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Indian Spirituality => Sai Baba Books Archive => Sri Sai Leela => Topic started by: JR on February 15, 2007, 08:05:50 AM

Title: HINTS FOR MEDITATION—Swami Shri Akhandanandji Saraswati
Post by: JR on February 15, 2007, 08:05:50 AM
—Swami Shri Akhandanandji Saraswati

I.                     Nothing is sensed without its entering into our conscious­ness. Mind is not without movement. Please  know this  again thoroughly. Mind comes into being within the Atman which is ever moving and is knowledge itself. Things appear and are sensed in the mind. Whatever you are seeing just now, or whatever thing you might have seen previously, can either be the abiding place of each of the senses such as smell, taste, form, touch or sound, or otherwise, may be the sum-totai of all senses. Now, you may take for example a piece of earth-clay, giving our smell, water which has taste, fire which has brilliancy and form, or flower, which, in addition to these, contains the sense of touch—that thing, the flower enters into mind through eyes either now or must have been there previously in memory. Its colour, form, outline, smell, soft­ness, and the taste of nectar within—all are known and sensed in the mind. The process of seeing the flower is taking place in the mind only. Now, closing your eyes outwardly, try to visualize that flower within the mind. You will find that the image of flower creates an impression that you are seeing the flower though in the mind the outer flower is not existing. The idea arises that in such and such place, I saw a flower with such and  such a colour, form, taste, smell, name, etc. This is only a projection, an idea, a mental  image.   There  is no real abode,  no time, no form or weight, no quality or discriminative attributes to the flower which is your mental image. It is your own mental substance that takes the form of inner flower and is seen by you. Now you try to see that flower in such a way that you see nothing but mind,—the whole and the detail of the flower are nothing but the mind. There is actual­ly no flower, there is just the mind. Now when the mind will remain without the image of the flower—it will be mind itself, which will not be separate from your moving Atman, the formless energy. Only the mind with the form (like the flower) can be seen. Mind is energy—not different from that. Let it stay in that state for any length of time. There is now no difference between the energy which is covered by the object of senses, or the energy which is covered by the mental process. When the mind moves, your intellect will say that you move, you are mind, you are the flower—that means, there is nothing but you in everything. Whatever you were in meditation, or attention, you are that in practice. This is net true only for the flower. You can meditate by taking before you any object you choose. This is again a clue to the illusion of serpent where there is really no such being, and when you look with care, the illusion of serpent vanishes and you see the true thing—the rope, on which the illusion took place. In this way, when you see any image within the moving energy which is mind, the careful attention to the image makes the image vanish and tlu mind remains in its original state of energy.

2.         You may pay complete attention either to one of the sense-organs, or to all the sense-organs. You will find that the process of know-mg is same, but it takes a different aspect according to the type of sense-organ, and knows different objects. These objects have a place in the essence of the sense-organs, the etheric counter­part of the physical body, connected with the particular desire-element and knowledge which contacts these essences works through the sense-organs. It is like variously coloured, glasses which give out various colours though the original light is same. You may experiment with any one of your desires. The desires are arising and dying. They are different. Knowledge is singular. You may also see any desire so completely, so carefully, as an object within your mind, that you see in it also nothing but knowledge, you do not see it separate from the original colourless light of the know-ing.

Take the right-eye. See that there is the Purusha, the principle of male-element in the Universe, in miniature standing. Do not pay attention to the essence of the eye which is outwardly a sense-organ and inwardly the residue of desire to see (which is the essence of the attitude to see). All these are essentially the knowledge itself. All organs are in this way, nothing but knowledge. You are know­ledge. There is now no seeing every organ differently. There is only You, net only at the time of meditation, but while in ordinary life, you are everywhere present in every sense-organ, not as objects, senses, essence of senses, or the process of recognition as different qualities arise, but alone you—who are knowledge.

3.         From the base of bodily life, the difference between the inner and the outer instrument of knowledge arises. In principle, life does not brook this bifurcation, it is not important. The name Chitta or consciousness comes through Samskaras, the impressions from the past on the vulnerable knowing process, the name Manas (or Mind) comes through the divergent recognition process, (Vik-riya), the name Ahamkara (Ego) comes through the sense of I. and the name Buddhi (Intellect) comes through the process of know­ledge—differences and unities, assessment, etc. In that order, they can also be called the "Residue, the Intention, the I-ness and the Decision". All these four make up the inner instrument. When you form any concept about the inner evolution, of yourself (Pa ram-artha) in your mind, and decide its form in your intellect, and say that you aspire to become that—you are THAT—or remain silent all these things take place within this inner instrument. These are illuminated by the energy—which means that you see these. You have not to become the seer, the experiencer, the Sakshi—you ha\e simply to understand that you ARE the seer, the unattached, the equallibrium itself, the most inward Being. You have not to go further inside anywhere, nor to become temporarily   quiescent, nor start looking outside objects. These difference are short-living 2nd object of seeing is just the light of your eyesight. You can see for yourself—there is no separate object at all. There is only see-ing. In the inner instrument, where everything is. seen, there is nothing else except the process of knowing connected with Samskaras and inherent qualities of perception. This inner instrument is opened up before you—which also not an object separate from you, but yourself only. The inner instrument, and the Ruler residing within it, the Jeeva or Ego, and the world comprising of space, time and matter, is appearance without these differences, appearance of yourself. When you see it deeply, the passing images vanish like a film, and you remain as energy, without which there is nothing else. The inner instrument shows the passing images, you are energy without division.

4.         Now, look to the instrument and yourself as its seer separate from it. Now see what is the third thing or principle between the inner instrument (Antahkaran) and yourself (Drashta). It is the absence of the Antahkaran, which is also a state being the result of certain causes. That which moves in the inner instrument is called Jeeva. That which moves in the absence of inner instrument is called Ishwara. Now you are the seer of both the being and non-being, the presence and absence of this instrument— You are wit­nessing these objectively, is it not? Actually what are these causess and results? Why is there difference this separateness between the energy which is covered by inner instrument and the energy which is not touched by the inner instrument? You are that energy which sees and the difference arises because of your ignorance of your own state which is Brahman, the totality of everything. You yourself become the Cosmic Energy which is not trrmelled by inner instru­ment, and you yourself become the individual energy which is yoked to the senses and attitudes of inner instrument connected with the body. There is in truth no division as such, in the energy. Energy is indivisible. The differences and divisions disappeared as you know yourself as you are. This knowledge is not opposite to aware­ness, but it is definitely above all illusions. There may well be the awareness of the differences and the absence of the differences. There is no harm in that to your aloneness, the only one state of Samadhi which is undisturbed. All other things including the divisions of inner and outer instruments are but appearances. You are the only one principle, without the second.

(With permission from "Kalyan" (Year 45, issue No. 10).