This week, Isha Das writes to us from Assisi, Italy, to share Assisi’s peace, rest, and inspiration.
Last week I introduced the yogic concept of “the citta mind” and “the buddhi mind.” To review, the citta mind encompasses the seemingly endless influx of reactive thoughts, feelings, and desires which occupy our conscious minds. Far too often the citta mind controls our lives. Yet underneath this involuntary current of mental stimulation is an ever-present stream of pure awareness, that is, awareness without any of the mind’s agitating interference. Yogis refer to this pure awareness as “cit.” It is easy to recognize cit in that it radiates silence, peace, and, at a deep level, nothing other than bliss. Saints and sages consciously live from this interior awareness. They might still experience interference from the citta mind, but they are not overshadowed by it. They witness its machinations with compassionate disinterest, even lightness and humor. Living in this manner is freedom, but it requires our willing detachment from all this mind-stuff that causes us so much suffering. The “poverty” that Francis taught required such detachment.
Beloved God, Divine Guru,
Help me to be willing
To let go of my thinking, feeling,
And all preferences
So that I might experience
The pure awareness of cit.
