Mr. K. K. V. Iyer: There is no way found to go inward by means of meditation.
M.: Where else are we now? Our very being is that.
Mr. Bose continued: “Being so, we are ignorant of it.”
M.: Ignorant of what, and whose is the ignorance? If ignorant of the Self, are there two selves?
D.: There are no two selves. The feeling of limitation cannot be denied. Due to limitations........
M.: Limitation is only in the mind. Did you feel it in deep sleep. You exist in sleep. You do not deny your existence then. The same Self is now and here, in the wakeful state. You are now saying that there are limitations. What has happened now that there are these differences between the two states. The differences are due to the mind. There was no mind in sleep, whereas it is now active. The Self exists in the absence of the mind also.
D.: Although it is understood, it is not realised.
M.: It will be by and by, with meditation.
D.: Meditation is with mind and how can it kill the mind in order to reveal the Self?
M.: Meditation is sticking to one thought. That single thought keeps away other thoughts; distraction of mind is a sign of its weakness. By constant meditation it gains strength, i.e. to say, its weakness of fugitive thought gives place to the enduring background free from thoughts. This expanse devoid of thought is the Self. Mind in purity is the Self. Sri Bhagavan continued in reply to the former questioner: Every one says “I am the body”. It is the experience of the sage as also of the ignorant. The ignorant man believes that the Self is confined to the body only, whereas the wise man believes that the body cannot remain apart from the Self. The Self is infinite for him and includes the body also.
Mr. Bose said that he felt peace in His presence which lasts some time after. He added: “Why is it not enduring?”
M.: That Peace is the Real nature. Contrary ideas are only superimpositions. This is true , true , true . You may say that this peace is acquired by practice. The wrong notions are given up by practice. That is all. Your true nature always persists. These flashes are only signs of the ensuing Revelation of the Self.
In reply to the first questioner Bhagavan said: The Heart is the Self. It is not within or without. The mind is Its . After the emergence of the mind, the universe appears and the body is seen to be contained in it. Whereas all these are contained in the Self and they cannot exist apart from the Self.