{"id":7766,"date":"2015-09-11T17:36:55","date_gmt":"2015-09-11T22:36:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/themindunleashed.com\/?p=7766"},"modified":"2015-09-11T21:20:16","modified_gmt":"2015-09-12T02:20:16","slug":"dissolving-into-the-formless","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/themindunleashed.com\/2015\/09\/dissolving-into-the-formless.html","title":{"rendered":"Dissolving into the Formless"},"content":{"rendered":"

In ancient Chinese medicine there is an organ called the triple burner, which has no material shape or form. Also called the sanjiao<\/em>, it is said to be responsible for numerous functions within the body, though only in a conceptual way. As Westerners, we are not conditioned to think of the formless as purposeful. In fact, we spend most of our lives obsessed with form<\/em> \u2013 cars, people, bank accounts, houses, clothing, electronic gadgets, sexy places, etc. In a 180 degree tangent from this material obsession is enlightenment \u2013 the dissolution of form into the formless.<\/p>\n

The lack of shape and \u201cphysicality\u201d of the triple burner was perplexing to many Chinese medical scholars, and so they interpreted some of the Neijing<\/em> and Lingshu<\/em> teachings about the mysterious organ as pointing to a membrane that encased the entire torso, having three parts: one covering the chest cavity; one for the upper\/middle abdomen; and one for the lower abdomen.\u00a0 However, such projection of a \u201cform\u201d seems out of touch with the primary descriptions of the triple burner, and represents part of the struggle to figure out its nature and qualities.\u00a0[1]<\/p>\n

Unknowing What You \u2018Know\u2019<\/strong><\/h6>\n

This struggle to put the formless into form occurs on numerous occasions throughout human history. The reverse has also been taught. Lao Tzu once said in the Tao Te Ching<\/em>, \u201cWhen your discernment penetrates to the four quarters [of the cosmos], are you capable of not knowing anything?\u201d Likewise, the Upanishads<\/em> state the following, describing Brahman<\/em> or the ultimate reality, \u201cHe comes to the thought of those who know him beyond thought, not to those who imagine he can be attained by thought…He is known in the ecstasy of an awakening which opens the door of life eternal.\u201d One could argue that the whole point of yoga, at least as described in ancient texts written by the yogic sage Patanjali, is to dissolve thought, or form, into \u2018no thought.\u2019\u00a0 The sage rightly states, \u201cYoga is the restriction of the fluctuations of the mind\u201d, or in the original Sanskrit<\/a>, \u201cyogas chitta vritti nirodhah<\/em>.\u201d How on earth do we dissolve form into the formless, though, when our minds are so busy creating a material reality?<\/p>\n

Allow me to explain that last point before progressing forward, since most of us would stumble on the fact that our minds<\/em> create reality.<\/p>\n

The Void<\/strong><\/h6>\n

Niels Bohr, a Danish quantum physicist once said<\/a>, \u201cIf quantum physics hasn\u2019t profoundly shocked you, you haven\u2019t understood it yet.\u201d Aside from the fact that the greatest minds are still trying to \u201cunderstand\u201d quantum physics, let\u2019s examine what he meant by that.<\/p>

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