Knowledge is Bondage
Friday, July 6th, 2007The degree to which we are attached to knowing is a measure of how far we are from Self-realization.
Students come to the teachings in a state of longing, but “I” cannot break the habit of reinforcing itself with public demonstrations of all-knowingness.
So, instead of relaxing and accepting the nourishment offered by the teacher, there are proclamations, performances, and nit picking.
While “I” is busy awarding itself these badges of conceptual knowledge, the wisdom of longing and the sadness of separation continue unanswered and unmet.
Attachment to knowing undermines all spiritual practice. Some people are so afraid of openness: of appearing foolish, of being a beginner, or of making a mistake, that they cannot even start a seated practice. They are completely paralyzed by attachment to knowing.
Others demand to see the balance sheet before they will agree to begin practicing. They want to know exactly what they will get from exactly so much effort. Or, they come to a teacher having already decided what it is they want to know. They want to acquire certain practices or knowledge as if the teacher and the teachings were a supermarket from which to pick and choose. This happens among students of even the most accomplished teachers.
Most people find themselves in a state of resistance to the simple, relaxed, open-ended exploration of which authentic sadhana consists.
All of these stances are based on attachment to knowing.
Being in control of knowing and knowledge is the way that people manage their overwhelming fear of the open flow of reality.
We stake out our tiny little claim in the vast universe. Then we continually advertise this idiocy.
One of the key texts of Kashmir Shaivism, The Shiva Sutra, begins by stating: Knowledge is Bondage.
The imperative to be the knower and to feel safe in one’s knowledge of the world is truly a prison that reinforces ignorance, or the root feeling of separation, anavamala.
Attachment to knowing more, knowing specific techniques, being right, and winning approval for what we know will never lead to realization. Technical mastery is not wisdom. True mastery is the impeccable responsiveness that emerges from profound relaxation.
However, most people do not have any inkling of what this might mean.
What most of us do have access to is longing, sadness, loneliness, and a feeling of inchoate relief when meeting Reality in the form of authentic teachers and teachings.
Recognizing our real situation in these responses helps us to relax our defensiveness against life and leads us out of the prison of attachment to knowledge into the openness of embodied understanding.
In Matriseva,
Shambhavi
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