The noisy mind...

[Guest guest]

Dear List,

 

Everybody knows that the mind is like a baboon, chattering ceaselessly.

But the mind cannot be quieted by will, under its own power. The wise

thing to do is not to try to subdue the baboon, but to simply walk away.

When the baboon is alone, it will cease to chatter and settle down.

 

In order to quiet the mind, the mind must be allowed to run free. The

nature of the mind is to chatter, and the mind must be allowed to follow

its nature. Attempting to defeat the mind's nature is like trying not to

breathe. The mind cannot subdue the mind.

 

But our true nature is not that of the mind, but that of the Atman. So the

thing to do is to "step back" and observe the mind as it chatters. Become

the witness of thoughts, simply observing thoughts without either

attachment or rejection (I'm tempted to use the word "disinterested," but

that's not quite the correct word). Through nonattachment to thought, the

mind is deprived of its "fuel," so to speak, and will quiet of itself. And

when the mind grows quiet, the pure Atman can be seen as the bottom of a

pond can be seen when the water grows still.

 

Step back, and become the witness of thought. Realize that the mind simply

chatters on ceaselessly about unimportant, temporal and temporary things,

and simply observe the mind as it whirls, not attaching to any thought or

following the train of any thought. After awhile, the whirling quiets of

itself, effortlessly, and the mind grows still.

 

(OK, it's not as eloquent as Ken Wilbur, but this comes from personal

experience, not from hearing the words of another).

 

With Love,

 

Tim

 

-----

"Realization begins where knowledge ends."

 

Visit *The Core* Website at http://coresite.cjb.net -

Music, Poetry, Writings on Nondual Spiritual Topics.

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[Guest guest]

[Tim wrote]

>.But our true nature is not that of the mind, but that of the Atman. So the

>thing to do is to "step back" and observe the mind as it chatters. Become

>the witness of thoughts, simply observing thoughts without either

>attachment or rejection (I'm tempted to use the word "disinterested," but

>that's not quite the correct word). Through nonattachment to thought, the

>mind is deprived of its "fuel," so to speak, and will quiet of itself. And

>when the mind grows quiet, the pure Atman can be seen as the bottom of a

>pond can be seen when the water grows still.

 

 

Tim, this is an excellent effort, in attempting to communicate such a subtle

experience.

If I may add, I've found that stepping back into the witness position is

practical

if there is at first - an observation and understanding of our actual

ever-present

defensive strategy. We must notice that we are always avoiding or denying a

fundamental truth of ourselves - that we are no-thing or no-body. From the

standpoint

of the mind this seems undesirable and some of us just can't accept that.

 

Our constant thinking process is just that - hiding from this basic truth, that

we are

no-self, we seem constantly need to remind ourselves that we are somebody.

We become a perpetual chatterbox, even when thinking is not necessary.

Indeed this can lead to insanity and unnecessary pain and suffering, like an

engine

that keeps running, overheats and explodes.

 

Hence we must SEE what our usual mental processes is doing to us and what

it prevents. What is prevented is abiding in Atman. When we SEE this, we just

stop doing that unconscious painful activity of ignoring the lager part of

ourselves and suddenly we are established into the Witness condition.

 

It is not even a question of stepping back or letting go or surrendering here,

please see.

The 'you' who is trying to step back, let go or surrender is itself the

problem.

Really that 'ego', 'you' , 'I' or 'me' really cannot surrender or wants to in

the first place.

This 'I' cannot surrender, it can BE surrendered though. No effort is required

to let go,

surrender or step back. Any such effort makes us more uptight and closed.

All that is required is awareness, insight and understanding; the rest follows.

It is like trying to open your fist, your hands. Any effort to open it, really

is another form

of closing your hands. When it is not closed it relaxes and opens

automatically.

 

Anyway I thought I'd highlight this particular problem that cause seekers to be

trapped

infinitely within a loop.

 

~dave

[Guest guest]

namaste.

