Let us look at deep sleep . What happens ?. Are you aware that you slept or is it that you are just remembering the next day that you must have slept. Usually the response to any questioning about sleep leads to people saying " I slept so well that it was peaceful". Now the question arises. If you are not aware when you are sleeping, how do you say that it is peaceful?. Some people might say there was nothing but blankness when i slept. How do you say confidently that there was blankness without experiencing blankness. So you can see that even in deep sleep there must be some awareness which helps you to say next day that the experience was good. It is definitely not mind as we appear not to think. So there is no mind during sleep and yet we experience peace. So that something which exists which is not the mind and yet gives you an experience must be awareness. There is no outside world during deep sleep as the sense organs are not working. However we experience this state of bliss only afterwards as an hind sight. We are blind folded so to speak to the experience of pure awareness without any sensory inputs and without all the minds chatter.
Whoever you are , you may be a millionaire or a beggar the same peace is experienced in deep sleep.
The blind is no more blind , the rich is no longer so and all are equally peaceful . The oneness which is not present when we wake up is purely experienced.
So there must be something fundamental about the experience which obliterates all differences. And it also shows that happiness is not in the external world but a state within your awareness which you everyday experience and yet don' t appreciate. The sensory experience and mind are only hindrances to this state of bliss that is within you. If you can minimize their impact on you by abiding in your true nature, then happiness would never leave you. In fact the very nature of pure being is happiness.
Understand the deceit of your mind . Start unbelieving in what the mind says to you all the time via interpretations , projections etc and become your own master.
Similarly in dream state there is no sense of our body, but we do experience a mind and its mental objects which are all some modified form of our perceptions. When you are experiencing the dream , you so strongly believe that the dream is true. Don't you?. Only when you wake up do you realize that the dream was unreal. If you had a long dream say comprising of years of dream sleep, how pathetic you would be . The misery in our dreams shows that the mind is always creating a world for us which is interpreted for us. Otherwise why do you see a dream at all ? why is the dream different from the real world?. It knows that only during your dream state would you believe in even weird things. In waking state it shows a lesser version of interpretations. Just like you wake up from dream state, you should wake up from waking state also .
So you can see this. In waking state , there is a sense of body and mind . In dream there is a sense of mind but no sense of body. In deep sleep you have neither body nor mind. So what is common to all these?. It is not body as it is absent in dream state and deep sleep. It is not mind as it is absent in deep sleep.
From this you can understand that it is neither the body nor the mind that creates your identity. It is the pure awareness which exists in all states that is your true identity.
In waking state it is hidden by the mind and body sensations. In dream state also it is not felt because of the mind chatter and imaginary sensations. In deep sleep it is present but can be felt only afterwards.
So this is the reason why we are never happy in all these states. If you see this clearly then you also would know the solution.
What have we learned?.
We have learnt that the true happiness is not something outside us as deep sleep shows.
The mind and body sensations are hindrances to the true state of happiness as waking state shows
Happiness is inherent in us all the time and we experience it partially every day.
It is this eternal happiness we should long for , not the temporary subsiding of mind waves.
If you can stop the mind and abide in your true nature in all states , then you are eternal happiness itself. The clouds of mind and body sensations would clear out for you to see the sun shining ..
How to stop the mind?. It can be stopped only by depriving it of the external world of objects so that there are much to think about. This is the reason why we say we must stop the attachment to the objects so that desires dont rise . Understand that your field of awareness is infinite and all objects are in you rather than outside. If everything is in you, what is there to get attached to ?. Do you desire your own hand or leg?. It is accepted as part of you. Just like that if you identity your true infinite nature, then everything is part of you. You are not a person but the whole universe itself. You are not experiencing anything , as you and the rest of the universe, but the experience is in you.
In olden days kings used to go in disguise to see how their rule was. They would go as beggars or some other costume. But within them they knew they were the king. if you truly believe that you are a king, then you wont identify with your costume or role in life. With reference to your body you are mortal , but body is not you, you are just a possessor of a body. Just like that a state of mind is not you. So how can you say " I am miserable". Misery is only a state in your mind. How can you be a state of mind which is so fleeting.
All the misery that you experienced before are not there now. So have you changed your identity also?.
Two abilities have to be cultivated. One is to know what is permanent and what is not.
Distinguish between what is permanent from the temporary. (vivekam)
Second is even when the temporary comes and troubles you, you should not be affected as you know it is only a transient phenomenon and you are not this temporary but the witness of everything.
Whoever you are , you may be a millionaire or a beggar the same peace is experienced in deep sleep.
The blind is no more blind , the rich is no longer so and all are equally peaceful . The oneness which is not present when we wake up is purely experienced.
So there must be something fundamental about the experience which obliterates all differences. And it also shows that happiness is not in the external world but a state within your awareness which you everyday experience and yet don' t appreciate. The sensory experience and mind are only hindrances to this state of bliss that is within you. If you can minimize their impact on you by abiding in your true nature, then happiness would never leave you. In fact the very nature of pure being is happiness.
Understand the deceit of your mind . Start unbelieving in what the mind says to you all the time via interpretations , projections etc and become your own master.
Similarly in dream state there is no sense of our body, but we do experience a mind and its mental objects which are all some modified form of our perceptions. When you are experiencing the dream , you so strongly believe that the dream is true. Don't you?. Only when you wake up do you realize that the dream was unreal. If you had a long dream say comprising of years of dream sleep, how pathetic you would be . The misery in our dreams shows that the mind is always creating a world for us which is interpreted for us. Otherwise why do you see a dream at all ? why is the dream different from the real world?. It knows that only during your dream state would you believe in even weird things. In waking state it shows a lesser version of interpretations. Just like you wake up from dream state, you should wake up from waking state also .
So you can see this. In waking state , there is a sense of body and mind . In dream there is a sense of mind but no sense of body. In deep sleep you have neither body nor mind. So what is common to all these?. It is not body as it is absent in dream state and deep sleep. It is not mind as it is absent in deep sleep.
From this you can understand that it is neither the body nor the mind that creates your identity. It is the pure awareness which exists in all states that is your true identity.
In waking state it is hidden by the mind and body sensations. In dream state also it is not felt because of the mind chatter and imaginary sensations. In deep sleep it is present but can be felt only afterwards.
So this is the reason why we are never happy in all these states. If you see this clearly then you also would know the solution.
What have we learned?.
We have learnt that the true happiness is not something outside us as deep sleep shows.
The mind and body sensations are hindrances to the true state of happiness as waking state shows
Happiness is inherent in us all the time and we experience it partially every day.
It is this eternal happiness we should long for , not the temporary subsiding of mind waves.
If you can stop the mind and abide in your true nature in all states , then you are eternal happiness itself. The clouds of mind and body sensations would clear out for you to see the sun shining ..
How to stop the mind?. It can be stopped only by depriving it of the external world of objects so that there are much to think about. This is the reason why we say we must stop the attachment to the objects so that desires dont rise . Understand that your field of awareness is infinite and all objects are in you rather than outside. If everything is in you, what is there to get attached to ?. Do you desire your own hand or leg?. It is accepted as part of you. Just like that if you identity your true infinite nature, then everything is part of you. You are not a person but the whole universe itself. You are not experiencing anything , as you and the rest of the universe, but the experience is in you.
In olden days kings used to go in disguise to see how their rule was. They would go as beggars or some other costume. But within them they knew they were the king. if you truly believe that you are a king, then you wont identify with your costume or role in life. With reference to your body you are mortal , but body is not you, you are just a possessor of a body. Just like that a state of mind is not you. So how can you say " I am miserable". Misery is only a state in your mind. How can you be a state of mind which is so fleeting.
All the misery that you experienced before are not there now. So have you changed your identity also?.
Two abilities have to be cultivated. One is to know what is permanent and what is not.
Distinguish between what is permanent from the temporary. (vivekam)
Second is even when the temporary comes and troubles you, you should not be affected as you know it is only a transient phenomenon and you are not this temporary but the witness of everything.
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