The Doctrine of Awakening by Julius Evola

Author:Julius Evola
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw, pdf
Tags: Buddhism
Publisher: Inner Traditions/Bear & Company
Published: 2018-01-17T16:00:00+00:00

11

Sidereal Awareness: The Wounds Close

The term satipaṭṭhāna is made up of the word sati, which we have already explained as memory, or self-awareness, and paṭṭhāna, which means "to construct," "set up," "establish." In English this term is normally translated by "setting-up of mindfulness" (Rhys Davids), and in German by Pfeiler der Geistesklarheit—whence the expression used by de Lorenzo: pilastri del sapere (pillars of knowledge—in the sense of self-knowledge). The whole formula of the text is: parimukhaṁ satim upaṭṭhapeti,1 which could be rendered thus: "to place the memory of oneself before oneself." The aim of the discipline with which we shall now deal is, in fact, to begin to disengage the central principle of one's own being by means of an objective and detached consideration, both of what makes up one's own personality and also of the general content of one's own experience. The very fact of standing apart from all this, as if it were something external or foreign, purifies and stimulates the consciousness, brings one back to oneself and further develops impassive calm. In this sense the four principal groups of objects that are considered in this discipline serve as so many supports for "knowledge"; they represent something solid for a reaction leading to an unfettering of oneself, to a return to oneself. The four groups of the satipaṭṭhāna refer to the body (kāya), to the emotions or feelings (vedanā), to the mind (citta), and lastly to the dhammā, a general term that here includes phenomena and states brought about by the ascetic discipline itself in its higher stages.

1. Contemplation of the body. To quote the canonical formula, the ascetic, after overcoming the cares and desires of the world, devotes himself in the first place "with a mind clear and fully conscious" to contemplation of the body. This procedure is carried out in various stages.

(a) To begin with, the ascetic practices conscious breathing or self-awareness while breathing (ānāpāna-sati); this is said to be one of the most rapid methods of attaining unshakable calm.2 The ascetic must choose a quiet and secluded place and there practice consciousness of breathing in and out. He breathes in deeply and knows: "I am breathing in deeply," he breathes out deeply and knows: "I am breathing out deeply"; he does the same with short breaths. He then practices thus: "I wish to breathe in feeling the whole body," "I wish to breathe out feeling the whole body," "I wish to breathe in calming this bodily combination," "I wish to breathe out calming this bodily combination." And so on. A simile that shows what a perfect awareness is required in this exercise states: just as an expert and careful turner, when turning quickly, knows: "I am turning quickly," and, when turning slowly, knows: "I am turning slowly."3

Exercises of this kind are particularly important since, according to the Indo-Aryan teaching, breathing is connected with the subtle force of life—prāṇa—that forms a substratum to all the psychophysical functions of a man. The whole organism is animated and

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