The Path of Śamatha
The Path of Samatha (Picture and Symbolic Interpretation)
Some elements of interest haven't been defined in 157-158:
The little rabbit The rabbit signifies spiritual vanity - The feeling of pride one obtains when, as the picture depicts, the Meditator (or Self - ∆) first gets a hold of their Mind (or Personality - □).
The little rabbit is a sort of condescension, a fake belief that the Self is capable of taming his entire personality - simply because so much effort (depicted by the fire) has already been invested in this pursuit.
When the rabbit is black, this vanity is at its highest: the person may start giving others advice on how to achieve spiritual enlightenment, while in fact as of yet, they have only managed to catch but a glimpse of what pure mental stillness truly is.
I would personally have to add that this is not a state to be ashamed of; simply because the artist felt it was necessary to add this the many stages to achieving mental stillness.
The idea is to transmute this vanity into humility through continuous self-focus.
As the rabbit whitens, this vanity becomes less and less prevalent.
The white rabbit (although not present in the image) therefore symbolizes enlightenment ("Wake Up, Neo").
The Branches of the Tree off the Path The tree the monkey eventually hides in is, in some way, related to the rabbit as well - as the person may actively try to help out others in their spiritual achievement, he or she may be distracted from the true path: the focus of the mind. If you focus on helping others, you may learn to deal with some of your flaws, but you will still be trapped in circumstances outside of yourself. The branches signify the many paths a person can take at this point in the journey.
This topic is interesting in today's world, since many people have come to criticize monks for being "selfish", for "isolating themselves from real-world matters". Yet what the monk eventually comes to realize (as his little rabbit whitens), is that he will be able to truly help others after he reaches a state of total serenity himself. Only then should he spend energy fighting off the madness and pain of his disciples.
If you have not truly stabilized yourself, and yet still give others advice, then you may be giving them the wrong kind of advice. You may be giving advice solely based on your own personal experience. You may not listen properly to what another person is saying, and in the end you may have lead an unprepared soul into a disastrous situation.
Better have mastery over yourself before you try to guide others...
The Flying Man The five senses have been covered in page 157, but the sixth sense has not been covered at all.
The sixth sense is depicted as the flying man - notice his shape, very similar to the Eye of Horus, which symbolizes divine intuition - innate knowledge, as opposed to acquired knowledge.
This is why we call intuition the "sixth sense".
The shapes formed by the Man meditating over the Elephant The Meditator forms a triangle (∆), while the elephant forms a strong stable base, similar in shape to a square (□). As seen in the septenary constitution of man, there are four bodies in the Personality (square) and three bodies constituting the Self (triangle). The elephant therefore represents the Personality (Body, Energy, Emotions and Mind) at the full service of the Self (Intelligence, Intuition and Will).
The Egyptians have materialized this harmony between the square and the triangle by building pyramids - forming a triangle from a face view, and a square from a top view.
Some elements of interest haven't been defined in 157-158:
The little rabbit is a sort of condescension, a fake belief that the Self is capable of taming his entire personality - simply because so much effort (depicted by the fire) has already been invested in this pursuit.
When the rabbit is black, this vanity is at its highest: the person may start giving others advice on how to achieve spiritual enlightenment, while in fact as of yet, they have only managed to catch but a glimpse of what pure mental stillness truly is.
I would personally have to add that this is not a state to be ashamed of; simply because the artist felt it was necessary to add this the many stages to achieving mental stillness.
The idea is to transmute this vanity into humility through continuous self-focus.
As the rabbit whitens, this vanity becomes less and less prevalent.
The white rabbit (although not present in the image) therefore symbolizes enlightenment ("Wake Up, Neo").
This topic is interesting in today's world, since many people have come to criticize monks for being "selfish", for "isolating themselves from real-world matters". Yet what the monk eventually comes to realize (as his little rabbit whitens), is that he will be able to truly help others after he reaches a state of total serenity himself. Only then should he spend energy fighting off the madness and pain of his disciples.
If you have not truly stabilized yourself, and yet still give others advice, then you may be giving them the wrong kind of advice. You may be giving advice solely based on your own personal experience. You may not listen properly to what another person is saying, and in the end you may have lead an unprepared soul into a disastrous situation.
Better have mastery over yourself before you try to guide others...
The sixth sense is depicted as the flying man - notice his shape, very similar to the Eye of Horus, which symbolizes divine intuition - innate knowledge, as opposed to acquired knowledge.
This is why we call intuition the "sixth sense".
The Egyptians have materialized this harmony between the square and the triangle by building pyramids - forming a triangle from a face view, and a square from a top view.