… A prison to our own devices.
Ever wonder why some inmates find peace through day to day nothingness of being inside a cell? Some reach a point where they would rather be inside prison than be exposed to the confines of society, the way of the real world, while some root for the stimulus through technological connections.
A spiritual man finds inner richness through the value of nothingness. Anything is what it turns out to be depending on the right perspective.
Vipassana, or insight meditation, is a clear awareness of exactly what is happening as it is happening. It is a state in which the mind is brought to rest, focused only on one item, and not allowed to wander. When this is done in the absence of external stimuli, a deep calm pervades both the body and mind.
A Vipassana meditation is a great tool to teach the value of suffering through the presence of nothingness. There is profound enlightenment on the 10th day of doing absolutely nothing, just focusing on one’s breath, without any social media distractions. It is one of the more cruel forms of the duality of both peace and suffering, though in between there is really nothing.
Why do I bring this up?
These days everybody is in the confines of their own home. People cope up with their own sanity by indulging in these so-called “quick fixes” that provide a rush to the brain that screams, “I am still sane and human!”
In reality, part of being human is to crave such quick fixes, but now that staying at home is considered a new normal, we crave our own vices as if they are also part of our own identity.
These quick fixes are not unknown in our habits. Alcohol, smoking, video games, pornography, even as simple as checking online notifications, the fact that there is nothing else to do, we tend to enjoy these things more than ever before. It gives us a false sense of purpose and structure. Lockdown is an excuse to practice these stimulating quick fixes because they are easy to instantly gratify ourselves.
There comes a point when these vices take a toll on a person’s mental (and oftentimes spiritual) health. He forgets his own identity and mistakes these vices as a part of himself. After all, identity is what makes us human.
Being on lockdown and acting upon it relies on the right state of mind. It is no different to what inmates experience when they enter a certain form of awakening, whether they are aware of it or not. It changes a person for the better only if he rightfully thinks so.
These times are actually challenging, for it questions one’s own ideologies and purpose. It is definitely not a time to slack off and indulge in quick fixes because there is nothing else to do. In fact, this period of our lives is the best time to indulge in nothingness.
A certain niche of “spiritual enthusiasts” actually find and make time to join a Vipassana retreat lasting for at least 8 to 10 days of just pure meditation out in the Amazon. Well, this opportunity to experience an awakening is right in our very hands… if we only think of it as so.
Vipassana is a lifechanging experience. It doesn’t need to be guided by a group of individuals. It doesn’t need to be at the Amazon to experience an awakening.
Vipassana is all about reconnecting to the Source for as long as one can until there comes a realization that time is nonexistent and that one is just a pure simple Being vandalized by the apple eaten by Eve.
Nothingness humbles Man.
The benefits of this practice arise when there is a profound sense of enlightenment from within and out of the void of nothingness. The nothingness sprout the absolute wholeness.
As within, so without. As above, so below.
In the absence of technological stimuli and ego cravings, births a divine feeling that everything is well connected and seeded from within. Like a jigsaw puzzle, the mind forms these visions that go beyond material form.
The experience of awakening is not an absolute state of mind per se, but rather, a divine state that grows from nothingness.
To be able to experience this requires zero distractions. Zero social interaction. Zero visual stimuli. Zero mental stimuli. It’s a complete total isolation from everything. What exists are the ins and outs of our own breath, a purely focused attempt to be one with the gulps of air. Prison should actually be taken at a positive light for it is the bearer for change.
I can only imagine a spiritual man being wrongly accused of a grave crime and is set on a long term sentence in prison. He will find peace from within. A total bliss that far overpowers the quick fixes that stimulate pleasure.
After all, the biggest awakening for mankind is experiencing death without having to experience actual death.
Through this experience births the value of suffering — a total awakening. Through this awakening opens a higher state of consciousness. Through this experience, there is genuine peace. A connection between body and soul. Being awakened to this reality allows one to experience a profound meaning of living life to its utmost potential.
Staying at home on lockdown is already prison in itself as it lacks the human potential for living. As humans, we are designed to be social creatures. At the same time, we are also designed to indulge in the best pleasures life can offer (through the context of our id.) And at the same time, we need the validation of our own existence (through our ego.)
This lockdown is the best way to go on a full-on adventure to the next realm of existence… and that is nothingness.
Nobody in his right mind would love to live a life out of nothingness because it is hard to let go of our existence and identity, that is what death is like really… and ceasing to exist is a life without purpose.
However…
Ceasing to exist and still existing, the fact that we are still breathing the same oxygen as animals do, is a simple truth to the substance that there is purpose in the way things are the way they are — a simple mapping to an in-depth structure of existence.
There is a purpose in why we are here, and that is to feel grateful for the little things.
