Dissolution of the Mind
Dear sweet one, you may be familiar
with the spiritual metaphor of the limited individual mind dissolving
into the unlimited ocean of consciousness. Actually, this is not
just a nice metaphor to make a belief or faith out of, it is an
actual happening. But what does it really mean to dissolve the mind?
Where does the mind go? How is it dissolved? Can it come back
after dissolution?
The mind doesn't go anywhere, it just
dissolves into its original nature. The only thing that is dissolved
is our illusory felt sense of mind—that it is somewhere in our head
attached to two eyes and ears. Look inside now, and you can become
aware of this felt sense of mind that has formed a circling pattern
in and through your body. It is just circling around all your
thoughts, sensations, memories, emotions, dreams and so on. Its
sense of life is attached to your small boundary of flesh and
centered in the head, in the eyes, or in the heart- the gateways to
the soul. Consciousness has become solidified through the repetitive
circling of mind within the limited sense of individual reality that
is conditioned by your nervous system and environment. The
dissolution of this limited circling of mind is what is meant when I
speak of the dissolution of the mind.
Dissolution of the mind actually
happens quite frequently and naturally, we just aren’t aware of it.
Dissolution of the mind is the essence of all satisfaction. It is
where the living boundary between ourselves and the world merges into
inconceivable oneness. It is when the sweetness of a dessert comes
alive in us, as if we exist in that very sweetness. It is when the
embrace of a lover melts the boundary between the other, and you feel
as if you exist only as love itself. It is in the peak performance
of art or sports, when the intensity of focus brings total action
without thought. There is a certain joy and excitement in all these
moments. It is what we all are seeking in fact. The reason is that
consciousness is essentially full of unlimited bliss. This must be
realized for oneself and can be if we fearlessly follow our bliss.
Leave it to no one to judge what brings bliss to you, it is your
intimate connection to your Self, and if you are authentic in your
quest to realize greater and greater bliss, then you will naturally
evolve your pursuit into the higher planes of consciousness.
Samadhi comes to those who follow their
bliss with utmost intensity, all else is mere dry talk. The innate
urge to connect with the pure ocean of bliss that is infinitely
beyond our limited sense faculties has its own pull, its own
life-affirming attraction, its own realizing potential that calls us
from within every cell of our being to merge into its depths.
Spirituality is surrendering ourselves totally to this attraction,
the pull of Self to dissolve our limited cycling of thought into the
intoxicating waves of liberation.
Again, this is not just a
philosophical concept or religious ideal, it is an objective
happening, only it occurs on a very subtle level. To enact this
dissolution is a transformative process that requires a profoundly
trusting connection to another mind that has completely dissolved
itself. There are subtle energetic principles involved, energies of
the body, prana, shakti, chi, whatever you want to call it. As
consciousness dissolves from the limited circling pattern of mind and
expands non-locally, it breathes life into the surrounding
environment. This is obvious in the case of two lovers, one looses
himself in the eyes of the beloved and instantly there is an
energizing resonance awakened in the beloved. We think that this
happens only between people, but it can happen with anything, a tree,
a hill, a statue, a painting, a sound. Those that known how to
dissolve their minds at will can bring life into anything. This is
one of the greatest spiritual powers, the ability to breathe life
into anything and everything.
When we make our inner striving for the
dissolution of the mind conscious and integrated, we begin to focus
on the bliss itself and the authentic practice of mediation is born.
Through the guidance and initiation from a mind that has mastered the
art of dissolving itself, we awaken the potential to expand
consciousness at will, to merge our sense of aliveness, the strong
felt sense that “I exist” onto anything and everything. Within
this newly awakened power we can merge into dimensions of conscious
bliss beyond all description. All the spiritual realms can be
entered into at will. We can get lost in endless streams of light,
bliss and revelation. The clouds above may seem to pierce into our
very skull. The land on which we sit may seem to stretch out from us
like it is just a small extension of our expanding Self. Waves of
sublime emotion may engulf us. Atmospheric mind worlds may entice us
with perfectly patterned diamonds of insight that cut through the
most perplexing paradoxes.
It is experienced as a total revolution
of being. What we once thought was most solid, becomes the most
liquid. All our notions of solid bodies, objects, events, places,
people, things, and our own self image looses its solidity. Anything
we can imagine, no matter how solid it previously seemed, becomes
just another wave of blissful consciousness, we can see it merge in
and out of the ocean, laugh and enjoy the playfulness of the whole
thing. This is the best approach, if we can laugh off
superconsciousness as just another tingling of the mind rather then
trying to hold onto it, it will stay with us continually expanding.
What we previously felt was most
liquid, the ephemeral experience of bliss, becomes the most solid
thing in our experience. We begin to see all thoughts, no matter how
vast and insightful or depressing and doubtful, as mere indentations
on this plane of never ending bliss. We recognize all the centers of
energy as our own dwelling place. When bliss is the most substantial
thing in ones life, you become the source of everything. This is not
mere speculation my sweet friend, this whole field of Maya is built
out of the fabric of bliss and you can enter into it this very moment
as it is your very nature. At least have a taste of it. Dissolution
of the mind is a sure and sweet process, once started in earnest
there is no reversing it. Having a glimpse of eternal bliss is like
a pin-prick in a balloon, as small and insignificant as it may seem,
the air will surely come out.
Now as to the last question, if the
mind can come back after dissolution, let us answer it in this way:
Imagine an aquarium full of water, a small reef, stones and tropical
fish all swimming around this way and that. Now we take this
aquarium and toss it into the ocean. It may take a while for the
fish to realize that they are free to roam the ocean. They may keep
swimming in circles for a while since they are used to each others
company and habits, or they may wait for food to come not knowing
there is an ocean full of abundance awaiting their exploration. Then
finally, the fish take a leap of faith, and swim up out of the
aquarium and into the vast blue ocean. Even then they may go back
into the aquarium, it is very recognizable as the reef and stones
inside are still arranged in the same way. Perhaps they choose to
come back every now and then to celebrate with the other fish, “look
here, this is the box where we were all trapped for so many years!
How silly we were! Let us play inside it like we used to!” And
perhaps, they know of some other fish still trapped in an aquarium,
and out of compassion, help them find the ocean that is all around
them.
The general framework of the mind
remains intact, even as individual consciousness merges into the
ocean of cosmic consciousness. This is why each realized soul
expresses their experience uniquely through the mental pathways that
were charted since birth and beyond. What does change is the ability
to see the totality of it. For example, when the fish were stuck in
the aquarium, they could only cognize parts of it without having a
complete understanding of the whole. After swimming in the expansive
ocean, they can come back to the aquarium and instantly see it for
that totality of what it is. Likewise, we can peer into our
conditioning with more completeness after experiencing the expansive
Self. Eventually, even the Bliss of the ocean is surrendered. Only
when you can let go of something fully will it be ever enjoyable to
you.
Sweet one, like waves continually
rolling on the sea shore, countless moments of supreme fulfillment
shall roll all throughout your being. Whatever you can imagine as
the most supremely fulfilling Bliss shall be showered on you a
million times over when you are courageous enough to dissolve the
mind fully. Let us not get lost in words my dear friend!
Dissolution of the mind is possible, it is what we all are seeking,
it fills our mind with the most marvelous light, it gives us the
power to breathe life into anything, it fills us with universal
compassion, sublime intelligence, and causeless creativity, may your
mind be dissolved into the ocean of Eternal Bliss!!! OM