Annamalai Swami
In every moment you only have one real choice: to be aware of the Self
or to identify with the body and the mind.
Self-inquiry must be done continuously. It doesn't work if you regard
it as a part-time activity.
Mind is just a Self-inflicted area of darkness in which the light of
the Self has been deliberately shut out.
The mind and the body are both inert. Any energy or peace you
experience can only come from the Self. Drop the identification with
the body. These experiences are making you too body-conscious. Just be
aware of the Self and try to pay as little attention as possible to
the body. The Self is pure energy, pure power. Hold onto that.
You have to keep up the enquiry, 'To whom is this happening?' all the
time. If you are having trouble remind yourself, 'This is just
happening on the surface of my mind. I am not this mind or the
wandering thoughts.' Then go back into enquiry 'Who am I?'. By doing
this you will penetrate deeper and deeper and become detached from the
mind. This will only come about after you have made an intense effort.
If you can give up duality, Brahman alone remains, and you know
yourself to be that Brahman, but to make this discovery continuous
meditation is required. Don't allocate periods of time for this. Don't
regard it as something you do when you sit with your eyes closed. This
meditation has to be continuous. Do it while eating, walking and even
talking. It has to be continued all the time.
Continuous attentiveness will only come with long practice. If you are
truly watchful, each thought will dissolve at the moment that it
appears. But to reach this level of disassociation you must have no
attachments at all. If you have the slightest interest in any
particular thought, it will evade your attentiveness, connect with
other thoughts, and take over your mind for a few seconds. This will
happen more easily if you are accustomed to reacting emotionally to a
particular thought.
Your ultimate need is to get established in the changeless peace of the Self. For this you have to give up all thoughts.
Remember that nothing that happens in the mind is 'you', and none of it is your business. You don't have to worry about the thoughts that rise up inside you. It is enough that you remember that the thoughts are not you.
If you can hold on to this knowledge 'I am Self' at all times, no further practice is necessary.
Tayumanuvar, a Tamil saint whom Bhagavan often quoted, wrote in one of his poems: 'My Guru merely told me that I am consciousness. Having heard this, I held onto consciousness. What he told me was just one sentence, but I cannot describe the bliss I attained from holding onto that one simple sentence. Through that one sentence I attained a peace and a happiness that can never be explained in words.
There are so many thoughts in the mind. Thought after thought after thought. But there is one thought that is continuous, though it is mostly sub-conscious: 'I am the body'. This is the string on which all other thoughts are threaded. Once we identify ourselves with the body by thinking this thought, maya follows. It also follows that if we cease to identify with the body, maya will not affect us anymore.
If you are having trouble with your enthusiasm for sadhana, just tell yourself, 'I may be dead in seven days'. Let go of all the things that you pretend are important in your daily life and instead focus on the Self for twenty-four hours a day. Do it and see what happens.
Go deeply into this feeling of 'I'. Be aware of it so strongly and so intensely that no other thoughts have the energy to arise and distract you. If you hold this feeling of 'I' long enough and strongly enough, the false 'I' wll vanish leaving only the unbroken awareness of the real, immanent 'I', consciousness itself.
Sadhana is a battlefield. You have to be vigilant. Don't take delivery of wrong beliefs and don't identify with the incoming thoughts that will give you pain and suffering. But if these things start happening to you, fight back by affirming, 'I am the Self; I am the Self; I am the Self;'. These affirmations will lessen the power of the 'I am the body' arrows and eventually they will armour-plate you so successfully, the 'I am the body' thoughts that come your way will no longer have the power to touch you, affect you or make you suffer.
or to identify with the body and the mind.
Self-inquiry must be done continuously. It doesn't work if you regard
it as a part-time activity.
Mind is just a Self-inflicted area of darkness in which the light of
the Self has been deliberately shut out.
The mind and the body are both inert. Any energy or peace you
experience can only come from the Self. Drop the identification with
the body. These experiences are making you too body-conscious. Just be
aware of the Self and try to pay as little attention as possible to
the body. The Self is pure energy, pure power. Hold onto that.
You have to keep up the enquiry, 'To whom is this happening?' all the
time. If you are having trouble remind yourself, 'This is just
happening on the surface of my mind. I am not this mind or the
wandering thoughts.' Then go back into enquiry 'Who am I?'. By doing
this you will penetrate deeper and deeper and become detached from the
mind. This will only come about after you have made an intense effort.
If you can give up duality, Brahman alone remains, and you know
yourself to be that Brahman, but to make this discovery continuous
meditation is required. Don't allocate periods of time for this. Don't
regard it as something you do when you sit with your eyes closed. This
meditation has to be continuous. Do it while eating, walking and even
talking. It has to be continued all the time.
Continuous attentiveness will only come with long practice. If you are
truly watchful, each thought will dissolve at the moment that it
appears. But to reach this level of disassociation you must have no
attachments at all. If you have the slightest interest in any
particular thought, it will evade your attentiveness, connect with
other thoughts, and take over your mind for a few seconds. This will
happen more easily if you are accustomed to reacting emotionally to a
particular thought.
Your ultimate need is to get established in the changeless peace of the Self. For this you have to give up all thoughts.
Remember that nothing that happens in the mind is 'you', and none of it is your business. You don't have to worry about the thoughts that rise up inside you. It is enough that you remember that the thoughts are not you.
If you can hold on to this knowledge 'I am Self' at all times, no further practice is necessary.
Tayumanuvar, a Tamil saint whom Bhagavan often quoted, wrote in one of his poems: 'My Guru merely told me that I am consciousness. Having heard this, I held onto consciousness. What he told me was just one sentence, but I cannot describe the bliss I attained from holding onto that one simple sentence. Through that one sentence I attained a peace and a happiness that can never be explained in words.
There are so many thoughts in the mind. Thought after thought after thought. But there is one thought that is continuous, though it is mostly sub-conscious: 'I am the body'. This is the string on which all other thoughts are threaded. Once we identify ourselves with the body by thinking this thought, maya follows. It also follows that if we cease to identify with the body, maya will not affect us anymore.
If you are having trouble with your enthusiasm for sadhana, just tell yourself, 'I may be dead in seven days'. Let go of all the things that you pretend are important in your daily life and instead focus on the Self for twenty-four hours a day. Do it and see what happens.
Go deeply into this feeling of 'I'. Be aware of it so strongly and so intensely that no other thoughts have the energy to arise and distract you. If you hold this feeling of 'I' long enough and strongly enough, the false 'I' wll vanish leaving only the unbroken awareness of the real, immanent 'I', consciousness itself.
Sadhana is a battlefield. You have to be vigilant. Don't take delivery of wrong beliefs and don't identify with the incoming thoughts that will give you pain and suffering. But if these things start happening to you, fight back by affirming, 'I am the Self; I am the Self; I am the Self;'. These affirmations will lessen the power of the 'I am the body' arrows and eventually they will armour-plate you so successfully, the 'I am the body' thoughts that come your way will no longer have the power to touch you, affect you or make you suffer.
