Question and answer 11

The mind's very shape is constant motion. Can such a mind ever have the experience of its own true nature?

Sattva alone is the mind's own nature; it is clear as space and spotless; so in truth what we call mind is nothing but knowledge itself. In that natural state it does not even have the name 'mind'. It is the distorted knowing that takes one thing for another that is called mind. This mind of pure sattva, which was knowledge only, forgets its own nature as knowledge through ignorance. Then, under the sway of tamas, it turns itself into the shape of a world; under the sway of rajas, it takes the body and the rest to be 'I' and the world to be real; out of the desire and aversion that arise from this it earns deeds of merit and of sin, and through the vāsanā they leave it goes through birth and death. When the desireless actions done over many births have cleared away its taint, its sin, the mind hears and reflects under a true Guru, and for a long time practises nididhyāsana, the meditation on Brahman: it works to make the Self-shaped modification 'I am Brahman' its natural state. As it does so, the mind's turning into the shape of a world, which is tamas, and the restlessness in it, which is rajas, both fall away. With that, the mind becomes subtle and still. You cannot do fine needlework on thin silk with a big crowbar; you cannot make out the marks of very small things by a lamp the wind sets flickering. In the same way an impure mind, coarse and restless under rajas and tamas, cannot experience the reality that is extremely subtle and still. But in a pure mind, made subtle and still by meditation as described, the bliss of one's own nature dawns. Since there is no experience without a mind, it is by the clear mind, with its extremely subtle modification, that one can remain wholly as that and experience the bliss of one's own nature. Then it becomes a clear experience that one is oneself Brahman.

Can the experience of one's own true nature be possible for a mind whose very form is constant motion?

Since sattva-guṇa alone is the mind's own nature, and since it is transparent, like space, and spotless, the mind is in truth nothing but the nature of knowledge. In that very natural state it does not even bear the name 'mind'; it is the perverse knowledge that knows one thing as another that is called 'mind'. That pure-sattva mind, which was mere knowledge, forgetting its own knowledge-nature through ignorance, itself, overpowered by tamas, transforms into the form of the world; overpowered by rajas, it takes the body and the rest to be 'I' and the world to be real; and from the desire and aversion that arise on this basis it earns meritorious and sinful deeds, and by that residual tendency undergoes birth and death. When, through the desireless actions performed across many births, its taint departs, the mind, by means of a true Guru, performs hearing and reflection, and, over a long time, performs the meditation on Brahman — that is, nididhyāsana — for attaining the natural state (sahaja-sthiti) of the Self-shaped mental modification 'I am Brahman'. As this happens, the mind's transformation into the shape of a world (of the nature of tamas), and the restlessness within that shape (of the nature of rajas), both depart. Once they depart, the mind becomes subtle and motionless. Just as a coarse (big) crowbar cannot be used to do fine stitching on thin silk cloth, and just as a lamp made to flicker violently by the wind cannot be used to determine the character of extremely subtle things, an impure mind — coarse and in motion, under the sway of rajas and tamas — simply cannot experience an extremely subtle, motionless reality; but, as already said, through meditation, in a mind grown subtle and still, the bliss of one's own nature dawns. Since no experience is possible without a mind, it becomes possible, by means of this clarified mind with its extremely subtle modification, to remain wholly of that substance and experience the bliss of one's own nature. Then it becomes a good, direct experience that one is oneself of the nature of Brahman.