Beliefs. Things concocted in the mind from whatever resource, in response to whatever happening, that we then take on as identity. When we talk beliefs, we are talking identity.
And identity is from the mind and is from meaning-making. It is all ego. We have leanings and tendencies from our previous births, from karmas, from our upbringing and mostly from how we feel we fit into society.
Beliefs need to be constantly reviewed, questioned and put through the same critical reflection as our own personal self-inquiry.
Beliefs are most often utterly delusional and made to feel something. Smug, safe, superior, righteous, humble, powerful, smart, rebellious. Whatever.
I like to think that creatives and people who know life is art are adept at this. But lately I’ve been finding, again, that they too stick to something that gives them meaning and identity and subscribe to ideas and beliefs that follow a status quo.
This, to me, is therefore a narrative, and narrative-loving people will have strong beliefs and can be quite dogmatic in those beliefs.
Here is another reason why I adore the Trika so much. It’s fluid. It’s the sea, water. It naturally fills where it is placed with perfect equanimity. It is not left to being a belief, it is not merely another philosophy, it is also not just a way of living, it is all of being and being from truth. TRUTH. My highest value. Truth. How do we get to truth? By having a broad and open mind and being open to questioning our strongly held beliefs. By going beyond the mind and our circumstances and viewing everything with a universal mind.
Now we are aware and conscious.
The antithesis to that is to choose mind-born identity and use any philosophical system to suit your strongly held belief.
Truth is that there is consciousness. We are all consciousness, the exact same consciousness living this worldly life for the sole purpose of recognising we are all one consciousness. There is no division between us and anything. We can be Shiva, or we can be Shakti, or we can be both.
There is never anything that separates. It only includes, and includes in an intelligent, truthful way, not in a modern political inclusive way, which, as modern-day politics will show you, is as deceiving, delusional and dangerous as exclusivity. In fact, modern-day politics is so far up its own arse that no one can see what is going on.
When people start flexing their education and status as an excuse to ram a party down your throat, saying they believe in science and education and what is clearly “right,” you know you are standing with a dimwit. Best off to just say “no worries mate” and move on to the next person and pray they have an ounce of being interesting, let alone awareness.
I’ve had a few encounters like this lately. Someone very smart, very interesting, and then very quickly very self-righteous. A supporter of a particular persuasion who professed to be so into science and what the science said. And yet his argument I could untangle in a few short, clear, light-of-day sentences, all using science, until he got up and walked off. Couldn’t handle it. No comeback, because there was nowhere to go. I didn’t disagree with him. I gave him a few questions that would have guided him to a fresh, universal perspective, and he got lost for words. His voice got small and delicate, and he left.
In short, it impacted his identity. And identity is built on dust. The mind. Survival. Importance and significance.
The Shiva Sutras name this with devastating precision.
Sutra 1.2. Jnanam bandhah. Knowledge is bondage.
Abhinavagupta, the great Trika master, puts it this way: ignorance is any kind of knowledge that does not entirely illuminate the reality of that-which-is-to-be-known. (hareesh.org)
That man had plenty of knowledge. He was in complete bondage to it.
To stay with the political example, one that is wholly and fully made of bias and identity, like following a football team. “I do it because my Dad did. I do it because I like the colours. I do it because all the intelligent people do it. I do it because they win the most and make me feel like I’m on the winning side of life.” Snore.
People talk science to back their decisions and laugh at faith, and yet both require a blindness. Once you take on and commit to a side, you are blinded. Universal perspective and adaptiveness have left the building. The ability to find a solution also has. The ability to think of what is best for all has also gone.
Instead, you are left with what started the whole thing. Your identity and limited awareness.
We are all biased in one way or another. We all need to have the ability to bring the yoga, to bring the consciousness to it and really look and question without getting too smart and manipulating truth to suit our personal narrative.
I’m horrified at what humanity has done in recent years to the world, the crazy and extreme ideologies. It’s all just a big thinking orgy. And thanks to questioning and remaining open and curious, it’s so clear why the world is swinging and dividing the way it is. Yet the very people driving that division cannot see it. That is jnanam bandhah. Right there.
The irony is, science is a religion too these days and can be just as biased and blind as anything else. Truth is different. This requires a letting go, a dismantling, which can create a fragility for a brief while as you take your claws out of your strongly held beliefs. Science has been bought by corporations and politicians since time immemorial. Yet we gulp it up and consume it like it’s gospel. Blind faith.
Experience. Presence. Beingness. Where all creativity comes from. All brilliance, too. And love. Put yourself out there and try something new and different. Be open to possibilities and to the fact that the truth is stronger, louder and clearer than all the mental noise out there. Then go with it for sure. Put a stake in the ground. But remain a yogi. A creative yogi. Keep questioning and checking on that, too. Move. No one has nailed you to the floor but yourself, and your need to belong and fit in and be seen as something. Always thinking the other is less intelligent, less educated, more deluded. So foolish.
Stand in awareness. Speak from your centre. Question the narrative. Bring everything to Shiva. To the Goddess. Always retain a beginner’s mind. Then create. Create your life. Be love. Be your word. Be a signal of divinity and divine truth. Universal, wise, loving and not persuaded by the fools. If you are seen as a fool, then hooray. Be a fool in the truest sense. Step into the unknown, walk on the edge of uncertainty, where life is its most vibrant, and we are closer to the Self. This way you won’t fall asleep and fall on your own sword.
There is no right or wrong; there is what is best for this present moment, and that has no sides and has nothing to do with science or religion or diet or education. None of it ever did, nor was it even necessary. And be prepared for that to piss off a lot of people. People will want to get up and walk away from you, utterly aghast at your freedom of being. At least a seed has been planted that an ounce of awareness will pick up and nurture.
I like to think artists are in a unique place to ask us to question and reflect, to portray a bigger truth or a snapshot of how cray cray we are being.
I’ve often watched the whole “spirituality and politics should never mix” thing. Interested. No set idea. Just curiosity. Political people say it’s unethical not to use your platform to support political beliefs. Spiritual people say it’s not the place for God. It’s something I’ve really let play out, as I had no idea what was correct. I have my own natural persuasions, of course, but I challenge them and sometimes have to do things I may not like for the benefit of what is the wiser thing to do.
We have all seen the performers, too, standing there looking all holy, being endorsed or endorsing a party, a team. Corruption often involved. Spiritual leaders, monks, and priests, falling into the same maya. So I’d say hands off it all. See it all playing out, and provide wise and loving counsel and keep people from falling into identity. That is a better job. Keep questioning and challenging the status quo for sure, but it’s a bigger play. It’s an international karma at play.
Be a beacon of hope and truth, not the delulu kind we are currently seeing. Do that. Create from that. Vote for that. Back that. Bat for THAT.
Nice. I can leave this now.
The Trika goes much deeper on this. Sutra 1.2 is just the beginning. If you want the full inquiry into knowledge, identity and what Kashmir Shaivism actually does with all of this, that conversation is happening over with paid subscribers. Come join us.
Go the Socceroos ;-)
Jai Jai Maa 🌺🌺🌺
With great love,
Ammaji xxx
Mata Kamaleshwari©