Objects: Its Perception, Existence and Three States of Subjective Modification

Perception is life. The way we perceive the world and its objects largely determines our goal, attitude, and understanding of life. The perception is not altogether same in all human beings; In fact, it varies significantly from person to person. 

For example, a child is captivated by the colors of the jelly bean and takes them to be real. For a scientist, the colors are nothing but the excitement of the sub-atomic particles. He thinks them in a metaphysical way. For a seer, the jelly bean is altogether absent. He perceives them as a modification of the subject.

Therefore, a child enjoys the taste of the jelly bean. A scientist modifies the properties of the jelly bean into something different. A seer tries to get rid of the false identification of the jelly bean.

We will see more of the last perception.

Objects are void and do not have existence on its own except that it exists as one of the three states of subjective modification. The three states of subjective modifications are,

1.     Rising of objects in the field of mind

2.     The perception of void

3.     The disappearance of the objects

Rising of objects:

            In the beginning, the subject existed in a state of static. The static is peace untouched by any object. Then the subject is clothed in the so-called human configuration. The subject then lost in the human configuration, is completely in a mess with the dynamics of human configuration. The human configuration is made to look at the material world of objects by way of sensory organs. The subject then goes on modifying itself to identify the sense objects. 

              The static trying to be in a state of equilibrium with the dynamic objects or the static wishes to be in sync with the dynamic objects. This is how constantly we are trying to be in, to be in sync with dynamic objects. This is how the field of objects arises.

Perception of void:

            In the process of syncing, the subject perceives the void accompanied by the sense objects. The infinite subject could not sync with the finite objects and therefore, it tries syncing again. It is like syncing an iPod. We are repeating the process but it is a failure. 

             For example, we eat an ice cream and we are not satisfied with it. It is gone is a flash. It is no more. We actually perceive a void and we go for another to sync it. But it too fails and we go for another. We try this process until the energy in the human configuration is drained.

In all sensory enjoyments we perceive the void and therefore, we go for more. The void therefore, becomes the property of sense objects and void, in turn, becomes the sense objects itself. Therefore, all sensory objects are nothing but void.

Disappearance of objects:

            Having experienced the void, the subject tries to disconnect the syncing process. This is the beginning of disappearance of the objects. As the subject gathers more experience about the voidness of the objects, the more it likes to disconnect with it. The subject tries to regain the static in the human configuration. It resolves all the mess involved with this configuration. It resolves until the subject does not modify itself to identify the object.

This is what Buddha meant when he said ‘See the object as it is’ i.e. seeing the void in it. Therefore see the object as it is.

Thank You.

           

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Time - Infinitesimal and Infinite

Time is a myth. We often hear people saying, ‘I don’t have enough time’, ‘time is running very fast’ etc. There are some other who say, ‘Time is running slow’ etc. We find in these two cases, there are a contraction and expansion of time. In fact, time doesn’t contract or expand as we know.

Confines of time

Scientifically, we measure time by observing the relative motion of celestial bodies, in relation to one another. Also, there are thousands of satellites hovering around us to determine the time to a millionth of a second. If that so, then why then do we feel this expansion and contraction of time?

Time – Infinitesimal

Time exists in relation to an event. The event is nothing but an engagement to sense objects. The sense objects are a limited kind of thing as we know. As one engages in these objects, the man comes into being and comes under the confines of time.

Existence-object-time coexists with each other. The ‘I’ serves as the linchpin for this trio. The ‘I’ gets attracted to objects, generates existence and time in turn. Then we revolve around time. We feel we are getting old, getting retired from office and so on. Why should we get old and retired at all? We get consumed by time. In the infinite existence of time, our entire life looks infinitesimal.

As we get engaged in sense objects, we feel hurried by time. We find ourselves limited and anxious. There is a sense of insecurity. We find ourselves late to office, work remains distasteful, and feel bludgeoned by time. The result of this finite existence in time is always pressure, anxiety, and insecurity.

Time – infinite

The greatest myth which is very difficult to comprehend is that we exist. We exist in a body and eat through it. In fact, we don’t exist at all and yet we exist. It is a great paradox. As we resolve all sense impressions and resolve the ‘I’ element, then time and existence cease. Man finds himself in infinite time.

Infinite time

To resolve all the elements one has to take an inward turn. Everything must be related to the subject rather than the object. The work that we do should not have quantitative goals but rather work must reflect the building up of character necessary for the subjective turn. Work must be the matter of subjective development. 

