DIVING INWARDS
The world is only a conglomeration of God made things and man made things. In this collection of things or objects, you, the individual, are the only subject perceiving them. It is relevant to note that the Sanskrit word for ‘world’ is lokaha –lokyatey iti lokaha –that which is seen is the world.
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Seen by whom? For whom? You. It is you the subject, who is capable of looking and seeing. It is also you who say, “There is a world”. The world does not come and announce, “I am the world”. That is why Bhagavan says, “The world is in you; not the other way about”. The moment your attention is withdrawn from objects, either consciously as in meditation during the waking state, or unconsciously as in deep sleep, the world is not there. But you are always there, whether the world is seen on waking, or not seen in sleep. The seen therefore, depends on the seer. The seen always changes! You, the seer, are forever there.
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“Plunge within”, “go within”, “dive inwards”. These powerful commandments of Bhagavan, have to be necessarily put into practice. To begin this inward journey, we have to first withdraw our attention from that which is seen. Such withdrawal, in toto, is difficult, indeed. Therefore, first train yourself to consciously withdraw your attention from man made things. Initially, this can be easily achieved by shifting such attention to God made things.
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Withdraw yourself from seeing, listening to and indulging in man made things. Instead, let your attention be on God made things like nature - birds, animals, waves, the winds… This is purely to gain efficiency and fluency in your power to consciously withdraw your attention inwards. Through this practice, withdrawing your attention totally inwards away from both God made and man made things, becomes as natural and effortless as one’s own breathing.
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This most essential process of withdrawing within, is symbolically represented in traditional texts as a tortoise withdrawing its head and limbs when encountering any form of danger. Likewise, as aspiring seekers, we too should withdraw our attention from the real life danger of the world with all its attractions and distractions.
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