Zen: The Art of Nothing

Introspection is a wonderful tool available to a spiritual aspirant. When done right, it can lead quite directly to deeply peaceful states.

The intellect has long been celebrated in modern society and this is especially true of the current generation. We judge people based on their IQ, their opinions and their academic qualification. The intellect has been reduced to a tool that serves the ego and consequently, introspection is an exercise in the same direction.

What is Introspection?

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines introspection as “a reflective looking inward :  an examination of one’s own thoughts and feelings“. It takes us in two directions – one can either examine one’s thoughts, or one’s feelings. The former is much more popular. And a much bigger waste of time.

Introspection on Thoughts

The ego is nothing but a set of mental structures which we use to construct or define our identity. Whenever something happens that disturbs or challenges this identity, it gives rise to unpleasant feelings. In a bid to avoid facing these feelings, the mind starts moving in circles, giving rise to thought after thought, theory after theory. Any mental introspection therefore gives rise to transient theories which support the current illusion we are witnessing.

This is not to say that happy moments are any different. Pleasant feelings arise when the identity is reinforced, and in such a case the mind runs in circles in a bid to make this state permanent, coming up with theories and ways to extend this feeling.

So in either case, mental introspection is futile because it tries to consider permanent something that is ever-changing.

Introspection on Feelings

On the other hand if we simply look inward, something that can be equated to pratyahara, the fifth step on the eight-fold journey in Ashtanga yoga, we slowly learn to rest in the realisation that everything is impermanent.

Instead of running with the mind, if we turn our attention to the feelings in our heart and sensations in our body, introspection becomes free from the shackles of the mind. Initially it might be helpful to label what we are feeling – ‘I am feeling angry/ sad/ rejected’ or ‘there is a tightness in my chest/ throbbing in my knee’ but with practice one experiences these things deeply enough that no word can do justice to what we are experiencing.

So?

The mind is a wonderful, extremely powerful tool. It is what separates man from all the other beings through the capacity to rationalise, plan and analyse. However, most of us have lived a life where it is not us who controls the mind, but the mind is controlling us, revolving around pointless topics and leaving us with no energy for productive activity.

Introspecting on one’s feelings lifts the veil of the mind-created stories from our eyes and brings us a clearer version of reality. A focus on feelings also helps us bypass the analytical mind and tackles restlessness at its root cause, thereby eliminating the deep-seated, subconscious fear of feelings – which is really the secret to lasting peace.

Question: What attitude should I have as a disciple?

Jacqueline: Put your sadhana, your spiritual practice first, above everything else and be sincere. Be who you are. You know, at this point in time, you are playing the role of a seeker, let’s say.. a traveler on the spiritual pathway. You just play that role as well as you can, and with awareness.

The Triangle

I think you’ve all heard me say this before, let me say this again. I often recommend, that people practice their sadhana as a triangle. There’s three points in a triangle. And I would say that one point of the triangle, is meditation.

Meditation

Meditation is a wonderful way to get deeper into the witnessing and not to get too pulled into the drama. We still get pulled in, it happens. But the deeper you go with the meditation, the easier it is to step back in life also. If you really meditate sincerely, and witnessing, and just leaving everything alone, that arises in your thoughts, in your feelings, if you are practicing your sadhana in this way, you will become more detached. You will be able to take a step back in your meditation and also in your life.

Teachings

The second point in the triangle, I call the teachings. The teachings are needed for most people. And I would say meditation is needed for most people. There are no rules. You know, somebody can wake up suddenly, if they’re ripe, if they’re ready, in a totally different way. But for most people, teachings are needed.

We have minds. We are not our thoughts, we are not our minds but we have a mind! And the mind also, for many people, most people, needs to be satisfied. So the real truth teachings will help an understanding that then will make it easier.

The ordinary thinking mind cannot grasp – cannot understand the truth of who we are. So the teachings prepare the way. When this awakening happens, the teachings are not needed, but they’re very useful on the way.

