First of all, I want you to know that whatever your sense of suffering may be, true freedom is possible. There is no such thing as eternal damnation. And you need not endure suffering. There is a remedy, regardless of how long-standing, intense, or seemingly interminable the suffering may be.

Even if you cannot see any possibility of a way out of the suffering, there is definitely a way out. That I can promise you.

Whether you call it physical pain, depression, anxiety, or by any other name, you need not endure suffering.

However, to properly remedy the suffering, we have to have the correct understanding. Because with the wrong understanding (ignorance) the suffering continues. In fact, the ignorance is the suffering. So when we correct the ignorance, the suffering vanishes.

In this essay I intend to provide a guide by which you can begin to remove ignorance. I am not presenting this as a quick fix. Though the knowledge provided here can certainly provide an instantaneous correction, and in truth when the correction does come, it is always instantaneous. However, I caution you against the mistake of believing that you “tried it and it didn’t work”. Because it requires patient and persistent application to achieve the instantaneous correction. (In other words, [sincere] practice makes perfect.)

In our modern world whenever there is suffering of any type, we tend to approach it first by labeling it. We have been taught to identify the suffering both by giving it a name (frustration, anxiety, worry, fear, anger, depression, etc.) and by identifying the supposed cause of it (a person, an organization, an event, etc.)

I will propose to you that this is not an efficient nor a particularly effective method for resolving the suffering. In fact, this approach tends to actually worsen the suffering over time because it fails to actually recognize the real nature of the suffering.

Another mistake we commonly make is to take supposed remedies as one-size-fits-all prescriptions. For example, many people have heard the message that there is no separate self and that all suffering arises from the wrong perception of a separate self. They then attempt to make this into a prescription in which they try to alter their behavior to match with their (wrong) understanding of this idea. This is that awkward stage in which people try to fix their problems by dropping their use of personal pronouns, mistakenly thinking that will help.

But here’s a radical idea. Start where you are and intelligently select the correct remedy that will actually help you.

To do this requires that you can perceive clearly. And to learn to perceive clearly is, in fact, the remedy.

First of all, let’s see if we can categorize perception into some simple categories which will help us to “locate” ourselves in terms of how we are perceiving presently. If we try to select a remedy without knowing where we are in terms of our clarity of perception, we are likely to choose a wrong remedy.

Broadly, we can categorize perception into three types. Classically, in Indian thought these are described using the terms ajata vada, drishti-sristhi vada, and srishti-drishti vada. Stay with me. I know that all of those Sanskrit terms can seem intimidating. But I’ll make it simple and clear.

Ajata means “uncreated”. This is what is generally considered to be the highest or truest perception. This is the truth affirmed by great sages such as Gaudapada and Ramana Maharshi. Papaji also affirmed this, as have many others. This is the perception that nothing has ever happened, nothing has ever been created. There is oneness without a second. There is no separate perceiver and the perceived. There is simply pure perceiving.

The perception of ajata might initially seem completely alien to most people. After all, it seems to contradict what we consider to be the obviousness of objective reality. We conventionally believe that this world appearance is solid and real apart from us. We think it is “out there” and that we are “in here”.

It is possible to deconstruct the belief of the objective world as having independent substance. It is not difficult to do. And I have done that many times in talks available on YouTube. I will write another essay some time to explore that in more depth. But that is not the focus on this essay. So for now I’ll simply say two things about this.

1. It is very possible and quite easy for anyone to experience a flash or glimpse of ajata. In fact, it happens all the time, but most people are just not trained to recognize it. So really you need only to learn to recognize it and then voluntarily glimpse it. As I understand it (and I’m not an expert in Buddhist philosophy or practice) this practice of flashing on ajata (which is called sunyata [which is typically understood as emptiness in Buddhism]) is fairly important. For example, I’ve encountered instructions for the practice of Tibetan Buddhist tonglen meditation which emphasize the importance of the first step of flashing on sunyata. Anyway, try it now. For one instant right now, let go completely. Let go in body, mind, and spirit. Let go of all the gripping and grasping for protection, for answers, for security, for power, for okayness, etc. Just for one instant be completely present, awake, and unattached. Don’t cling to even the subtlest of thoughts. Just for one instant. Don’t try to maintain it or sustain it. Just flash on it. And see if you can glimpse the total freedom of it. The total peace of it. The total contentment of it.

