When we speak of developing contemplation, it is assumed that we already possess something, that something has already arisen within us. For if it had not arisen, there would be nothing to develop. So what is it that must arise within us? A different principle of awareness must be born within us. It can be called “deep awareness.” The essential question is whether our mind remains on the periphery or abides in deep awareness. The entire teaching of the siddhas is about shifting awareness from the periphery into deeper layers.
Levels of Peripheral Consciousness
What is this periphery? The outermost periphery is, of course, external objects. That is why Saraha said:
“One who is captivated by external objects is like a cow.”
This is indeed so, because animals blindly accept illusion as a given and are incapable of becoming aware of it or changing it in any way. But the periphery is not limited to external objects. Saraha simply emphasized that being captivated by any external objects is an extremely undesirable state for a yogi.
Another kind of periphery lies in our perception—that is, in the sense organs: sight, hearing, smell, touch, and so on. This is not being captivated by the objects themselves, but being captivated by perception according to the principle: “What is outside does not matter to me; what matters is what I perceive, what I feel, or what I think.” But in fact, this too is the periphery. When we are captivated by our sensations or thoughts, they too are a kind of external object for our innermost “Self.” All of this is called the jnana-indriyas—the organs of cognition.
There is also a kind of periphery called manas (the conceptual mind), that is, the mind we deal with in everyday life. The nature of manas (the conceptual mind) is to constantly operate in “one-zero, one-zero” mode—that is, in the mode of acceptance and rejection. Continually identifying friend or foe, like or dislike, pure or impure, bad or good, good or evil, me or him, one’s own or others, sacred or worldly, and so on—all of these are functions of manas. It is like a pendulum, that is, unceasing duality. And when we view the world and ourselves in this way, we remain on the periphery. Naturally, life and death, love and hate, and so forth also exist within this state.
If you have ever interacted with people whose consciousness is fixed on the periphery, you will have noticed that their judgments are highly categorical and unequivocal; that is, they believe in their judgments, regarding them as something established once and for all. Conversely, when you encounter a more aware person, their judgments are not unequivocal but multidimensional; they may say, for example, as Mahavira did: “Under some circumstances, this may be true, while under others, that may be true; none of this is so simple, nothing is so unequivocal, and nothing is ever merely black or white.” Mahavira’s teaching is also called anekantavada, meaning that its famous principle is anekanta (non-one-sidedness). There is an entire school of philosophy based on Mahavira’s teaching which holds that no statement can be completely true; it is true only according to circumstances—that is, it can
