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No. 00268 |
May 3-9, 2003 |
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Catching the observer in the actFrom Martin LeFevre in California The sun is warm and bright, high enough to still be afternoon, but low enough to produce the slanting rays and long shadows that precede evening, and yield such contentment and serenity. An amazing number and variety of birds are cavorting about the creek—swallows, mallards, falcons, pheasants, meadowlarks, blackbirds, sparrows, and a yellow-breasted variety I don’t know. A meadowlark lands high in a branch of the sycamore overhead, and its sweet melodies complete an almost unbelievably idyllic scene. I listen and breathe deeply--not as part of any program or technique. The mind clears and the heart surrenders. There is no goal, no effort. It always comes as a surprise when the fog of consciousness suddenly lifts. As the world grows darker, meditation becomes more necessary for wholeness and health. Unfortunately, in the West, spirituality has become a fad, turned into a commodity like everything else. As shallow as most of this movement is however, it may reflect a growing awareness of the utter emptiness the consumer culture has produced. I am not sure of much, but I am sure that consciousness as we know it is becoming increasingly dark and suffocating. There is however a movement of negation, initiated through right observation, that clears the debris and keeps the pollution from overwhelming one and choking off inward life. What is the key to this action of meditation? (The word has itself been sullied by all the New Age superficiality associated with it.) The essence of meditation is the divisive machinery of the observer stopping through right observation. But isn’t that a Catch-22? How can there be right observation of the observer when the observer prevents right observation? One can break out of that vicious circle. When you observe the movement of the mind very carefully, you notice that there is always a watcher that seems to stand apart from one’s thoughts and emotions. If one asks, simply out of curiosity and interest: what is this observer? one’s attention naturally comes to it. Then an interesting thing happens. At first there may be a sensation like holding a mirror up to a mirror, an effect philosophers call "infinite regress." I surmise that this is the observer retreating from awareness, trying to preserve its place of dominance in the brain. But if one persists, the moment of separation between the observer and what is observed is revealed. That is, one ‘catches the observer in the act,’ and the reflex stops, without effort. With a good magician, the hand is quicker than the eye. But if you film the trick, and slow it down to one-quarter speed, the illusion is revealed. Then the next time you see the trick, you are able to perceive the moment when the sleight of hand occurs. It is the same with the division that thought produces in itself (as the observer). Except, for me at least, it takes a while for awareness to "come up to speed" and catch the observer in the act again. That is why I take daily sittings in nature. This is not some esoteric mystical philosophy. All human divisiveness and destructiveness have their source in the deep and ancient habit of separation occurring within each one of us. Even so, when the illusion and mechanism of the separate observer ends, what is observing? The brain is simply observing, and when it does, meditation ignites. Then something beyond the brain is observing as well. Then the universe is observing through the awakened human brain. There is great peace and harmony, health and renewal in that action, the action of meditation. mglefevre@earthlink.net |
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Last modified:
May 01, 2003. Webmaster: WDJMallya |
