Discriminate Between The Individual And Blissful Self

As soon as we wake up in the morning we are in the waking state. The uninvolved state that was in deep sleep has now become filled with mind, thoughts, and feelings. This podcast guides you into the fourth state of consciousness which is similar to deep sleep but you are awake. You now know this unchanging state so you can discriminate between that which is changing and filled with your thoughts and feelings and that which is the peace of the unchanging Self forever shining.

Transcript

Satsang Podcast with Sri,

Discriminating Between the Disturbing Mind and the Blissful Self.

One of the basic premises of Yog Sadhana that we learn right from the beginning of our practice of meditation is the apparent division between what is the mind and what is the self.

Usually we come to a state where there is no division.

However for the human consciousness,

The waking state consciousness,

It becomes very clear that either you're operating through your mind,

Which means your body,

Your senses,

Your thoughts,

Your human experience,

Or the attention is on the self,

Which is the very power that allows the mind,

Body,

Senses,

Human being to function.

This becomes very clear every night in deep sleep,

As I've often given this example,

Because when you're asleep at night,

The heart is moving,

Pumping the blood,

The digestion is happening,

Your breathing continues,

And everything happens perfectly while you're asleep.

So then what happens when you wake up into the waking state as that identity with an I as the mind,

Body,

Senses,

That mixture state begins,

So that pure Blissful Self that was in deep sleep,

That had no problems and everything was functioning as it should,

Now wakes up and says,

I am the doer,

I am a mind,

I am a body,

I am a personality,

And forgets that Blissful Self that was there in deep sleep,

And forgets that everything was happening perfectly without your individual personal I,

Body,

Mind,

Intellect,

Doership.

So this practice of discriminating between what is mind and what is self continues throughout sadhana.

In meditation,

This practice is really cemented because you become aware of the one who's knowing.

Rather than just following the thought patterns,

The sensations in the body,

You bring the attention to the one who's watching them,

The one who's knowing them.

That knower is the direct link to your true self.

So now the practice begins,

Rather than just allowing the flow to go outward,

That same pure consciousness,

Pure existence,

Pure bliss that was shining in deep sleep and allowing everything to happen perfectly,

Now believes itself to be the mind,

The body,

The personality with all of its qualifications and lack of qualifications,

With all of its ideas and thoughts and beliefs based on concepts formed throughout the lifetime.

Now this mixture happens.

Now once the mixture happens,

Just like the sprout becomes the plant,

The plant no longer knows it was the seed,

The sprout no longer knows its seed existence because it's become a sprout,

And now you call it a sprout and not a seed,

In the same way that self has manifested now through this instrument or vehicle of the mind and body,

And now you say,

I am a mind and body,

And now the mind,

Having borrowed that power from the self,

Believes itself to be true.

And as we've watched and inquired into the waking state of consciousness,

You soon become aware that the nature of the mind is wavering.

Sometimes a thought comes and you feel disturbed by that thought.

Other times you feel elated by a thought.

Situations occur and the mind makes a conclusion.

People come into your awareness and you conclude,

I like this person,

I don't like this person.

You conclude,

This is a bad situation,

This is a good situation.

This is negative,

This is positive.

This person is good,

This person is bad.

I like this,

I don't like that.

I like you,

I don't like you.

So these are functions of that power of the self now operating through the instrument of the mind.

However,

When the self is forgotten,

You have no choice but to believe whatever your mind says and you become limited to this little box,

This little cage of your human existence that's only based on your limited experiences in your lifetime and conclusions and preferences and what you think the body needs to be happy,

What you think the mind needs to feel easy.

All of that becomes trying to get everything outside in the perfect order,

Trying to get the body in the perfect health,

Trying to get the people around you to behave in the perfect way you'd like them to behave so that you can feel easy and peaceful.

Nothing wrong,

This is how the human being functions.

But the aware one now wants to get out of that cage,

Wants to get out of that limited human existence,

Ego,

Mind,

Intellect that's always trying to vie for its power and its attention and its needs on the human level,

Wants to live in a state of duality,

There's me and you and I have to try to do what's good for me and if I help you in that state of duality,

It's because I feel good when I help you.

So this human existence is just like that and we come to accept that that's the way the functioning of the human being is.

But now with the awareness of the true self forever shining,

The purity alone that we are,

We can discriminate between what is the mind and what is the self,

This power we have.

And as I was speaking before about meditation,

This is what we're constantly doing in the meditation practice.

A thought comes,

I need this,

We bring the attention to Amaramham Madhuramham,

I am immortal,

I am blissful.

A thought comes,

I like this,

I don't like that,

Amaramham Madhuramham.

A thought comes,

I'm upset over what you said,

Amaramham Madhuramham,

I am immortal,

I am blissful.

