mind, the mischief-maker (was Re: LIFE)

[Charles A. Hillig]

At 02:46 PM 10/1/96 -0230, you wrote:
>On Mon, 30 Sep 1996, Charles A. Hillig wrote:
>
>>
        The Silence is NOT  "chained."  IT is ever present.
>>
>Yes, the silence is ever present. I agree. But, why is silence not
>accessible to us then?

   But, isn't this a bit like "begging the question?"  First, you're
assuming that  "...silence is not accessible to us" and then you're asking
"So, why isn't it?"

    But suppose there IS no difference between Silence and who you think YOU
are.   Then the question of "accessibility to it" becomes unimportant since
it (and ONLY "IT") is the only Reality at all.



> We all have a sense for the beauty of silence
>and look forward to be in its noble presence. But we are not able to do
>it. Why?  I contend the enemy is the mind, which would not let us go into
>the company of silence. That is why, my feeling is that the mind is the
>biggest source of the problem.
>
     If you argue for your limitations, they're yours.     In order for us
to pass into a dreamless sleep at night, don't we have to leave behind
everything (and everyone) that's "near and dear" to us.  We can only,
seemingly, "go" into this silence with an empty mind, empty hands, empty
heart.  Everything else must be "left" at the "door."

     The Silence is not "enter-able."  Believing that it is, only
perpetuates the illusion of do-ership and that it is not fully present here
and now..

>> >Ten minutes is too long a time for the mind
>> >to work its by now well-known web of illusion.
>> >
>> >The biggest source of all problems we encounter is the Mind, the
>> >uncontrolled and which roams as it wishes without any leash.
>>
        The biggest so-called problem may be to get past the delusion that
there IS
 a "separate Mind" that's creating all of this mischief.

>I would be grateful if you expand on this. You seem to be saying that
>there is no problem at all and the only so-called problem is the delusion
>that there is a problem. Am I reading you right ?

     Yes.  Maharshi said that the greatest obstacle to enlightenment was to
get past the illusion that you're not already enlightened.  Bondage is
illusory.   Right now, the "you-who-you-think-you-are" is only dreaming that
it's awake.  And a  big part of that dream is that, SOMEDAY,  (if you play
your cards right), you will, eventually, "awaken" and "become enlightened."

>I consider the mind to be an obstacle because of its wandering nature.
>
>While the Atman is ever free and all-encompassing, still the body and the
>mind give us the individuality that we are forced to accept for the life
>of the body. It is of paramount importance that the body and the mind
>are controlled by the Atman so that when we speak, it is the Atman that
>speaks and when we interact with the rest of the world, the body and the
>mind obey the commands of the Atman. The body lives in this unreal world
>and the mind which is the receptacle of the perceptions of the sense-
>organs reacts to this unral world. The recognition is made of the
>unreality of the body and the thoughts that the sense organs bring (the
>mind). Body is a corpse and there is no problem with that. Mind is a
>stream of thoughts that pass through and the unreality of the thoughts
>are also recognized. Further, mind is disciplined (or controlled by the
>Atman or the Self) to the extent that only noble thoughts pass through.
>Still however, in order for the veil of ignorance to be removed fully,
>we need to be in a thoughtless state. That is where I see the mind as the
>mischief-maker.

     There is NO difference betwen the thinker and his thoughts.  It's all
only One.

>> >Mindworks Ltd (with its Managing Director, the maaya) is a factory which
>> >creates all sorts of unnecessary and banned (to an advaitin) substances.
>> >I will even add, it creates only unrequired gadgets and puts hindrance
>> >at every step of the way.
>> >
>> >The sooner we get rid of this factory, the closer we are to remove the
>> >veil of ignorance.
>> >

      You don't have to "stop the movie" in order to discover that it's
really ony a clever  illusion of flickering lights and colors.   The cosmic
movie will go on as it will.   Recognize, instead, that you are the unbroken
and seemless screen that lovingly supports (with total detachment) ALL of
the comedies, melodramas and tragedies that are "projected" onto it without
judgment or opposition.
      The "factory" will continue to, seemingly, "do" whatever IT, seemingly,
 "does."
      Your discovery that the "lake" that you see in the desert is really only a
 mirage is NOT going to make this "lake" disappear.   But, after you realize
 that it's not real, you won't be running after it as before.  You may not
 really, seemingly, awaken FROM the illusion as much as TO the illusion.


>Following Sri egodust's very appropriate (in my view) description of the
>functions of the factory Mindworks Ltd (with maaya as the Managing
>Director), in order for us to be in a thoughtless state (i.e. in the
>company of silence), the only way to do this is to close the factory.
>We can get the factory produce more useful gadgets but as long as the
>owner/Managing Director is maaya, that cannot be accomplished. Hence,
>the solution suggested by Sri egodust, with which I concur.
>
>
      Spiritual "progress" is impossible.  There's nothing that  "you" can
 "do" to, seemingly, get to a place where you already exist as the Absolute
 SELF.   Believing that there is, however, provides the momentum for you to
 go out looking for  "The Truth."   However, your very act of seeking only
 validates your delusion that you are, quintessentially, different from what
 it is that you are seeking.

      Let go of struggle, do-ership and attainment.  Let go of it all!

           (and then let go of "letting go.")   Only the SELF is present.

>Certainly, we are not running after the lake in a desert anymore. We do
>not even see the lake. We are not seeking anything. What all is wanted
>is to be in the company of silence. It is recognized it is within us
>but is still elusive.

     To desire the "...company of Silence," though,  is to see it as
different and separate from you.  You don't desire to attain what you
already are.

>If mind is not the one that is making it difficult, I (the worldly) would
>like to know what is.

     The nature of the SELF is to be what it is...by pretending to become
what it isn't.


                          With Blessings,
                                           Chuck Hillig