Lake Phewa in Pokhara
For centuries using water as a spiritual metaphor has been of great use when describing complex ideas such as karma, awareness, creation and the emptiness of phenomena. I found myself finding this purpose in a body of water during recent trip to Pokhara, a beautiful town cradled by the Himalayas and Annapurna Mountain Range. The city moves at a much slower speed and can be reached by a 6 hour bus trip north-west of Kathmandu. I didn't realize how accustomed I had become to the crazy Kathmandu city vibe until I went to Pokhara and landed on it's beloved Lake Phewa. A boatman took me out to a Hindu temple resting on a small island in the middle of the lake. When I got there I looked out at the luminous reflections for a bit and eventually sat down and closed my eyes. I wanted to take a moment to see what was being reflected back within me.
What I found was a lot of sadness. Sadness that I was leaving soon. Sadness that I couldn't know this place more intimately and sadness that my world in the U.S. was so far away from this one. The melancholy wasn't severe but it tinted the experience.
The great sage of yoga, Patanjali says that our essential nature is obscured by the movements of consciousness which includes all those lovely senses that give us the experience of living. When the movements of consciousness are finally stilled, formless awareness (which relates to consciousness like water reflecting the sky above) can finally reflect it's true and consequently, our essence. This essence is formless and free from the various guises of consciousness. The truth can finally be known in that moment. Water isn't sky. Water is reflecting sky.
Even if someone disagree with this as an ultimate teaching, there is a great tool to be utilized here. It reminds the spiritual seeker that underneath sorrow there is no essential sorrow. That underneath happiness there is no essential happiness. That underneath confusion there is no essential confusion. There is no essential anything when it comes to emotions. They don't represent our true identity. They are just the play of sky above water. Suffering occurs when water forgets that what is reflected, is not it's true nature at all. This teaching takes a lot of fuel out of the emotional fire and allows one to get closer to having a taste of, if not equanimity, at least the space between two crazy thoughts and their accompanying emotions.
My time on Lake Phewa was a reminder that not only is the reflection of my consciousness valuable but also knowing that what is being reflected isn't as all powerful as it would have me believe. I am beyond my reflection. I am not the reflection at my core.
I left Lake Phewa that day with a prayer on my lips. That I would be in it's watery embrace once again. And that I would be able to receive another teaching in it's reflection. Until next time...
