inner voice

[Guest guest]

Dear Andrew,

 

I probably can't add any clarity, but a few comments:

 

My wife has, I think, the same kind of 'inner voice.' She has

commented to me about 'always having a sound track.' As she has

inquired into this she has seen that she took this inner voice to

be 'herself.' No she no longer holds to that identity. For her the

voice still goes on, but with less power.

 

My sense of mouna is 'the non-arising of thoughts.' Here, one stands

in 'the silence of being,' and even if it seems the world is full

of 'noise,' one is still in silence. I have this sense from my own

practice and experiences. Standing in this of silence is, for a

seeker such as this one, is something that is very much noticed at

the time and remembered later.

 

Whatever is the case with your practice, it seems like a good step.

If not mouna, then certainly stepping past a long standing vasana. I

wounder what has canged in your stand, in your sense of identity. It

is these changes in the sense of identity that manefest as deepening

spiritual experience. Let go of an erronious idea of yourself, and

suddenly and instantly the experience is of more freedom, more space,

more peace.

 

Now to take it deeper: even is the silence, someone knows this

silence, who is he? Even in the silence, there is this sense of

identity. Where does this come from? Where does this arise?

In your inquiry, there is one who inquires. Who inquires?

 

Not two,

Richard

 

RamanaMaharshi, "Andrew R. Hoople"

<hooplea> wrote:

>

>

> I've had an interesting development in my sadhana, which I was

hoping

> I could get some feedback on. Recently, I was able to take atma-

vicara

> to a stage where my "inner voice" (I don't know what else to call

it,

> perhaps someone else does?) disappeared, and this voice has not

> reappeared since. I don't know how it is with other people, but my

> "inner voice" was always going on non-stop, and now it seems to have

> stopped totally and for good. Can anyone tell me if this qualifies

as

> achieving "mouna" or silence? I notice that even though the "inner

> voice" has stopped, I still have quite a few images of memories

flitting

> through my mind; does this mean that total mouna has not been

achieved?

> Thanks for any help you can provide.

>

> Sincerely,

>

> Andrew R. Hoople