The True Solution Can't Be Found Through The Mind

Most people try to solve a problem by thinking about it or even by making a list of the pros and cons. However, often the best solution is not there at that time. Racking your brain to try to solve the situation can only help to a degree as the mind is limited. Swamiji had said: "As soon as the infinitely small mind stands still, the greatness of your infinite power will shoot out with a stunning brilliance." Meditation will bring that bring about that brilliance.

Transcript

Satsang Podcast with Sri The true solution can't be found with the mind.

We've been taught since the time we were small children to use the mind for problem solving.

We learned the ABCs in order to read books so we can understand more about life and more about ourselves.

We learned to solve mathematical problems by using certain formulas that have been found to solve those problems in order to give change,

In order to function in the monetary system of the world.

The same type of knowledge then is applied to personal problems,

To decision making.

And from this one can find that using the mind to solve these types of problems often is ineffective.

As a for instance,

You find that you care or love someone and they're not giving you the same appreciation,

The same care,

The same love back.

It can range from a problem as small as a broken bone or a broken heart,

Or a broken nail,

To as large as a problem as financial devastation,

Loss of a lot of money,

Loss of a home,

Loss of a loved one.

No matter what the problem is,

The mind will try to find a solution.

In case of human interaction,

It will think of possibly all the things that have been said,

All the feelings that have been expressed or haven't been expressed,

What you want,

What desire you have that's not becoming fulfilled for you.

In the case of a loss,

It will have the problem of loneliness,

Of changing your life to be able to survive,

To function without the help of that person.

So the mind seeks the solution to the problem.

The mind can ruminate for hours,

Can compare gain and loss,

Can think about assets and liabilities of a particular person or relationship,

And one can become very aware that it's often not rational why you care for someone,

Why someone doesn't care for you in the same way,

What you've done in order to win,

What's happened that you've lost,

What's happened that you've gained,

And so on and so forth.

This is the human existence.

Now when one begins to meditate,

We find that there's a Sakshi,

There's a witness self that's able to just now observe what the mind is doing and how the mind trained in problem solving tries to solve the problem.

Often there's a lot of emotions involved and emotions are often not even rational,

Yet they appear to be there in the human system.

When one closes the eyes and puts the attention on that witness self or knower,

You become aware that the thoughts,

The feelings,

The situations,

They're constantly changing.

Whatever situations,

Whatever problems that you had two years ago,

Five years ago,

Especially ten years ago or twenty years ago,

They're no longer in existence.

What appeared to be such a difficult challenge has now passed.

And now whatever challenges or difficulties or problems in the human condition that you have now appear to be real,

Appear to be sometimes unsolvable.

They appear as if they won't change,

At least in the near future.

So the mind struggles.

So the very instrument that created the problem,

The mind,

Now struggles or tries to think about a solution.

You might do a lot of research,

Which might be necessary,

Say it's a health problem,

And try to put together all the things you've read,

Try to figure out what is the best course of treatment for you or for your loved one.

And there's a limitation because you don't know everything,

No one knows everything,

Nothing is perfect on that level,

There's no perfect solution.

So frustration and even depression can set in about the problem.

This is what happens when you only try to find the solution to your problem on the level of the mind where the problem was initially created.

The meditator now knows that there's a knower,

There's a watcher,

There's a sakshi,

There's a witness of the mind.

So right away in meditation,

You're not a victim to whatever's going on in your mind,

And you can use your mind to know that the same instrument of the mind that created the problem cannot find the solution.

Because the problem wasn't there when you were in deep sleep,

And sleeping soundly for some time,

There was no problem.

You were still there as that knower,

As that witness self,

Because you know that you slept deeply or soundly,

But there was no problem there.

So therefore,

The problem only exists in the waking state of consciousness.

And the waking state person,

The human being,

Thinks that the solution for the problem has to be found with the mind.

And will struggle,

Will discuss,

Will talk about for hours sometimes,

Will even become depressed over the situation,

Unable to find a solution.

Sometimes the mind does find solutions,

And they work for you,

So this kind of reinforcement,

Now you believe that the mind will find the next solution.

And the struggle,

If the solution's not there,

Continues.

The meditator knows him or herself as the witness,

The watcher,

The knower.

That same knower that you were in deep sleep where there was no problem can be present now while you're awake.

And by tuning into that knower,

The pure beingness that you are,

That all is,

You begin to become aware that the problem exists on the mind,

And the solution will not be found with your mind.

Because the same instrument that created the problem can't find the ultimate solution.

The ultimate solution is found in the fourth state of consciousness,

Which is often called even the solution state.

So when you close your eyes to meditate,

It's a kind of letting go,

Surrendering,

Renouncing that limited aspect that you call you,

Mind and body.

Because the mind is not just in your head.

The mind,

The senses are one,

Because whatever experience you have with the senses affects your mind.

The breath is also closely related to your mind.

Because you breathe,

You think.

It's like the air,

It can be still,

Or it can be windy,

Gusts of wind,

Hurricane force winds,

Tornado winds.

So the wind or the air can either be still or moving.

In the same way,

The senses,

The mind,

Can be still or moving.

So in meditation,

We bring the senses inward,

Turning them to their source.

We bring the mind inward to its source,

And that stillness is there.

Just like what you experienced in deep sleep,

However,

There's alertness there to the knower,

To the watcher,

To the one who's aware.

Now because the knower is first,

The knower knows the mind.

The mind knows the forms,

The situations,

So the mind,

Borrowing that power from the knower,

Believes that the mind,

Although it's a limited instrument,

Knows the situations,

Knows the forms.

But the knower,

The watcher,

Knows the mind.

So in meditation,

We turn the attention away from the limited instrument of the mind,

Which does not have the solution,

The real solution,

Or the final solution,

To the knower,

Where the solution is,

Because that is the solution state.