Karma Yoga

The third point on the triangle, is what I call living the teachings. Karma yoga. Being in the world, but not of it, perhaps. But it really means sincerely living what you know, or what you think you know, and understand – living it. And then, life will give you feedback. You will know what issues you need to look at, where more detachment is needed.

If you sit on a mountain top, or in a room with the door closed all the time, just meditating… well, that might feel very fine and it can be a way for some people, but then you don’t get the feedback from the world – not so powerfully, as you do when you’re living your life and you’re amongst people.

This doesn’t mean that you don’t need to remove yourself from life sometimes. This is why we have ashrams, so that people can remove themselves from life sometimes and be in a place which supports the awakening.

So the triangle is what I would suggest for your spiritual pathway.

But really, the attitude NOT to have, is that something in life, is against your spiritual growth, because it isn’t. Life on this planet, at this point in time can be very very tough. Hmm? Very tough. But life is never against your spiritual growth, and the more you bring awareness onto your pathway, into your life, the easier it is to see this.

So, this is what I could say to you today. Just feel that inside for a moment, see how that feels.

Put your Feet on the Path

Just remember the story of the prodigal son. You might know this story from the Bible – the son who left his father’s house went into the world and got totally lost in the world. It would be like a young person today. Going off and getting stuck in you know, drugs, alcohol, wasting money, etc. And then he realized how he was wasting his life and destroying himself. So he dropped everything, and he began the journey back to his father’s home. And he hadn’t gone far, when the father came rushing to meet him. And this story is symbolic.

When you really turn around and put your feet on the spiritual pathway, on the way home to the Divine Father as some would call it; some would say God, some would just say source, it’s all fine. But when you really consciously and sincerely put your feet on that pathway, the Divine also comes rushing to meet you.

So just to repeat, to finish off with, the attitude not to have as a disciple is that something in life, is against your spiritual growth. Namaste.

I’ve said this before. The right questions are more important than the right answers. And every once in a while, you come across these priceless questions. A friend at the ashram asked Jacqueline two questions – the second one will come in the next post. Her replies were so special, I couldn’t resist sharing.

If you want to hear it all in Jacqueline’s voice, click here (14 min).

Question: When I look at people in world, also many of my friends, I just don’t understand why they are doing what they are doing. I find ordinary pursuits meaningless and the teachers tell us that it is all an illusion. Can you please say something about this?

Jacqueline: First of all, what I would like to say is you have to be very careful with this – that everything is an illusion, the world is an illusion. People who haven’t realized the truth of who they are, haven’t realized what reality really is, can end up becoming very confused by this idea that the world is an illusion, everything is an illusion, nothing matters.

When someone hasn’t had that realization, it can be just be a way of turning their back on the world. It can be a form of escapism. The illusion is, it’s not the world, but it is what the mind projects on the world. The stories that the mind projects onto the leela, God’s divine play, the happening that we call life. It’s the mind’s projection onto this that we could call the illusion.

Now, finding ordinary pursuits meaningless – first of all, very important, don’t become a spiritual snob. And, I’m not only speaking to this young man now, but just generally speaking, beware of that. Judging other people’s lives because they are not on a spiritual pathway, you create actually, a new kind identity. The identity that I often call ‘the holy personality’.

Your spiritual pathway is about recognizing that you are a spiritual being. Recognizing your true nature. A spiritual pathway is moving beyond the mistaken identities of who we think we are. You know, I’m fantastic, I’m not good enough, I’m this, I’m that. This is the illusion, this is the mind’s projection. But it can be very easy on a spiritual pathway, to start building up a new identity, that of being holy. And any identity you build up, you will get stuck in it.

So the pursuits you might call meaningless, the lives some people are living, are the lives that are required for people until they are ready to awaken. Anybody coming to this planet has some kind of karma to work out. And it’s not meaningless. So, the things you meet in life, how you deal with these things, how you relate to people, all of this, is karma working itself out.

The conflicts we have, it’s like when you are making a diamond- I don’t remember the English word for this, but sometimes it says, you know, they say you need a diamond to cut a diamond, to rub against it. And the tensions and irritations we can meet in life, can be a fine way of polishing our inner diamond, our inner truth.

