THE MIND IS A BIG LIE

Questioner:

You said that the mind is unreal. I have also read that the world is unreal. Which statement is correct?

Ammachi:

Son, both statements are correct. The mind is a big lie, and the world is a projection of that lie. Both are unreal. The world exists only because the mind exists. The mind is responsible for all your problems. It creates doubts and makes you suffer, it causes all your anger, hatred and jealousy; it prompts you to act indiscriminately and even to commit evil.

It inevitably pushes you into a state of misery. The mind is hell. It is maya (illusion) and untruth. As long as you have a mind, your existence is unreal. Elimination of mind alone can bring you back to the truth and to reality.

The ego is a product of the mind. Therefore the ego is also a lie. It is unreal. Your existence will become full and perfect only when you get rid of the mind and the ego.

 

Questioner:

Amma, You say that the mind and the ego are unreal, that the world of phenomena is only a projection of the mind, that our real nature is the Supreme Atman or the Self. This is very difficult to understand unless you can explain it in a much clearer way.

Ammachi:

Son, first of all you must know that this cannot be explained in words. No matter how much proof and how many examples Mother may give, you will continue to have the same questions until you yourself experience the truth.

The that the mind and the world are unreal is something which you yourself have to realize. Perform tapas (spiritual disciplines which ultimately dissolve the mind back into it's source - the heart) and you will come to know this.

Children, know that the mind is the greatest mystery there is. But Pure Consciousness, or the Self is not a mystery. Once you know the Self, you will realize that it is not a mystery at all - it is you - your own real nature. It is closer than the closest. The mind makes it a mystery. The mind is a complication which makes everything very complicated.

You are not the mind. You are the Self (Atman, Infinite Consciousness). You are born within that consciousness. You grow within it. You live in it. And you die within that consciousness. But you are never conscious of this great truth. Why? Because of the mind and the world which is created by the mind. The mind makes it impossible to know the Self. The mind kills you; it dissipates all your energy and vitality. The mind is a thing of great weakness. Therefore, try to escape from that unreality. Get out of that great liar, the mind, the ego.

Children, you always ask for proof and explanations. This is something that cannot be proven. Proof can be given of a scientific solution, and one can prove something which can be perceived by the senses. But the Atman (infinite consciousness, the Self) is beyond science of any perception of the senses. You cannot prove it empirically. You experience it within you.

But consider that is the mind that is demanding evidence !! The mind which is unreal is demanding that reality be proven !! The very source of your doubts and questions is itself unreal !! All your doubts and your fears stem from that great liar - the mind.

We are identified with a long dream. It is a dream that is projected by the mind, based on our thoughts and past experiences. At our present state, we believe that the dream is real. We live in a dream created by the mind and we are identified with it. The awakening is yet to happen.

You were asking for a clearer explanation. How can this be clarified as long as you are dreaming? The dream will disappear when you wake up. Only then will everything become clear. Children, you are all dreaming and you believe that the dream is real. No amount of explanations can make it clear to you. Until you wake up, and for as long as you identify with the dream, it will remain unclear. Wake up and you will realize that you were only dreaming, and then everything will become clearer than the clearest.

THE TWO POWERS OF THE MIND

The mind has two powers: the veiling power and the power of projection. First, the mind veils the true nature of phenomenon, and then it misinterprets it. That is why Amma says that the mind is a liar. It covers the truth and makes us mistake the truth for something else.

A man was walking alone along a village path. It was getting dark and he was struggling to find his way in the dim light. Suddenly something bit him in the foot. He felt the area with his hand and discovered a small wound. He could also feel that it was bleeding. He suddenly froze when he saw a snake lying coiled in a bush next to him. He must have been bitten by the snake. The panic stricken man screamed at the top of his lungs "Help! I have been bitten by a poisonous snake! I'm going to die! Please, someone come and take me to a doctor!"

The man was hysterical. He called and he called. He was now beginning to feel terribly tired and his head was spinning as if he were about to faint. He sat on the ground and continued to call for help. Within a few minutes, a man appeared out of the dark. He was carrying a torch and asked "What is the matter? What happened?"

"I was bitten by a poisonous snake. I am dying. Can you take me to a doctor?"

"Don't worry, of course I will help you. But where exactly did it happen?" asked the stranger.

"Right here, on this very spot. Look at the bush, there's a snake there !!" replied the man.

The stranger turned his torch towards the bush, and what did he see? A thorn bush with a piece of rope entangled in it. The stranger said "Take a good look! It's a thorn bush. A thorn must have pricked your foot. The unfortunate thing was that you simultaneously saw the rope in the dim light and mistook it for a snake. Thus you were convinced that you had been bitten by a snake. But now you know the truth, you can calm down." Once the man realized the truth, all symptoms of tiredness and dizziness disappeared and he began to relax.

