Sky nature of mind

Jul 31, 2010, 12.00am IST
GIRISH DESHPANDE.

In every sentient being the buddha mind is omnipresent. We don't have to go looking for it. We don't have to strive to perfect it. It has been with us since birth and it is always perfect! Just as the sky. This is the nature of our mind. Who would want to strive to perfect a cloudless sky?

All of us want to be happy at all times. So why do our actions of body, speech and mind work often in contradiction to what we really want, bringing suffering in its wake? The reason is simple; it's because we allow them to. We could correct this; we can attempt to clear the clouds that obscure the beautiful sky.

What is holding us back from exploring the brilliance of the sky? The four faults, as enumerated below:

Too close: Have you ever tried to see your face without something that could reflect it? Not possible. Similarly, the nature of the mind is so close to our mind that it finds it difficult to see it.

Too profound: How often have you waded into unknown waters? You take a few steps and the fear of the unknown stops you. Similarly, we have no idea how deep the nature of mind would be. We cannot fathom its depth. So we don't make an attempt.

Too easy: It is often that we have not attempted something simply because it was too easy. So it is with the nature of mind. Something that has always been with us, always perfect, gets a priority that is low amongst other worldly distractions & attractions.

Too wondrous: How many times have we left something untried because we see it as an immense task? We just don't believe that we can actually attain enlightenment which is the essential nature of our minds.

The Tibetan word for 'Buddhist' is nangpa, which means `insider', that is, alluding to the fact that one has to learn of living and dying not from external sources but from knowing the nature of mind. However, people fear to look within themselves, not knowing what they will find. Whether they will be able to face what they will find. They are afraid that they will be treated like social outcasts amongst friends, left alone to live life in solitude. And this conceptualised, misplaced approach plays perfectly into the ploy of the wily ego that could have asked for nothing more than this.

The answers you genuinely seek will come to you only from within, from the nature of your mind and not the nurtured mind. Even if you get the most accomplished teacher, his only responsibility will be to guide you through unknown pathways with the help of teachings and practices, cutting through obscuration of a contrived mind and make you discover the true nature of your mind. And in doing so, help you dispel the fears of sickness, old age and death and understand better the prospect of life, death and afterlife.

It needs endeavour. Let the winds of awakening blow away the clouds from the sky nature of your mind. Introduce yourself to the perfect sky that is your very own and has always been with you. This is the only happy way out from here! Buddha hood to you!

(The writer is a Pune-based dharma practitioner.)

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Mind-Matter Divide in Science, Philosophy

Mar 10, 2004, 12.00am IST
RANJIT NAIR.

The root formulation of Indian philosophy goes back to Dirghatamas, the Rig Vedic philosopher, who said ekam sat vipra bahudha vadanti, or the Real is one, though the wise speak of it variously. How the fundamental unity of the Real could be reconciled with the diversity of phenomena was a key problem in Indian philosophy. Philosophy in India emerged as a rational, discursive exercise when orthodoxy, which regarded the Vedas as revelation, was challenged by major schools like that of Buddhism, Jainism, the Ajivika and the Lokayata.
The origins of western philosophy are usually attri-buted to Plato challenging the gods of Homer for their all-too-human behaviour, substituting in their place truths established through dialectical argument. Indian philosophy arose against the demand that claims on the veracity of a text or principle should be subjected to the canons of argumentation. The schools of logic emerged out of the attempt to formalise rational debate, to distinguish between valid arguments and fallacies. It is remarkable that all schools of Indian philosophy accepted perception as a means of knowledge. The great Shankara asserted that even if hund-red scriptures maintain that fire is cool and non-radiant, that would not prove it.
Indian philosophy and modern science share common features, at the level of parallels, isomorphic themes and problems. First, the search for unity resonates with the holy grail of the theory of everything in theoretical physics, which began with Albert Einstein. The search for a fundamental theory, Steven Weinberg says, lifts human life above the level of farce and gives it some of the grace of tragedy.
The second similarity concerns the debate on the nature of reality and the ability of our concepts to represent reality. Vedantic and Buddhist schools rejected the Nyaya view that the real was expressible. For the Upa-nishads, the fundamental realm is where words return, unable to reach with the mind. Nagarjuna, the Madh-yamika Buddhist philosopher, argued that concepts were inadequate to describe reality by exposing the inner contradictions of concepts like motion and rest, somewhat in the manner of Zeno, the Eleatic philosopher. Here we may recall the debate between Einstein and Niels Bohr, the former maintaining that physics should give a causal, observer-independent account of reality, while the latter believed that microphysics had to be content with a pastiche of concepts for the same physical system.
Third, the mystery of the self or consciousness, which, as atman, is identified with the fundamental reality or Brahman in the Upanishads. Modern science lacks an adequate account of the mind. The strict separation bet-ween mind and matter enforced by Descartes, allo-wed matter to be viewed as pure mechanism, expli-cable in causal terms. Major schools in Indian philosophy such as the Advaita Vedanta, posit the atman/brahman as the sole reality and phenomenal reality as maya, neither absolutely true nor abso- lutely false. Barring the Austrian physicist Erwin Schrodinger, who affirmed his commitment to the Advaita Vedanta in a tract written shortly before his fundamental papers on wave mechanics, few physicists regard a unitary consciousness as the fundamental rea-lity. Buddhist philosophers, on the other hand, regarded consciousness as a composite of factors.
However, the application of quantum theory runs against the Cartesian grain of disenchanting the mate-rial world. It unifies East and West, mind and matter.
(The author is Director, Centre for Philosophy and Foundations of Science, New Delhi)

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Mind: Good servant, bad master

Jul 24, 2010, 12.00am IST

The mind is the reason behind a person's bondage or salvation. Pious and benevolent resolves and actions purify the mind, remove all faults and lead to final salvation, says Lilashahji in a discourse.

