Читать книгу Mysticism from A to Z. A clear introduction to the deepest and most complex spiritual issues - Нго-Ма - Страница 7

I want you to understand that any teaching is a map, a map of the path that you will have to follow yourself and check everything from your own experience. The teaching should not replace your own practice, your own path in no case. This is the teaching of live feeling, this is the teaching of gaining experience, and not the teaching of any theories. In the theoretical part you are given some view. A view is a description of the path by those who have already walked along it. It is a description, a map, but you should check it for yourself. And, believe me, there is no greater joy to know that the descriptions were not entirely accurate, because mysticism is a discipline where language is not able to convey the full depth of experience. I have already written that, for example, love is the first spiritual mystical experience – it is the experience of love, and how difficult it is to convey it in words! How many books have been written about love, but until you have had this experience, until you immerse yourself in it, these words will tell you nothing. Therefore, we will check every step, we will move together, and my task is to support you in your practice and give reliable, clear indicators.

In this chapter I will return to the very beginning and answer the questions that often come to me: «What is mysticism and why do we need it as a discipline?» You know, nothing has changed since the time of Buddha. Of course, we talk about getting rid of suffering, and, in fact, in the simplest words: mysticism is the science that answers the questions: «Why am I suffering?» «Why is the suffering still here?» Despite the fact that there were many teachers, many masters, suffering continues to accompany a person’s life. On the other hand, you might say, «Why am I unhappy?», «Many teachers say that happiness is my true nature, why can’t I afford to be happy?» This is a short answer to the question of what this discipline is about. Buddha also said: «life is suffering, and there is a way to get rid of suffering.» He had an Eightfold Path where he outlined the steps to be taken to overcome suffering. Nothing has changed, everything is the same.

Now, whom is this discipline for? Whom is this teaching for? The main thing here is the request for the deliverance from suffering. Of course, there is the illusion of getting rid of suffering and achieving happiness through the object world, and this is the first thing people try to do. In our modern time, happiness often means: to become successful, rich, to reach some social heights, and so on, that is, everything is as usual: money, power, relationships – it is where we are looking for happiness. But there is also a deep frustration with these object-oriented ways of achieving it. Everyone should check it out based on their own experience. Someone checked it in a past life, as they joke, so there are some young people who start the mystical path early enough and do not particularly bother achieving social benefits. However, my path was different. I came to mysticism quite late, and before that I tried to overcome suffering and achieve happiness through all of the above mentioned methods. When you realize that it is unlikely to be successful, then you start looking for another path. In this way you become a seeker, you become one who tries to overcome suffering. You study ancient teachings, meet masters and those who are looking for this path within themselves. The term «turn inward», believe me, is about this, and not about the fact that you should turn to yourself and conduct self-investigation, you will realize this later, when you already become a real mystic.

When do you become a real seeker? When you realize that looking outside does not bring relief from suffering and does not lead to happiness, that is, I repeat again, this can happen as a result of deep disappointment, when you have already tried everything in this life. However, this is not a dogma, for some, right in the depths of their consciousness, the absurdity of this direction is spelled out. There are cases when young people realize that they will not find happiness in the world, they will not find it among objects, so I am not inclined to send everyone into the world, to try to impose some kind of family happiness on everyone, I accept people as they are.

Further, I would like to show what path you are going to use. Initially, you are encouraged just to be attentive, yes, just be attentive. Throughout all your journey, this direction will pass: be aware, be attentive, be alert, develop attention, develop awareness. What is this about? The main instrument of the entire spiritual path is awareness, attention. We are not able to use any other means. All mysticism is the work with attention, and the first thing you should do is to be attentive to your thoughts, learn to be aware of them, learn to be aware of the movement of attention into thinking, into imagination. This is a very important stage when you start to be alert. You are alert and attentive to your thoughts. This is exactly the beginning. The beginning is attention, which is directed to thinking itself, because the first point of teaching is liberation from the mind, which brings suffering.

It happened that few people in the modern world already live right here and now. It means the same thing that we have broken away from direct experience, we are completely bogged down in this swamp of conceptualization, thinking out, fantasizing. Today, the virtual world is still to help us in that way that we simply do not crawl out of our thinking. This stuck attention is not just stuck there, it is stuck because our image lives there. There is an image of ourselves in which we believe, which we promote, which we serve, and it lives in our thinking. Here you should be able y to distinguish this image, should be able to understand how constant immersion in imagination occurs – it is the beginning of the beginning.

Next, we begin to practice, for example, drawing attention into the direct experience. In the second chapter, where I have described different types of experience, I just stopped at the fact that the withdrawal of attention to direct experience is the cornerstone of all mystical teachings. Without passing this path and not completing this point, you will not be able to distinguish when the imagination turns on and the sensory response begins, and when you are in your direct experience, that is, you will pass the imaginary as a mystical experience. Therefore, the most important Rubicon here is staying effortlessly in your direct experience and, thus, the next practice that you will be given, will definitely be the awareness of your direct experience. It can be sensations, feelings, observation of the breath, it can be the contemplation of external objects, but the important thing is that it passes through your senses right now. You are not unfolding the mental time, you are not unfolding stories, you are living through your current direct experience.