This is how the mind plays it's tricks on us. In the above example, the mind first veiled the reality of the rope and then projected the snake onto it. The snake is your past. This is what the mind does constantly. The Atman, the one Reality is veiled and in it's stead, the world of plurality is projected. The Atman (the Self) is veiled and our thoughts are projected onto it. This deceit of the mind goes on without end. The illusion can be removed only when a true Master (Self-realized sage, also your own Self in another form) brings you the light of true knowledge. Then you will realize the Truth and be at peace. That is when the real awakening takes place. Until then, the Truth will remain unclear.
WAKE UP AND YOU WILL KNOW

Questioner:

Amma, the waking up that you just mentioned, and the state of sakshi bhava, are they one and the same thing, or are they different?

Ammachi:

Son, both awakening and the state of sakshi bhava (eternal peaceful witnessing) require being conscious. Real spirituality means to be fully conscious - they are one and the same. Most people are not conscious. They live in a world of non-awareness, for they are taught to live in this way.

A child is born with pure consciousness, but society teaches him to be unconscious. The people who surround the child, his parents, siblings, friends and society teach the child to pick up different habits. They raise him in a certain way, in a certain religion, with a certain culture, language, food, education and habits. Everything around him conditions him. He becomes completely clouded and is made to forget his real nature.

He is taught everything except how to simply abide in his real nature. Thus the child becomes unconscious as he grows up, clouded by all the conditioning which is forced upon him. He loses his purity and innocence, and he is never taught to be calm.

In order to be conscious, one needs to be calm. Relaxation cannot take place unless you learn to break the shackles of the mind. The ancient saints and seers have through the example of their own lives, shown us the techniques through which to dissolve the mind, the thoughts and all the bondage that they create.

Learn to be whatever you want in life, and at the same time learn this technique of being fully conscious under all circumstances. Once you have learned this art, you will always be aware and be a witness to whatever happens around you without being involved at all.

Suppose anger arises within you. Know that it is there. Know that the thought of anger has come up within you. When you are aware of it and can see it clearly, how can you become involved in a mood of that kind? Anger is a disaster. Nobody would consciously enter into such a state. It pollutes and poisons everything.

Anger and all the other negative moods of the mind are disastrous. They arise unconsciously. If you are conscious, fully awake and constantly watching, they cannot have any effect on you. Similarly, when an emotion leaves your mind, again, watch it consciously. At present, everything happens without our knowledge; we get carried away by all our thoughts and emotions, as if we are fast asleep.

Sakshi bhava (eternal witnessing) can be both a practice and a permanent state. When you are permanently established in that state, then it will become spontaneous and completely natural to you. Witnessing will not happen unless you are ever wakeful. The dream world created by the past has no place in that state. The past must die. The mind has to dissolve, so that sakshi bhava can take place.

Children, your true nature is like the sky, not the clouds. Your nature is like the ocean, not the waves. The sky is Pure Consciousness, and the ocean is Pure Consciousness. The sky simply witnesses the clouds. The ocean simply witnesses the waves. The clouds are not the sky. The waves are not the ocean. Clouds and waves come and go. The sky and the ocean remain as the substratum of the clouds and the waves existence. They have no existence of their own, they are unreal and constantly changing.

Like the sky and the ocean, the Witness is the substratum. Everything happens within the supreme state of witnessing, but the Witness remains uninvolved. The Witness simply is pure and untouched.

In a similar way, the mind and it's thoughts come and go. They are unreal and impermanent. They are like the ephemeral clouds of the sky and the waves of the ocean. They cannot touch your consciousness. Beyond the surface, your consciousness remains pure and untouched. That Pure Consciousness which is eternally aware of all that happens, is the Witness, the Sakshi of everything.

To become established in sakshi bhava means to be ever conscious. Unless you are wide awake with perfect awareness, sakshi bhava cannot take place.


One of the visiting devotees said:

The Lalita Asthottara says that Devi (Divine Mother) is the Witness of all three states of mind, namely jagrat (the waking state), swapna (the dream state) and sushupthi (deep sleep). Jagrat swapna sushuptinam - sakshi bhuttyai namah. The devotee joined his palms together and said "O Amma, we believe that you are Lalita Parameswari, the Supreme Sakshi, who is the witness of all the three states of mind.

(Ammachi is a living saint from S. India who visits the US once or twice a year).

From more info on Ammachi, you can visit her official website at:

www.ammachi.org


 

 

 


Site created Sept 1997.