There are many caves dedicated to the Buddha throughout Asia, many hand-hewn, with statues well over a thousand years old. Many Thai Buddhist temples
are built near caves, and maintain shrines within. My luck once found
me inside one of these caves, and so I found, inside me, one of these
caves. Allegorically speaking.
Having wandered the wat grounds and found the entrance, I took off my shoes and ducked in. I was immediately surrounded by wet black rock jutting at unexpected angles. Brimfull buckets echoed the sound of steadily dripping water. The barefoot climb up and down slick stone steps was laid with towels for sure footing. Having entered a shrine chamber and taking a seat on a mat, I found myself open-hearted and face-to-face with a triad of Buddha statues in luminous candlelight.
I looked into the faces of these statues in turn, taking in the subtle nuances of their expressions. One is still and strong, wide awake. Another has a calm and open smile. The last with closed eyes, enjoying samadhi, or some such lovely state. My imagination, or maybe my mirror neurons, took wing and carried me there. I realized only afterward I was entirely engaged for an unknown period of time in my own enjoyment of... what?
This was not shaktipat. This happens all the time, with all kinds of emotions. I had flowed from an external cue to an internal state. The path to that state was in my mind. It always had been. Always.
Self-mastery is not in having conscious control over my thoughts and actions. It is in surrender. Whether it is inherent, imagined, or imprinted, there is a part of my self which I can turn to as a master, to teach me everything I need to know.
Having wandered the wat grounds and found the entrance, I took off my shoes and ducked in. I was immediately surrounded by wet black rock jutting at unexpected angles. Brimfull buckets echoed the sound of steadily dripping water. The barefoot climb up and down slick stone steps was laid with towels for sure footing. Having entered a shrine chamber and taking a seat on a mat, I found myself open-hearted and face-to-face with a triad of Buddha statues in luminous candlelight.
I looked into the faces of these statues in turn, taking in the subtle nuances of their expressions. One is still and strong, wide awake. Another has a calm and open smile. The last with closed eyes, enjoying samadhi, or some such lovely state. My imagination, or maybe my mirror neurons, took wing and carried me there. I realized only afterward I was entirely engaged for an unknown period of time in my own enjoyment of... what?
This was not shaktipat. This happens all the time, with all kinds of emotions. I had flowed from an external cue to an internal state. The path to that state was in my mind. It always had been. Always.
Self-mastery is not in having conscious control over my thoughts and actions. It is in surrender. Whether it is inherent, imagined, or imprinted, there is a part of my self which I can turn to as a master, to teach me everything I need to know.
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