Perhaps on occasion you enjoy the privilege of wandering around naked in your home. In the blasting heat of the summer what good are clothes? Research suggests that going nude is conducive to the health of the skin. It also boosts immunity and fosters feelings of delight by the release of serotonin. While parading around in the buff may have its merits, the practice of naked awareness is essential to developing a clear and radiant heart-mind. Naked awareness is unconditioned awareness, free from the sticky film of anxiety, expectation, craving, and the like.
People spend years mistaking their thoughts, anxieties and doubts for their essential self. When we practice yoga and meditation, we peel off the outer dressing of habitual tendency to reveal the empty ground of naked awareness. It takes time to see that the outer garments of self are but a flimsy cover. One of the most celebrated passages from the Bhagavad Gita likens the small self to clothing apparel.“ Just as one takes off old clothing and then puts on new attire, so the great Self casts away worn out bodies in order to put on new ones.” When we settle deeply into meditation, savasana, or yoga nidra (the yogic sleep) the outer garb of the ego gets stripped down. When we rest deeply in “no mind,” when the mind has nothing more to “put on,” we realize the bare bones awareness that underlies all experience.
While our dress, accessories and bling make us unique, it is our naked, unadorned awareness that we share in common. So each day spend time being just as you are, au naturel, in your birthday suit. By realizing your naked, natural mind, you can walk through the rest of your days unconfined.
