SECURING FREEDOM FROM MIND

[Guest guest]

prof laxmi narain (prof_narain)

 

Source and courtesy: Sri Ramana Kendram, Hyderabad

This article was published in Sri Ramana Jyothi,

monthly magazine of the Kendram.

 

SECURING FREEDOM FROM MIND

 

The following piece is by German author Eckhart Tolle who authored

the famous The Power of Now – A guide to spiritual enlightenment. It

is a summary of his two methods of mind control.

 

 

First method – Start listening to the voice of your head as often as

you can. Pay particular attention to any repetitive thought patterns,

those old audiotapes that have been playing in your head perhaps for

many years. This is " watching the thinker, " by being a witness to

your thoughts. When you listen to that voice listen to it

impartially. That is to say, do not judge or condemn what you hear;

for doing so would mean that the same voice has come in again through

the back door. When you listen to a thought, you are aware not only

of the thought but also of yourself as the witness of the thought.

Thus a new dimension of consciousness has come in. As you listen to

the thought, the thought loses its power over you and gradually

subsides because you are no longer energizing the mind through

identification with it. This is the beginning of the end of

involuntary and compulsive thinking. When a thought subsides, you

experience a discontinuity in mental stream – a gap of " no mind. " At

first the gaps will be short, a few seconds perhaps, but gradually

they will become longer. When these gaps occur, you feel a certain

stillness and peace inside you. This is the beginning of your natural

state of felt oneness with Being, which is usually obscured by the

mind. With sustained practice, the sense of stillness and peace will

deepen. In fact, there is no end to its depth. As you go more deeply

into this realm of no-mind, as it is sometimes called in the East,

you realize the state of pure consciousness.

 

Second method – Instead of " watching the thinker, " you can also

create a gap in the mind stream simply by directing the focus of your

attention into the Now. Just become intensely conscious of the

present moment. In your everyday life, you can practice this by

taking any routine activity that normally is only a means to an end

and giving it your fullest attention, so that it becomes an end in

itself. For example, every time you walk up and down the stairs in

your house or place of work, pay close attention to every step, every

movement, even your breathing. Be totally present. Or, when you wash

your hands, pay attention to all the sense perceptions associated

with the activity; the sound and feel of the water, the movement of

your hands, the scent of the soap, and so on.

 

The single most vital step on your journey towards enlightenment is

to disidentify from your mind. Every time you create a gap in the

stream of mind, the light of your consciousness grows stronger. One

day you will catch yourself smiling with the voice in your head, as

you would smile at the antics of a child. This means that you can no

longer take the content of your mind all that seriously, as your

sense of self does not depend on it.

 

[it is important to note that our tendencies are extremely deep-

rooted. The method only provides the direction. It would require

utmost patience, perseverance and constant practice even for

achieving a moderate amount of success.]