KUTASTHA — The unwavering self!
Kutastha — The one word I got reminded of this morning!
Today marks the completion of 6 months since one of my favourite souls left this planet to enlighten more souls elsewhere! He is always on duty! 😊
I have grieved the loss, I have tried to celebrate the milestone of his departure, and I have been in the phase of cherishing the memories with him… these last few months. Now I guess it is time to start living the lessons I have learnt from and with him.. for the rest of my life!
I vividly remember a conversation with him 2 years back when we were discussing life in general… how life takes different turns… tosses different challenges at us… how things keep changing constantly… and how everyone around us expects us to not just quickly react to those changes appropriately but to respond to those thoughtfully! I remember him telling me (I can hear his voice in my head even now) —
“Kutastha, kiddo, Kutastha!”
And he went on to explain what it means and how it is not just a profound word but a profound practice! I did not look it up after that because I did not have to! He was crystal clear in his explanations… as he always is with his calming soothing voice sounding like the wise enlightened soul that he was!
That was that! After that evening, I did not bring back my focus to Kutastha. Today, when I was trying to pay my respects to him I suddenly recalled this in his voice! KUTASTHA! Almost all day long, I have been mulling over this word… I am happy to share what I learnt from him not just to spread his wisdom but also to remind myself of what it means to me at this point in my life!
After all… what is Kutastha?
Kutastha is a Sanskrit word that has multiple meanings. The ones that I relate to the most… are these:
- The unwavering self
- That which remains unchanged
- At the peak of the mountain
- The spiritual third eye located between one’s eyebrows
- The supreme soul, the consciousness, the ‘Atman’
Kutastha chaitanya is a very well-known concept in the Indian concepts of Spirituality and Yoga, referring to the idea that consciousness is universal and common in all things. This purity of consciousness is what makes all things one.
Why is it such a profound word?
For starters, it has multiple meanings in different contexts and sounds very wise as most of the Sanskrit words do… 😊
Jokes apart, Kutastha, as I interpret it is a STATE OF BEING… a state of unwavering stillness and that is why it is profound! For a human being, DOING SOMETHING… with buzzing thoughts and constant actions.. is far easier than DOING NOTHING… being in a thoughtless still state… just being.
A parallel to this I can think of, as a musician is, singing difficult compositions with ‘murkhiyaan’ and ‘nakhrein’ (quite advanced and improvised way of singing, so to say) vs. singing straight ‘sur’ (musical note), standing still on each sur steadfast… flowing from one sur to the other flawlessly! It is far more difficult than it sounds! Only a highly talented and extremely trained artist can do that. In the case of Kutastha… only an evolved human being can transcend from one state of being to the other effortlessly, seamlessly and stay still in each state unwaveringly!
Can we practise Kutastha?
Yes, of course!
Disclaimer: None of what I am going to say needs a rigorous routine or a specific time and place to practise… though some may prefer it that way which is also great! I am not a spiritual preacher / teacher but I am a student who is learning every day and hence just sharing notes for what it is worth! Take what resonates with you and leave the rest!
1. Physical:
I am sure each of us has gone through bouts of illness, health issues, small and/or big. Have you noticed that before we fall sick and also at the verge of getting back to normal, well, at least near normal, our body sends us enough and more signals accordingly. Many a times, we ignore them knowingly or willingly and wait for someone else to tell us that we are sick or we are doing well. Being aware of those signals ourselves and accepting them wholeheartedly so as to be in the state of illness and wellness both, and being intentional about achieving the physical balance again after every such episode… is Kutastha!
Read your body!
2. Mental:
We win or lose in our mind before we attempt! That is so so true! Irrespective of the profession we are in or passion we pursue, our mind constantly chatters about what is going right… how things can be better or what is going wrong… what could go worse etc. depending upon which side of the bed you woke up in that day! According to many famous scientific research studies, an average human has about 60,000 thoughts per day, good & bad, positive & negative. Imagine that! Oh sorry… that may add to your already surging count of thoughts reading this article! 😊 But hey, the point being when neurons are firing so fast so haphazardly all the time, imagine a soft rhythm to the flow of thoughts, a tune that ties these thoughts/notes into a melody, a pendulum that brings you back to a neutral spot between two thoughts, a method to the madness, like the heartbeat, like the cycle of incoming and outgoing breaths, like a wave settling down before rising again… feeling those movements and transitions, becoming aware of this symphony happening in your mind… recognizing, resetting and restarting from every point of neutrality on the way… is Kutastha!
Mind your mind!
3. Emotional:
Bipolarity is the nature of this world, ‘dvaita’. One morning it is sunny, the next morning it rains. Afternoon it is hot, evening it is cold. One moment you are happy, kind, joyful, ecstatic, the other moment you are sad, depressed, grim, angry. We won’t go into the millions of triggers and reasons. Those are irrelevant for the moment. Whatever the reason may be, it is natural hence inevitable that we are always on this emotional swing. Sometimes the swing can take us to the extremes in many years, months or days and sometimes in just a few moments! Imagine you are swinging… sometimes you feel the air brushing on your face… sometimes some water droplets washing away your cheeks, sometimes sunshine making you feel the warmth! Feeling the emotions you are going through… immersing and experiencing each such emotion, neither pushing away the negative thoughts before it is time nor longing to be with the positive ones for longer than their life spans… living every moment fully for as long as it takes, whatever emotion that moment brings you… is Kutastha!
Live your emotions!
4. Spiritual:
I don’t know if there is a universal one-size-fits-all kind of definition of Spirituality. I don’t want to know. All I know and want to continue to explore is my being, my truth, my journey! The spiritual evolution, so to say, that has blossomed on my own path for the last few years, is that the definition of “me” and “my” is becoming clearer and clearer. First it was just the physical me, my material belongings, my relationships, my people, my achievements, and now slowly I have started to recognize the fact that the real “me” is very ancient, in fact timeless, it cannot be bound by time and space. One has to go through the transition of understanding “myself” to “my self”. That is spirituality according to me. To be able to acknowledge that the real “me” is a visitor on this planet for a few years and will go back soon to the source, to be able to make friendship with that “self” as long as I am here, to be able to laugh, cry, smile, converse, quieten, become one with that “self”… is Kutastha!
Merge with self!
Kutastha… to some it is the power of the third eye, to some it is the state of stillness, to some it is the act of kindness, to some it is the art of being! As long as this makes one sit up, slow down, reflect, be one’s own version of the UNWAVERING SELF, that is Kutastha! What is it to you?
This is to YOU… My friend, philosopher, guide. you have now become one with the Guru mandala that I am always protected by! I have no doubt in my mind that you are always watching out for me even from that far away! Continue to be with me and guide me in this journey!
अहं प्रतिज्ञामि | अहं कूटस्थस्य अभ्यासं करिष्यामि |
I promise! I will practise Kutastha!
To the extent physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually possible!