2. Flashing on ajata often is probably helpful for most people. It is a reset. It gives you instant access to peace and fulfillment as well as complete clarity. Of course, on its own, these flashes of ajata are probably not going to produce enormous changes in your sense of self and your perception of reality in the bigger sense. Although it certainly is possible that this simple practice on its own could be all that is needed for some people to completely dissolve all suffering forever, perhaps most of us will require some supplemental remedies. But don’t discount the value and power of this simple practice. And at the same time, don’t stubbornly demand of this subtle practice that it should solve all your problems forever simply because you let go for an instant. This instant of letting go is really to familiarize you with yourself. That ajata is the Self. So when you no longer dream that you can leave yourself, you simply know that you cannot ever be other than the Self. That means no problems, no suffering. Problems and suffering require someone who will suffer. When it is clear that there is only this eternal presence, no suffering is possible.

Now let’s look at dristi-srishti vada. Drishti means seeing or perception. Srishti means creation. So drishti-srishti (which I will abbreviate as d-s from here on) means that perception causes creation. In other words, rather than “I’ll believe it when I see it”, d-s is “I’ll see it when I believe it.”

Of course, most people today are very materialistic. The dominant cultural paradigm is one of objectivity, rationality, inert material substance, mechanics, etc. So most people don’t readily perceive in the d-s way. Most people think that material substance is “out there” apart from their perception. But actually, it is not difficult to make this shift.

Again, to do that deconstruction justice requires more treatment than I am going to give it in this essay. But you can do this simple experiment for yourself right now to possibly give yourself a taste of this d-s perspective. Just observe any object. Do this right now. Select an object – it could be a cup or a lamp or a ball or even your own hand. And observe it. As you observe it, ask yourself how you know of the existence of this object. Really see if you can find any way to know of the object directly. And when you do this sincerely, you will have to realize that your only knowledge of the object is inferential. That is, you don’t know of the object directly. Rather, you infer the existence of the object (such as “the cup”) by way of sensory information (you see it, hear it, smell it, feel it, etc.) and thought (you experience the word [“the cup”] and have “inner” subtle sensory perceptions such as mental images [which may be called memories or fantasies]). Since there is no object to be found independent of senses and thought, and since senses and thought are completely subjective experience (not objective experiences “out there”), the d-s perspective is relatively subtler than the sristhi-drishti (which I’ll abbreviate as s-d from here on) perspective (which I’ll address in a moment) because attention can be kept on the subtler subjective phenomena rather than the grosser level of energy at the objective level.

If you can make the shift to d-s, you can help yourself a great deal better than you could if you were still stuck in the s-d perspective. That is because the subtler your perception, the less energy is required to produce change. Think of it this way: if you receive a bill and you pay it right away, you incur no debt and thus your energy expenditure is limited to that one payment. But if you don’t pay the bill right away, you will be penalized so that your debt will increase. The longer you put it off, the harder it gets to pay off the debt because the debt keeps increasing.

So d-s helps you to get out of debt and begin to take responsibility for your experience.

Now, you might (rightly) say, “I get that it is better to pay the bills on time rather than incur increasing debt. But would not it be better to avoid all bills and debt altogether?” And yes, of course that is true. Which is what ajata offers. Again, flash on the uncreated nature of reality. Observe that complete stillness for just one instant. Just let go for a split-second. And notice that for the one split-second there is complete okayness.

So the more deeply ajata takes hold of you, the more you are blissfully surrendered to that, the more your mind has quietened, the more profoundly relaxed you know yourself to be…that is to be completely free of debt. That is to be completely the Self without entertaining delusions because there is abundant clarity regarding the true nature of reality, which the Vedanta sages uniformly proclaim is sat-chit-ananda (being, consciousness bliss). In other words, when you completely know yourself as sat-chit-ananda, why would you look elsewhere? When there is nowhere else to look, there is only here.

So you can’t “be here now” as a doing. You can’t become sat-chit-ananda. You can only realize it and from this realization naturally the apparent “doing” arises. That is to say, your attention naturally rests with the Self when you know yourself to be that. It is not an effort. It is not a practice. It is natural. It is even more natural than seeing the appearance of an object you imagine to be appearing before your eyes. But you can’t force it by trying to violently keep your attention somewhere. That won’t work. You must fall in love with the Self. That is the only way. If you use violence and too much intensity, you hurt yourself. So be gentle. Be loving.

