Driving Away Difference: Shiva Sutra 3.36 Part 1
3.36: bhedatiraskāre sargāntarakarmatvaṁ
“This Yogi drives away the field of differentiated perceptions and enters into a new world of God consciousness.”
Although we live in a world of difference, the Sutra tells us, nothing can contain the light of our true nature if we are willing to apply our practice. This is because difference doesn’t start outside of us, difference actually has its roots within us-- particularly in the way that we over-identify with our thoughts, feelings and actions on a daily basis. The ups and downs we experience in our daily lives doesn’t come from outside, it comes from trying to define our eternal nature with the fluctuating states of our minds, emotions, and karmic arenas. When we loosen that grip on the external, or just plain ignore it as the Sutra alludes to, and hold our focus on what’s inside of us, we drive away this feeling of difference and experience the unity that shines through us all the time.
As Sri Shambhavananda teaches, “You are totally identifying with what you are seeing and what you are defining. When I gaze into the world it all evaporates into energy…When we look at something our computer brain immediately kicks in and defines it, accepts it or rejects it, and gives it color, form and shape…We think to ourselves, “This is who I am and this is my world.” But if you actually open up a little bit, those definitions keep changing. The nature of existence in samsara is that the world is always subject to change. When we try to hang on to this thing, or not lose that concept, we miss a lot of what’s going on in a more subtle realm. We also miss joy, bliss, and fulfillment…Mystics, yogis or spiritual people from the past lived in a world that was different from the one everyone else lived in. They saw things more clearly than the people around them. This is what a spiritual practice brings us.”
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