Pappaji a direct disciple of Ramana , used to start his satsang with the statement
"Be quiet". This looked like a scolding to all gathered around who were all mature people. What did he mean by this?. He used to say many of you cannot be quiet. You are quiet on the outward but never still in your mind. Unless you become absolutely still in body and mind, the self would never be revealed to you. The distance to the self is zero. So you should not even move a bit to reach it!!.
Maunam is really difficult. However please note that being quiet does not necessarily mean absence of thoughts . It is being a state where only the present moment is. There are no divisive thoughts. Thoughts of variance of your existence with the world. Time has to freeze in the moment.
Many people might think that stilling the mind is a difficult task. It really is not that hard as it seems. In order to understand this you need to watch your mind and see how the thought system works. It works by turning attention to the outside world of objects . There are no dearth of objects around you and for each object you can have so many attributes and relations with other objects. So there is not at all difficult to have many thoughts. You would thinking about tomorrow's tasks you might be thinking about things to buy , preparation for a travel and so on.
What happens when you turn the mind inward ?. Obviously the whole world is collapsed into a single entity "Self". So the mind would find it difficult to think many thoughts as it is used to be . So if you are doing it the right way , turning your attention inward and resting there is the first experience where you would see the stillness of the mind. This is most of the times only a fleeting experience as the mind would pull you out of it very soon. However in that fleeting instance you had an encounter of stillness. Look for it . You would also see that with that fleeting instance time also stops in the current moment . Memories of the past or concerns of future dont disturb you.
Some people think that this is all about concentration. It is not about concentration. Concentration is being attentive on a single object (such as a flame)that you focus on. But here the self is not such an external entity to focus on or of an image of external object. So it is not at all concentration that leads you to the stillness. A more appropriate term is listening . Listening to the mind all the time , getting familiar with it , then looking carefully at the onlooker or experiencer of the mind and joining the experiencer and being there.
One of the hindrances to this process are vasanas or tendencies. As each person has so many experiences in life which are so varied that he would have assimilated lot of responses to them. All these surface when you try to turn inward. You would yourself be surprised at the kind of deviations that you would experience. Dont resist them , instead you would see them come and go. This is a cleansing process also.
Ramana used to sit in silence and the disciples just followed. The power of silence was greater than the words of any language.He used to say it is the loudest upadesa. However it is internal and spiritual silence not just absence of words or external movement.
One of the other doubts which arises is this. What would happen after my inward bound attentiveness. Would i be able to function in this world?. The answer is yes. This is because self attentiveness is not a completely continuous process in most people. However you would see that you are extremely light and free, completely peaceful as you carry out your formal things in life. Fear drops out of your being completely . A great expansivity fills you,which kind of fills you with love towards all.
This state is characterized by the purest form of love that is ever known. It is an encompassing feeling of perfect identification with the other entity. Love in the usual sense of the word is always between two identities or more. I love someone but i remain distinct as an individual . Identities are never merged. So i also expect something back . I expect that the other person loves me back and do whatever he/she can. In this exalted state it is not at all like that. It is actually merging identities. In fact as we have said before there is only one identity isnt it ?. So that way it is pure and serene. if you look at Christ , the message of love should be understood in this way. Love in its purest form is expressed only when you are spiritually enlightened. So what Christ said , if you love perfectly then there is no need for anything else. You need not even obey the 10 commandments, because for such a person there is no need for restrictions . All becomes natural. Charity also is not something you should do with the distinct identity. Unless you perfectly identify with the person you are helping , it is just a formality.
"Be quiet". This looked like a scolding to all gathered around who were all mature people. What did he mean by this?. He used to say many of you cannot be quiet. You are quiet on the outward but never still in your mind. Unless you become absolutely still in body and mind, the self would never be revealed to you. The distance to the self is zero. So you should not even move a bit to reach it!!.
Maunam is really difficult. However please note that being quiet does not necessarily mean absence of thoughts . It is being a state where only the present moment is. There are no divisive thoughts. Thoughts of variance of your existence with the world. Time has to freeze in the moment.
Many people might think that stilling the mind is a difficult task. It really is not that hard as it seems. In order to understand this you need to watch your mind and see how the thought system works. It works by turning attention to the outside world of objects . There are no dearth of objects around you and for each object you can have so many attributes and relations with other objects. So there is not at all difficult to have many thoughts. You would thinking about tomorrow's tasks you might be thinking about things to buy , preparation for a travel and so on.
What happens when you turn the mind inward ?. Obviously the whole world is collapsed into a single entity "Self". So the mind would find it difficult to think many thoughts as it is used to be . So if you are doing it the right way , turning your attention inward and resting there is the first experience where you would see the stillness of the mind. This is most of the times only a fleeting experience as the mind would pull you out of it very soon. However in that fleeting instance you had an encounter of stillness. Look for it . You would also see that with that fleeting instance time also stops in the current moment . Memories of the past or concerns of future dont disturb you.
Some people think that this is all about concentration. It is not about concentration. Concentration is being attentive on a single object (such as a flame)that you focus on. But here the self is not such an external entity to focus on or of an image of external object. So it is not at all concentration that leads you to the stillness. A more appropriate term is listening . Listening to the mind all the time , getting familiar with it , then looking carefully at the onlooker or experiencer of the mind and joining the experiencer and being there.
One of the hindrances to this process are vasanas or tendencies. As each person has so many experiences in life which are so varied that he would have assimilated lot of responses to them. All these surface when you try to turn inward. You would yourself be surprised at the kind of deviations that you would experience. Dont resist them , instead you would see them come and go. This is a cleansing process also.
Ramana used to sit in silence and the disciples just followed. The power of silence was greater than the words of any language.He used to say it is the loudest upadesa. However it is internal and spiritual silence not just absence of words or external movement.
One of the other doubts which arises is this. What would happen after my inward bound attentiveness. Would i be able to function in this world?. The answer is yes. This is because self attentiveness is not a completely continuous process in most people. However you would see that you are extremely light and free, completely peaceful as you carry out your formal things in life. Fear drops out of your being completely . A great expansivity fills you,which kind of fills you with love towards all.
This state is characterized by the purest form of love that is ever known. It is an encompassing feeling of perfect identification with the other entity. Love in the usual sense of the word is always between two identities or more. I love someone but i remain distinct as an individual . Identities are never merged. So i also expect something back . I expect that the other person loves me back and do whatever he/she can. In this exalted state it is not at all like that. It is actually merging identities. In fact as we have said before there is only one identity isnt it ?. So that way it is pure and serene. if you look at Christ , the message of love should be understood in this way. Love in its purest form is expressed only when you are spiritually enlightened. So what Christ said , if you love perfectly then there is no need for anything else. You need not even obey the 10 commandments, because for such a person there is no need for restrictions . All becomes natural. Charity also is not something you should do with the distinct identity. Unless you perfectly identify with the person you are helping , it is just a formality.
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