Spring Time, All Time

By Staff

Tuesday, April 28, 2009, 11:04

According to Ramana the true nature of the mind is silence. In the natural state, the mind is unfocused, totally attentive and at its full potential. This is because the mind is only an aspect of the Self in action, the dynamic side of it, consciousness is characteristic of it. A conversation which a devotee had with Ramana reads:

D: In the book "Who am 'I'?" You have said that the heart is the seat of the mind. Is it so?

R: The mind is the Atman.

D: Is it Atman itself or its projection?

R: The same.

One could also refer to Ramana's instructions to Gambhiram Seshier, at the beginning of the twentieth century. He told him "Mind is in reality only consciousness, because it is pure and transparent by nature. It is spacious, unitary."

The mind with which we are now functioning is constantly pestered with wanted and unwanted thoughts. Memories of the past sensate experiences sow tendencies which give directional pulls. Sometimes that which one calls "My mind" is very much out of one's control in the sense that one is unable to ward off unwanted thoughts or one is caught up with obsessive thoughts. Therefore methods are sought for bringing the mind under control, to hold it in check.

Does it mean that each individual has two minds? One the limited, distracted one and the other integral, unitary and totally attentive? The answer is clearly 'No'. The mind is always pure like ether. Just as the atmospheric pollutions do not effect the ether which remains unpolluted so too the pollution of the mind due to its distractions and experience of the past will not change the essential characteristic of the mind which is always pure. Once the habitual outwardness of the mind is tackled appropriately, then the present desire and fear complex of the mind will drop automatically.

In order to go to the root of the matter one has to remove certain false or incorrect notions. When troubled by too many thoughts one may think that the goal to be achieved is a thought free state. On the one hand people desire it and on the other they fear it because they think that they do not have an experience of our natural state and are consequently afraid of it. We find this kind of doubt and fear in some of the questions which were put to Ramana.

D: Can we think without the mind?

R: Thoughts may be like any other activities, not disturbing the consciousness.

D: I know that one can think remaining forgetful of the physical body. Is it possible to gain that consciousness which is beyond thoughts?

R: Yes there is one consciousness. It subsists in the waking, sleep and dream states. If it is known you will be aware of that which is beyond thoughts. The same nagging doubt is seen in questions like 'Does a Jnani have thoughts?'

Here one would notice that the worry is about thoughts and not about the power to have them which is really the crux. For there is a mix up between a thought void and a thought free mind, which is the opposite of the uncontrolled mind. The essential question about the nature of the mind is not even posed.

To Be Continued

About the author

A.R.Natarajan

Sri A.R.Natarajan has had the opportunity of a long association of over 50 years with the Ramanashram. He was the editor of "Mountain Path" for two years. He was the secretary of Ramana Kendra, New Delhi for ten years. He founded the Ramana Maharshi centre for learning, a non profit institution. He has authored more than thirty six books and eleven pocket books on the life and teachings of Bhagavan Ramana.

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