The illusory mind and our real Self!

Many sages advice the people to subdue their mind! If we could catch the air in the fist, if we could contain the ether within the fist, we may succeed in subduing the mind! Yes, the mind is subtler than the ether. Because, it is number two in the order of creation! Self, existed alone, and then mind principle emanated from the self. Then only the basic, fundamental elements like the earth, water, fire, air and ether came forth! Hence the mind is superior to the elements found in nature! The element ether or sky is subtler than air and again the mind is subtler than the sky! As things become subtler, their pervasiveness too increases and thus we have no dimensions for space and we can simply assert that the space is infinite! Then, what about the mind? What adjective we can use to define the mind, the most mysterious and marvelous element or entity after the self? So far, none has succeeded in defining the mind and its infinite power! Even the intellect cannot perceive the mind!

It is a point of interest to note that the mind is a ‘non entity’. The mind simply doesn’t exist! Readers may feel that I am losing my sanity! No, the mind is a great illusion and this point has been emphasized by non-dual philosophers of the world. Many may get doubt that the world exists for all of us. Everyone simultaneously witness many events through TV and other means of communication. There is action and reaction everywhere. People suffer, people enjoy and people get disillusioned too! When all the above happens in real time, how anyone can negate the experiences? Sufferings and pleasures are undergone through the body but felt only in the mind! The body is inert but for its association with the mind! The mind is null and void, without an associated body!

Is the snake, which caused fear in the mind real or illusion? It is illusion since there was only coir lying on the path and the light was poor (twilight hours). One man stopped in fear since the lengthy dark thing is coiled and lying across the path! There was poor visibility. Hence he waits for some passerby to know the type of snake that is there! Fortunately, another man on the way was carrying a torch light as a precaution. Hold on friend. Just focus the light on the vicious thing lying there! The first man was still trembling in fear. The light was focused and both had a hearty laugh! It was only coir, seen as snake in the twilight! There was no snake at all. All along it was coir! This is the argument of non-dual philosophers. They assert that the mind is a great illusion or “Maya” In fact there is no mind at all. Fear aroused by imagination made the coir to look like snake! Hence they assert that there is no universe as such! It is the imaginary content of the illusory mind! All along, the Self exist. In river beds, we sometimes watch the shell glittering in sunlight. Oh! It is silver, we exclaim, but it is an ordinary shell.

We might have witnessed magic shows while we are young! The performances of the magician baffle our mind! Effortlessly, he takes out pigeons, hares, flowers and many things from an empty hat! The entire audience witnesses such feat and claps their hands! How is that possible? It is tricks of hand or hoodwink of the audience or mass hypnotism? The universe too is a magic show by the mind principle! The mind is capable of hiding the real and projecting the illusory! Every day, we go to bed, and dream! What is a dream? Your body is lying like a log of wood on the cot without any perceivable movement. Yet, you travel to places, meet your friends and sweet heart, dine with them in the restaurant, pay the bill, hire a taxi and come back to your home! Suddenly, you wake up from sleep. You feel sad that the pleasant experience is shortened by waking! You realize that it is only a dream and not real. Dreams are created in the mind, enacted by it and experienced by it without your involvement physically! Then we can imagine the power, the illusory power of the mind! When we believe in the experience of dream during sleep, on waking up, everything vanishes like passing clouds. Hence one experience is negated by other experience due to change of state! The sages assert that your waking experience too is a big dream, a day dream, created by the same mind which created night dream! Can you believe in the treacherous mind, which easily cheat us and make us big fools? People assert that the mind is a closest companion! Rely on its whims and fancies and there ends the game for you! One who is aware of the pranks of the mind, always remain aloof from it. He remains as a mute witness to the stratagems of the mind! One who distances from the thought process of the mind can succeed in spiritual path and realize his identity with the supreme self!

Real meditation is focusing on the self within, which is devoid of any thoughts or movements! It is pure, exists forever, full of wisdom and remains in bliss. Only a minute part of the bliss percolates into the mortal life and enjoyed through the senses, which are fleeting experiences! Our real identity is that we are made of the same stuff as god. Hence it is our heredity which makes us to search for the Eternal Happiness and Wisdom which the self is of. Meditation is a means to reach the aim. The mind is dispensed with in true meditation, which will ensure our ultimate merger with the Self or Atma!