Reflecting on Reflection

In the article below, I made ‘reflection’ sound like a thought process which is bound to perpetuate the self, which it surely does. But there is another sense of ‘reflection’: a reflection which is aware of all this, and this process of generation of goals and being bound by them, or continuing through them, and in the very process of being aware of them, dissolving them by letting them go.

This is a continual process: not that it is done in volitional way; it’s something that happens rather automatically. In the flame of awareness, goals burn away and therefore all the rubbish that is generated from pursuing the goals. And thoughts dissolve themselves.

It may be generated by the awareness of the pursuit of a goal and therefore could be called itself a thought, but once it is generated it dissolves the process rather than strengthen it.

Of course, there may be a motivation behind it, the motivation being to be rid of the pursuit of the goal, with the further motivation of being enlightened etc. But as long as it doesn’t generate further goals and process of seeking, it doesn’t matter if there is. It’s a movement of letting go, letting everything go, including life itself, and letting reflection go. It’s done in full awareness. It’s not a movement of one thought chasing another thought, like a dog pursuing its own tail.

If, on the other hand, this reflection perpetuates the self, by generating a sense of pride and achievement (of enlightenment!), maybe it is so; hopefully, that will happen in my awareness too. If I am deceiving myself in this, that’s life. I let it be.

Then I land in the body awareness or awareness in which thoughts, images or sounds may come and go.

I may later be dragged into action or pursuit of a goal. But then I can drop the pursuit of the goal whenever I find that it is complicating my life and binding me further. Again, I may be playing games with myself. But that’s the best I can do.