Vinaire's Blog

We find thought to be a substance when we look at it according to the following definition:

SUBSTANCE
Substance is that which is substantial enough to be sensed and perceived. We may divide the substance of this universe into three categories: (1) thought, (2) radiation, and (3) matter. Thought is extremely light and has least consistency. Radiation has a little more consistency. Matter has extremely high consistency. Consistency means “a degree of density, firmness, viscosity, etc.” We have increasing consistency from thought to radiation to matter. Matter and radiation are considered to be substances that are physical. Thought is considered to be a substance that is metaphysical, or spiritual.

When we look at thought as substance, we are looking at its significance, or meaning, for what it is. We then look at how this significance is being modulated by the mind, just like one looks at how one’s breath is being modulated by the body. It is like stepping back from being entangled and identified with the significance, and looking at all that significance from a distance. It is like examining the functioning of the mind itself.

Looking at the mind functioning is like looking at thought being processed. There are many dimensions to the mind. Reprocessing the existing data is one thing. Postulating new data is something very different. To do classical Yoga and Tantra we need to develop a sophisticated understanding of the mind. Yoga is what we do internally in the form of meditation. Tantra (technology of thought) is what we apply externally in the form of rituals. The external effort is to collect and arrange the relevant data. The internalization is to assimilate all that data.

Intellect is just one of the tools of the mind. We see it being used when two people are arguing. It is like a knife that helps you dissect things to know more about them. But we cannot know everything by just using the cutting intellect, because we are cutting everything to pieces and making it more and more complex. The other way to know something is to become one with it. Maybe I can know more about you by hugging you. There is no distance then. It seems that we need intellect to know more about the physical form; but it requires becoming one to know the spiritual form.

What is the significance of sound ‘Sh’ that makes the word “Shiva”?  There is a canvas on which existence is painted. Understanding that canvas is understanding ‘shiva.’ SHIVA MEANS THAT WHICH IS NOT. It is the Unknowable. The sound ‘sh’ represents the immensity of the empty canvas. We may assign it any meaning we want. Meaning exists only in the human mind. It has only psychological significance. It has substance. This is thought.

The efficiency of the functioning of a substantial system is just a question of perfection of its geometry, how well aligned all its parts are. Only what is geometrically perfect sustains itself. What is not geometrically perfect will fall apart. In other words, this oneness (continuity, consistency and harmony) of substance, both spiritual (thought), and physical (radiation and matter) is extremely important.

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