Prana Wellness Center
14 August, 7:00-8:30pm
The skandhas, the senses, and emptiness–these three big topics roll up into a tidy ball of understanding the ego and experiencing its absence.
The Skandhas
The skandhas: form, feeling, perception, mental formations, and consciousness, are components of all sentient beings. The skandhas roll through us as integrated and fluctuating experiences. Some teachings refer to them as creating the foundation of the ego. They intertwine in our experience, and are part of the experience of being alive.
We can get caught when we think that they are ours: our form, our feelings, our senses, our thoughts, our consciousness. The sense of self attaches to the skandhas. That is simply one of the ways the ego works. Whatever our experience, the ego likes to own it, trying to manipulate and control what’s happening within and around us. The ego tries to maintain the status quo and to keep us safe.
Ego is OK
The ego isn’t a bad thing at all. We need our ego and its structures to develop into mature human beings. However, when grasping takes over, parts of us, like the superego, arise that can cause us so much pain. When the superego or ego structures are activated, it is almost impossible to experience emptiness.
Most of the time we believe “It is all about me,” and the emptiness of a separate self is like a phantom thought.
The senses create sense consciousnesses. When we are fully engaged in hearing, seeing, tasting, smelling, touching or thinking, parts of our consciousness arise in a particular way. These senses are also parts of life, and when they arise, we often attach to them. My hearing, seeing, etc., trigger reactions to what we perceive.
Mindfulness helps us experience interconnection & freedom from a sense of self
When we practice mindfulness, we begin to loosen the ego’s grip on controlling our experience. We open spaces in our minds, hearts, and bodies. This space lets us see things as they really are. We see the interconnection of life as we breathe in the oxygen the trees have given all life. We feel how the earth holds and nurtures us, not as separate beings, but as interwoven parts of the whole.
Looking at the skandhas and experiencing the senses gives us the opportunity to open to the possibility of emptiness. When we notice our grasping, then we can relax and breathe, guiding our attention to the experience of the present moment. When we notice our grasping, then we can relax and breathe, guiding our attention to the experience of the present moment. When the awareness tunes into our bodies, minds, and hearts, we become fully present. This presence enables us to experience emptiness–sounds arise and fade, sights arise and dissolve, forms are part of life itself; all living things move toward what is pleasant and away from what is unpleasant.
Just relax!
When we relax into our experience, we begin to feel the freedom that is empty of our sense of a separate self. Our experience becomes a dance of the Mystery, unfolding and changing from moment to moment.
Learning to be present and aware is a transformative experience. No matter what is happening within us and around us, the present moment gives us the opportunity to connect more deeply with the sacred and magical world as part of one unfolding whole. Nothing to cling to . . . . nothing to let go of . . . .