8. Will and spontaneity in Tantra yoga
an article by Gregorian Bivolaru
We definitely have to agree we can do nothing by using our mere egoistic will; as soon as we want something in this manner, the doors will close. This is the reason why the prevalent ascetic paths, mortifications, strong-minded yoga, the ultimatums of incontestable dogmas of religious and moralist traditions, also the systematic practice of encoded and standardized virtues seems more likely be a kind of guilty mystifications rather than a path toward spiritual freedom. They are based upon the egoistic wish, the egoistic will and the egoistic hope of getting a fruit, or a profit and thus all these are but obvious manifestations of ego (WHICH APPEAR TO BE LIKE THAT ONLY FOR THE LUCID AND DETACHED EYE).
In order to act indeed spontaneously, without any act of egoistic will, it becomes necessary to utilize a subterfuge. We could call it a kind of trick or play. Because there is always something playful in this attitude which resemble with that LILA (the divine, cosmic play) we have mentioned before, the great divine, cosmic play of unfolding and wrapping-up. The only imperative think then will remain the vigilance, the full, permanent attention, but not the focus on something specific: first of all we must become enough vigilant in the state of wakefulness, then slowly in the dream state and later on in the state of deep sleep for finally sending away for good the listlessness and unconsciousness from our being. In this respect it is necessary an attention lacking any turmoil and emotiveness (thus emotiveness must disappear, but not the emotion). This will thus be a focus lacking a precise object and which is not longing for some result; it is then a kind of suspension able to create a kind of superior state of availability. We have thus to learn to become non-critic profound observers, to see at the same time the unfolding actions as if we were dissociated of them, still keeping untainted the power to coordinate them in an impeccable way, thanking to our senses now turned toward interior and somehow disconnected from mental.
When this kind of backing becomes a habit for us, or even an automatism, we can say we really “undertake” without thus losing the state of witness. Then only we start concretely to feel that the world moving outside of us and our static conscience are not vexing and opposing one another. Then is possible to “act” as if you didn’t act and it is then possible to speak about an effort without effort or about a detached ardour which for others seems to be an extraordinary nonchalance. The effervescence maintains these spontaneously, the things keep on coming and going; we are inside and outside in the same time. Soon we will feel that there almost is no inside or outside; everything is something continuous without any hiatus. The sense of possessiveness disappears, same as the ones of distinguishing oneself, guiltiness or self respect. We don’t pose questions anymore, don’t search for justifications, and the ceaseless chattering of mental breaks off. The senses are working free now, and life continues with its beauties and horrors, but it no longer is that riotously sea swinging on its surface our little boat, risking to shatter it on the exteriority reefs. We could say we perfectly integrated in our being this sea which can no longer sink us henceforth, because we already are an integral unique part.
Tantric philosophy often insists on the non-doing of actions and on the idea of non-doing of doing, even explaining that living an action through non-action is a divine, concrete and extremely amazing reality. Such understanding of non-action is neither the negation, nor the contrary of action, nor a parody, nor an insidious praise for laziness. Then the non-action consists of a complete transformation of habits, which once becoming aware, instantaneously leads tot the continuity of the present or, by other words, out of temporality.
Pursuing to understand some may ask themselves: it is really the non-action a non-identification with all that is a part of the existential reality, a kind of witness position? And these witnesses state it is really the ultimate position which man can access in pursuit of his Self?
The tantric thinking often pursues to clearly separate “non-doing and doing” and “non-doing from act”. For some this statement could not be the most inspired. The non-doing is to be understood as a state of “to be”; it is thus impracticable because to rely on any exercise is devaluing and even annulling it. The state of non-doing in fact means the anchorage in an abolished time, in this perpetual present without any reference to the past or future. This doesn’t means at all that actions cease to go on, but due to the unconditioned offering of the RESULTS of the actions to GOD they don’t generate anymore personal consequences in future. They thus subscribe into the divine cosmic order and don’t ever draw those effects which usually feed and then condition the psycho-mental life of man, weaving and chaining his future. They have thus a sole function: to maintain the world. They don’t bring fruits to us anymore because they were already offered to GOD and just because of this, they are perfect.
Because for most of the people “not to do” remains inaccessible for their understanding and practice we’ll again use a subterfuge: we’ll anticipate practice, systematically exercising ourselves in the non-doing of acts. Because any particular action has its own non-doing, and the more they are, the more they contain a greater variety of non-doing. To sample this, in the tantric teachings there are given many examples of activities which, if practiced in such a opposing way, they could rapidly direct us toward a permanent state of non-doing. All these basically offer us a way to put ourselves almost always in an extraordinary state of availability. Nothing else.
This ideal position and also that of a witness that we previously referred to have a lot in common. In fact, under various forms and images the tantric thinking often refers to the same things.
Please read next about The three ways of Referring to the spiritual centre of being…
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