A. R. Natarajan - The Mind - A Freee Frame

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THE MIND-A FREEZE FRAME

 

taken from

THE SILENT MIND,

by A. R. NATARAJAN, 2004 EDITION, pp. 14-17

(originally posted to NamoRamana group by saikali)What is this thing called 'Mind'? What is it that is being sought to be controlled? Who is it that desires to control it? It would have been noticed that in the various solutions which are generally offered the assumption is that the mind is an independent, separate entity which the individual has to learn to handle in order that it may be quiet. We do not really know much about the individual, though of course we would rather not confess it. We know even less about the mind. Why? We do not know about the individual speciallybecause attention is always on the objects and the subject is taken for granted. Similarly, we have never gone into the question of the nature of the mind.

 

Ramana says that the straight path to mind control lies only in finding out what the mind is. This in turnwould also lead to an awareness of the real import of "I". The reason for terming the Ramana path as the direct one is that in it the focus is exclusively on the individual, on the mind. There is no beating about the bush, and the examination is frontal. Ramana repeatedly suggests that this enquiry, this search is a joyous one and is at the same time revelatory. It does not need much convincing to say that it is only things which we understand that we can master and handle. The approach to the enquiry should be to regard it as anadventure, as an "inner-odyssey", for the task demands courage and steadfastness. As one experiments, the discovery and experience of a naturally silent mind come about. The mind's turmoil is then seen tobe only a superimposition brought about by habitual attitudes of the

mind, by its pleasure-hunt.To bring home the advantage of such a close look, Ramana would relate the bridegroom story. The story runs thus: An imposter taking advantage of the prevailing confusion when a bridegroom's party arrived, mingled with the group as one of them. The bride's party thought that he was an important member of the bridegroom's party.In like manner, since he was a stranger to them, the bridegroom's people thought he was a close relative of the bride because he was seen along with other members of the bride's party. When his obnoxious conduct repelled both sides, they started enquiring as to who this person was and the trickster took to his heels. In this story mind is compared to the trickster because it has a thousand and one ways of beguiling and distracting one's attention from an enquiry about itself. However, once a proper enquiry is made, thetruth would be revealed. If an enquiry is set afoot it would be seen that the mind is only a vast

galaxy of thoughts. Why? "If we set aside all thoughts and look, there would remain nothing separately as mind".

 

Therefore, Ramana says that "thought itself is the nature of the mind". Again, though the thoughts are innumerous, varied and disparate, they are all integrated by a central thought or core thought, the "I" thought. All thoughts are the individual's thoughts, a person's thoughts. They exist in relation to him. Theyhave no locus-standi of their own. We might compare the universe of thoughts to the solar system. The "I" thought is the Sun around which all other thoughts revolve. The moment the individual's attention is withdrawn from a thought, it becomes lifeless being parasitic and dependent. For all practical purposes, one cantherefore say that the root "I" thought, the feeling of individuality, is the mind since the other thoughts do not matter, whatever be their number. It follows from this that finding out the mind's nature really means finding out the truth about the individual, about the sense of

individuality.This is a stage where one has to break and reflect. How and when does this feeling of a separate personality begin? Certainly it is dominant and cannot be missed when one is awake and active. But, after all, we go to sleep each day and dream while sleeping. What happens to the individual in the other two states of dream and sleep which he experiences each day? Quite obviously we have to look at all three states of experience, waking, dream and sleep, to have a real comprehension of the mind. Looking at it from this angle, onefinds that the dream personality, dream thoughts, dream solutions can be quite at variance with what may be termed as one's waking personality. Only the dream doctor, administering a dream medicine, can cure a dream sickness. A king may dream of being a lowly beggar moving from door to door piteously for alms. Not all the riches and power of his waking state can help even a wee bit. The personality is different. The dreamer is not the

one who is awake. As for sleep, the person and his thoughts are absent. They are nascent till onewakes up to the world of "I" and thoughts. Since the "I", the mind, has been non-existent in sleep, it would be only reasonable to question "What happens to it?" Where did it subside in sleep? Or alternatively, where did it rise from on waking? These queries are raised because of the presence of the mind in the waking state and its absence in sleep. After these issues are taken up, the purpose of the analysis of the three states of daily existence, the waking, sleep and the dream, would have been served. It would have been brought out in clear light that there is more to the mind than we have taken it to be.The important aspect which is found is that the mind has a source within into which it merges and comes out each day. Ramana gives the analogy of a hen and its chicks. Just as a hen gathers its chicks under its wings and goes to roost after sunset, the root "I"-thought

brings together its associates, the innumerable latent thoughts, and returns to the source. However, this process takes place involuntarily because the mind is overtaken by sleep when it returns to its source. Consequently, since the process has happened withoutone's control, sleep does not reveal any story about the mind. If such a revelation is to come about, it can only be through an alert enquiry which pushes the mind consciouly back to the source and merges it there. Then, the stillness of the mind would go hand in hand with its vibrancy. Repose and vitality would co-exist. This happens because the source of the mind is the fullness of consciousness termed as the "Heart" by Ramana. When the mind is inturned by effort and made to sink in the Heart, it remains pure, it remains as consciousness, as intelligence.That is the next stage where we have to stop and reflect about the knowledge gained. What is it that we have now learnt about the mind? The mind has a conscious

source. Therefore it has a content of consciousness. The mind stays at the source either involuntarily during sleep or as a result of a well directed practice when itreaches its source, which is the fullness of consciousness. The next thing which is known is that the outward thrust of thoughts pushes out the mind and scatters it. It is like breaking a fine instrument into smithereens for such is the consequence of the fragmentation of the mind by thoughts. Yet another point which emerges is that there is good reason not to be too much concerned about the vastness of thoughts, so long as one is aware that the weak mind split up by thoughts is only a passing phase. It can be overcome by holding on to the subject to the "I"-thought. Such attention would make the mind naturally silent by merging it in the source.