired a new meaning – progress, to me, is a cognitive illusion
– a thought created gap between perception and reality. To get a glimpse of how
this could possibly be the case, it would help to look at the new meaning of
the second word – process.
Process: Be it
history or science, it was about understanding the interaction and relationship
between various entities. Physics involved large bodies like planets and small
particles like atoms and electrons and the forces among them. History involved
kingdoms, nations, their leaders and the wars. In either case, objects were
primary and their interaction was secondary. How does the earth attract the
moon? Did Gandhi help India win freedom from British? In short, objects were
primary and the process was secondary. Somewhere along the way, came a doubt: what
if the process is primary and everything else secondary? This investigation
takes a new turn when you question whether I am primary or the process of
perception and meaning making is primary. Here is how I see this currently: All
there is – is the Unknown which is a process of meaning getting expressed into matter,
thoughts and actions and simultaneously getting compressed back into the Unknown.
Every moment there is a perception and meaning making. If perception is with
clarity, then the meaning is harmonious and gets expressed accordingly. If
there is misperception then the meaning is conflict-ridden and gets expressed
accordingly. Every object is only a relatively stable structure in this process
flow – similar to a vortex in a river – never separate from it. Desire for
progress comes out of misperception when the relatively stable structures (such
as this body or the nations) are taken to be independent entities. And the
meaning making process tries to make the entity (e.g. this body) more secure making
progress (e.g. by getting a better job). How does a conflict-ridden meaning
begin to change?
Possibility: Every
conflict has a notion of impossibility inherent in it. Every anxiety involves
imagining a future – a what-if scenario – say of losing a job or a breaking of
a relationship – and also carrying a rigid belief that the imagined scenario should
be impossible (must not happen). However, sometimes perception undergoes a
shift and clarity emerges in the process. This is called an insight. And
through insight there is a perception of the futility of the process of
becoming. Then the rigidities which lead to impossibilities dissolve and turn
into possibilities. Then every opinion, every meaning is seen as a possibility
and nothing as impossible. In the worst case scenario of someone telling, “You
are stupid!” may also involve a possibility of learning something new about
oneself. Perhaps there is an opportunity to say “Sorry” if one has
inadvertently hurt someone. This is when the meaning making process becomes
creative. This understanding results in a living where every moment comes with several
possibilities and enriches life.
In short, I see currently that progress is a cognitive
illusion which results when meaning making process misperceives reality and begins to treat
relatively stable structures as independent entities. Sometimes, through
insights, the meanings undergo a shift and that melts its rigidities. Then
every moment brings several possibilities and makes life a continuous
learning process. Who knows? The meanings might change tomorrow.
References:
1.
J. Krishnamurti’s reference to process of
becoming as the root cause of suffering is in “Ending
of time” Chapter 1.
2.
Ramana Maharshi highlighting that there is no
separate entity to make progress can be found in multiple discussions in the
book – “Talks with Ramana Maharshi”. E.g. talk 380.
3.
Seeing every object as a relatively stable
structure like a vortex in a river is a metaphor I came across in David Bohm’s
writing and interviews. E.g. “Wholeness
and implicate order” Chapter 1.
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