Do I know who I am? Am I what the mind thinks I am? The mind is like a robot. It talks of only that which it knows. The mind is like a mirror—it can absorb everything about the world to reflect it. But the mirror can neither see itself nor reflect itself. In the same way, our mind works—it can collect information about everything in the world from history to the future, it can invent faculties, disciplines, breed cultures and religions, and can store technical and scientific data, but it cannot be aware about itself as a mind. The mind cannot reflect on itself, nor can it reflect the being. But the being may be aware of the mind.
Understand it like this: my being is exactly like I am. My not being is like being unaware of my mind. So my not being breeds a mind which reflects all the information of the world. The mind which wants to collect treasures, money, and all other kinds of possessions is, in fact, my absence in the being. When I am not in the being, I keep chasing the mind, but when I am in the being, aware and present, the mind disappears. Ask yourself once: who am I? Then answer it too: yes, I am. A miracle will happen.
A small stone thrown into a placid lake creates ripples. When it is still, the lake is a mere reflection of its surroundings, but it begins to tremble when a small stone is thrown at it. Your mind is exactly like that. It keeps on trembling and making you think. But what you are cannot be observed by the mind. The mirror can reflect the whole world, but what the eyes cannot see is you in the being. You need a mirror to look at the reflection of your body. But that which you are cannot be seen by your eyes or mind. Neither can your eyes see you nor can your mind know you. Whatever your mind knows, it is about the world outside. But when you are in the being, it makes the mind disappear. The mind cannot stay there because it is like darkness, and the moment your consciousness shines like a light, that darkness disappears.
The mind cannot be when you are there. And when you declare yourself as the owner of your being, you will say “I am”. That will remain there as your “am-ness”, as your being. You are simply the being, which abounds with the pure consciousness that you have. But your mind breeds unconsciousness and you spend your life rushing after your mind, which keeps jumping from one desire to another, filling you with unfulfilled desires. So stop, look at yourself. Know that you are not the mind—you are you. Declare it. Say, “Yes, I am”. And you will have a rare sense which is like being in the wholeness of existence. And you will be there, always.
Life exists and expands from one moment to another. There are two ways that man can live from moment to moment. One is when you look outside at the world with your eyes, and look at God who is blooming radiantly in every moment, singing and dancing, in joyous celebration and a state of playfulness. In that moment, you are also in a state of playfulness, lending your colours to the wholeness of existence. When you look at the world outside, it takes your being outside you: you travel far, your being in the depths of valleys and the tops of hills. Your eyes reach your being, far into the horizon, where God is. You look at that from a distance, but you are also there where your eyes have landed your being.
The second way of living is what happens when you close your eyes. The moment you close your eyes, a smile appears on your face, coming from deep within. It is the key to being blissful. Dive into it deeper. Either way you look, you find That Which Is. Hindus call it tatvamasi (you are that). You are That as You are.
Life is in the being. Death is always lurking around. Death will find you one day and cut your story short. But in the acceptance of death, the fear of death disappears. I am the one who cannot appear as a reflection of my mind because I am the watcher of my mind. And in pure consciousness I am in the being. I am the watcher of life and death too.
Things are exactly like they should have been. That Which Is is exactly as That Which Is should have been. Accepting that fact is being in the being. Life is as it ought to be. You are as you ought to be. You are where you ought to be, not anywhere else. This is being in life. You are fully attuned to this moment and you do not go out of this moment. When you are not trembling in your thoughts, you are here. In the present, you don’t tremble, but in thoughts of the past and future which are bred by your mind, ripples appear on your lake-like mirror-mind. You are the watcher who watches this truth in pure wakefulness and blissfulness. That is like being in the sat-chitta-anand (truth-consciousness-bliss).
The author is a spiritual teacher and an independent advisor on policy, governance and leadership. He can be contacted at arunavlokitta@gmail.com.