So when you cannot seem to be in love with the Self naturally, at those times when you seem to be stuck in some kind of agitation or suffering, you want to recognize where you are in the sense of how you are perceiving. Are you perceiving in a d-s way? If so, that is very good because from d-s you can more easily get to the ajata way naturally and rest in the sat-chit-ananda of your true nature.

When you can achieve d-s perception, all you need to do is remain there. Continue to be aware of yourself. Be aware of yourself as the awareness of the sensory information and the thoughts. Keep noticing that all of this is appearing to you, in you, as you. And see that you are aware of it. You are not separate from it. But you are aware of it. All of this is recognized to be only you. As the temptations arise to pull you away from this perception, you see that you are aware of them and that they consist of sensory information and thoughts. Don’t believe the thoughts that suggest that some external matter requires you to interact at that level. As soon as you drop to that level, you are working much harder and going into increasing debt.

As you stay with d-s perception in this way, which requires quite a high degree of consciousness, you eventually shift to ajata perception.

Now let’s look at s-d vada, which means the creation precedes the perception. This is the common materialist view that says, “Whatever I perceive is something that exists objectively.” This perspective Is dense and “sticky”, so it is often challenging for people to see through. And furthermore, because there are so many variances between people, what is best suited for one person may not be what is best suited for another when it comes to shifting out of s-d perspective.

But we have a great many technques, methods, and philosophies that help us in this regard. We just need to be able to best select those that are best suited for us in this moment. And while we are blessed presently to have so much access to such a huge diversity of these things (Buddhist, pagan, Vedantic, Tantric, Christian, bodywork, breath work, four-step processes, visualization techniques, etc.), at the same time the sheer volume can be overwhelming much of the time.

So we really need a way to organize all of this stuff and make sense of it. And ideally, we want to systematize it such that we have a kind of roadmap that allows us to find the ideal processes or methods or whatever according to our present “location in consciousness” and temperaments, etc.

Obviously, with this essay I have begun the rough outline of that map by sketching these three modes of perception and giving some sense of their relationship to one another as well as your relationship with them.

To recap, the truest or greatest or fullest perception is ajata. This is possible in a flash now. See it. Recognize it. Familiarize yourself with this. This is you in the truest sense. Ajata means there is no relationship between you and the state because it is self awareness in the sense of awareness of the Self as one without a second.

D-s is “denser” than ajata because it concedes that there is a creation. But it is not as “dense” as s-d because d-s perceives that the creation is not independent of the subjective experience. So it is possible to more easily make changes or dissolve beliefs at this level of d-s. The amount of energy put in is not less than what is returned, so one is not depleted at this level and one may even stop leaking energy and start to develop coherence and integrity, which allow for the transition to ajata.

At the level of s-d, the amount of energy returned is always less than what is invested. You work harder and harder and get worse results because you’re exhausting yourself. This is too dense of a level to be operating from most of the time. Perhaps there are circumstances that seem to necessitate it from time to time. While I find no actual evidence that there could ever be anything that would necessitate operating at this level, I do admit that most of us seem to have a lot of reasons that we believe necessitate it. For example, if I have a thought that says “I don’t have enough money, and not having enough money is unthinkably terrifying,” and I believe that is true, then it is quite likely that I’d think it was necessary to operate at the level of s-d. But in reality, operating at the s-d level makes it impossible to overcome the problem because no matter how much I do in the world, it will only amplify the perception that is already held in place. The perception needs to change, not the world. But when we try to change the world, we are reinforcing the perception.

So this shift from s-d to d-s is the most important because when people are stuck in s-d, they are getting into worse and worse difficulties. There’s no way to be found that way, but it is like a whirlpool which pulls one into it as if by an external force. Because the more we fight and struggle at that level, the more we are putting all that energy into the creation which increasingly intensely mirrors our perception which we obviously don’t like because we keep fighting it.

The answer, obviously, is to stop fighting. But when we’re stuck in s-d perception, it’s often very difficult for us to stop fighting. There’s such a hypnotic momentum to it that we forget that there is a way out and that it involves stopping the fight with ourselves.

