PROBLEMS AND EXPERIENCES-PART II

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Problems and Experiences-Part II

 

Q: When I reach the thoughtless stage in my sadhana I enjoy a

certain pleasure, but sometimes I also experience a vague fear which

I cannot properly describe.

 

A: You may experience anything, but you should never rest content

with that. Whether you feel pleasure or fear, ask yourself who feels

the pleasure or the fear and so carry on the sadhana until pleasure

and fear are both transcended, till all duality ceases and till the

reality alone remains. There is nothing wrong in such things

happening or being experienced, but you must never stop at that. For

instance, you must never rest content with the pleasure of laya

(temporary abeyance of the mind) experienced when thought is

quelled, you must press on until all duality ceases.

 

Q: How does one get rid of fear ?

 

A: What is fear ? It is only a thought. If there is anything besides

the Self there is reason to fear. Who sees things separate from the

Self ? First the ego arises and sees objects as external. If the ego

does not rise, the Self alone exists and there is nothing external.

For anything external to oneself implies the existence of the seer

within. Seeking it there will eliminate doubt and fear. Not only

fear, all other thoughts centred round the ego will disappear along

with it.

 

Q: How can the terrible fear of death be overcome?

 

A: When does that fear seize you? Does it come when you do not see

your body, say, in dreamless sleep? It haunts you only when you are

fully `awake' and perceive the world, including your body. If you do

not see these and remain your pure Self, as in dreamless sleep, no

fear can touch you. If you trace this fear to the object, the loss

of which gives rise to it, you will find that that object is not the

body, but the mind which functions in it. Many a man would be only

too glad to be rid of his diseased body and all the problems and

inconvenience it creates for him if continued awareness were

vouchsafed to him. It is the awareness, the consciousness, and not

the body, he fears to lose. Men love existence because it is eternal

awareness, which is their own Self. Why not then hold on to the pure

awareness right now, while in the body, and be free from all fear?

 

Q: When I try to be without all thoughts, I pass into sleep. What

should I do about it?

 

A: Once you go to sleep you can do nothing in that state. But while

you are awake, try to keep away all thoughts. Why think about sleep?

Even that is a thought, is it not? If you are able to be without any

thought while you are awake, that is enough. When you pass into

sleep the state which you were in before falling asleep will

continue when you wake up. You will continue from where you left off

when you fell into slumber. So long as there are thoughts of

activity there will also be sleep. Thought and sleep are

counterparts of one and the same thing. We should not sleep too much

or go without it altogether, but sleep only moderately. To prevent

too much sleep, we must try and have no thoughts or chalana

[movement of the mind], we must eat only sattvic food and that only

in moderate measure, and not indulge in too much physical activity.

The more we control thought, activity and food the more we shall be

able to control sleep. But moderation ought to be the rule, as

explained in the Gita, for the seeker on the path. Sleep is the

first obstacle, as explained in the books, for all sadhaks. The

second obstacle is said to be vikshepa or the sense objects of the

world which divert one's attention. The third is said to be kashaya

or thoughts in the mind about previous experiences with sense

objects. The fourth, ananda [bliss], is also called an obstacle,

because in that state a feeling of separation from the source of

ananda, enabling the enjoyer to say `I am enjoying ananda', is

present. Even this has to be surmounted. The final stage of samadhi

has to be reached in which one becomes ananda or one with reality.

In this state the duality of enjoyer and enjoyment ceases in the

ocean of sat-chit-ananda or the Self.

 

Q: So one should not try to perpetuate blissful or ecstatic states?

 

A: The final obstacle in meditation is ecstasy; you feel great bliss

and happiness and want to stay in that ecstasy. Do not yield to it

but pass on to the next stage which is great calm. The calm is

higher than ecstasy and it merges into samadhi. Successful samadhi

causes a waking sleep state to supervene. In that state you know

that you are always consciousness, for consciousness is your nature.

Actually, one is always in samadhi but one does not know it. To know

it all one has to do is to remove the obstacles.

 

NOTE: TAKEN FROM "BE AS YOU ARE", EDITED BY DAVID GODMAN, PAGES 170

TO 178