Nature of mind

Thoughts manifest themselves within emptiness and are reabsorbed into it like a face appears and disappears in a mirror; the face has never been in the mirror, and when it ceases to be reflected in it, it has not really ceased to exist.
The mirror itself has never changed.

So, before departing on the spiritual path, we remain in the so-called "impure" state of samsara, which is, in appearance, governed by ignorance. When we commit ourselves to that path, we cross a state where ignorance and wisdom are mixed.

At the end, at the moment of Enlightenment, only pure wisdom exists. But all the way along this spiritual journey, although there is an appearance of transformation, the nature of the mind has never changed: it was not corrupted on entry onto the path, and it was not improved at the time of realization.

- Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

Don't socialize

ANNAMALAI SWAMI - FINAL TALKS

Annamalai Swami: Bhagavan watched me very closely in the years that I served him in the ashram. One time I went to the Mother's temple where many people were talking about worldly matters.

Bhagavan called me back, saying, 'Why should you go to that crowd? Don't go to crowded places. If you move with the crowd, their vasanas will infect you.'

Bhagavan always encouraged me to live a solitary life and not mix with other people. That was the path he picked for me. Other people got different advice that was equally good for them.

But while he actively discouraged me from socializing, he also discouraged me from sitting quietly and meditating during the years that I was working in the ashram. In this period of my life, if Bhagavan saw me sitting with my eyes closed he would call out to me and give me some work to do.

On one of these occasions he told me:
'Don't sit and meditate. It will be enough if you don't forget that you are the Self. Keep this in your mind all the time while you are working. This sadhana will be enough for you.
The real sadhana is not to forget the Self. It is not sitting quietly with one's eyes closed. You are always the Self.
Just don't forget it.'

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. Bhagavan 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 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.

p. 67

Meeting bhagwan

MEETING BHAGAVAN in 1903

In 1903, while wandering near the hill for gathering flowers, I saw many people walking towards the Sadguru Swami Cave. A person from the crowd told me, “There is one Brahmana Swami there who sits motionless.”

These words kindled in me a desire to see him. I bought a little sugar candy as a token offering and went to see him.

What a sight he was! For the first time I saw the magnetic Lord who draws towards him the minds of those who see him. Even though he was unwashed and covered with dust, his holy body glowed like gold.

On seeing this ascetic sannyasin with a frame so lean that it exposed his bones, my mind melted and tears welled up within me.

The young Lord than opened his eyes and graciously directed them towards me. I approached, placed the sugar candy near him and prostrated. After Bhagavan had taken a piece and eaten it, a sadhu who was nearby returned some of it to me as prasad.

-Akhilandamma,  The Power of the Presence part 1

Emptiness

Thus samsara is emptiness, nirvana is emptiness
- and so consequently, one is not "bad" nor the other "good."

The person who has realised the nature of mind is freed from the impulsion to reject samsara and obtain nirvana. He is like a young child, who contemplates the world with an innocent simplicity, without concepts of beauty or ugliness, good or evil.

He is no longer the prey of conflicting tendencies, the source of desires or aversions.

- Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

Shiva

Shiva was not a person, who lived 5000 years ago. Shiva is an energy.

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Peace

There is no sadhana better than just staying as Peace.
If you must do any practice, then do Vichar.
Joy is also a good sadhana because
it destroys mind, so always be happy.
Always think of It and be happy:
spend the rest of your life knowing
you are Existence-Consciousness-Bliss.

Some practice is better than getting lost in samsara
and is good in that it fatigues the mind,
but typical sadhana is usually important only for the ego.
All sadhana is projected by ego so it is on a sandy foundation.
This ego projection is samsara so search only for the seeker.
"I" is ego so when this meditates there are no good results.

Choice of practice depends on the choice of results.
Brahman has no attributes and is beyond mind
so no practice will take you to that: It is self revealing.
Ramana says "Simply keep Quiet for it is Here and Now."
This is the nearest practice because
Brahman is your nature.

~ Papaji

Mind And World

14. The strongest mind [that of a jnani], which is never shaken even by chains of miseries that befall it, will melt more and more and weep when devotees and others who come to Him undergo sufferings.

[Sadhu Om: It is well know that Sri Bhagavan remained unruffled and His face was as cheerful as ever when some thieves beat Him, when hundreds of hornets stung His thigh, and finally when the tumour on His left arm gave unbearable pain continuously for eleven months. Yet there were occasions on which Sri Bhagavan melted and shed tears when some devotees came to Him grieving over the loss of their children or relatives, or when they were suffering with some incurable disease. Thus Sri Bhagavan Himself exemplified the idea expressed in this verse.]

822. The boat may remain in water, but if water enters the boat it will bring great catastrophe. [Likewise] a man may live in the world, but if the world enters [the mind of] the man the whole life will be miserable.

[Sri Muruganar: It is not the world itself but only the attachment towards the world which constitutes samsara-bandha [the bondage of mundane existence]. Attachment is caused by the mind, and not by what is outside. No harm will befall one by one’s merely living in the world; but all miseries come into existence only because of one’s desire to enjoy the world.]

-GURU VACHAKA KOVAI