6. Trust In The Self As The Solution

We have the power to discriminate between what is the true Self and what is the human mind. We do not have the choice as to what thoughts and feelings come into our system but we do have the choice as to where to place our attention. If we place our attention on the Self or Knower of the mind then we remain at peace. This is the solution to all difficulties as the true Self is forever peaceful.

Transcript

Podcast by Sri,

Trust in the Self as the Solution and not the Mind.

We are continuing now with the eight steps to self-realization or enlightenment.

This is the sixth step.

The first podcast on this topic I gave an overview of the eight steps and now we're going through them on each one,

One by one.

So this week's we're up to number six.

Last podcast we talked about how to choose the self or peace and not the mind and its thoughts.

So continuing on from that premise we become aware that there's a distinction between what we call mind and what we call self.

The easiest way to look at that is that the mind is whenever there are thoughts,

Feelings,

Perceptions,

Concepts,

Beliefs,

That is all mind.

And the self is the space from which all of that comes from.

So if you close your eyes or when you close your eyes there is pure space.

Anything else that appears on the canvas of your space or of the space,

Every movement of the consciousness becomes a wave or a thought.

And as we see from meditation these waves or thoughts or desires or feelings are nothing but the same source,

The same self that comes into apparent manifestation as all the forms.

But for the whole life the way the training is from the child onward is that you are this body,

This person,

This mind.

You develop certain Upadis or qualifications.

You reach certain levels in your schooling,

In your studies.

And from that,

Whether it's from family or teachers or friends,

You develop a sense in your mind,

An intellectual understanding of the way things are based on your mind's belief system.

And now we are saying something very revolutionary.

We're saying not to trust in the mind as the solution.

I'm sure you found in your life that your mind does come up with certain solutions and sometimes they're favorable and sometimes they're not favorable.

As the mind is the very same self that now the light of the self reflects through the instrument of the body and the mind.

So that same power of the self goes into the mind and the mind borrowing that power can come up with its solutions based only on its beliefs and concepts and ideas.

I know for myself oftentimes when my mind has thought it was right about a particular situation and someone else,

Maybe a friend or my husband or family member,

Had a very different idea,

A different solution to the same problem and my mind was so sure that this solution that I had was the right one and that their solution or idea was the wrong one.

Only later on to find out actually I was wrong,

That their solution was better than my solution.

But I wasn't open at that time to hear their solution or to see its value because my mind was so fixated due to my own life experiences and conditions and beliefs at that moment in time that my idea or my solution was the right solution.

So then we become aware of this and we see that on the level of the mind,

The mind makes its solutions but it's very limited.

It doesn't have the vast picture of the past,

The present,

The future.

It doesn't experience the whole simultaneously.

It only experiences its limited perception.

This is explained sometimes with the example of the elephant.

A blind man or if you had a few blind men and one was feeling the trunk and one was feeling the tail and one was feeling the stomach and one was say feeling the ears,

You'd have a very different perception of what the elephant was like.

The one that was touching the trunk would say this is a long and thin creature that has a lot of movement or flexibility.

The one that was feeling the tail would say this is a very snake-like creature,

Very thin and long.

The one that was feeling the belly would say this is a very big,

Fat,

Heavy creature and the one that was feeling the ears would say this is almost like a very fine sea creature that's just moving,

That's very flexible and thin.

So we can see the perceptions are different from each person based upon what angle or what aspect they are touching or seeing or feeling at that moment.

So the mind is limited.

It's an instrument that the self uses to perceive the world but it is limited by its knowledge.

Whereas the self is unlimited,

The self is the whole,

The self is that space of pure existence,

Pure consciousness and pure bliss which never changes.

The mind,

Its thoughts,

Its beliefs,

Its knowledge is constantly changing.

So how does one practice this sixth step to enlightenment or self-realization?

It comes from the last one which says,

Okay,

Now know the mind for what it is.

It's useful for certain things to get you from point A to point B,

For you to cook your food and to live your life but choose the self or the peace and not the mind and its thoughts.

So now when it comes to making a decision,

When it comes to finding a right solution or the best solution for something,

Choose the self and trust that the self is the solution and the mind is limited.

So the very self you know as the solution state and we've often given the example of deep sleep because no matter what the problem was in the waking state consciousness,

In deep sleep the problem is not there.

In dream state a different problem might be there,

A different scenario.

So we see the whole now,

The self permeates all the states.

So the self,

That very dream state called sushrpti man in Hindi or Sanskrit,

The silence of sleep is forever there.

It's not limited just to when you're asleep.

That space of you that becomes silent in sleep is forever there.

So now in meditation we trust the space for the solution.

This is difficult because the mind thinks it knows.

The mind is sure it's right.

The person holding the trunk of the elephant is sure the elephant is long and thin and has a big hole in the center.

So whatever aspect of your mind you're believing,

Starting with the fact that you're limited to this body and mind as an I,

That becomes your experience.

So the mind wants to decide because the mind,

The intellect ego is not separate.

So this whole inner instrumentality on takaran,

Mind,

Intellect,

Ego is one basis and because of this the ego thinks I am,

So I know.