 

Tim Gerchmez suggested in his initiation of this thread that we leave

the mind alone, be as a witness to the thought process, see that the

mind runs out of fuel and quieten down on its own. Ken Wilbur's essay

posted by Dave says the similar thing (or technique).

 

Both, while they are certainly insightful, still did not address the

basic point. The basic required thing, as I see, is citta shuddhi

(purity of the heart). I recognize Tim has addressed this requirement

in a separate post.

 

We can look at mind as an expression of the impurity of the citta. If

the citta is pure, mind will not be there. We can see mind as simply a

perturbation (what I mean by perturbation is a second order effect) on

the equilibrium of the citta. If the citta is in perfect equilibrium,

there are no perturbations, and hence the mind does not exist. After

all, thoughts are only these perturbations. If we concentrate only

on the mind-process, we are treating the symptoms only and not the

main disease which lies with the citta.

 

How do we purify the citta and how important is it that we purify

citta? In my view, it IS the most important which a jeeva can do and

is also the ultimate that the jeeva can do in his "quest of realizing

the SELF". As has been stated on this List many times, we are quite

familiar with the kaTha upanishad statement that the SELF Knowledge

will dawn on such a person whom the SELF chooses. The jeeva does not

know when and if the SELF chooses to reveal Itself to Itself. The

best the jeeva can do is to be ready with his/her equipment so that

he/she is prepared for the dawn of Knowledge. The pre-condition for

it is the purity of heart (citta-shuddhi) which is within the

jeeva's purview.

 

How is this citta-shuddhi achieved? The impurities that are the

mind are the gross emotions, the six great enemies of the human:

kAma (desire), krodha (anger), lobha (miserliness), moha (passion),

mada (pride), mAtsarya (jealousy). They upset the citta and disturb

the balance. The first step in the purification of the citta is to

recognize these six enemies as harmful; and if any thought enters

the mind derived from these gross passions, we should immediately

throw that thought out. If we do not entertain thoughts based on

these wrong passions, we are well on our way to citta shuddhi.

So that we do not have a noisy mind, which is a result of lack

of citta shuddhi, the following pro-active steps by the jeeva

would be very useful

 

step 1: recognize the great enemies (kAma, krodha etc ) and do not

entertain any thoughts based on these gross emotions

 

step 2: overcome other impurities that cloud the mind like prejudices,

misconceptions, doubts, superstitions, by cultivating the right

knowledge

 

step 3: recognize the virtues that are opposite to these six great

enemies and cultivate these virtues

 

These are actions which the jeeva can do, the result of which is

a quietened mind. Witness attitude, not only towards the mind

but toward everything that goes around us will be the result of

such a pure heart.

 

Regards

Gummuluru Murthy

---

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 11/4/99 5:45:56 PM Pacific Standard Time,

gmurthy writes:

> How is this citta-shuddhi achieved? The impurities that are the

> mind are the gross emotions, the six great enemies of the human:

> kAma (desire), krodha (anger), lobha (miserliness), moha (passion),

> mada (pride), mAtsarya (jealousy). They upset the citta and disturb

> the balance.

Sri Chaitanne Mahaprabhu (Gaurangadev ) Says in his Sikshastak:

Chetodarpanamarjanam Vavamahadawagni Nirwapanam

Srea:Kairavachandrikabitaranam Bidyabadhujivanam .

Anandabudhibardhanam Pratipadam Purnamritaswadanam,

Sarwatmanaspanam param Vijayate SriKrsna SANKIRTAM. 1

 

Namnamakari bahuda Nija sarvasakti

Strarpita Niyemita Smarne na kala.

Yetahasi taba kripa Bhagwonmawapi

Durdaivamidrisamiajani Nanuraga. 2.

 

Trinadapi Sunichena Taroriwa Sahisnuna

Amanino Manadena Kirtanada Sada Hari. 3.

 

(Sorry , my english is not good enough to translate properly)

 

 

Raju Chhatry