—Samskaras and Meditation, Part One—
A Three Part Article that focuses on:
- Samskaras and Thoughts
- Freedom from our Karma
- Living in Pure Awareness
- Processing Karma in Meditation
It may come as no surprise that these three Sanskrit words above cannot be readily translated into English. The words “attachments”, “impressions” and “imprints” do not carry the same meaning. However, so many of us for who Sanskrit is so entirely foreign are nevertheless fascinated with the meanings of these words. I know I am. Let’s explore them, shall we?
A Samskara is a prevailing thought-form or image that is so deeply ingrained that we cannot shake it off. Of the three this is the term I am most familiar with. The other two words stand for practically the same thing. The greater subject is karma. Karma has a deep ring to it. It has been absorbed into the English language. We all must live with our Karma, or must we?
Are we Slaves to Karma?
The popular belief about karma is that we are slaves to it. It is as good a scapegoat as God. Rather than take responsibility for making a change in our lives, we can simply say our behavior was “God’s will”. In a similar way we can always blame our unconscious past life experiences for our primitive behavior. Acknowledging the “God in ourselves” and what amounts to creative freedom comes at the price of responsibility.
We can always say “I’m sorry. If I was acting unconsciously I certainly wasn’t conscious of it.” and see how far that takes us. It is unrealistic to think that we can know all that is buried so deeply. There can be a Pandora’s Box of surprises that begins to emerge once one embraces freedom and spontaneity. Our sticking points are readily revealed when we behave more impulsively.
Our Actions Reveal Tendency
There is a phrase in the world of playwrights—“action reveals character”. Put a character in an odd situation—a pressing situation that she or he is unable to anticipate and you will have given them ample opportunity to show us what is making them tick. However, if we want to grow then we must challenge ourselves to get it all out in the open. Society certainly doesn’t make any of this easy.
We all seek freedom. We want to be more deeply ourselves. In order to do this we must unleash what is most natural. We must free the primal. When I say primal I am not referring to the beast within. More primal than beast is the formless timeless awareness at the core of us all. This is what we are after. This is the self beyond Karma. This is the self beyond Samskaras.
We want to bridge the conscious and the unconscious. We want to experience the peace that comes when what we are trusting is not ourselves at all. We want to trust pure awareness. Pure awareness has no desires. Pure awareness takes one moment at a time without anticipating loss of self. Pure awareness has no self. Pure awareness is pure.
Continue with Samskaras and Meditation, Part Two
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