The Wanderer of Suma: a Parable of the Conscious Self
“…the sense of self disappears when closely examined, and this is done through the practice of meditation.”
–Sam Harris, Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion
I’ve been attempting to understand the claim that meditation helps you see that there is no self — a claim which I do not understand. I’m trying to synthesize what I’m reading, in the form of a parable.
In the (fictional) city of Suma, there is a large marketplace. Going from stall to stall is a Wanderer. A cook is roasting with coriander; the Wanderer perceives the smell of coriander. Someone sings a song for donations; the Wanderer perceives the song. The singer sings about love, and people around make gestures indicating that they hearts are swelling passionately. At a break, an audience member says loudly that he loves this place, he loves these people; he loves the bazaar as a whole, he loves the city of Suma. Someone else calls out “We are Suman, and we are proud of that!”
A crier announces that there is a fire in the city’s east quarter; The Wanderer hears the words. The shopkeeper who is selling her pistachios says he feels a pang of worry for his sister’s family, who lives in the east. He is struggling to remember whether she said she would be in the nearby southern shore today instead. The shopkeeper walks slowly, and it might be a lifesaving decision for him to find her at the southern shore, if indeed she is there; or that might be a grave mistake, and he should just head east as fast as he can muster. If he truly marshals his attention, he explains frantically, he knows from past experience that he can clarify his memory and make a better decision. The shopkeeper holds his hand over his heart, feeling a pang of love and care for his nieces and nephews. The Wanderer sees a nearby stall selling those leaves that make your mind more alert if you chew them; maybe that could help? The shopkeeper nods, and says that even just anticipating the hit of energy the leaves will impart, he already feels more alert, and he furiously pushes his mind to remember — ah yes, he recalls now that it is his nephew’s birthday, and the whole family will be at the southern shore! The shopkeeper is hit with such a wave of relief and joy that he can hardly stand.
But what’s this!? The crier now announces that war has broken out between Suma and the rival city of Lo! Agents from Lo have desecrated the holy Suman temple, and spat on its altar. The crowd expresses horror and fury. A group of soldiers appear, asking all able-bodied people to come with them, to be armed for battle today. The crowd suddenly expresses unease and fear, and everyone looks around at each other with suspicion. There are murmurs of, “Why should I have to risk my life?” and “What even is ‘Suma’ — it is a name, but it does not truly exist, does it?”and “But ‘Lo’ did not insult ‘Suma’; those are just abstract illusions, not entities in their own right.” But a woman stands up and scolds them. “Suma has been insulted!” she screams, in a panic. “Suma is dying! Suma must explode in our anger!”
And the Wanderer?
The Wanderer just hears all this.
OK, I hope my analogies are clear. It sounds like everyone I’m reading agrees that perception really happens. People get confused by the word “consciousness”, but everyone agrees that awareness really exists, and it does not need to be created and recreated, it is happening constantly. So I want to make the claim that the Wanderer is real. There is a Wanderer; she is real; there is one of her, and only one — whatever we call her.
There is a Wanderer; she is real; there is one of her, and only one — whatever we call her.
I think we all also would agree that all of the people in Suma are real. But “Suma” might not be real; or, at least, its reality is contingent. “Suma” may be a powerful concept that affects people, but it is not a static thing; “Suma” 10 years ago is not “Suma” today, and what one person in the bazaar means by “Suma” might not be what someone else means. “Suma” is created, and re-created, every time someone draws on it as a concept, or uses it. One might go a whole lifetime assuming “Suma” is a completely concrete, inviolable thing; but if you look for “Suma”, it isn’t there.
If you look for “Suma”, it isn’t there.
As for emotions and thoughts, even painful ones: these are not mere mistakes or illusions, though they sometimes might be. It is not foolish for the shopkeeper to be thinking hard, and to be flooded with adrenaline — if someone said to him, “You know, this feeling of panic could just go away if you realized there is no Suma”, that would be useless advice.
But the crowd is wise to realize that “Suma” itself cannot be insulted, and that “Suma” need not panic — indeed, cannot panic! The woman who is panicking would be wise to realize that “Suma” is not angry; only individual people are angry. She can panic, or not, but that is under her own power, not something required or attached to “Suma”.
