Staying Afloat Thoughts On The Self And Samsara
Narayana Moorty 1) I am thinking of the Sanskrit proverb “Yad bhavam tad bhavati,” which means “You are what you believe,” or “You become what you believe.” If, for instance, you believe you are inferior, then you tend to be or become inferior. 2) The idea of this article is not so much that we become what we believe as that we are those beliefs and thoughts, and yet we can also step out of them, at least for the time being, by being aware of them. Of course, when we are aware of thoughts, we are some other thought in turn, although it is perhaps possible to step out of the realm of thought entirely at least momentarily. 3) Beliefs, like all other mental states, are themselves comprised of thoughts. Mental states in general, as, for example, hopes, emotions like fear, and the enjoyment of beauty, invariably involve thoughts and are sustained by them. 4) When I think about myself, I seem to be nothing but a series of thoughts, states of mind, and images, which constantly run through my mind. We tend to think we are something like a person who thinks those thoughts or has those states of mind. But whenever we try to come face to face with ourselves, we end up only having other thoughts; we never come upon the thinker as such. 5) In trying to be aware of ourselves, at that moment, we are ourselves another thought or point of view, which we can in turn be aware of in another moment of self-consciousing. The recognition of what we are aware of from a certain point of view gives it not only a continuity and permanence as a state of mind; but we also attribute that state to ourselves, more often than not as a state that defines our identity. This repeated self-consiousing confirms us in that state of mind; particularly in negative emotional states, we tend to dig ourselves deeper and deeper into those states. It may seem to us that while we are in those states, the states are an essential part of our being, and there will never be an end to them. We can’t see ourselves out of them. (We, of course, also reinforce our positive states through recognition and approval of them.) 5.1) Take grief or depression, for example. Grief or depression, or any other emotion, always involves thought. (If it doesn’t, then it is pure diffuse energy, and we wouldn’t know if we are in that state of emotion or another, or are just plain excited.) When we are aware of our emotional state and recognize it as grief, we give it a continuity and permanence and confirm ourselves in our grief, as though we cannot be without it. It is this repeated recognition of grief that gives it continuity and renewal. Otherwise, grief