19

32

and try to force it open. You have a sense of resistance
and at the same time a sense of effort. There can
be no resistance without effort: there can be no
effort without resistance. They are only two ways
of describing the same experience. It is a double
consciousness. We become aware of ourself in
becoming aware of the not-self. The waking state
is a consciousness of reaction; and as the consciousness
itself is two-sided, so it has also two
varieties; namely, vol willing action, where our
modification of other things is more prominent than
their reaction on us, and perception, where their effect
on us is far overwhelmingly greater than our effect on them. And
this notion of being such as other things make us
is such a prominent part of our life, that we conceive

32

and try to force it open. You have a sense of resistance
and at the same time a sense of effort. There can
be no resistance without effort: there can be no
effort without resistance. They are only two ways
of describing the same experience. It is a double
consciousness. We become aware of ourself in
becoming aware of the not-self. The waking state
is a consciousness of reaction; and as the consciousness
itself is two-sided, so it has also two
varieties; namely, vol willing action, where our
modification of other things is more prominent than
their reaction on us, and perception, where their effect
on us is far overwhelmingly greater than our effect on them. And
this notion of being such as other things make us
is such a prominent part of our life, that we conceive