Sri Annamalai Swami
Q: Swamiji frequently says that we should meditate constantly to stay in the Self. I find that I cannot meditate constantly. When I realize that I am not meditating, the mind tells me that I should do something to get back into the Self. This is my real state, my actual condition. I cannot constantly stay in the Self.
AS: When this thought 'I am not meditating', or 'I am not in the Self' arises, just ignore it and go back into the Self. When thoughts such as these arise, look at them and think, 'Not me, not my business', and go back to the Self. Don't waste energy on thinking or evaluating how well or how badly you are doing in your meditation.
Q: When attentiveness has been lost, when I realize that I am not in the present, that I am not meditating, the mind is inevitably distracted. The thought, the evaluation, always comes: 'I am distracted'.
AS: Whatever thoughts come, ignore them. You have to ignore anything that is connected to the body-mind idea, anything that is based on the notion that you are the mind or the body. If you can do this, the rising thought will not disturb or distract you. In a split second, it will run away.
All thoughts are distractions, including the thought 'I am meditating'. If you are the Self, darkness will not overcome you. Whatever thoughts arise in that state won't affect you.
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