THE MIND
QUESTION: If the mind is such a barrier towards life, then why does the mind exist?
If the mind is such a barrier towards life, then why does the mind exist?
Mind itself is not a problem, but our attachment and identification of it is. Mind cannot be a barrier, because it is not a thing. A thing has substance in itself, and the mind doesn’t. Mind is just a non-substantial process, a phenomenon. When you are attached to that process, you start thinking that the mind is substantial. We call that substance ‘self’, or ‘I’. Those who have known the mind, say mind is a non-substantial thing like the wind, or a wave, both ending without a trace.
The mind doesn’t exist. Actually, nothing exists but awareness. It is due to the fast movement of the thoughts that mind appears to exist. The thoughts are moving so fast that you think that the process is substantial. Thought appears to be real, because there is no awareness in being. Be aware, and the lake will be crystal clear with no waves, reflecting and not distorting, and the sky will be clear with no clouds covering its infinite space. Do you get it?
The thought appears to be real because of your attachment to it. Through the attachment you form an identification, and through identification, your consciousness continuously supplies the energy to the process of thinking. Can you witness this process? The energy goes where you place your attention. So, the consciousness is placing its attention to the illusionary process of thinking, creating a non-existential self we call the “ego-mind” or ‘I.’
Identification is our habit. Whatever we see, know, and experience, we become one with it. It becomes part of our subjectivity. That is the reason for our separation from the Wholeness. That is the reason for our unconsciousness.
The mind can only have one thought at the time. One thought comes and goes, and immediately another thought takes its place in the mind, and thoughts go on. The mind is like spinning blades of a helicopter. There is a gap between two blades, but the blades are spinning so fast you are not able to see the gap. In a way, two thoughts become linked forming continuity, and because of unbroken and consistent movement you think there is a mind. In the same way, you think that there is a solid circle at the top of the helicopter, but you have forgotten that the circle was formed from two blades spinning so fast. This movement without awareness of the space between the object and the subject is our unconsciousness.
The mind is like a circular traffic of thoughts moving in a repetitive circle. It is like a mechanism, doing the same thing again and again. A negative thought supports a positive thought and vice versa, and the movement is born.
Can you see your mind? If you are able to see it, you will find that the mind is not. It is just a circular movement of two polar opposites. The mind exists only when you are not looking at it. The mind is just an inherent mental power for doing something, a technical machine.
Beware. The mind creates all our deceptions. Each and every one of us lives in an illusionary world of thoughts. The mind is so deceptive that it does not allow you to be conscious of its deceptions. It is always ready with a new deception before you are able to see consciously through the previous one. Drop all deceptions. Drop all falsifications. Dropping doesn’t need any effort, only proper seeing. Seeing is letting go, witnessing, delivering consciousness to the moment of now. That is the way, which is the meaning of dropping the mind. In dropping the mind, the mind will be there to be used if you need it, and if you don’t, it will drop itself. When you detach the consciousness from the mind, where is the mind? Do you understand?
Use your mind as a storage system but let the awareness be the master, not the mind.
‘Why does the mind exist at all?’ It exists to protect you from existence. The mind divides and through that division the mind exists. But do you need protection from the Wholeness.
The flower will only grow when it breaks its protective shell. Drop the mind and division will cease to exist. Drop the division and the mind will fade away.
Is the mind irrelevant? Yes it is, when you see it. You thinking is very irrelevant to your being. The mind is irrelevant because the mind doesn’t exist. The mind is irrelevant but you are not.
Ivan Rados, Transcripts - A collection of Spontaneous Discourses on The Middle Point, Tantra, Yoga, Yantra, Mantra, Zen..., to disciples and friends in Port Coquitlam, Toronto, Vancouver, and Los Angeles.