“My mind is driving me nuts!”
“I feel so overwhelmed that I can’t even get out of bed”.
Such thoughts, or something like them, are all too common in a time when people, especially the young, are facing a mental health crisis, something that has been described as an ‘epidemic’ of depression.
Ancient wisdom tells us that, as long as we are controlled by our mind (and not controlling it), we will always experience unhappiness or worse debilitating depression. The great yogis of ages past utilized a “Silent Witness” Meditation technique to help gain mastery over their minds, and as a first step towards self-realization.
The mind is the sitting place for an endless number of desires, demands, thoughts, images, speculations, and so on. When we identify with our mind, we get pushed, pulled, and affected in various ways by the mind’s constant and ever-changing contents — be they images, thoughts, plans, demands, or desires. When this happens, we are like a person who is helplessly swept downstream by the strong currents of a swiftly moving river. As long as we identify our self with our mind, or the contents of our mind, we can never be at peace.
But when we understand that I, the self, am not the mind or its contents, then we can be an unaffected perceiver and observer of the mind’s contents—including its demands, desires, and so on. In this way, we will not be swept away by the mind’s strong currents.
The Silent Witness Meditation technique is a practical and effective tool which helps one experience the reality of the mind as being distinct from the eternal living being.
It is extremely liberating to realize that “I am not my mind!”
One must deliver himself with the help of his mind, and not degrade himself. The mind is the friend of the conditioned soul, and his enemy as well. – Bhagavad-gita 6.5
For him who has conquered the mind, the mind is the best of friends; but for one who has failed to do so, his mind will remain the greatest enemy. – Bhagavad-gita 6.6
The effectiveness of this Silent Witness meditation technique will be enhanced hundreds of times, when practiced along with daily Mantra Meditation. This is the pathway to true self-realization. You may benefit from the following links to an introduction to Mantra Meditation which includes easy to follow instructions on three specific meditation practices and guided sessions to practice with.
Video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFgnQrhuxPo&list=PLFfAP8mGRvDOOGGR7DmM-JXkFaF4XjIfX
Audio – https://soundcloud.com/acharyadas/sets/mantra-meditation-made-easy
