Last night something happened that disturbed my mind. Unable to sleep, I stayed awake until the wee hours, reading an illuminating book a friend had given me containing the reminiscences of those fortunate enough to have had personal contact with Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi.
I woke up feeling bedraggled—but the sun was shining through many windows, and doggies and humans would soon be calling for my attention, so I rose. I did my morning practice of diving into the Self and was able to dispassionately view the antics of my mind—as if I was a wise old grandfather indulgently watching his rambunctious grandson mess up the living room. Simply being watched with love stopped my mind from spinning into even more chaos—and then bliss arose in a strong wave.
As Gautama Buddha said so beautifully over two thousand years ago, sometimes the mind is like a drunken wild elephant in rut. Somehow we must stop it from ruining the beauty of our lives, and each of us must find our own way— fortunately, magically, the way is always there, glittering with promise beneath the muck of the dreary highway of the unexamined life.
It may take eons to learn how to halt the charging mind, but it is possible. Those few able to stop the mind permanently evolve into sages, rishis, seers, jnanis and enjoy a permanent state of peace and bliss. This of course is the ultimate goal of Atma-Vichara—and practiced regularly, Atma-Vichara (Ramana’s Direct Path) really does possess the power to destroy the wrong thinking that manufactures all our suffering.
Greetings from Arunachala, the sacred mountain believed to be God Shiva Himself, who promises to destroy every bit of cheap tinsel that covers the shining gold of who we truly are!
mira prabhu 
Lovely Lady, you are an inspiration. I do have many quiet moments, not easy to prolong, but at times I feel as though I am in a Love Bubble embraced and in peace. You are a precious one whose light burns brightly. Shine On.
You certainly feel to me like a precious woman in a Love Bubble embraced and in peace….thank you for your constant and loving support, Antoinette!
Lovely post and thoughts~
Thanks, Cindy! Much love!
Mira, there is another way of looking at the mind; not like a monkey but as a bumble-bee. The bee wanders from flower to flower, but when it finds honey, it settles down according to its own nature, which is to taste exquisite nourishment and happiness. To treat the mind as a monkey or an elephant that is rampaging or wildly going from one thing to another, sets one up in opposition to the mind and thus many talk and seek to kill or control it. To engage it like a bumblebee is to honor the mind, to work with its nature which is to find the greatest field of happiness, to fulfill its honey seeking which ultimately transcends the mind and attention. This is the path of Bhakti. This is why the Gopi’s were the greatest of devotees; not because of their Vedic learning; they had none. But, because of their ability to be distracted by Krishna, God or what is not ‘other.’ Ramana spoke of this. He said that very few were fit (adhikarbheda) for the path of inquiry.
You are a writer, an artist who seeks to incarnate beauty and wonder. Of course to withdraw the mind from its objects for a while is beneficial . . . this is found in sleep and meditation. But that does not mean that sleep is the object of spiritual life any more than meditation is to kill the world; but rather a means of refreshment and rejuvenation.
It seems to me there is a whole world of implication in how we feel and think about such things.
Hello Peter, and thank you for your helpful comments. However my idea of the mind is that it is so vast that it is indeed everything – and can be everything – as both the monkey and the bumblebee as well as the drunken elephant in rut that the Buddha referred to it as, in times of great turmoil. Ramana: the mind is an awesome power generated by the Self that dissolves back into the Self at the moment of enlightenment. Yes, it is awesome – and when it is in negative momentum, it is dangerous, and when it becomes our friend, it is our greatest ally. Perhaps you are taking one single post to be my entire thinking and reflection on the nature of mind, not so, my friend, not so. As for sleep, in its deepest form, it is no less than the Self, when we experience ourselves as naked awareness free of thought and conditioning. Om!
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Thanks!!!! Much love from Arunachala!
Oh, to tame the unbridled mind … I balk at the idea of taming or bridling any creature, thus the biggest obstacle on my path to enlightenment. When I think of it as merging rather than taming, I’m able to move into a state of pure awareness. But remaining there is a challenge I’ve yet to meet. However, there is always hope within focused intention. I love your posts, Mira. They gently move me into higher consciousness. Hugs 💖
I never thought I could, Tina, and its not been easy and there is still a lot of “burning” to do – my emotions still plague me from time to time, but now I see how clearly they are connected to my attachment to mini-me – and therefore a great chunk of work appears to have been done, via grace. As you know, the trick is to enter the I AM and to remain there for as long as we can – this burns down the base of the mind and one knows one is the Self. The fact that you can move into a state of pure awareness indicates you have done the main work – bravo!!!
Thank you, sweet friend. One of these days, I’m going to buy you a sparkling set of pompoms ~ you encourage and support so brilliantly … 😊 💖
Don’t know if I’ll have the courage to wear them in public! Thanks, Tina, frankly I think you do a better job of supporting than I do. Love!
Reblogged this on a inspiraars and commented:
So beautiful !!
Reblogged this!! It’s so beautiful ❤
Thanks so much! I just followed your wonderful blog!
Reblogged this on Luthar.com and commented:
From the sacred journey of Mira Prabhu now residing at the holy mountain of Arunachala in India.
All of our journeys are sacred, dear Harsh! Thank you for sharing and much love!
Beautiful. I just began meditation; I’m beginning with breathing. Deep breathing while quieting my mind has been difficult. I still trudge on. This article inspires me to do and learn more about why. Thank you. Tweeted.
Breathing is a great way to begin – and in the middle and in the end. Perhaps you might enjoy investigating the teachings of Ramana Maharshi. Thanks for the share!
I will investigate; thanks for the tip.