THE MAHAMUDRA IMPULSE
Before we begin a more profound look at the components mentioned we must consider one question in more depth. Why do persons embark upon a Mahamudra quest? Clearly there must be some impulse. What is that impulse?
The three impulses which compel human creatures to enter on a quest for liberation from Samsara are:
An impulse to find a more comfortable way of life with less stress. This is prompted by the Confused identity, which seeks a nest of comfort.
A impulse to be relieved from Suffering. This is prompted by the Greedy identity, which seeks its place of security.
A impulse to seek a state of Belonging. This is an impulse not driven by a sense of loneliness but a sense to unify all things according to the Identities' preferred plan.
In each case, as you can see, the Identity is not satisfied by its quest for satiation of its needs. These Identities can never be satiated, but the dissatisfaction is balanced by its transitional identity pleasures and successes and the human rationalization that suffering is unavoidable.
Occasionally another voice is heard, however. It is a voice which generally is heard better in times of great Identity Stress. It is the voice of Homeostasis. This is a natural system which is always attempting to restore correct and natural balance and harmony. Usually the voice is unheard in the conscious clamour of Identity activity.
What is this Homeostasis? It is a balancing system of the LIFE FORCE (Jivitindriya). It is the life-controlling faculty. It naturally has two focuses, Rupa-jivitindriya, which is the force which drives the physical body and maintains harmony, and Nama- jivitindriya, which does the same for the cognitive functions. Naturally all living creatures have the Rupa life force, although that in human creatures is clearly more complete and sophisticated. There is of course between these two a co-dependency.
They arise at the moment of birth and cease at the moment in which there is the termination of consciousness activity, which is perhaps forty-five days after what medicine calls brain death.
The activity of each of these is different in terms of internal function. Each Rupa-jivitindriya lasts for about seventeen thought moments (we will discuss these thought moments later). Each Nama-jivitindriya arises and falls with a thought moment. You can see then that the natural homeostatic control of Jivitindriya is everpresent when it is not submerged under the blanket of identity ignorance.
This Life Force is what drives human survival. But this human survival is more subtle than one can imagine, for it extends beyond the normal life span. We are not speaking of ideas of reincarnation, but the homeostatic drive to perpetuate all human life, present and future. Thus this Life Force not only impulses a return to a balanced and harmonious life, but drives the impulses for reproduction and the idea that there must be a sane and natural perpetuation of the species and protection of the newborn.
In the first quest for solutions to distress of the identities, there is then a hidden natural request to eliminate the control of those identities. If human happiness is seen to be unrewarding by one or more of the identities, then the voice of the Life Force my be heard mingled with Identity cries. We cannot hear it, but it is there.
If one has good fortune and begins a sane and natural path of recovery of true human nature, as the Identity begins to fall away the voice of the Life Force will be heard and the initial reasons for the quest based on Identity disappear (fall into the background).
The apparent motivation then will be the wish to encounter the Truth of Human Nature, whatever that might be.
That was the quest of Buddha initially and that of the early disciples in the first twenty years of the advance of the Buddha Dharma path. Persons born in favourable circumstances develop this natural quest without falling into the initial traps of Identity dissatisfaction.
The natural impulse therefore that eventually drives a normal person on the quest is to discover the truth of human nature, whatever that may be, consistent with the perpetuation of the apparent individual Life Forcee and the force for the perpetuation of the human species.
But it must be remembered that this homeostatic voice when it is heard is the voice in consciousness of human volition. The actual Life Force cannot be heard, it is unknowable and only present as energy and perceived in correct human behaviour and the absence of Identity activity.
When there is a conscious quest for Mahamudra, then it is clear that there should be a personal introspection with a view to discover the Identity impulses present and to avoid a cognitive camouflage in the form of an identity-impulsed imitation of the natural Life Force. The Identities are very clever imitators, so don’t fall into that trap. The secret is to simply let “be” whatever arises without any attempt at control.
When beginning, the quieter the mind, the easier will be the path. Cultivate calmness, patience, determination, perseverance, clear introspection and, of course, diligence in all practices.