Lojong Practice Journal: Rest in the nature of alaya, the essence
The 59 slogans through a social justice lens
Alaya is a Sanskrit word for the natural awakened quality of mind. It cannot be tangibly found, and does not ‘belong’ to us so much as it is just the way things are. It is clarity and wisdom, the enlightened mind, fully aware of the absolute interdependence of all things, but also the relativity of experience. It is from where all things manifest and into which all things dissolve.
After such a description, the idea of ‘resting’ in the nature of alaya seems pretty lofty. The instruction might as well be ‘just be enlightened’, and that’s something we’re told is incredibly difficult to achieve. But if we examine the language of this slogan, as it was chosen to be translated, it’s important to note the use of the word ‘rest’.
For many folks, when we set out on some spiritual journey, we quickly get caught up on trying to ‘get somewhere’. We try really hard to be less neurotic or wiser. This is especially so for those of us raised in a hyper-capitalist meritocracy where doing is valued over being and time is seen as a scarce commodity we must squeeze to the last nano-second for the sake of ‘efficiency’.
But this slogan is telling us is to stop trying to achieve something or get somewhere because there is nowhere to ‘get’. The nature of alaya is the essence, which is to say, it is the natural state of our mind free from obscurations. The ‘doing’ and ‘achieving’ and ‘working’ mentality we so often carry is an obscuration. We learn this when we meditate. We begin to see how thoughts come and go and emotions are finite. This is where the analogy of the vast blue sky is used — clouds are impermanent, the weather is impermanent. The sun and the moon shift across the sky as the earth rotates. But the sky itself? The actual container or background or however you want to name it — that is just there. It is not tangible, but it is ever-present.
The nature of mind is the same, and to rest there is not to get rid of the cacophony that plays out across it, but to simply notice the stability of mind, even when our heads are full of thoughts and our emotions are running high. It’s saying we don’t have to go chasing those thoughts, and we don’t have to fixate on an emotion. Instead we just shift our focus to the profound, brilliant wisdom, the unfettered nature of mind that is alaya, and see what happens when we stop doing so much, and rest in just being.
Originally published on Medium.
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