So the meditation in itself,

The practice,

Is this discriminating faculty being developed.

You're purifying your own chit,

Your own mind,

Because rather than giving all the credibility and credence to believing in the mind as your reality,

You're saying in this practice that I'm not going to put my attention on believing my mind and what it's telling me,

That I'm up,

I'm down,

You're good,

You're bad,

This situation is bringing me happiness,

This situation is bringing me misery.

Those are functions of the mind.

So now we become acutely aware of what is mind and what is self.

Self is unchanging.

Mind changes.

Self is the source of all your thoughts.

Mind is the waves of perception,

The vrittis.

So human being and mind is synonymous.

As soon as the identification comes in the waking state,

You are a human being,

Limited,

And you have thoughts,

And you are affected by the quality of your thoughts and the quality of your feelings.

Again,

Nothing wrong.

This is how the human system functions,

And we can enjoy its functioning as it is.

We don't have to change the functioning of the human system.

We don't have to change the thoughts in the mind,

Or stop the thoughts in the mind,

Or stop any feelings.

That would be suppression or repression.

The system functions that way,

Just like a tree blowing in the wind.

When the wind comes,

The leaves move.

When the wind is still,

The leaves are still.

When the wind blows on the calm lake,

There's movement of water.

There's ripples.

It freshens it.

When the wind is still,

It's calm.

Air moves.

The thoughts move.

Air is still.

It's just peace.

But air is air,

Whether it's still or whether it's moving.

Consciousness is pure,

Whether it's still,

Whether it's moving.

You are pure,

Free forever,

Whether it's still or whether you're moving.

Whether there's thoughts or feelings in the human body,

Pain even,

Illness in the body,

You are unmoving.

So now the discrimination becomes placing your attention on the one who's unchanging,

The one who's unmoving.

And the meditation practice,

Every day,

You gain that stability,

That stitti,

To remain the knower,

The one who's unmoved,

And to watch all the changing phenomena that happen in the human mind,

Human body,

Human system.

So the knower is the link to your blissful self,

Your divinity,

Your true self,

Which is unmoved,

Unchanging,

Forever blissful.

The mind will keep borrowing that power and saying,

If this situation goes the way that I'd like it to,

Then I'll be free,

Then I'll be happy.

If this situation doesn't go the way I would like it to,

According to my preference,

Then I will suffer,

I will be unhappy.

If this person does what I want,

I'll feel good.

If this person doesn't want to do what I want,

I'll feel bad.

Now this may sound very simplistic,

But this is going on all the time,

And it takes a lot of practice.

And practice means know,

Realize.

You are unborn,

Undying,

Pure,

Free,

Forever.

In this moment,

When you realize that,

Everything is perfect,

Meaning that there's no division.

You are everything.

You are alone everywhere.

So you're not limited to this changing mind,

Which is going up and down and wavering.

You're not the wind moving.

You're the wind.

You're the air.

Whether it's still or moving.

And this,

Although sounds simple when we talk about it,

When you become the one who's knowing or watching your own system,

You see how this happens all the time,

And how tricky it is to remain free.

And that's why we do the sadhana,

The practice,

Which is to know and realize.

To know I am pure,

Free,

Forever.

I am amaramham madhuramham.

And to realize that is my true nature,

My blissful self.

Everything else that my mind is telling me is false.

In fact,

As soon as you become a mind,

Meaning mixed or identified as a mind,

Then you're caught.

You're caught in up and down,

Good and bad,

Right and wrong,

Likable,

Unlikable,

Happiness,

Unhappiness.

You're caught in that wheel of change,

Of life and death.

Fears,

Worries,

Doubts,

Insecurities will abound in that state of human waking state existence.

That's its nature,

When you're identified.

So the key here is to know that you're mixed,

Know that you're identified.

So the very mixture now becomes your indication of how you've become mixed and you've began to suffer or enjoy,

But it's an enjoyment that will change because it's based on the situation being the way that you prefer it to be.

Or you're suffering because it's not the way you prefer it to be.

You're suffering because the physical body isn't healthy like you'd like it to be.

You're suffering because the love that you have for someone has now turned to aversion.

They're not meeting your expectations.

You're worried that they could leave you or death can happen to them and you'll be alone again.

We've talked about in the Transformation Meditation Teacher Training all of those klesh and vyadis,

All of the problems that come to the one who's practicing the human existence,

And how to get free from all those troubles.

The big trouble or the first problem being avidya,

Ignorance of your true self.

It's the ground and all the other kleshas come onto that and all the other troubles are coming from that.

So this is the most essential and key point in your sadhana,

Is to know what is avidya,

Ignorance of your true self,

And what is your true self.

So then,

Even when you're identified as a human being,

Separate body,

Born and will die,

You know that that is ignorance,

That is ajnan,

Ignorance of your true self.