The same mind, when it becomes impure by impious resolves and actions, promotes insentience and binds one to bondage of this world.


Take your mind to task everyday! Constantly counsel your mind. "O restless mind! Now be quiet and steady. Why do you disturb me by wandering all the time? Time and again you run after sense pleasures and worldly relations, seeking company in relationships but don't you know that they are short-lived? You have been forced to abandon them in all of your previous lives and will have to abandon them in this life as well. So immerse yourself in meditation of your True Self that is always with you, that is Bliss Supreme."
The mind is deceptive. Never trust it. Keep a constant watch to see whether the mind is following your commands. Keep a vigil on its activities at all times. You have to always be ready to discipline the mind with the stick of insightful discrimination, ready to take preventive action and restrain the mind from engaging in any act of transgression against established principles and time-tested social norms.
Never allow the mind free rein because it is an incredible treasure house of tremendous powers. It is such a fast horse as can easily and quickly simply gallop towards its goal if only given good direction by keeping it in control. Without restraint, it is most likely to go berserk and throw you into a pile of thorny bushes. Always keep a tight vigil on the mind. Do not give it free time at all; otherwise it will suck you into undesirable activity. As the saying goes, 'An idle mind is a devil's workshop'. Therefore, always keep the mind engaged in some worthwhile pursuit, something that requires application of the mind.


Ruminate on the Self, study the scriptures, listen to the discourses of the wise and those with positive knowledge and engage yourself in chanting the name of the Supreme Being. Never allow the mind to run free. And when it strays, as it frequently will, prod it and rein it back. Just as a large animal can be controlled with a goad, the mind will also come under your complete control with constant monitoring and discipline. The mind has no sovereign power of its own; you yourself have created it. It is your own child whom you have spoilt with excessive pampering. Insightful restraint is the key to keep a loved one from straying. A sapling must be protected until it grows and turns into a tree. Similarly, your constant vigil is required to protect the mind from going berserk.


Towards accomplishing this, the following experiment could prove instructive: Lie down flat on a blanket. Leave the body loose and relaxed. Keep yourself completely calm. Forget the whole world and when you'll think with a tranquil mind, you will see that all events of happiness and sorrow are the results of your own past deeds; and friends or foes are only instrumental in bringing to you what is your due. When you are awake, the world exists; and when you are asleep, it ceases to exist. In effect, the world is unreal; it's like a dream. This is the Truth and this is ultimate reality.


As the mind comes to realise the Truth, it will become calm and silent. A silent and serene mind is always pure.
Lilashahji is Asaram Bapu's guru. www.ashram.org

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Destroy your mind

Aug 30, 2010, 12.00am IST
LILASHAHJI.

Destroy your mind. Only then you can know Vedanta.


Vidyaranya Swami says, " Mind verily is the root of the tree of samsara with thousands of sprouts, branches and leaves. To suppress sankalpas -- thoughts and imagination -- it is essential to devitalise the mind by forceful effort and destroy it. By doing so, the tree of samsara will wither away."


Vasishtha says, "An unrestrained mind alone is the cause of degeneration while a controlled mind causes progress." Restraint of mind is the only means to control it to uproot disquietude and agitation. The mind is like a poisonous snake sitting with its hood raised in the forest of the heart. It is filled with the deadly poisons of resolves and counter-resolves. I pay my obeisance to the one who has overcome the poisonous snake that resides in the mind and liberate the mind so that it becomes free of vices. Once rid of the poison, the mind is as perfect as a full moon." The mind of an enlightened one gets destroyed while that of an ignorant one is boound and fettered, unable to experience freedom. Unless the mind is controlled through steadfast practice towards realising the Supreme Truth, it keeps wavering, flitting about without direction.


When the mind is not restrained, it develops a penchant for power and influence. The root cause of this is the feeling of imperfection in oneself. With the eradication of the sense of identification with the body, one becomes free from attachment to it, which in turn leads to the complete eradication of the sense of 'mine-ness' regarding relations of the body and the objects related to it.


How can desires stay in the mind of one who has been freed from ego and the sense of 'i-ness' and 'mine-ness' regarding the objects of samsara? His desires are destroyed like the lotus that withers in autumn. He whose desires have been eradicated is liberated. It is only those who have cultivated ways of reining in the mind and using it at will who can be counted as being wise and fortunate.


The mind is the seed of the forest of samsara. One who has destroyed this seed has nothing to fear anymore. Just as a lion roams fearlessly even in the midst of various ferocious animals in the forest, so also does he move about blissfully, free from pairs of opposites, and fearless even in the midst of obstacles, troubles, pleasures, pains, honour and dishonour.


Every one us us wants to lead a happy, blissful and peaceful life forever but unless we learn to control the mind, happiness and peace would be impossible to achieve. It is is not enough to merely listen to discourses and read scriptures for hours on end. One needs to practice what one has heard sages say. By doing what one wishes to do without a thought to whether actions are commensurate with the requirements that take one on the right path, how can one become liberated?


The one who completely assimilates the knowledge imparted by saints and scriptures, attains liberation. He becomes the master of not only his mind but of the three worlds as well.


Hence control the mind by means of the techniques imparted by great saints. If you overcome your mind, you have overcome the world because the mind alone is the root cause of all that one experiences in the world. It is only when the mind attains the state of no-mind-ness (amani bhava) that one becomes happy, blissful and altruistic in life.

www.ashram.org

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