Ear Tragus?, Suffering (Part 4), and Sam Harris
May 12, 2024
8 min read
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Newsletter
{Body}
Ear tragus
Have you ever wondered what the evolutionary purpose of this thing is?
No? Well let me tell you anyways!
It’s called “the tragus”, and according to Google it either (1) protects your ear canal from getting dust and bugs in it, (2) acts as a sound collector for vibrations coming from behind you, or (3) does nothing at all.
According to Kriya Yoga, however, there is another, very important purpose for the tragus.
Just as your eyes have eyelids to block all incoming light, your tragus is an “earlid” that blocks out all incoming sound.
That is, you can fold your tragus over your ear canal to plug it up and silence the external world. Try that now: firmly push on your tragi until they cover both ear holes, and notice how quiet everything becomes.
{Mind}
Protocol for avoiding suffering?
This is Part 4 of 4 on a series about suffering. Click to read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 or click here to read the full essay, published in December 2022.
A summary of all the points thus far:
(1) Suffering is caused by desiring pleasant sensations to begin, or desiring unpleasant sensations to end.
(2) Both sensations and desire are both vibratory patterns that feed off and cause one another — an infinite regress of misery.
(3) Vibration can’t be the only thing in the Universe, because that which is Aware of vibration is not vibrating.
(4) If you are fully Aware of an unpleasant sensation, then it will cease to be a source of suffering, because you no longer have preferences for what happens to it.
Just be aware of bodily sensations? That’s the solution!? Bullshit! Too simple.
Simple? Yes. Easy? Not even remotely.
And that’s because your ego will unconsciously lasso you back into desire by playing off of your unique emotional vulnerabilities with a series of perfectly intoxicating thoughts.
Put differently: we very easily think we’re being Aware of sensations when all we’re really doing is…well…thinking!
The end of suffering, then, turns out not to be an intellectual pursuit at all…it’s a practical one. It must be attempted. The steps must be run again. And again. And again. And again. And again.
And what are those steps?
Observe a thought for what it truly is: transitory vibration.
Pinpoint the sensation(s) it created on the body.
Be fully Aware of the sensation(s): no craving and no aversion — don’t wish it away, and don’t wish something take its place.
As soon as a new thought arises, start again.
As soon as a thought about a thought arises, see step 4.
Repeat ad nauseam. Over and over until the heat of frustration incinerates your ego, and you are left with nothing but eternal peace.
This is the end of this series. I highly, highly recommend you read or listen to the full essay here. It goes into far more depth on the nature of suffering and will give you that “aha” moment you’re looking for.
{Soul}
How is it possible that when friends come to you with their problems, you suddenly turn into an all-knowing sage, when, in your personal life, you rarely have your sh*t together?
The essential difference is between intellectually understanding something, and practically living according to that understanding.
For example, while you know that it’s bad for your health to consume processed foods, alcohol and hours of short-form content, you probably still indulge.
Why? Because you’re afraid of the discomfort you might feel from choosing the wiser option!
Notice I said “afraid to feel,” not “will feel.”
You are afraid of the discomfort of working out, so you don’t do it. You are afraid that ignoring the temptation for pizza or TikTok or getting high will be overpowering, so you give in.
Yes, doing the “right” thing is almost always unpleasant (at first). But that isn’t what stops you from doing it.
Instead, it’s the anticipation of pain that stops you from making the wise choice. You can deal with the unpleasantries in this moment, but you are worried that you won’t be able to deal with them in the next.
And that’s why it’s so easy to tell others how to improve their life: because you aren’t the one that has to feel the physical discomfort of change — they are!
Here’s some tough love: most of the time, you know exactly what to do to be happier and healthier. You just aren’t willing to delay your gratification or give up your temporary pleasures in order to get there.
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