Photo by Harry Quan on Unsplash
In a previous post I talked about thinking about the "I" as an eye, "seeing" all of our experience. Coming back to this, I want to talk about how open or closed that "I" is to the world.
Much like we can close our eyes and hide ourselves from the visual world, we can, to varying degrees, do the same with our consciousness. While we remain in the egoic state we have closed our "I," effectively creating the illusion of being isolated from the rest of the world.
So what would opening our "I" be like, how would we go about awakening from the dream state of Ego? For me, it's kind of like opening back up to the world I closed myself off to. It's about becoming vulnerable.
Back to Spira
I was listening to a talk by Rupert Spira yesterday, and he used a really great metaphor. He likened being in the egoic state to being a clenched fist, where after having clenched for a while the muscles adapt to the contraction and hold the clenched position. Once this happens it takes effort to get back to the relaxed state of ease.
The best example I have is after deadlifting a heavy set or hanging from a bar or similar. Once you finish and release the bar your fingers are slow to return to their normal, relaxed position.
I've found this to be a a powerful concept when start looking closely at our own experience.
Personal Experience
I've been applying this concept and "un-clenching" myself for the last few days now in really simple ways. First I just notice the tension or the places I lack clarity in my body and perceptions. It doesn't matter if it's physical, mental, or emotional, you feel it somewhere or somehow, or you're blocking yourself from doing so. Once I locate the trouble spot I try to listen for how to release.
For physical tension this might be postural adjustments, massage work, or exercise.
For mental, it could be noticing how thought carries you away from the moment and releasing from it, staying open to possibility - not anticipating, expecting, or pushing our ideas onto the world, dropping beliefs, or unfocusing our eyes.
Emotional tension could be relieved by expressing, instead of stifling ourselves, processing traumatic events, or forgiving others and ourselves.
In my experience the three usually link in some way, fixing one problem, say a mental tension, might relieve a different issue, such as physical tension in the head, neck, and face muscles. We are one thing, we aren't divided into body, mind, emotion, spirit, so working on all levels should hypothetically speed up the process of opening ourselves up to the world.
I'd suggest experimenting in your own life, scanning yourself in a observing(rather than searching) manner to find where you may be blocking parts of life from flowing freely or even hiding them from yourself.
This kind of letting go, or "un-clenching," is, to me, a big part of becoming vulnerable to the world and to life. SO give it a shot, apply the metaphor or releasing the clenched fist where the fist could be any part of you. See if it brings more clarity into your life, opening the "I" to take in more of the world. You can do it anywhere, and it's especially easy to see if you are cognizant enough to do it during a stressful moment, or when you disagree with someone, or are uncomfortable. Watch yourself clench down and try to understand why, and how it affects your perception of life.
I hope you enjoyed this article, it's just a little cue I've picked up and applied to my own meditation practice. I'm seeing good results with it so I thought I'd share. I appreciate all your support, if you liked it toss an upvote, resteem, or follow my way :)
Much Love, 