And it borrows that power from the very self which is all powerful omniscient and it believes that now I know my mind is right.

And I'm sure you've seen like I have that sometimes your mind might be right and sometimes your mind might be wrong.

That's the nature of the mind.

It's right,

It's wrong,

It's good or it's bad,

It's high,

It's low.

So we observe this in meditation and now we trust the self.

And you would wonder how to do this because you've trusted in the mind.

You've practiced I am this mind,

I am this I and I have to get as much for this little I that I call this body as possible so that this body can be comfortable and easy and healthy and free.

And we care for other bodies but never as much as you care for your own body because it's up to you to keep this body functioning,

Comfortable and alive.

So nothing's wrong with the mechanism.

It's geared towards that so that you will keep the body alive and you will do what's best for your body.

However sometimes the mind doesn't know this.

And of course this is very apparent when you put food or certain substances into the body that the mind even knows are unhealthy for the body but because the state of dissatisfaction is there and the belief is that satisfaction will come by eating the second piece of cake or another ice cream or having another big dinner or drinking alcohol if you're into that.

The mind will trade off for momentary sense of satisfaction even though you know that in the long term this will not satisfy you.

But because there's not a comfortable easy free state in the system and we'll talk a little bit more about this next week when we talk about creating a sattvic or lightness in the mind and the body through yoga pranayama and diet because that has not yet been established and you're not completely satisfied just with your own self effulgence your own pure being that you are because the mind and the self has now become mixed that which is one has become two has divided and now you're separate from your source so you're needing to again go back to getting love getting happiness outside of yourself.

Nothing's wrong.

This is how the mechanism functions.

But now that we see that through the practice of meditation now that the awareness is dawned the attention can go to the source.

The attention can be led rather than outward into vyutan into all the changing forms and phenomena and ideas trying to struggle with your mind to find the solution.

How can I have more love?

How can I have more harmony?

How can I make more money?

Whatever the desire might be.

The mind is struggling to find a way and the solutions on the mind are limited.

So we want to instead invoke the solution state the very self true being and I know what I found in my life whenever I take a break from my mind through the practice of meditation satsang listening to this podcast reading some of the books some of the teachings whatever it is that your mind now can be engaged in knowledge of the self then the road state where the mind is actually absorbed in you in that peace in that freedom that you are.

I have found from turning the attention towards the source not trying to figure it out with the mind not trying to understand it because that is limited although the mind will continue to do that as it does but taking some time to return to you the very source or peace that you are through the practice of meditation and yoga sadhana then you open up to the fullness to the completeness of all that is you're not just seeing how can I make this small little body happy.

I know oftentimes when I look out across the river there's a new road on the other side of the mountain the mountain on the other side of the river and I can see people walking along that road and the people look very very small just like when you see a colony of ants and they're so small you see people and they're really small compared to the vastness of the mountain road that they're like walking alongside of so we see how small really this physical body and system is but the whole world exists because you see it from the perspective of that individual body and mind and mechanism.

So now when you tune into the self the fullness of who you are this small body is just like a little tool or a car that the self is using in what we call this particular lifetime.

The self which is unchanging was never born will never die has taken this limited small form as its vehicle.

So now rather than tuning into this limited small form and what it needs and desires in order to remain okay we tune in to the vastness of who we are which is that space that's in all the forms that space which permeates everywhere and from resting in that from taking the time to know that as you pure free forever amaram immortality and bliss and this opens up a whole another realm the infinite possibilities of existence.

So then after taking some time in meditation when the consciousness begins to move again and the human experience is there when that consciousness now works again through your mind your mind is that much more purified your mind is that much more free from its conditions and beliefs and limited understanding and because now you've experienced that contentment that fulfillment that self-effulgence that comes from just resting in you your actions will move from that and the decision will be made when the time comes and you'll just naturally move in that direction things will happen that will show you the way.

This part is hard to understand or hard to explain but through this practice and if you look back into your life you see how this has unfolded for you in the way that's necessary for the being to express itself most fully.

I never imagined that I would be sitting in the Himalayas on top of the mountain overlooking a river spending most of my time either in meditation in satsang in writing about it or speaking about it and living the life so fully and so completely in that way.

My mind when I was in university when I was working in the world never could have imagined that this would happen that this would be now 10 years full time that I've been doing this work here and before that doing it in Florida for 10 years before that in the way I could do it there so this all unfolded through tuning in to that space that I am and it happened in a way that my mind would have never imagined it could happen my mind could never have decided that I will do this and this will happen.

The mind still had fear the mind had trepidations reservations doubts and yet from tuning in to the self all those fears and worries and trepidations and doubts dissolved and the space led me to which was the highest expression which is the highest expression of the life in this form so I can tell you that this absolutely is the solution state it's not like the solution that comes on the mind that tells you do this or do that or you need to do this because then you'll feel more easy or this will be most helpful or this will be most beneficial it's not that kind of solution it's the very solution state itself and when you tune in to that solution state which is the space of meditation then the true solution is there waiting for you all the time.

Ama Ramham Madura Ham may you live that solution state.

Om Shanti Om Peace may this peace be with you.