Transcend The Mind(Med 75)

Swami chidananda

Transcend the Mind

Mind is the main obstacle that is holding you back from that ultimate state of Pure Consciousness. Therefore, mind has to be transcended. Patanjali starts with his first premise: “Yoga is the absolute cessation of all mind function.” Because of its function, we know its existence.  When it ceases to function, then it really does not exist. Mind is a bundle of vrittis (modifications of the mind) and desires. When it is moving, it is there; when no more moving there is no mind. It must cease to exist.

But the actual discipline of Yoga Science depends entirely upon the mind to do all the various types of practices: the withdrawing of the mind and adhering to truthfulness and nonviolence; studying the scriptures or svadhyaya; and prayer and surrender. So everything is being done by the mind from outer things and fixing it upon the inner focal point, and then going on into the state of meditation. You go into still higher, subtler states of consciousness. Ultimately all these states are transcended and the mind ceases to function, and you go beyond mind and reach a state of absolute Pure Consciousness. In that state of Pure Consciousness, mind is put to rest.

Mind is necessary to think of your error, and to get rid of your error. It is a very, very mysterious, inexplicable situation: mind has caused all the problems, yet you have to make use of this very mind to bring about a solution to the problem. Through reasoning, careful discrimination and keen Vedantic understanding, mind can take you up to a certain point. It is the mind that has to know that this state is not the real state. Mind has to discriminate between this state and the Absolute State. But when you begin to rise up higher and higher states of Truth, there comes a point where mind has taken you up to a certain height as far as it can reach. When you reach that point you are, as it were, on a ladder placed against a building in order to get to the flat concrete roof. If you still hold onto the mind, you will never reach beyond it. If you still hold onto the ladder, you will never attain the roof. You will have to abandon the ladder and jump onto the roof. The ladder served its purpose to make the roof accessible but in order to get to the roof; you have to leave the ladder. Therefore, up to that stage mind has been your help; but having reached that stage, now the mind is the main obstacle.

In the state of quiescence, it looks as though you have already achieved. But then you have still not achieved, because the latent impressions and tendencies are there. Therefore, a yogi has to go on practising samadhi again and again, till that samadhi becomes so deep, so intense, so continuous, so unbroken that the fire of Illumination bursts forth.