Click here to go to the next issue
Highlights Home Page | Receive the Nonduality Highlights each day
How to submit material to the Highlights
#3770 -
The Nonduality Highlights - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NDhighlights
How do I get to
the real depth of meditation?
Here is a question that
points to the difference between purely intellectual knowledge
and the experiential knowledge that we call
“Self-Knowledge:”
I’ve been studying Self-Knowledge (nonduality) for many
years. But I don’t feel happier and I don’t feel that
my life and my experiences are changing. So I feel stuck in the
same place that I was when I started my study. So how do I
proceed from here?
Many people consider spirituality as a way of changing their
thoughts from what they consider bad and distracting, to good and
peaceful, or to no thoughts at all. There are many techniques for
doing this including walking meditations, watching your
breathing, starring at a candle, and repeating a mantra.
When people start their
study of Self-Knowledge they often have experience with these
meditation techniques and so they continue with the old
techniques, even while taking up this new exploration. And so
they consider Self-Knowledge as another way to change their mind.
You can’t
fix your thoughts
The problem with this is
that the mind is always changing. Even if you can fix it in a
favorable state for a few moments in time, when your attention
changes, your mind will change too and it will go back to the
state that you think is natural for it. For instance if you
consider distraction to be your natural state then you mind will
revert to distraction; if you think that fear is its natural
state then your thoughts will revert to your fears.
Moreover, there are many
things that can affect the state of your mind. As an example the
tiniest change in the chemical balance of your body can affect
your mind. Diseases like Alzheimer’s as well as conceptual
frameworks that you learned from your parents and friends, or you
just made up by yourself, can also affect the state of your mind.
The more you
focus on your thoughts the more imposing they become
Although it is possible to free yourself from limiting conceptual
frameworks, as you can see, it is next to impossible to control
your thoughts or still them completely. Stilling your mind is
like trying to still the waves in a lake; the more you try to
stop them the bigger the waves get. Similarly the more you focus
on your thoughts the bigger and more imposing they become.
So you may ask, “If
I can’t control and still my mind how can I find the peace
and joy that all sages promise?" The answer is that this
peace is not a state of mind; it is a state of being.
Rather than attempting to
control your mind, in Self-Knowledge you have to discover what
you really are. Your mind is just a tiny object that you see, it
isn’t you. But here’s the thing that’s even more
amazing. The “my” in “My mind” is not you
either. What you think is the subject is really just another
thought in your mind. It is not you at all. The proof is that you
see this thought. It is an object that you see and not the real
subject.
Ramana Maharshi called
this “My” the “I” thought. He described it as
a thief dressing up like a policeman and then attempting to catch
the thief. What do you think will happen? You have the same
problem when you take yourself to be the limited “I”
thought, and from there attempting to control or still the mind.
What you have is a jumble of thoughts attempting to control other
thoughts. So when you think, “I am going to control my
anger,” the thought I is in motion as well as the anger. Is
it any wonder that you never get anywhere?
The purpose of
Self-Knowledge is to find your real identity
The purpose of Self-Knowledge is not to control your mind. Rather
it is to assume your real identity as ever-present consciousness;
to return to your rightful place, free from every limitation that
you see including thoughts.
So what then is the
problem? You do not see Consciousness, you see from
Consciousness. So it is easy to overlook what you are and take
yourself to be an object that you see. If you can untangle
yourself from the limited objects that you see like the body and
thoughts in the mind, you will find a freedom that is not defined
by your thoughts. You will find that you were always centered
right in the thing that you were looking for.
You will then be the
“Kingdom of heaven that’s within you,” “The
peace that passes all understanding.” You will not know this
as a separate object. You will know this because that’s what
you are. In the next blog I will give some suggestions so that
you can step beyond the limiting concepts that seem to bother
you.
Feel free to ask
questions
Now I want you to experience your true identity in its full
glory. So please feel free to continue asking questions. I’m
always glad to hear your reactions and clarify my answers. Unlike
the path of faith, on the path of Self-Knowledge it is curiosity
that destroys limitation and allows you to abide in your natural
freedom.
If the comment section of
this blog doesn't work, please send your questions and comments
to michael@ananya.com. To find out where this all leads go to, www.light-up-your-life.com. And finally, if you enjoy these blogs please tell
your friend.