So if everyone coming on this planet, read a book on spirituality or found a teaching that everything is an illusion, and then they just sat down and didn’t do anything. I mean, first of all, it wouldn’t be possible, but it would be a total waste of an incarnation. I think you understand what I mean by this.

So, don’t label other people’s lives meaningless. Stay centered in yourself and walk your own pathway. That will give you plenty to do. No need to get lost in other people’s drama, in that way. And if you are using a lot of energy to judge and think about why other people’s lives are so meaningless, you are getting lost, stuck. Use your energy instead in your sadhana, in your spiritual pathway, in your practice.

• What is Meditation?
• What is NOT meditation?
• Why should I meditate?
• What is the best technique for meditation?
• I can’t learn meditation, my mind is never quiet.
• When I meditate, I have too many thoughts. How can I fix this?
• I fall asleep when I meditate. Is this ok?
• How many minutes should I meditate everyday?
• I cannot meditate for long. I feel too restless and get up. Is this ok?
• Why don’t I feel peaceful when I meditate?
• People seem to see colors, visions, feel vibrations, etc. I don’t feel anything. What is wrong with me?
• I had a wonderful experience in meditation the other day. But it hasn’t happened again. How can I bring that experience back?
• How do I know I am making progress?
• Do I have to be vegetarian if I want to meditate?

Have a question that’s not answered here? Leave your question in the comments!

How many minutes should I meditate everyday?

Ideally, meditation should be your living, breathing state. There are two aspects to meditation. One is the daily practice itself. The practice should be a minimum of 21 minutes long, ideally as many minutes as your age.

The second aspect is applying it in daily life, working on a moment to moment awareness. Of course we falter, and this is how we learn.

I cannot meditate for long. I feel too restless and get up. Is this ok?

This is another common reaction of the mind and we have to learn to put it aside. For this reason, I usually suggest my students to use a timer. This way, you are forced to sit through and witness all the dramas of the mind, including the ones that say that it is impossible to sit a moment longer. This desperation is just another game of the mind we must learn to witness and transcend. So feel it and breathe into your desperation.

Why don’t I feel peaceful when I meditate?

It is a misconception that the mind will shut down and you will feel some peace during meditation. Meditation brings peace into your life by clearing out the stuff that’s keeping you miserable, during the practice. So if you’re doing it right, your mind will bring up everything that disturbs you, during your meditation.

When you learn to resist the temptation to run with the mind and gently detach yourself from the drama, you start changing the patterns of your mind and create space for peace and quiet in your day.

People seem to see colors, visions, feel vibrations, etc. during meditation. I don’t feel anything. What is wrong with me?

Meditation is about being in the moment. So whether you feel something or not, you are not meditating if you are sitting there thinking ‘wow, what a great meditation I am having, such a wonderful experience’ OR ‘why am I not feeling anything, I have so many thoughts’. Experiences are no indicator of a good meditation – detachment to those thoughts, is.

Some people are naturally psychic and meditation opens up their capabilities to see more. If anything, this may be a distraction in their path, nothing else. Do not compare experiences with others.

I had a wonderful experience in meditation the other day. But it hasn’t happened again. How can I bring that experience back?

Same thing. Meditation is about being in the present. Even more than anything else, it is understanding that every moment brings something different. If we get caught up in the experiences – whether that is trying to fix something bad, or trying to recreate something good, then we are running with the mind, and not meditating. Whatever happens during meditation, pay no heed.

How do I know I am making progress?

I once read a wonderful reply by Osho to this question. How do you know if you are making progress? If you are sick and you take some medicines, how do you know if you are making progress? If you’re improving, you know it. There is no question. 

At the same time, there are a few external parameters that show progress. Are you kinder to people around you? How are you treating your spouse? How are you treating your subordinates? Are you less angry and frustrated than before? Are you able to feel joy and love for no reason?

Of course, it takes a few months usually, before you start seeing changes. Meditation is a slow process and takes years. Even so, if you are asking this question, you probably need to sit down and meditate on the question and transcend it. The desire to progress is again a desire created in the mind to take you away from the present.