Mind, A Shadow

Sri Annamalai Swami

Bhagavan's way does not create a war between the mind and the body. He does not make people sit down and fight the mind with closed eyes. Usually, when you sit in meditation, you are struggling to achieve something, fighting to gain control over the mind. B did not advise us to engage in this kind of fight. He told us that there is no need to engage in a war against the mind., because the mind does not have any real, fundamental existence.This mind, he said, is nothing but a shadow. He advised me to be continuously aware of the Self while I did the ordinary things of everyday life, and in my case, this was enough.

If you understand the Self and be that Self, everything will appear to you as your own Self. No problems will ever come to you while you have this vision. Because you are all and all is the Self, choices about liking or disliking will not arise. If you put on green-tinted glasses, everything  you see will appear to be green. If you adopt the vision of the Self, everything that is seen will be Self and Self alone.

So these were B's teachings for me: "If you want to understand the Self, no formal sadhana is required. You are always the Self. Be aware of the Self while you are working. Convince yourself that you are the Self, and not the body or the mind, and always avoid the thought, "I am not the Self".

Avoid thoughts that limit you, the thoughts that make you believe that you are not the Self.