It's very difficult to be aware of these secondary waves rising. We
always think that we are reacting in a certain situation to the primary
stimulus, the ruffle on the surface of consciousness, but in fact, far
more than we can ever realize, we are reacting to the predisposition
that is in the samskara at the bottom of the lake. Consumers buy prod
ucts without knowing what it is that has unconsciously motivated them
to do so. We think we're acting in freedom; we convince ourselves that
we are, but in reality we are manipulated or influenced by these waves.
The word influence comes from the Latin "to flow in," which shows
that their language understood thought as a current or wave. The yogi
wants to see and act directly so he needs a flat-bottomed lake in order
to act solely in response to the stimulus that comes from outside and
that is on the surface.
How do we catch secondary waves coming up from the floor of
consciousness? Let us say you are driving a car and a small absent
mindedness or selfishness on the part of another driver releases a wave
of anger in you. Before you know it, you are honking your horn,
cursing, and driving aggressively yourself. Does it do any good? Do
you feel better for letting your serenity be so easily shattered? Does
blaming the other driver restore your peace of mind? No.
If you want to intercept the secondary waves rising, you need
speed and clarity of perception, an acute self-awareness. If your lake is
muddy and impure, if there are lots of toxins in your system clouding
your vision, clarity of vision is impossible. If your liver is sluggish with
toxins, your brain will be impaired because the liver is not filtering the
blood. Your nervous system will be slow to react to danger, but dis
proportionate in the degree of stress it registers. To gain health, you
have to know the unconscious mind, which expresses itself within the
nervous system. If the nerves are disturbed, you feel the weakness of
the mind. As long as the nerves are strong, stable, and elastic, the mind
is stable. When mind is stable, the sediment held in suspension that
douds it sinks to the bottom, and the consciousness heuunes limpid.
t. I. A ll IT Y I' II I·. M 1·: N I' A I. II 0 ll Y I M A N A .\ I