Mental Wrangling

Hari OM

Monday is AUM-day; in search of meditation.

Meditation & Life, with Sw. Chinmayananda (Gurudev).

We are now exploring the writings of Gurudev on our focus subject of Meditation. The book is a thorough treatment of the subject and extends to over 170 pages of closely printed text. No attempt is intended, here, to present the text in its entirety. However, important paragraphs and quotes will be given, within a summary of each section. You are encouraged to use the links on sidebar to obtain a copy for yourselves from CM publications. Please remember that each of the posts under this title is part of a thought flow and it is important to go back and read the previous post in order to refresh and review the context.

Ch. 19 Silence the Mind.

Rsis of ancient times inquired into the nature and workings of the 'subject', the individual observing the world, and how that individual relates to the 'object', the world of experience. The decision to look inwards was a natural progression from their intensive and exhaustive investigation of the material world, from which they discovered a connection with the subject and the need to analyse that connection equally as deeply. These Masters, in seeking the Truth of existence from the objective world in the same manner as we now know as physics, chemistry or biology, came to understand that the 'observer' was an element not attached to these objects.

The Source of Actions.

The researches of the Rsis, then, focused fully on the human being and its activity in the world of objects. First observation was that not two people would act in the same way to the same situation. Such variety had to be examined. What was revealed was that each individual's re/actions were dependent upon their thoughts. The logical conclusion drawn was that actions are 'amplifications' of the thoughts; quality thoughts are likely to equal quality action. Where there are no thoughts, no action takes place (eg in sleep).   The next enquiry then was as to the source of human thought. This turned out to be from the formation of desires. It is split-second stuff, but therein lies the truth. All thoughts occur as a direct result of a desire; even the most noble… for to engender noble thoughts and actions there must be the desire for such nobility to spark them.

What, then, initiates desires? The Rsis found that these spring from avidya - ignorance. A lack of knowledge about the Self, the Pure Consciousness. All individual selves are nothing but sparks of that Great Self. To remember that Truth of Self, the sparks can return to the Great Fire of Existence.

What keeps these sparks from returning automatically? The identification with the physical, the body, mind and intellect (BMI); but mistaking these for being our 'truth' we form the individual ego-self. Yet every one of us does have an inkling of our Blissful Truth; every individual has the desire to improve things in life - even if they do not recognise this drive as being the Pure Consciousness yelling at us to come home! In attempting to find that 'happiness', that 'bliss', we strive to attain position, acquire objects, to control events and so on. In doing so, we find agonies and ecstasies which we generally call 'life'.

In our avidya our desires create thoughts, some will just fly away and prove useless to us, others will demand action and those actions will be directly display the nature of our thoughts and desires. Desires, thoughts and actions are but three 'shades' of avidya and by controlling any one of them, we can control all three.

"This is the logic behind all the rules of ethics and morality, and all the prescriptions of the world's religions. By controlling action, which is the grossest representation of ignorance, we purify and control our thought-currents. When our thoughts are purified, our desires are also. The purer the desires, the lesser the thickness of ignorance and, where ignorance has receded, Knowledge shines forth."

The serious student of meditation is therefore initiated into the practice through training that insists upon a pure and ethical life. Brahmachaarya. Many mistake this to mean 'sexual abstinence' - but it is actually continence in all aspects of our behaviour. Refraining from over-indulging in all the temptations of the objective world is required.

Know the Enemy.

When we talk 'meditation', we certainly understand that an engagement of the mind a single point of thought is involved - and generally, this thought ought to be the Divine. True meditation brings all thoughts to bear upon this, and then, strips away even these thoughts until the mind is Divine. Not empty, note. Just one, single Divine Thought.

We have learned about the antaH-karana, the mind, intellect, ego, chitta combination. Whilst it is important to understand these four sides of the mental equipment, it is also important to understand, as with the thought triad, that control of one aspect will result in control of all. Meditation is the process by which the intellect gains dominance over the mind, such that it becomes still. The whole aim of meditation is to tame monkey mind. Understanding the mind its functions is an essential part of success in this endeavour. To know the enemy is to be able to strategise against him. We are so bound up in our own minds, that we rarely 'stand apart' from it. Unless we take an objective view of our own mind, it will remain difficult to control. No matter how hard or often we 'try to meditate', the ignorance of the actual workings of our mind will undo us.

Whilst mind is the constant flow of thoughts, thoughts themselves are not 'mind' - to say so would mean we had an infinite number of minds within us! Rather, 'mind' is the processing chamber for thoughts. In the car's engine, if top-grade oil passes through the combustion chamber, it will run smoothly and produce a better power output. If poor-grade oil is used, especially if it has additives, then the power output is likely to be poor also and there are likely to by-products such as pollution of the environment. Thoughts are the 'oil' which the mind must use to power the intellect.

