ATTITUDE OF SILENT WITNESS
It is the modification in the mind that binds you with the object. You identify yourself with the thought wave and, through it, with the object. That is the secret. Be a silent witness to the activities of the mind. There will be no longer bondage. Be the seer of the mind’s dramatic performances and be not involved with the mind itself.
When you see a man suffering from appendicular colic, you do not feel yourself any pain. But when you get the same colic, you cry out and experience intense agony. Why? Because of egoism you identify yourself with the body. If there is the absence of Ego, you will not feel any pain. This absence of Ego can come only when you become impersonal, when you become the one who witness, when you identify yourself with Brahman (Absolute or Supreme Soul).
“I am neither Prana nor the senses. I am quite distinct from these. I am Sakshi (witness) for these and their activities. I am Sat-Chit-Ananda Svarupa (Truth-Consciousness-Blissful by nature).” This alone is sufficient for the formless meditation without any attribute. At once you will be elevated to the highest pinnacle of glory. This is the best formula. If you have a strong determination only on the above formula, it is termed indirect knowledge of Brahman. If you have actual experience through meditation, it is termed direct intuitive knowledge of Brahman.
If you go above body-consciousness, if you can abandon the body-idea and if the mind rests on Soul or the Self, then, doubtless, you are happy, peaceful and free. Mind has got a reflexive power of looking up into its own depths. A Raja Yogi develops this power. Introspection helps to cultivate this Yogic faculty. Enter into silence now from today in a dark quiet room. Watch the mind carefully. Be patient. Do not identify yourself with the mind. Be a Sakshi or a silent witness. Separate yourself. You can directly perceive the various mental states.
SOHAM MEDITATION
The effort to keep the mind always concentrated on Soul or Brahman is what is called Self-Inquiry. Till the blissful knowledge dawns on you, you should do constant and intense practice. You must not stop thinking of Brahman even for half a second, even for the time taken for one winking. You must become one whose sole refuge is meditation on OM with feeling and meaning. Then only Brahma-Jnana is possible.
You will have to destroy the embodied Soul attitude by entertaining the opposite ‘"Aham Brahmasmi - I am a Brahman" attitude. The embodied Soul attitude is created by the material Intellect. You will have to destroy this kind of material Intellect by developing the pure Intellect or pure reason. Although you see your body and the world, they really exist not. Never move a fraction of an inch from your established position in Soul. Constantly think that you are the all-pervading Soul. Even if you are in the mouth of a machine-gun, repeat "“Soham" -—“ "Soham" - "”—“Aham Brahma Asmi".” Roar like a lion. Fear comes only when you identify yourself with this perishable, fleshy body. If you identify yourself with the infinite, eternal immortal Soul, you will become at once absolutely fearless. Fear is an imaginary modification of the mind of an Ignorant.
Find out your centre. Rest in your centre or equilibrium. That centre is Soul or Brahman or the One Truth that is shining in your heart from eternity to eternity. If you can rest in your centre, neither trouble nor tribulation, neither loss nor disappointment, neither grief nor sorrow can affect you and throw you off the balance. If you can keep yourself up in tune with the Infinite, you will have a poised and balanced mind. Nothing can hurt you. You will be always in joy, because you are identifying yourself with Soul. You are resting on the Highest Self. Even though Mansoor and Shams Tabriez the great Sufi Jnanis, were flayed alive, they never felt any sort of pain. They simply uttered ‘Analhaq’ (I am He). Every drop of blood that fell down also uttered ‘Analhaq.’ They were always in the bliss of Soul. Look at this marvel. These are the real Jnanis (Wise person). They showed their power and knowledge of Soul.
A small fishing boat is tossed about severely hither and thither even by ordinary waves of a river. But, a big steamer remains unshaken even though violent waves dash against it with tremendous impetuosity. Even so, a man of the world with a fickle mind is tossed about hither and thither even by the small waves of like-dislike of the mind; whereas a saint or a liberated person with a balanced and serene mind remains in the world quite steady without being in the least affected by the stormy waves of troubles, tribulations, miseries, afflictions, etc. He is always resting peacefully in the perpetual calm of Soul or the Absolute Self. Whenever you are much worried, whenever you get heavy depression, whenever you get severe attacks of pain, think you are Soul, full of Bliss. Withdraw the mind from objects and worldly thoughts and fix it on Soul. Enter a solitary room and assert: “I am a Blissful Soul.
How can there be pain there? Pain belongs to the mind. It is a mental creation. I am above mind. Soul is an ocean of Bliss. Soul is a storehouse of bliss, power and knowledge. I feel that I am pure intelligence, all-pervading consciousness which is at the back of all these forms, at the back of mind. I am Soul. I am all Bliss.” You will derive immense joy, power and exhilaration by this practice. Strangle every thought of deficiency, imperfection, weakness, inferiority. Even if you have nothing to eat, no cloth to wear, even if you suffer from a terrible incurable disease, cling tenaciously to the ideas, “I am God. I am perfect. I possess everything. All health I am. All joy I am.” Remember that to be your right mental attitude. What you habitually think prepares a pattern which the life-processes are constantly weaving, outpicturing in the life.
“I am that Soul or Brahman which is Eka (One), all-pervading, omnipresent, the Self of all beings.” Try to get established in this attitude with all efforts. Then the wandering of the mind will vanish. Then you will get eternal bliss. You will become a free. There is not an atom of doubt on this point. Imagine that you hold the whole world in your womb, in the physical ether which is again supported in your true Self. Then the ideas of externality and separateness will vanish. There is nothing outside you. There is nothing outside Brahman.
Reference
Mind – Its Mysteries and Control by Sri Swami Sivananda
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