And the way out is jnan,

Is knowledge,

Is listening.

Listening to the words that lead your attention to pure,

Free,

Forever.

Listening to the podcast,

Reading and bringing your attention through your reading to your pure,

Free,

Forever nature.

Through this practice of know and realize,

You will now have spent more time in the awareness of your true self,

Rather than in that mixture state.

So now you'll have the keen ability to discriminate between what is the mind,

The mixture state,

That's up and down,

Good and bad,

Suffering and pleasure,

And what is the blissful self forever blissful,

Forever easy.

And this,

Of course,

Practice continues at every moment,

Because as soon as you become a human being,

Separate,

And forget the self,

All of the waking state qualities,

Conditions,

Have to happen.

So you have to catch this before that identification happens.

You have to spend time in the blissful awareness of pure,

Free,

Forever,

Of amaramham madhuramham.

You can pause for a moment,

And there you are,

The source of all existence,

The source of all thinking,

The source of all experience.

And as you spend more and more time knowing that source,

Knowing that unborn self that you were before you were born,

You will be after what's called death,

And therefore you always are in the middle.

So when your attention goes to that unborn self,

That source,

As I was describing it earlier in deep sleep,

Who is it that allows all the functioning of the body to go on when you're asleep?

That you,

That I,

Pure,

Free,

Forever,

Immortal and blissful.

Those are just words,

But they're words that help to lead the attention to that which you are.

And as you reside nirvasanak,

In that state that's free from all duality,

Division,

Desire,

Cravings,

As you reside in that state,

That bliss permeates everywhere.

So you experience your own bliss.

And from experiencing your own bliss,

Sat-chit-anand,

Existence,

Pure consciousness and pure bliss,

And then,

Just like you were in deep sleep and everything was happening perfectly,

In the same way,

Now,

Although you're awake,

You're moving,

You're doing all the things that you normally do to take care of your body,

Take care of your family,

Take care of your health,

Take care of your finances,

Everything that comes to you to do is still being done,

But not limited to your individual doership using your mind,

Because now you've discriminated between what is the self,

That very electric current that has to be going through the outlet,

Otherwise putting the plug into a dead outlet isn't going to do anything.

So it's the electric current coming into the house,

Into the outlet,

That allows your appliance to work.

In the same way,

It's that electric power of the pure self that you are that allows the current of life to flow through the instrument of your body,

And then that begins to function.

Just like in the dream state,

All the functioning imagination goes on,

In the same way,

In the waking state,

All the imagination,

Believing that you're individual,

Separate,

And that this life is of utmost importance,

And when we look at it,

It's maximum 100 years or so,

And then it changes.

But you,

Who was there before you were born,

Never change.

You as that pure self,

Pure consciousness,

Pure bliss,

Remain throughout.

So isn't that what should be most important?

Isn't that what should be the focus in your meditation,

The focus in your life,

Is to know that power?

Now,

What happens when you're established in that power that you are,

Your individual doership is not present.

So the self is doing everything.

The self alone exists everywhere.

The self is in all beings,

And you see that there are no others.

They're all that same self manifesting as their limited,

Conditioned,

Illusory existence,

And now you see everything for what it is.

Your vision is so expanded,

It's not just human vision through the eyes that sees division.

It's that third eye is open,

And you see the vastness of all creation,

And it's all you.

Not you individual,

Body-mind.

That's where it becomes tricky.

You say it's all you,

And then you think it's all you,

This individual,

This ego.

No.

It's all you means everything is you,

Everybody is you,

And there's nobody else but you,

And it's all you,

Pure,

Free,

Forever.

And now when you reside in that,

Everything flows from that.

The dream of the waking state goes on,

And because you're the self,

You're the director,

You're the puppeteer moving the puppets in the play of human existence,

Now you're free from doership,

And whatever happens,

Whether it meets your preference or not,

You remain free.

You still do everything that you do,

And the best that you can do it to preserve the human incarnation,

Because it's the highest incarnation that allows you to know yourself.

Only human beings can do this work.

Dogs can't do it,

Cows can't do it,

Dolphins can't even do it,

Although it's said that they have high intelligence and they might have some of this awareness,

But they can't do the work of knowing the knower,

Of knowing pure,

Free,

Forever.

So the human incarnation is now the greatest blessing,

And you take care of your body,

You take care of your friends,

Your family the most that can be done,

Because you're not bound by your own ignorance,

By your own needs and petty desires.

You're now free,

And everyone that comes to you,

In front of you,

Receives that same joy that you are,

Because you emanate that life,

That joy,

That pure,

Free,

Forever being that they are,

That you are,

And that all this is.

Amaram ham madhuram ham.

You are pure,

Free,

Forever.

Amaram ham madhuram ham.

Om Shanti.

Om Shanti.

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