Kashmir Shaivism through Lal Vakh — 7
True nature of the human mind and soul.
मनस ग्वन छुय च़ंच़ल आसुन।
च़्यतस ग्वन छुय गच़्छुन दूर।
ज़ीवस ग्वन छुय बॏछ़ त्रेश आसॖन्य।
आतमस ग्वन छुय न आसुन लीफ।
This Lal Vakh talks about the basic nature of the human mind, consciousness, and senses. These are explained as potential reasons why our soul, that only seeks purity and wants to stay unblemished, faces obstacles in retaining that elevated state of spirituality.
Human mind is meant to wander around from one thing to another. It is hard for the human mind to stay one thing. Focus, or concentration or one-pointedness — which is the prerequisite for Sadhana or practice of Kashmir Shaivism and many other spiritual philosophies is extremely hard to achieve because of this nature of the human mind. Meditation requires the mind to calm down and for many of us meditation is needed to calm down our mind. It is a paradoxical relationship of which came first, the chicken or the egg.
Human consciousness is designed to travel far, metaphorically speaking. The word “च़्यतस” or “Chyetas”, literal translation possessive noun “consciousness” most likely adopted from Sanskrit/Hindi word “Chitta” is commonly used to describe the awareness of the world around. And it suggests that our consciousness is designed to travel far, as in it makes explanations that are more complex than needed. It creates a complex view of the world — in Kashmir Shaivism philosophy this aspect of our consciousness is termed as “Mayamal” or illusory perspective. This is one of the challenges of practicing spirituality.
Human senses present another obstacle like hunger and thirst that prevent us from seeking purity of thought and actions. It is a symbolic reference to how the material world prevents the human soul from attaining uninterrupted bliss.
Human spirit is meant to seek a sense of solace and purity. Certain acts that humans are required to perform in order to survive in the world are considered to be very selfish and material.
While this Vakh articulates the challenges a soul has to face in order to attain spiritual elevation — Kashmir Shaivism doesn’t necessarily advocate for abstinence, instead it promotes a sense of acceptance of human nature. It shows how one can find a path to an elevated state through this acceptance of human limitations. There are other Vakhs that teach how to embrace yourself in the most basic human form and exercise compassion instead of judgement.
