Away From The Shrunken Self
This work relates the rigors and rewards of a spiritual practice in an intriguing narrative style combining prose, poetry and paintings, offering the reader an engaging view of an ancient tradition. Ms. Rohini Ralby, author of “Walking Home With Baba”, a disciple of Swami Muktananda Paramahamsa , and long-time practitioner and teacher of spiritual practice, outlines the principles and processes which were manifested in her personal search for an internal and eternal Truth, as guided by her Guru.
The author offers an in depth discussion of the perils of living in the darkness of what she calls the “shrunken self”, a state in which many (most?) of us find ourselves, which restrains us from discovering a higher Self wherein lies our true identity. Guided by a Guru and specific techniques of self-discovery, an adherent may, through hard work and patience, come into union with a higher consciousness and union with God. Founded in the discipline of Kashmir Shaivism, she outlines with great clarity the processes of “boring in”, of finding our spiritual Heart, where a non-dualist Love resides which will ultimately lead to this state of Bliss. By applying what she refers to as the ”right effort” (p. 162), which entails maintaining “focus on God and Guru in the Heart”, a seeker will eventually dissolve the shrunken self. But she cautions that we must be the right kind of seeker, not one who is looking solely for a parent-substitute, the company of a community, relief from pain, or to seek power. We must rather seek according to our Guru so as not to vainly look for a justification of our false notions provided by the shrunken self.
Walking the spiritual path (sadhana) is hard work, and along the way there may be many distractions. The author indicates that one may at some point have “powerful experiences”, which, she warns, “can show us we may be on the right track, but these experiences are not the goal” (p. 23) The true seeker, functioning within the steady gaze of the spiritual guide, should always maintain focus on the final goal of finding the Love in the Heart as the process of looking within is sustained. One useful tool along this path is the author’s own system based on a “fourchotomy”. She observes that we tend to look at various notions of personal qualities, to which we may have grown attached through our inner vibrations, in terms of simple dichotomies, say, for instance, “active” vs. “passive”, and in so doing we don’t examine fully other possible qualities that may also be associated with the poles of this simple dichotomy. So, she suggests a deeper examination of other aspects to be considered with each of these members. We then look for a potentially negative outcome of the first member, in this case “active”, –let’s say, “agitated” and also a positive outcome for the second member of the pair—“relaxed”, perhaps?—and then further examine our reactions to these additional qualities. By continuing this process within a number of contexts, we deepen our gaze inward, “boring in” as we try to find our inner Heart, and eventually release from external attachments and false conceptions generated by the shrunken self.
Obviously, dutifully following this procedure will take time and patience (a quality she insists upon!!), as will other practices in the tradition, (such as meditation, various physical practices, etc.), and must be attended by the Guru. Indeed, she warns that to attempt spiritual practice unsupervised can be a dangerous thing (cf. p. 205). And thus the notion of surrender is key: “…if we don’t surrender to a spiritual teacher and instead we believe we can do it ourselves we are self-directed and will never be able to give up the shrunken self.” (p.133) The theme of necessity of the Guru echoes beautifully throughout the work, as is reflected in one of the poetic lines: “Guru guides the shrunken self into the fire, to resolve dissolve the shrunken self” (p. 178. NB: the poetic lines quoted are in the linear format of the present writing. This and the other poems in this work are written in lines arranged in intriguing non-linear patterns which visually reflect many of the vibrations set forth in the words.)
The work offers us a wonderful glimpse of the environment of actually living a spiritual practice. The references to other works across cultures and traditions are extremely relevant and serve to underline the universality of many of the principles presented here. An additional bonus is found in the form of an extremely useful glossary of many terms found in many traditional texts. In addition to the teachings offered via word, the author offers the reinforcing benefit of original artworks, many arranged to represent various fourchotomies. Even if the reader does not attain the “bottom line” of life, or a blissful state of union with a higher consciousness, many improvements to a shrunken self may be obtained, with proper guidance, from following some steps along the path herein presented. All in all, this an immensely enjoyable, accessible and valuable work.
Dr. Stan McCray is Professor Emeritus of Modern Languages and Linguistics and Intercultural Communication at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC).