Objective: To conquer the Mind.
Means: The Threefold Path.
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(Note: The terms that follow are described in more detail below.)
Vairagya: Detachment from life's phenomena, including ahamkar, jagat and Isvara (ego, world, and God*). Uparathi: Ceasing activity refers to no longer identifying oneself as the doer or the one who recieves the fruits of doing (Karma Yoga). Mumuksutva: An unparalleled desire to achieve Liberation (more important than life itself). (Note: Once the sadhanas are achieved, the Sadhu is then qualified to engage in the vichara; not before. [Please note that perfection, per se, of the sadhanas is not what is meant here].)
Vichara: Enquiring into the nature of life, of which atmavichara is
the highest enquiry, which delves into the nature of ego in order to realize
its transparency so that the Self unfolds unimpeded. It should be noted that
It does so anyway; yet the popular belief is that the Mind spins out
smokescreens that cloud the truth. This is a dream within a dream, as the
atmavichara will reveal. ******************
Briefing:Before entering into any battle there are certain factors that must be considered, by way of preparation.1. A steady focus on the objective to be achieved is vital, and one should never waiver from this. Since the objective here is to conquer the Mind, the battle has absolutely nothing to do with the affairs or concerns of other people, the world or its condition, or even your own life's circumstance. It's best to remember that the only factor preventing your enlightenment (mukti or realization) is your own Mind. 2. This battle, unlike any other, involves that which literally transcends life and death, for it concerns the mechanism causative to the vehicles of creation and destruction. As such, this battle is not only the toughest that one can conceivably face (because of its subtlety and various unforseeable factors), it's also [obviously] the most momentous in one's career as a soul. 3. While in the trenches, the most important thing to remember is the fact that you are invincible. Despite appearances to the contrary, nothing in the universe, not even your own blunders, can cause irreparable damage to your true Self. In fact, not even the most insignificant harm is possible at any time, under any circumstance. (How is this possible? The way to its discovery, without getting entangled in an elaborate philosophical harangue, is achieved straightaway by asking yourself, "Who am I?") 4. Abhyasa (practice) must be your middle name. The ego-Mind is the most formidable enemy you will ever encounter. Consider: If we can be so thwarted by the products of the Mind, how much further still can we be thwarted by the Mind itself?! For this reason, abhyasa must be strictly and relentlessly applied in all the methods of approach discussed here, with special emphasis on viveka (discrimination) as a preparation for effectively applying vichara (enquiry). This cannot be emphasized enough! Because without it victory is impossible. Yet, paradoxically, our enemy has already been defeated--because it doesn't even exist! Obviously this is confusing. So, until the deeper truth regarding the irrelevance of the enemy is assimilated, it behooves us to treat it as if it were real. In the meantime, we will plant the seed of wisdom concerning the evanescence of this ego. Here's an excellent article by my friend, with some extremely effective methods for priming our mind for such:
The only way to get out of this eternal cycle is to ignore the samskara. As it rises repeatedly and gets no additional investment it loses its power to motivate and compel and is dissipated. Thus the saying:
When the mind exists undisturbed
nothing in the world can offend [or please] ...
and when a thing can no longer offend [or please]
it ceases to exist.
This bundle of samskaras which results in habits comprises the character or personality. It is the
basis of our uniqueness and individuality. It is apparent that the selective weighting of samskaras
creates an individual which forms the ego 'i.' The ego is then, from this perspective, essentially an
illusion. If the habits are broken, the character and personality are rewritten, and when all the
samskaras are allowed to dissipate, this ego 'i' would disappear revealing one's true eternal
unchanging nature of consciousness beyond the normal awareness. Not heeding the ego and satisfying its wants amounts to losing the ego. Caution and clinging to known concepts prevents one from taking the step into unknown. This frantic clinging to attachments becomes a matter of desperation and cuts off further growth. Further, there are cultural and society pressures which foster the growth and maintainence of ego. Investing time to develop beyond the ego is discouraged in almost all the societies in the world, especially in the countries where economic and material successes play a fundamental role in the society. Though the spiritual practice to subdue the ego and eventually ignore its control is difficult, it is a necessary one to realize our true nature. Often, pseudo-growth is difficult to distinguish from authentic growth. There are magnificient fantasies on what would be done after destroying the samskaras and thus 'attaining enlightenment.' But all these are cast from the present desires and fears and based on the ego itself. Thus, the basis of destroying an individual personality is not destroyed but is strengthened. The actual process of evolution, on the other hand, is a step into the unknown. The frantic struggle to 'improve oneself' with known concepts and expectations must be given up altogether since these are in terms of an ego, essentially an illusion. For true change to occur, the limits of the present ego must be fully admitted. It must be examined in detail, stripped of all pretenses, and exposed for what it really is. When a desire or aversion is exposed to the uncompromising crest jewel of discrimination, it loses its ability to grow or sprout again, much like a parched seed. When objectively discriminated, all of life's pleasures and fantasies are seen to be ephemeral and they come to seen as trivial. Giving up one's treasured attachments (to objects, person, concepts) entails a certain temporary pain. When the pain is viewed with detachment, a new perspective is gained. Breaking the binding nature of the ego is difficult only because most of us are accustomed to it by habit. However, when the association with the ego is broken, no questions about duality arise. One restructures the notions about the world and himself until the ego no longer controls. Then, we always abide in our eternal nature. Our nature is awareness beyond the ego. One's imagination imprisons, for the person identifies with this imagination. The ego is an error, a lack of true vision. Thoughts, feelings appear and leave their imprint, if unchecked. Memories of them constitute a continuity which is non-existent. Awareness is reflected in the mind's mirror giving birth to ego. Confused by the reflection, the ignorant one believes himself to be an separate individual. In reality, we are beyond space and time. Don't surround yourself with imagined limitations, and impose a image on yourselves. This condition is the root of ignorance and the cause of all suffering. Be alert and see the things happening on an mind/intellect level, but never associate yourself with it. You are indeed beyond all constraints! Indeed. 5. The vichara most effective is the atmavichara, which is the enquiry into the self. By asking oneself, "Who am I?", the ego is interrogated to the point that it begins to surrender its mask of falsehood. You are then instructed to seek the source of its activity, behind its artistic dance and magic. You must then develop your own art in holding its tremendous power at bay. And This artform entails the ability of exerting effort effortlessly. This is walking the Buddha's famous Middle Way. It is also the very pith and fruit of abhyasa, from which, such 'effortless effort' gets developed naturally. 6. It cannot be emphasized enough how powerful and formidable the Mind really is. Everyone senses this is so, yet they still somehow underestimate it in action; then they claim to not understand the predicament(s) they'll frequently find themselves in. Yet, all along, it's been the ineffable Mind working its craft--playing with its victim like a leaf at the mercy of the wind. The Zens refer to this Mind as an ox; an ox that must be corralled and tamed, and eventually ridden and then forgotton. There is no other way. 7. Probably the most effective (and deceptive) weapon in the Mind's arsenal is what is referred to in Sanskrit as tamasoguna** which causes, among other things, forgetfulness. This reinforces the phenomenon of Ignorance. And, make no mistake, Ignorance is a phenomenon! He who finds the cause or source of Ignorance is instantaneously enlightened. Such a discovery--as is the case in discovering the causal basis of any life concept, be it ego, God, karma, time, etc.--has nothing to do with an intellectual revelation, but is rather a transcendental/automatic knowing connected to the very pulse of Being Itself. (Some refer to this as the intuitive faculty or the Buddhi-Manas.) This, in of itself, speaks very clearly to the value of going beyond the constrictive limits of the concrete-reasoning Mind and yoking one's awareness instead to the natural essence of unalloyed Consciousness. For, this natural state is the base of operations wherefrom the very source of Who and What we are lives and has its Being. 8. The idea of success (victory) is only relevant within the relative spectrum of this Mind-game. And as long as we presume to be 'striving' and 'evolving'--which are clearly dualistic*** concepts--then we must talk of our capacity for success. (Because this presumption implies that we are trapped by the illusion and therefore, being subjected to such a condition, we have no choice but to address it accordingly--as our only means of diffusing it.) And, as such, our success depends primarily on one thing: whether or not we can surmount the latent tendencies of the Mind--the vasanas arising due to samskaras. (To a sadhaka, this is probably the most challenging and ominous thing imaginable.) And the way to surmount them is either by surrendering unconditionally to Ishvara by offering everything in the spirit of sacrifice or, more directly/effectively/expeditiously, by asking oneself "Who am I?" 9. Remember: There is only One Being (God) in existence. Whatever 'you' or 'I' or 'anyone else' thinks, says or does, IS that Selfsame Being Itself. Therefore to speak of 'God' with the implication that He or It is 'an entity beyond' is instantly an illusion because it obviously presupposes something (viz. an ego) that is in contradistinction to It (the One Being or God). This ideological setup is pure dvaita (dualism), which postulates that there is something "real" in addition to the Absolute Reality. This seems illogical, no? At any rate, an unbiased investigation into the matter reveals that any such separative identity is false, simply because the I am is pure Being--and there is no greater energy to be found beyond It. All that can ever appear to diminish It are the judgments (thoughts) spun out by the Mind. And this is exactly where and how Illusion is launched. Incidentally, this represents the very act of Creation itself. The very implication of the word 'Creation' signifies a dualistic and comparative process. Remember: The energy of the Universe resides within the simple, familiar, "ordinary" I AM. The mystery virus that mutates this otherwise natural State is none other than the ego-Mind (yet which technically doesn't exist! To be sure this is a masterful mystery; yet all things are possible unto this Mind-phantom. Are not dreams capable of awesome feats?).
