Good idea from https://www.swami-krishnananda.org/aitt/ait_3.html:
There are grades of knots. These are called granthis in mystical psychology. Granthis are like rope knots but are actually psychic knots, the knots of the mind. We may call them the knots of consciousness, if we like, which have somehow or other got stifled into a consciousness of these knots, so that the knots cannot become aware of there being a long rope behind them. If there is a longish rope with several knots at various places on the rope, the knots do not cease to be the rope, though they are knots; they are knots of the rope itself. There may be a hundred knots, but they are constituted of the very stuff of the rope. But if the structure of the knot becomes conscious of that particular structure only, and not the rope aspect of the structure, that would be bondage, or samsara. Similarly, we are conscious of the name-and-form aspect of our personality, and not the essential part of our personality. We are like this rope that is tied into a knot. The knot is the nama-rupa. It is the form, the shape, the configuration, but it is not the essence. The essence is something else.
Further they say this:
Now, we have to slowly untie these knots of nama-rupa and realise the essence, and the way of doing this is the practice of yoga. The various stages of yoga, for instance, are mentioned in the system of Patanjali—yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana and samadhi. These are the stages of the untying process of the knots of consciousness, by which we gradually expand the dimension of our being and become conscious of larger and larger vistas of our own personality, getting wider and wider as we go higher and higher until we reach the highest Universal which includes all the particulars.
But I say, no. We only have to realize that it is a rope and not a knot. If there are too many knots, it’s hard for us to untie, especially when we didn’t tie it ourselves. They say it is from our own “past lives.” But then, where did it start, and why, and why would I knowingly put myself in this mess? it’s unreasonable to think that way. Only from a perspective of current reality can one make such an argument to justify their conditions on moral grounds. This was especially done by the Braahmana-s.
I consider that in reality, the knots are simply illusions that we identify with.
The tricking the cow story by Aachaarya Shoonya
Source: https://www.acharyashunya.com/post/2019/03/28/our-bondages-live-only-in-our-mind
A student tried to guide the cow into the cowshed so that she would be safe and dry in case of rain, but she would not go inside. The student went to his guru, who told him that the cow was used to being led by a rope, but since the rope was missing, he should pretend to tie a rope around her neck and lead her with the imaginary rope.
It worked. The cow got up and came along meekly.
However, when it was time to go out and feed on grass the next day, the cow would not go out. Once again, there was no rope to lead her. As before, the teacher instructed the student to pretend to tie the rope and lead her out. Again, the ploy worked.
The rope of thought was enough for the cow to behave as if she were in bondage. She was free all along.