When we resolve in that spirit, all hurrying ceases. All anxiety and pressure ceases. When we persist in the subjective development, we transcend the Existence-object-time axis. Then the self exists in infinite time.

Thank You.


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Peace, Seed, Stealth and Noise

The one shocking thing which man doesn’t know is that he is always in peace. He is in peace infinite 24X7. This subtle realm of peace is constantly ‘upset’ by the different layers of mind which superimpose on each other. There are certain moments in our lives when these veils of layers, are removed one by one, without any effort. But it is only for a short duration of time and only to get superimposed again by the layers of the mind. For example, when you walk alone in a Himalayan peak, when you look at the gorgeous snow-capped peaks, with the base enveloped by alpine trees, together with the dazzling sunset, and when you behold such a sight, you stumble upon peace. This stumbling happens because,

stumble upon peace

1. You are alone.

2. There are no external objects (sense objects) to link up with the finite self.

3. The seemingly infinite stature of the mountains links up with the infinite within.

In such a scenario, the vortex of the superimposed layers of the mind are naturally withdrawn and the subject of man is revealed, for a moment. He breathes peace. He beholds the sight and the peace within as well. This is the reason why people climb summits or take photographs. It is peace-infinite for a moment. The vortex of the superimposed layers comes back and envelopes the infinite self of man, once more, to challenge him, to come out of the vortex.

Peace, Seed, stealth and Noise are the names, I would like to append to the different layers of the mind.

Peace:

We have heard many times that each man has the potential to become Buddha or the one to get enlightened or the one to attain the aforesaid peace. This is the realm where the pure subject exists, and the complete absence of names and forms of external objects. Everything in the world is simply cut-down to arrive at this phenomena.

Almost all our activities are undertaken by continuously upsetting this peace. In the converse, man does the activity to arrive at this peace. There is peace below and whirlpool above. The whirlpool swirling to and fro, dragging in and dragging out, to reach out to the infinite self. The man simply cannot bypass as numerous forces and reactions are looming over the surface to get caught in the whirlwind. We will see what next layer of the mind looks like.

Seed:

         Seed is the key to the door of peace. what is this seed? The seed is the so-called ‘I’. ‘I’ is what, which turns the subject into an object. When one says ‘I’, and ‘mine’, man becomes the so-called finite-self. This, in turn, becomes the basis of identification, of all names and forms, of objects in relation to the body. This is the layer, where all the effects of all our actions are stored, just like a mainframe server.

These effect of actions or summation of all actions in a lifetime makes the seed active. The active seed is responsible for the further physical appearance in a body. It is almost impossible to get rid of it, except that it can be made inactive. The seed can be made inactive by coming out of ‘I’. 

That is why religion is concerned with unselfish action. This is the basis for all charity. You go to a Sikh Gurdwara, you are free to do a voluntary work and thereby do an act which roasts the seed a bit. One has to do such actions constantly and cease all identifications with ‘I’ and get the seed roasted completely. Then the door to peace is opened once for all.

unselfish work

Stealth:

This layer comes out of the superimposition of the seed layer. This is the layer which exercises control over us. We form certain habits by identification with sense objects and they create sense impressions. Repetition of these identification forms a habit. Then we are under the control of this layer. This layer is stealthy and evasive on the surface. All the sudden bursts of anger, joy and other impulses are because of this stealth. Just like a stealth bomber which cannot be detected comes out and bombs, similarly, this layer comes unnoticed and bombs us. Man in this layer becomes the object itself.

stealth bomber

The simple formula is ‘I = Object’. For example one of my friend is fond of iPhone. He is so much identified with the object that he becomes iPhone itself. Do a little scratch on the phone, then you will understand the identification.

Noise:

                This is the layer which we are in now. In silence, we are noisy. In walking, we are noisy. In driving, we are noisy. In mediation, we are noisy. We carry this noise everywhere.

How to test ourselves that we are noisy when we were actually silent. Just open the water tap and see how much we have spilled unnecessarily. For washing couple of clothes, we use four full buckets of water. This is noise. Just see how objects are strewn pathetically in your house. It is all but noise. Noise bring too many things and too many priorities. By silence you, narrow down these things and you are clear.

see how much you waste

Man simply cannot resist the layers of seed and stealth and give way to noise. The noise is the experience of joys and sorrows. This experience again takes down the man to the layers beneath. Man has already traversed from peace to noise now he has to go back from noise to peace.

Thank you.

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Email - vishnushankarpv@gmail.com