The Abysses of the Mind and the Highest Peaks of Consciousness (part 1/2). By Matsyavatara dasa (Marco Ferrini)

Sometimes in life human beings make rather difficult, painful experiences, in which people seem to fall into a crevasse, an abyss, very close to annihilation; there are then, most seldom, other people who touch brightening peaks, with an extraordinary expansion of consciousness in which they experience – even though for a few moments – an irrepressible happiness. In the middle, between these two positions, stand the great majority of humanity that carry on an ordinary mediocrity.

Very often I witnessed the experience of the abyss among many people I met, who had asked me for help. A couple of times, between the age of 10 and 30, I found myself on the brink of the abyss, I was at risk, but thanks to the divine mercy I was supported and saved from that devastating experience. Such experience doesn't manifest itself in one's life out of conscious intention but because of a series of factors that have been produced by one's own thoughts, deeds and motivations. We can learn to foresee and recognize it from a series of features, symbols, signs and warnings, related to its original causes. I feel very much sympathetic towards people who happen to face this experience of the abyss, the black whole, a total disorientation; the person feels like drifting downward and there is no end to the crevasse. In that condition of consciousness there is no way to get any better, but only to get worse. Who wishes to do so, may accept my reflection to question oneself and try to understand if and how often, one has found oneself in life on the brink of the abyss, or close to it, when and how he managed to avoid the collapse.

By describing this state of consciousness, I would use the following metaphor: the river of life that suddenly stops flowing. Water remains still and runs no longer. There seems to be real obstacles to cause the obstruction, but they are mainly produced by the doer of that experience. It is the person itself that creates its crevasse and falls into it. Can the elevating experience be also the result of inner projections? I would be inclined to confirm and approve both statements because there is a strong logic link to it, but thinking on this delicate theme, through praying and meditating, I could deepen my comprehension as follows. We are to decide which direction to take, either into the crevasse or towards the peak, however the crevasse and the pike exist, they represent a possibility, it is up to us to decide whether to accept or refuse either one or the other. According to my comprehension, the Shastra and the Sadhu teach that abysses and peaks exist independently from us, but we make them happen in our life by everyday choices. Either a period of mourning, or the death of a child which is a desolating loss for a mother, or for the sake of our ego, any person may fall into an abyss, but the same person can also choose to transform that event in a precious and saving opportunity in order to reach the highest peaks of consciousness.