In the human 'engine' however, the chamber is an illusory one, a virtual processing space. We cannot perceive our mind, per se, but we can notice our thoughts and the wilder they are the more we say our mind interrupts us! When thoughts are dammed, the river we call mind ceases to be.

Not only in Vedanta, but in all applications of Divine connection, the culmination of spiritual practices is to eliminate the mental mayhem.

"By physically relaxing the body, by adjusting it into a firm, neutral equilibrium, and by breath regulation, you can… withdraw from the outermost 'sheaths'... next step of meditation will be to transcend consciously the subtle body also."

Transcend the Subtle Body.

This is the point at which chanting a mantra or singing bhajans are advised, at a sound level for yourself to hear (the whole world does not necessarily need to join in!). Such chanting is done before a symbol which represents the Divinity/Shifted Consciousness for you - be it Buddha, OM, Christ, Sri Ram… The form is your personal choice, but a symbol is unavoidable as the human mind cannot easily hold the idea of something greater without a representation.

Hard-core materialists may argue against this, but even the most advanced physicist or biologist have their 'symbols' in the form of equations, without which they cannot move higher and higher through their discoveries.

There are others who might claim that to try and represent the Divine in a physical object is sacrilege… yet they have such representation in the very scriptures themselves. Words are objects. Use of the holy writings as the meditational focus is every bit as effective.

Whatever symbol you settle upon, fix your eyes upon it as you chant. After chanting for some time, close the eyes lightly. Body stable and upright yet relaxed; breathing regulated and relaxed; chanting flowing and relaxed; eyelids drooped and relaxed. As you chant now, only that ought to be in your consciousness. None of the physical. The ears may now need to be controlled, if there are distractions around. Equally so the nose, if there are odours. The tongue is occupied with the chanting, now let the ears be occupied with the hearing of it, they at least can now be under your control.

See how we can reign in our senses? Gradually stop the audible chanting and use mental chanting only. Let the tongue relax. You may notice the throat still trying to form the words. Let it relax. Now let the intellect be dominant as you become the observer of the chanting in the mind. Observe the effect this is having upon you.

Now; even after much practice of even this simple exercise, that the mind adapts very easily to chanting whilst 'multi-tasking' and wandering into other thoughts! Demand that of your intellect that it whip the mind into control again. Keep raising the 'inner pitch' so as not to fall into a 'groove' or permit the mind any chance of escape. It is tiring. Like any exercise, this requires regular and sustained practice. When the intellect cannot over-ride the mind in each session, that is the time to cease for the day. Watch very carefully. As you build the practice, you may find that in spite of the noise immediately before ending the session, at the point of closing, the mind even drops its efforts and there will be a moment of utter peace and silence.

That is what is being sought and then held. Remember those glimpses and seek the reward of extended periods of that silence.

Spiritual Armoury

Hari OM

'Text-days' are for delving into the words and theory of Advaita Vedanta.

TATTVABODHAH.

[You are reminded that reviewing the previous week's posts will become essential as the meanings of the Sanskrit terms may not be repeated. There may come additional or alternative meanings, but all should be noted. As study progresses, the technical terms must necessarily become 'second nature' to the student. When the Sanskrit is used, the translation will fall easily into place - or likewise, if the English is used, the Sanskrit term must easily come forwards.]

Please revisit THIS post and chant the mangala-charana. The chanting for the oncoming posts was given last week - use the TattvabodaH label to access all posts relevant to this text. We are currently studying the text on the shamaadhi-shatka sampatti. You may wish also to review the chanting of this section, which you will find here.

The last of the six inner wealths is samaadhaana.

समाधानं किम्   चित्तैकाग्रता। /samaadhaanaM kim?   cittaikaagrataa. What is samaadhaanam? It is the single-pointedness of mind. It is the placing of the mind on a place and never wavering from that.

The mind is a butterfly! Even when we say we have a goal, we are too easily distracted from the progress towards it. To remain focused, we need to have strong feeling for that goal. Such a goal has to be of primary desire to keep us working towards it.  In spirituality, the goal is "God" (heaven) if we wish to keep within the solid and "Brahman" (moksha) if we accept the non-solid. Once the goal has been determined, then, focus full attention and take no side routes!

Thus we find, if we take overview of the 'six jewels', that we have a process of detachment followed by attachment.  Shama, dama, uparati and titiksha all help us to detach from the material world and shraddha and samaadhaana re-attach us, but to the spiritual and higher state of being. What? If the point of Vedanta is to release all of Maya, then why some attachment now? !