Remember: The following statement can be made by anyone at anytime: 10. Be ever aware of the hypnotic power-habit of the Mind. 11. Be ever aware of the hypnotic power-habit of the Mind. 12. The goal--which has technically already been achieved--is freedom [from thoughts]. That's it. Nothing fancy or complicated. And it really already is, because when I ask myself, "To whom do these thoughts occur?", pat comes the perfect, quiet realization [which has no corresponding verbal assemblage]. (Note: not that thoughts will discontinue. Rather, they will no longer hold one captive as their victim. They will heretofor be effectively witnessed as merely infinitesimal fragments within one's totality of Self. This latter point cannot be emphasized enough!) 13. Freedom: The unbridled effulgence of the Self, unimpeded by [the hallucination of] ego-referenced relationing. The sahajosatyaswarupananda (the natural omnipresent body of Bliss-existence, without limit). Moksha or Freedom is that which merely is. (If you were to dissect a chunk of "is," you would find no additives or modifications, for these are a product of thought interference. They simply don't exist within the natural order of Being. Instead, the Natural State is only Freedom Itself, standing alone, unadulterated and in need of nothing--least of all the idea of recognition established by the so-called "human ego.") The pure Now transcribes this: That the Mind is a word that has no meaning, let alone a functional reality. Moreover, this: Freedom is the annihilation of everything here written. Freedom is even now disengaged from thoughts and objects, for these aren't even considered to be the subtlest of dreams. And this: Freedom is the annihilation of Everything period, including the idea itself of 'freedom'.
14. Thoughts may come.
Traps are set
Pains are felt/ suffering continues/ even tragedies!
But I don't feel the truth! 15. The secret of secrets is that there is no Mind to conquer. That there are no negatives to strive to eliminate. That you are and have ever been the Self**** and cannot possibly be anything different. That Ignorance is merely a dream. Your real name is Freedom. Destroy all other concerns. As Jesus said:, "Let the dead bury their dead." 'They' are all phantoms at any rate. Attend you to your natural inherent State. Absolutely nothing beyond this matters. Pure Being, Sat, is all you really are. Be this Being. 16. Now, before entering the kurukshetra, know that you are already the victor. Know that you're battling dream substance. That, in fact, you are engaged in the process of merely waking up from the dream-veil cast upon you by the dream-Mind. As such, the enemy, the battle, and the battlefield are mere phantoms. On the other hand, 17. You, being the Self, are the only Reality. 18. We're ALL pure jnanis without exception, period. Doubting this is a Mind-game. 19. Go in Peace.
OM NAMAH SRI RAMANARPANAMASTU
* Also known as Saguna Brahman (God with attributes; the 'Creator'), representing the God in manifestation, Who is therefore relative and subject to somewhat limited characteristics (having to do with the positive or desireous spectrum within the domain of Relativity or the 'World-Appearance') such as satva, and other attributes like omnipotence, omniscience, etc., as opposed to the negative or undesireable spectrum, encompassing rajas and tamas, bondage and ignorance. Whereas, its causal counterpart, Nirguna Brahman (the Absolute) is utterly beyond attributes and Relativity. And Saguna and Nirguna Brahman combined, make up the Parabrahmam. {Note: This particular reference is the only one that translates as Saguna Brahman, any mention of 'God' that follows it should be understood to mean the Parabrahmam.} BACK ** tamasoguna: one of the three gunas (attributes) of nature. The three being: satva: harmony, intelligence; rajas: activity, emotions; tamas: inertia, sensuality. BACK *** Dualistic because 'striving' and 'evolving' imply that we are in a state of imperfection, en route to becoming perfect; or moving from lesser to greater. This suggests that we are therefore separate and distinct from That which is, in fact, the only Reality [being God or the Absolute]. This entire dualistic setup is a product of the ego--itself being a falsehood, its product cannot be anything different. BACK **** The popular metaphor in advaita vedanta, "you are that 10th man--who was missing," suggests that the 10th man existing [all along] represents an indirect knowledge [which is jnana]. In fact, there is intense experience of the 10th along with the notion that the 10th man is missing! And when you discover that the missing 10th man is you yourself--that becomes direct knowledge--vijnana. The thing to be aware of is that you've been all along experiencing your presence even when there was a notion that the 10th man was missing. Hence the experience was there but you lacked the knowledge that the missing 10th man was nothing but you. From then on no more search for the missing ananda! ---------Commentary by a Student of Veedanta BACK
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