Today’s quote is from Yog Vashishth, one of my favorite scriptures that Swami Shyam has brilliantly revived for those who want to know the Essence or Truth of Life itself.
As described in many previous blogposts, the study of the mind allows us to become aware of its functioning and its limitations. One of the mind’s hardwired attributes is to be filled with information that churns through our head all day long. Depending on what is going on in our life, the mind will be filled with thoughts about that situation. These specific thoughts keep coming and going and repeating themselves incessantly. If, for example, we are preoccupied or worried about something, the worrisome thought will come up again and again during the day. Whether we like it or not, it will appear in our headspace uninvited - at times it might seem like an obsession that we cannot get away from. The more we want to be free from the worry, the more present it becomes in our thoughts. If the worry is about something that we have encountered in the past, then the thought is likely to be even more persistent. Repetition solidifies a thought pattern, to the point that we actually become what we are worrying about. It is as if the things we constantly think about become the reality we experience.
The good news is that we can apply the knowlege of how the mind works to our advantage. If repetition of worry-filled thoughts create the space we were worrying about, then the repetition of a thought that serves and uplifts us will change the space into something that works for us. It is quite literally like changing channels on a radio. If we don’t like what we hear or the reception is filled with static noise, we switch to a channel that comes through with clean sound and with content that suits us.
In the same way, if the content of our thoughts, their meaning and their vibration is not conducive to our well-being, then we have the possibility to shift to a different kind of thought. In my experience, the fastest and most effective transformation happens when we replace our habitual thinking with the Mantra “Amaram Hum Madhuram Hum”. In an instant the attention is switched from worry and agitation to the Highest Self. The sanskrit words Amaram Hum Madhuram Hum speak to our True Nature as the Self. Affirming their meaning: I am Pure Free and Forever - we affirm that we are the Self, the Source, the immortal and blissful Divine Essence.
In shifting our attention, we shift from involvement with the thinking process and its content, to That which is before any thought ever arose. This simple technique gives us a chance to transform our experience of life completely. The sense of being limited by the thoughts evaporates and makes room for the vast Presence of the Self. Through repetition, that sense of Presence becomes stronger and more immediately accessible. In fact it will become our true sense of identity.
Through this subtle but powerful process, we become aware that we were not just mixed but actually lost in our thinking. We notice that the patterns and beliefs built in our mind are not as real as they appeared to be. Most importantly, we realize that our sense of I is not tied to these thoughts, but it exists free from any content of the mind as the Knower of all of Existence.
Make your own experiment with this. You will notice a profound change when you do. As the awareness of the Self in you grows you will see that circumstances may remain exactly the same - but the way you live them, or where you reside in yourself as they happen - that will change in a very significant way.
You can find a short clip of the Mantra “Amaram Hum Madhuram Hum” chanted by Sampriya by clicking here.
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