Here we find the methodology of the novice and moderate student who must still rely on what is provided by Maya in order to climb to the goal. It would be a very rare individual indeed who could simply jump from being a low human thing into the status of God-hood! It is a process. Detach each and every day a little more from the material world and to do this, to steady the ship so to speak, attach to the 'captain' (Guru) and the 'hull' (scripture) and traverse samsaara with courage and determination.

Thus we find six small gems contained within the third of the chatushtaya. Why like this? Why not just make them individual and have ten spiritual disciplines?

If put as ten, then the inclination would be to 'tick them off' as if the list was ordered thus.  However, these six are so closely inter-related and inter-dependent, that they are really not able to be separated. Rather think of them as six sides of the one thing, which is to self-contain and self-manage. Each assists the other so very closely, they are like the bricks in the wall of a fortress. Think of them thus.  That these spiritual 'walls' protect us from the ravages of the transactional life. If one of the bricks is damaged or absent, the fortress is greatly weakened. Therefore we must work on all of these as a single unit.  This is why they are clubbed together in one item.

The same cannot be said with regard to the first two of the chatushtaya; viveka and vairaagya. Without viveka there can be no proper vairaagya. Vairaagya without viveka is dry, misguided, cold. In fact there is no vairaagya without viveka. To simply hold the world at bay and the nose aloof is nothing more than disdain. Vairaagya alone means that one has gone through the first process of discrimination, noting how the world is filled with nonsense and deceit and traps for the unsuspecting and only then can one withdraw, with knowledge and understanding, into true vairaagya. Vairaagya still holds warmth and compassion inspite of the world. Disdain holds no warmth and is against the world. Vairaagya is courage and aids us in making clear decisions and dropping away the excess trappings of modern life. Disdain is fearful and continues to make ego-based decisions.

In the third step, the shamaadhi-shatka sampatti, we find a group of inner actions which nourish and support our vairaagya. It can seem that in utilising these six alone, much can be gained.  This is true. However, they are not likely to enter our life, our 'ken', unless we have first adopted true viveka and, subsequently, vairaagya. It is really only within the greater withdrawal from transactional mayhem that we have an inner atmosphere conducive to the nurture of these jewels.

There is an assessment which can be done (this is applied to all texts in Sanskritam) whereby we look at the हेतु /hetu (direct cause),  स्वरूप /svaroopa (the benefit, the common theme), कार्य /kaarya (the effect associated) and अवधि /avadhi (conclusion). For the sampatti how are these applied?

• Hetu - यम /yama and नियम /niyama… the don'ts and do's…(see below)
• Svaroopa - a mind tamed (चित्त निरोद /chitta niroda)

• Karya - the mind decreases its activity and reduces in extrovertedness

• Avadhi - the world of objects, starting at our own physical level, starts to fade the more we move towards Brahman.

The 'don’t's' (yama) are अहिंसा /ahimsaa - cause no harm, सत्य /satya - truth at all levels (ie no falsehoods), अस्तेय /asteya - no theft,  ब्रह्मचर्य /brahmacharya - keeping 'continence', which is not simply sexual abstinence, but also proprietous behaviour at all levels, अपरिग्रहः /aparigrahaH - no possessivness, non-grasping.

The 'do's' (niyama) are सौच /saucha - purity, cleanliness in body, mind and intellect, संतोष /santosha - contentment, तपः /tapaH - austerity, स्वध्याय /swadhyaaya - spiritual study, ईश्वर प्रणिधान /iishwara pranidhaana - offering all actions and ourselves to the Lord.

So if the six are so interconnected, why are they ordered amongst themselves the way they are?  Why shama is first? Earlier it was said to think of the six together as a fortress - but now think of them as your armoury and purpose viz;-

Shama = sword

Dama = shield

Uparama = visor

Titiksha = body armour

Shraddha = the 'noble steed'

Samaadhaana = the 'noble cause'

SAADHANA

Think deeply on this for the next week - giving full mananam. Check out the logic. Find out your doubts. Voice them in the comments box of via the private contacts box.

Top Values

Hari Om 

Each 'Choose-day' we will investigate the process by which we can reassess our activity and interaction with the world of plurality and become more congruent within our personality.

KINDLE LIFE. We continue exploring points raised by HH Pujya Gurudev Swami Chinmayananda-ji in the publication of this name. Remember, you can purchase, (very economically!), the book from  Chinmaya Mission Publications or if you prefer, the Amazon Link. Thus you can read Gurudev's words directly and bring your own voice to the discussion.

Continuing with our basics chapters out of the Kindle Life text, we reach chapter thirteen. Gurudev has titled this FUNDAMENTALS OF LIVING. This post opens with a full quote of the first paragraph in this chapter.

