Stillness is hard to describe in words. It is the primordial truth – the essence of who we are. The analytical mind tries hard to know the non-dual truth, and in that desperate bid, it forgets that the highest truth is its own absence.
Sushi.: There are times when the mind stops, yet I know I am there. How do I see this? Every thought comes from the past or imagines some future or weaves a story. Some thoughts come as songs.
Jagjot.: Listen to the songs, Sushi. Enjoy the songs and watch the stories they convey. laugh with them. Cry with them. Be with them. Listen to them without the filters and see the essence they convey. See the truth these stories point to. When the mind hears words, it can’t help but invoke the ego from slumber.
The ego remains eternally restless because it does not know how to “listen.” To listen, one has to be silent. Just like “seeing,” pure listening is without judgments, biases, filters, prejudices, and comparisons of the chattering mind. And when the listening is deep, there remains no separation between the listener and the song – between the song and story – and between the story and the truth.
In the beauty of music, songs, and stories, only pure witnessing happens because we become one with them. The habitual analytical (thinking) mind remains silent, and the songs, story, and listener dissolve in the oneness of primordial truth.
It is true that in deep meditation, the mind stops movement, and one gets a glimpse into the nature of pure awareness.
That’s what it is. “I AM” stands alone. “How do I see this” is a thought that comes up later. You have already seen it. Otherwise, how would you know “YOU ARE?” So, you have already tapped into the awareness.
The one inquiring or wanting to see something is the mind (which comes up later). Note that these questions don’t arise in the moments of presence (when the mind stops). Only later, when the ego takes over, it questions and craves the peace experienced in the moment or presence, not knowing that “peace” was its own absence.
“I AM” (not I am Sushi …) is here and now. Nothing more to see. It’s only a matter of time before this realization will sink deep, and the thinking mind will surrender. You see, there is no perfect peaceful state that will be everlasting.
However, the mind fantasizes about that. The “seeing” that I speak about is completely different from the conditioned perception. You are already experiencing it (all of us do) at this very moment. However, the mind continues seeking because it cannot believe it to be “that simple.” And hence the suffering. Seeking itself is a movement away from “I AM/ presence/peace/love/here and now.”
Sushi.: If we know the futility of the thinking mind…why is there a need to watch it?
Jagjot.: That is the story of life, Sushi. It’s a journey back home. And the irony is that the home is “here and now.” What separates us from home is the limited conditioned perception – “I am an insignificant speck of dust in this vastness.
Therefore, ‘I’ must strive to become whole.” So the “I,” which itself is a movement, causes further movement to become “more” by creating an illusory home or here and now.
The problem is that the ego, fully aware of the futility of the thinking mind (which it is itself), cannot “do” anything about it. There is no need for “you” to watch anything. If “you” try to watch “something,” you will definitely find “something,” which will be just a temporary figment of your imagination.
Don’t do anything. Just BE when the moment happens. Watching is not the “doing” of the ego-mind. The watchfulness or witnessing is happening by itself, but there is no watcher. Simply “be” and know the true self. To me, that is the true essence of the verse, “Be still and know that I am God” – Psalm 46:10.
In deep sleep, there is no “you,” but when you wake up, you say, “I slept.” How did you know?
Because the void you experienced in deep sleep was the absence of “you” or “me” witnessed by the impersonal awareness, which is home (you never left). Your confusion is because your mind is trying to make sense of “your” own absence, which is impossible. SEE THAT!
As you more and more “see” the subtlety of your own mind, your involvement in thinking will be cut off spontaneously by the grace of the source. The ego will always contemplate, inquire, and investigate. Let it do that. When there is confusion, allow it to happen.
Dropping the resistance allows for the possibility of surrender. if you can’t drop the resistance, even let that be – watch it. Witnessing is already happening.
After reading this answer, you may need an Aspirin. Don’t watch that. Take Aspirin!
Sushi.: If we are meditating & important thoughts come…is that the working mind?
Jagjot.: No, that is mostly the thinking mind. But it depends. For example, if you’re meditating and you suddenly remember that you forgot to pick up your child from school (let’s say he/she is waiting for you right now), then that’s an urgent situation that requires resolution.
However, if thoughts are about finishing some pending work, paying bills, or random stuff, that’s for sure the thinking mind because all of those can be dealt with later. So, the mind labels “important” and “unimportant” according to its conditioning.
When you’re deep in meditation, you get to know the difference and how subtly your mind creates a diversion to escape from this moment or now.
