Saturday, September 10, 2016

Nishtha

Q: This meditation you speak of, does it consist of mental repetition? Is it a formulation of words such as 'I am the Self, I am consciousness,' or is it a kind of awareness of the Self which is present without words or concepts?

If you repeat a mantra aloud, that is japa. If you repeat the same in the mind, you can call that meditation. If one is established in the awareness of immanent consciousness, that is nishtha [being established in the Self]

Q: So if one can remain in nishtha it is not necessary to do japa or meditation?

In meditation you are never forgetting the Self. Being consciously aware of the Self without thinking about it in any way is nishtha. Why repeat 'I am Sundaram, I am Sundaram' if you already have the feeling that you are Sundaram?

In this ultimate state one is neither thinking about the Self nor forgetting the Self. One simply is. If you have this experience, doubts such as 'Should I carry on meditating?' will not arise. In that ultimate state it is impossible for thoughts like this to arise. So, if you come to some peaceful or silent place in your meditation and the thought arises, 'Should I rest in the silence or carry on with my meditation?' you should carry on with your meditation because this thought alone indicates that you have not established yourself in the Self. 

It is not good to think too much about your meditation practice. Just do it and keep on doing it until you have the firm conviction that nothing that appears in the mind has anything to do with the real you. If you pay attention to thoughts and feelings while you meditate and try to use them to evaluate how well or how badly you are meditating, you will never reach the ultimate silence. Instead you will just get bogged down in mental concepts. 

Some people are distracting their minds in so many different ways: for example, trying to make distinctions between things like turiya [the fourth state] and turiyatita [that which is beyond the fourth]. Reality is very simple: instead of trying to explain it or label it, just be it by giving up all identification with the body and the mind. This is the ultimate jnana. If you follow this path you need not get involved in any mental or philosophical complexities. 

People are practicing all kinds of sadhanas to reach the Self. Some of these methods are hindrances to jnana. Meditation can be another form of bondage if it starts from the assumption that the body and the mind are real. If this idea is not dropped, meditation will merely enhance it.

Realising the Self and never forgetting the Self -- that is real jnana.



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