So when you're racking your brain,

Trying to find a solution with your mind,

The best solution is to take some time to meditate,

Because when you meditate,

You turn your attention to the solution state.

The mind won't like this,

Because the mind,

Having that little power,

Or that great amount of power that it got from the self,

The knower,

Believes itself to be now all-knowing,

Omniscient,

And forgets its source.

So when we say,

Surrender to that higher power,

What we're really meaning is,

Rather than attending the mind,

Which is limited,

Now attend that knower,

Which is omniscient,

Which is all-knowing,

Because it's the same knower that exists alone everywhere.

So the mind,

Thinking it has the solution,

Won't like to attend the knower,

Because it won't believe and understand that the knower is the solution.

The mind believes that the mind has the solution.

But again,

How can you find the solution with the very instrument that created the problem?

Because in deep sleep there was no problem,

So the mind is the creator of the problem,

And the mind can't find the ultimate solution,

Because it keeps creating problem,

Problem,

Problem,

Solution,

Solution,

Solution,

Problem again,

Problem again.

That's the way it functions,

Just like your car turns right when you move the steering wheel right,

Turns left when you move the steering wheel left.

The mind functions in that way,

Creating problems and trying to find solutions.

But the solutions on the level of the mind are limited solutions,

And what we want is the true solution.

The true solution means that you do sadhana,

That you put your attention on amaramham madhuramham,

You put your attention on that pure being.

Now you can call that surrender,

But you're not surrendering,

Or letting go and letting God is another expression,

To something outside of yourself.

You're surrendering to your own self.

You're surrendering that mind,

Ego,

Intellect,

Mechanism,

That thought it knew everything,

To the source of knowingness.

So this surrender is not a giving up of your own personal idea of who you are to someone else.

It's a surrender or giving up of your own limited instrument of mind,

Body,

Ego and intellect,

That thinks it knows everything,

To the very source from where it all comes.

The very being that you truly are,

The very knower or knowingness.

So when you see it in this way,

Then you know who you truly are,

And you're not placing the power on anything external to you,

But you're going to the source of your own power.

The very power that even allowed your mind to function,

The very power that allowed your human vehicle to move in the world.

So now you have the ability to find the real solution,

And that comes from not believing the mind and all the thoughts,

Whether rational,

Whether emotional.

You just see them for as they are,

Wind or air that's moving now,

Waves of perceptions,

Waves of information coming into the physical system.

And as you keep following those waves,

Those thoughts,

Back to the source of peace,

Then you experience that solution state where you are at peace.

There's no you other than peace.

There's no you as a mind and body and mechanism interacting in a world.

There's just peace.

So now when you open your eyes and as if begin to interact in a world,

You know yourself as that pure existence,

Pure consciousness,

Pure bliss.

The air is still.

The mind is no longer there.

You don't have to use that instrument as anything separate from you.

You are the whole.

There's no division now.

So mind functions,

It functions from the power of you.

So it is you.

It is that knower.

It is that knowingness.

So for some time you're free from what the mind considers to be the problem.

And when you follow that space of freedom,

Which comes from your own source,

Then the body,

Intellect,

Mind,

Instruments of that source move according to the full power of your source being.

The problem might not be solved right away on the level of the mind because the time might not be now,

But as you keep following that awareness pure,

That anubhav,

That direct experience of you,

Everything will unfold now from that source.

And when it's time for the situation to change,

It will change without your mind limiting itself to finding solution A,

Solution B,

Solution C,

And having to make a choice.

The choice will come.

One way that everyone can be attuned to how this works is if you watch yourself throughout your day.

Sometimes things are done or said without your mind,

Without your mind making a decision.

You're just moved from beyond into that situation.

You pick up the phone,

You make that phone call.

You haven't really thought it through,

But you're moved to that action.

So when you tune in to that being,

You can speak from that,

You can move from that.

And the power to be tuned into that being comes from taking some time every day to know that being that you are,

That knower,

That sakshi,

That witness that's uninvolved with all the situations that the human being believes him or herself to be in.

Just like if you look at a dream and if you could be aware of yourself as the dreamer,

You're uninvolved with all the situations that you're dreaming.

In the same way,

From taking the time every day in meditation,

You become uninvolved and yet the life flows from that highest perception,

That highest awareness,

And you remain free of the problematic state of the human mind and trying to find the solutions with your mind.

Because right now,

Right here,

You can close your eyes,

Watch the space,

And there's no problem.

You become acutely aware that the problem exists in the mind,

And if the solution is not there right now,

So be it.

All the problems that you had five years ago,

Ten years ago,

Have now passed.

These problems that the mind creates right now will also pass.

So the way to have them pass right now,

Just like you find every night in deep sleep,

Is a higher state of consciousness,

The fourth state of consciousness,

It's often called.

Then there are no other states.

There's no waking state,

There's no dream,

There's no deep sleep.

It's only you watching you become all those other states.

But you are there,

The knower is there,

The knowingness is there in all the states.

So we call it the fourth state,

But it's really not a state,

It's really the reality of who you are,

Of who I am,

Of who me is,

Of who we all are.

And the mantra,

Of course,

Ama Ramham Madhu Ramham,

Is the name of you,

Immortal and blissful.

I am,

We are,

Ama Ramham Madhu Ramham.

So meditation with closed eyes,

Watching that pure knowingness,

Come into the wakeful state,

But you're not in the waking state,

You remain in the fourth state,

Turiya state.

And then,

Whatever the mind says is a problem,

You don't believe,

Because there's only solution,

There's only pure,

Free,

Forever.

And now you're moved to that,

And watch the miracle of the life unfold from that state of pure,

Free,

Forever.

Ama Ramham Madhu Ramham,

Ama Ramham Madhu Ramham.