There is nothing wrong with our times. it is a wonderful era of glorious achievements.  Yet man, sitting in the midst of plenty and prosperity, is undergoing stress and strain and can find no peace or happiness in life.  The religious masters studied this sad paradox and discovered that man's mental make-up was the cause of all trouble. They also provided a remedy by prescribing certain fundamental values and virtues of life. These, when practiced and lived, enable man to master his mind and mastery of the mind is mastery of the world.

Quite the closing statement there! The more we learn of Vedantic principles and techniques, the rationale behind them, the more the truth of such a claim becomes apparent. Understand, too, that master of the world here in now way related to domination of the material world, but the conquering of the inner world and thus the improvement of relationship with the external, whereby it no longer holds sway over our concept of happiness.

The values and rules mentioned are the essential qualities that all Mankind would recognise, no matter the geographical or cultural background point of reference. It was mentioned in yesterday's discussion on the bindu of OM that virtually all cultures utilise the concept of a 'singularity', from which all emerges and returns, but that the interpretation of it varied.  The same holds true here.  The basic values are the same, but their interpretation and utilisation may vary according to need of age, place and the type of community to which they are being applied.   

Whilst there are undoubted cultural differences, when peeled back to absolute basics of what constitutes 'decent behaviour' we find three things; each individual is expected to engender a level of self-control (brahmachaarya), to cause no harm if at all possible (ahimsaa), and to exercise fullest honesty (satyam). Note that each of the disciplines mentioned pertain to each of the physical, mental (emotional) and intellectual components of our being.

Traditionally, even cultures which must necessarily use slaughter in order to feed themselves, have developed a level of minimum harm, taking only what is required and ensuring due reverence and full use; (think of the thankfulness of the Native American 'brave' to the spirit of his prey as an example).

Things go wrong, both at individual and societal level, when the physical aspect becomes dominant; when the desire for sense gratification takes hold. When we live only to satisfy all our varied sensory desires, we lose ourselves in passion and we spiral down into our animal nature, leaving behind any semblance of rational thinking and behaviour. Justifications, excuses, lies, avoidance - all are used to cover up the lack of moral fibre. We see example of this all around us in the 21st Century; mass media ensures inundation of the senses, retail constantly puts out lures, expectation of "want it and want it now" is so much a part of society, and to stand immune against the onslaught requires considered inner resolve. The 'medicine' according to Vedanta is brahmachaarya.

This is to live with self-control. It means knowing that we exist in a physical structure which has needs to be met; it means attending to needs, permitting a moderate level of enjoyment.  It does NOT mean total denial (as has often been wrongly interpreted). The world is there for our enjoyment and when done with appropriate consideration, with moderation, it brings rewards.  All that is required, in this 'prescription' is the we know our senses for what they are and that we ensure we are master of them rather than them becoming our masters. Here again the text is quoted directly;

Enjoy the world but let not the world enjoy you. You may eat food, let not the food eat you.  You may drink, but let not the drink drink you.

A common misconception is that self-control pertains to total abstinence from sex.  Spiritual students are called 'brahmachaarins' and certainly the expectation is of celibacy for them. In the general populace, however, this would be wrong. Brahmachaarya can most certainly mean celibacy, but more correctly it means to retain mastery of self in all things - so, for example, to talk too much, to listen to radio or watch television to excess or to consume more than is required for body to function would be to break brahachaarya. In falling short of this standard, a person becomes enslaved to the senses, to the environment and its events.

Ahimsaa is another of the human disciplines which gets misinterpreted.  It does not mean 'non-killing' or 'non-injury' at the physical level.  Certainly wherever possible these are to be avoided. However, there are circumstances which may arise in which we may have to undertake an apparently cruel act in order to actually serve love and compassion - a prime example of this would be the putting of an animal out of misery if it has become sick or injured beyond our ability to heal it. Ahimsaa, then must be understood as a discipline at mental level, for it means 'non-harm' by intention. When the intention is sent out into physical application, it is brahmachaarya which monitors it. Conversely, when engaged physically, we must not lose sight of our intention. Pure intention of love and kindness, even when requiring an apparently cruel act will not reflect negatively on the karma account of the individual.

The third discipline is satyam. Truthfulness seems like a given. It is an extremely difficult element to apply. One can live honestly in terms of the external world, but for satyam to be implemented as it ought, it means to be honest down to the very essence of one's being. Living up to the desirable ideals at all levels is one of the greatest challenges for any human being. This gets the shortest paragraph...only because each must take this into themselves.  No words can expand on this - each must search within.  Do you meet your own measure?