So the first best thing to do is to flash on ajata., Flat on okayness. Just let go for a moment and see the completeness of the Self. And see if that might not be all that is needed. And if not, ask yourself why not? What is it that is causing you so much discomfort like a thorn in your side that you cannot but give it your attention? Get clear on what it is. Because that will help you in determining what might best help you to make the shift.

For example, if you can see that really it is a thought, feeling, or subjective experience that is troubling you – not anything objectively “out there” – then you have shifted to d-s and you can remain with that awareness of yourself as the awareness of and oneness with all that is appearing. So stay there if you can.

If you discover that what is really troubling you is a sensation that you don’t know how to allow – something you call an ache or pain or discomfort – you know that probably some kind of somatic approach will be useful to you. Maybe some type of yogasana or qigong posture or pranayama or Feldenkrais. I recommend bringing as much conscious awareness to whatever you are doing as is possible. Slow down. I mean really slow down. S-l-o-w d-o-w-n. Notice your breathing. Relax consciously. Let the belly become deeply relaxed and comfortably warm. Let your hands and feet be comfortably warm by relaxing them deeply all the way up the legs and arms through all the joints.

This essay is already fairly long as it is, so I will wrap it up here. There is a great deal more that can be said about all of this. I’ve only scratched the surface. So don’t think that you must understand all of it completely. I’ve just provided a rough outline here. But this should serve as an introduction to the idea.

What I hope you take away from this is the following: there really is a way to resolve suffering, and that way is accessible to you. You might not have previously know about the path. And perhaps even if you did know about the path, you weren’t sure how best to access it. But I’ve provided a rough outline of the path in this essay so that you can know of its existence and also have some idea of its structure and some of the points of access.

There are many more points of access, of course. And that is way more than I can try to summarize in a single short essay. But do know that I intend to elaborate on all of this in coming essays. So you can expect to learn of many of the types of processes or methods we can apply, how to identify the best of them, how to select among them depending on need and temperament, and how to systematically nurture yourself such that you more and more rest in sat-chit-ananda, extending that bliss into all creation whenever you do shine the light of consciousness upon it (i.e. d-s).

You might ask, “Once there is an establishment in the truth of Self as sat-chit-ananda, why would there ever be any desire to turn attention to the fantasy of creation?” And the best answer I can provide to that (understand that this is obviously not the truth from ajata, but from a relative level) is that there still remain latent tendencies from past impressions, which is called prarabdha karma in Indian thought, which are activated from time to time. And so it is skillful to know how best to perceive and understand and channel that energy.

The energy which is released when that desire manifests, when the impulse to look at creation arises, can be channeled in an infinite variety of ways. By default, it will tend to go in the same way that is already familiar. Whatever notions already exist will tend to be believed as true, and thus creation will appear according to those familiar notions believed to be true.

But if those existing notions are unsatisfying or incongruent with what you know of the Self, you can channel the energy consciously by turning it toward the Self and thus the energy moves into creation as a reflection of the purity of the Self. This is also known as blessing.

So in this way, creation is blessed as you extend the bliss of the Self. And thus, each time you gaze upon creation, you naturally and effortlessly see that bliss because you are seeing the Self more and more purely reflected.

That is a very high level truth. Ramana when in human form was perhaps functioning at that level. Just his gaze was a supreme healing balm to the souls of many. People reported miracles simply from his gaze.

But maybe that seems too far out for you presently because maybe you’re stuck in s-d perspective. So then don’t worry about it. In that case Ramana advised that you should know about that in such a way that will help you. For example, maybe you need to accept that all of creation is conscious being. Maybe knowing that and accepting that can help you to shift from the density and darkness of that deep suffering and sense of alienation and victimization. Maybe you need to know that your life has meaning and purpose. Sometimes people prematurely let go of ways of seeing that are actually helpful to them. Even if something is not “the supreme truth”, there are helpful and unhelpful partial truths. If you are not confidently resting as bliss, then you’re holding to some partial truth which is unhelpful instead of a helpful partial truth.

Look for more essays soonish. If you have questions about anything covered here that you are not clear about, feel free to ask in the comments below.

The post Start where you are (because it’s the only way) first appeared on Joey Lott's official website.