Actively Guide the Mind

Just watching the mind will not resolve anything. The only way to dissolve the confusion of the mind is to guide the mind with wisdom and put the mind to work doing good.

The aim is NOT to become self-conscious but to become conscious of the Self. This automatically happens in due course if one constantly practices true dispassion which is COMPASSION WITH NO ATTACHMENT. (This means there can be no attachment to one’s ego and images.)

There are many so-called successful people in both the corporate marketplace and the spiritual marketplace, and very often their minds are filled with noisy self-praise and self-delusion. A truly silent mind is one that can listen to good advice without reacting.

Focusing the mind means sharpening our power of discernment to distinguish between what is real and what is not. Our power of discernment is sharpened with Divine Wisdom. When the mind is enlightened (with Wisdom) it sees (understands) clearly.  The enlightened mind remains stable and focused whether it is busy at work solving a practical problem or other task at hand, or it is being applied in yogic mediation.

The heart is the mind. Forget about all the flowery talk of ‘heart’, The sacred heart is the purified mind. The mind is the seat of consciousness. The mind is purified by our firm resolve to keep it imageless and free of obstacles in the form of ignorance, ego, and their byproducts. One would benefit from deeply contemplating the following mantra from the Yajur Veda:

OM YAJJAAGRATO DUURAMUDAITI DAIVAM TADU SUPTASYA TATHAIVAITI.
DUURAMGAMAM JYOTISHAAM JYOTIREKAM TANME MANAH SHIVASANKALPAMASTU.

Meaning:
This mind of mine is NOT an ordinary thing. This mind is a gift of the Supreme (DAIVAM). The mind has the power to shed light (the Light of Consciousness) upon even great lustrous entities like the Sun, the Nebulae, and the Galaxies. It is the very nature of the mind to wander about, at great speeds, exploring the remotest regions of the universe and seeking the highest states of consciousness. It is the nature of the mind to be constantly busy in both the waking and sleeping states. May I resolve to use this divine gift, the mind, to do good for goodness sake and ultimately realize the Supreme Perfect Goodness (SHIVA) which annihilates all pain and misery.

This statement is true from the perspective of Ultimate Reality, however, from the point of view of our individual existence it is not true.  For example, when you clean your body, it is only your own body that is cleansed and not the body of another. When you purify your mind, only your own mind is purified and not the mind of your neighbor.

From the standpoint of reality, the one Universal Mind has been individualized due to the preponderance of ego. The individualized mind is a natural phenomenon, even as the Universal Mind (Mahatattva) is also a natural phenomenon. Both are elements of this Cosmic Drama of Existence, the latter being considerably more subtle than the former since it (the Universal Mind) is not circumscribed by ego (Ahamkara).

Your mind and my mind are instruments of consciousness. You are a conscious immortal being (Atman) with an ego, intellect, mind, and body, and hence you are known as a living soul (Jivatman). Likewise is my situation and that of everyone else too. It is our intrinsic nature as living souls to employ our mind (including ego and intellect) and body to manifest our Pure Consciousness (Atman) and experience our Essence (the Soul of our Soul, the Supreme Self, Paramatman, GOD, or whatever else you may desire to call It).

It is your own ego and images that are the blinders, because they blind the living self from perceiving the Truth. The mind is not really doing anything at all (on its own). It is an inert subtle substance. It is your job to shape the mind with knowledge and wisdom and employ that mind in service and devotion, because it is your real nature (DHARMA) to do so.

The mind does not inherently have the habit to create, sustain and destroy. Again, the mind is simply an instrument of consciousness (in this case, the embodied conscious being called the Jivatman).

To understand how the mind operates one should study Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras which clearly explain the functioning of the mind and the scientific method of mind control (that is, the way to restrain and re-train the mind for the purpose of the direct realization of Reality and the Ultimate Truth).

You are certainly correct in asserting that we create nothing but drama, grief, and suffering in our life if we do not discipline our mind. However, we do not discipline our mind by becoming the disciple of our ego.

You have stated that “the silent mind is the key to finding God or Guru within yourself.” This is simply not accurate. Observe a cat resting on a pillow or a bird perched on a branch. Their minds are silent but they are not in tune with the core of their being (Atman) and cannot experience their Essence (the Supreme Self).

The key to finding God is to fill your mind with Divine Wisdom and put it into practice. In other words, we need to insert the key of Wisdom into the mind and turn it (contemplate on it and live our life accordingly).

We may or may not meet our Guru in this life, but the Original Guru (God Lord of the Universe) will surely protect us and ultimately (by His Grace) we will be united with Him. In any case, it is self-defeating to listen to our ego and be our own guru because that will only make the mind more image-ridden. We should be humble and earnest and remain ever receptive to learn more and more, and never become complacent and imagine that we already know everything.

Your statement “God dwells within you as you. I am because God is and God is because I am” is the same old neo-vedantic propaganda that has now become so popular here in the West (and everywhere else). The truth is this:

(1) God is One Without a Second. That Supreme Being is All-pervading, Indivisible, Formless, Ever-Existing, Ever-Conscious, Ever-Blissful Absolute Infinite Reality.

(2) You and I (and everyone else) are uncreated (as Atman). Therefore, every one of us is also Eternal and we can never be more or less than what we already are (for example, we can never become GOD, even as in Reality we never actually become the body). We are eternal. We exist eternally and we are eternally conscious but we are not eternally blissful. Even if you say we are eternally blissful; nevertheless, that blissfulness could never be compared to the Incomparable Supreme Bliss of the Absolute.

(3) The Supreme Self, as well as all of us (the innumerable souls), eternally pervade the eternal non-conscious substance (Prakriti) from which the Creation (comprised of Mind and Matter) is formed. Hence, from the point of view of the mind, the powers of the soul appear infinite, but this is an appearance only. In fact, each of us is infinitesimal and only the Supreme Self is the possessor of Infinite Being-Consciousness-Bliss. The Supreme Self eternally pervades all of us, but we do not pervade one another. Each and every soul is a self-contained eternal conscious entity. Our closeness (in qualities) to the Supreme Self is the experience of Bliss Consciousness, Moksha. The Supreme Self is Itself the Ultimate Bliss known as Moksha (Liberation).

We should be humble and earnest and remain ever receptive to learn more and more, and never become complacent and imagine that we already know everything.