FROM A SITE VISITOR: I have read what you have written about the mind and have pre-ordered your book on the mind, but another teacher talks about using the “working mind” and not the “thinking mind.” Will your book clarify (or maybe reconcile) what the two of you are teachings? Andi
F. Hello Andi. The book you’ve ordered does not address the “working mind-thinking mind” terms, but some clarifying pointers are offered about the “working vs. thinking mind” in the book THE ESSENCE OF THE TEACHINGS.
When seekers have come here for satsanga, sometimes they have been invited to walk down the terrace to the harbor or to walk along the edges of one of the coves nearby and watch a Great Blue or Great White Heron. (The same exercise was used with deer when sessions were being offered in a location that was near a forest. Why? Nisarga Yoga is an invitation to live naturally. If you could spend an extended period of time in the presence of a Realized Teacher, you might see natural living being modeled. For most who cannot arrange such an opportunity for witnessing, why not at least witness a bird or animal that is truly living naturally? Most can arrange that right now.)
When they returned after having witnessed one of the birds or one of the deer for a period, the participants were asked to write in their notebooks a contrast of the way that the heron/deer was living as opposed to the way that they were living. Inevitably, the participants always noted certain observations that were common to most of their lists: the deer/heron’s “peace”; the way that the deer/heron seemed not to be bothered by anything at all; or the way that, if it was disturbed by humans that approached, the way it just relocated to a quieter place.
Some of the more creative descriptors that some seekers have written include words such as “natural” or “unencumbered” or “free” or “unregulated” or “not burdened” or “just being.” Then participants were asked to write a second list using words that described the way they were living. (The words were never as appealing as those used to describe the lifestyle of the deer/heron.)
Then the participants were asked to write answers to the following:
“Why does the life being lived by a deer/heron seem to be preferable to your own?”
“Are you more intelligent and more knowledgeable than a deer/heron? If so, why is it able to live a life that seems to be preferable to yours?”
“Why does the deer/heron not need to Realize and why does it not need to go through the "Seven Step Journey to Reality"? That is, what have you experienced that the deer/heron has not?”
“Do you believe that the deer/heron has any kind of mind at all or that it is merely functioning via the auspices of the brain and natural instincts?”
“Do you believe that the deer/heron was ‘thinking’ or merely witnessing?”
“Have your minutes and hours and days and years been passed from a “thinking mode” or from a “witnessing mode”?
“Is your mind ‘working’ more than you want it to?”
“The deer/heron is born with its clothing, eats food that is free, and pays nothing for shelter. Most humans don’t have that privilege, and employment must happen for you to meet your food, clothing and shelter requirements. But if a shift in perspective were to happen, how could you meet those basic requirements and still live in a fashion that would be more natural, less encumbered, far freer, less burdened, and marked by ‘just being’?”
“The deer/heron has accumulated little…a temporary place for bedding only. How could de-accumulation allow an adjustment to happen in your lifestyle that might be preferable to the way that you are living now?”
So, Andi, the same invitation to try that exercise is offered to you and to all site visitors: go to the woods or a park or some place where you can quietly observe a bird or animal in its natural habitat. If possible, focus on one bird or animal alone. Then return home and write answers to the questions above; then, read the answers until a new understanding manifests. For additional explanation, see the book below. Please enter the silence of contemplation. (To be continued)
Interested in more on “the working mind vs. the thinking mind,” on “manifestation vs. unmanifestation,” on “free will vs. no free will,” on “the seven degrees of separation from reality,” on exercises for focused meditation, on what “the ‘higher power’ is vs. what it is not,” and on “natural living vs. unnatural or supernatural living”?
Click THE ESSENCE OF THE TEACHINGS
F. Hello Andi. The book you’ve ordered does not address the “working mind-thinking mind” terms, but some clarifying pointers are offered about the “working vs. thinking mind” in the book THE ESSENCE OF THE TEACHINGS.
When seekers have come here for satsanga, sometimes they have been invited to walk down the terrace to the harbor or to walk along the edges of one of the coves nearby and watch a Great Blue or Great White Heron. (The same exercise was used with deer when sessions were being offered in a location that was near a forest. Why? Nisarga Yoga is an invitation to live naturally. If you could spend an extended period of time in the presence of a Realized Teacher, you might see natural living being modeled. For most who cannot arrange such an opportunity for witnessing, why not at least witness a bird or animal that is truly living naturally? Most can arrange that right now.)
When they returned after having witnessed one of the birds or one of the deer for a period, the participants were asked to write in their notebooks a contrast of the way that the heron/deer was living as opposed to the way that they were living. Inevitably, the participants always noted certain observations that were common to most of their lists: the deer/heron’s “peace”; the way that the deer/heron seemed not to be bothered by anything at all; or the way that, if it was disturbed by humans that approached, the way it just relocated to a quieter place.
Some of the more creative descriptors that some seekers have written include words such as “natural” or “unencumbered” or “free” or “unregulated” or “not burdened” or “just being.” Then participants were asked to write a second list using words that described the way they were living. (The words were never as appealing as those used to describe the lifestyle of the deer/heron.)
Then the participants were asked to write answers to the following:
“Why does the life being lived by a deer/heron seem to be preferable to your own?”
“Are you more intelligent and more knowledgeable than a deer/heron? If so, why is it able to live a life that seems to be preferable to yours?”
“Why does the deer/heron not need to Realize and why does it not need to go through the "Seven Step Journey to Reality"? That is, what have you experienced that the deer/heron has not?”
“Do you believe that the deer/heron has any kind of mind at all or that it is merely functioning via the auspices of the brain and natural instincts?”
“Do you believe that the deer/heron was ‘thinking’ or merely witnessing?”
“Have your minutes and hours and days and years been passed from a “thinking mode” or from a “witnessing mode”?
“Is your mind ‘working’ more than you want it to?”
“The deer/heron is born with its clothing, eats food that is free, and pays nothing for shelter. Most humans don’t have that privilege, and employment must happen for you to meet your food, clothing and shelter requirements. But if a shift in perspective were to happen, how could you meet those basic requirements and still live in a fashion that would be more natural, less encumbered, far freer, less burdened, and marked by ‘just being’?”
“The deer/heron has accumulated little…a temporary place for bedding only. How could de-accumulation allow an adjustment to happen in your lifestyle that might be preferable to the way that you are living now?”
So, Andi, the same invitation to try that exercise is offered to you and to all site visitors: go to the woods or a park or some place where you can quietly observe a bird or animal in its natural habitat. If possible, focus on one bird or animal alone. Then return home and write answers to the questions above; then, read the answers until a new understanding manifests. For additional explanation, see the book below. Please enter the silence of contemplation. (To be continued)
Interested in more on “the working mind vs. the thinking mind,” on “manifestation vs. unmanifestation,” on “free will vs. no free will,” on “the seven degrees of separation from reality,” on exercises for focused meditation, on what “the ‘higher power’ is vs. what it is not,” and on “natural living vs. unnatural or supernatural living”?
