MIND IN SUSPENSION

When the mind is unascertained, unsteady, and quivers in its ultimate destination search, it tends to move out to find water in a mirage to quench its thirst but is lost in the wilderness of insatiable desires that can never be satiated, like finding water in a mirage. This journey often leads to a cycle of yearning and disappointment, as the elusive nature of these desires obscures the path to true contentment. Only by grounding oneself in the present can one hope to navigate through the illusions and discover a more authentic sense of fulfilment in Atman, or Self. Atman, or Self, is the Absolute Reality; when that is unascertained, the mind becomes confused or bewildered and deceived, like seeing the stump of a fallen tree as a human figure. The mind remains in a state of suspension, unable to perceive the Reality. That was the state of bewilderment in Sri Rama, who asked for clarification from the assembly of the Sages (Yoga-Vasistha, 1.30.1-9). He says that after seeing the world, his mind is stuck in the misery of worldly thought, expressing a profound sense of disillusionment. His intellect feels weak and defenceless, and he feels ridiculed by the situation because his inner strength is suspended. He longs for clarity and purpose yet feels trapped in an endless cycle of despair. As he grapples with these overwhelming emotions, a flicker of hope begins to emerge, urging him to seek a path towards renewal and understanding. An understanding of a law of nature that the mind should strive to realise is that only, i.e., "From whom all this universe comes out, in whom all that is born lives, and to whom all returns." (Swami Vivekananda, commentary on Patanjali's Yoga Sutras). Everything that originated goes back to the same. This highlights Brahman, or Ultimate Reality, as the source, sustenance, and destination of the universe. It describes creation as the universe moves in cycles of birth and death, returning to a state of equilibrium as the evolution (breathing out) and involution (breathing in) of the cosmos into one impersonal, eternal consciousness. Brahman is the source of existence (Srishti), sustainer (Sthiti), and the Ultimate goal (Laya).

1. Outline 

The mind is in suspension because an uncontented life remains elusive. A life of contentment and Self-fulfilment, nourished and nurtured by Self-knowledge and attenuated by self-realisation. Self-contentment is a life of dispassion, discrimination, detachment, disillusionlessness, discipline, and desirelessness. The practitioner of contentment remains in balance, regardless of situational opposites such as distress and happiness, hot and cold, or pleasure and pain. This condition reflects a state of Vairagya, or dispassion, and the need for wisdom from the assembly of the Sages by Sri Rama to overcome mental excruciation and impatience for want of true contentment. A sage of steady wisdom is someone whose mind remains calm in the face of adversity, who does not crave pleasure, and who is free of attachment, fear, and anger, according to Srimad Bhagavad Gita (2.56). One of humanity's greatest accomplishments is contentment, which is about Self-knowledge and Self-realisation. It emphasises finding contentment within and realising eternal bliss, or Sat-Chit-Ananda, or Existence-Consciousness-Bliss. Living liberation means navigating the world without succumbing to its web of attachments. Sri Rama's enquiry about the state is free from sorrow; how great beings like King Janaka remained detached while performing worldly duties; and how to remain unsoiled by the "mud" of worldly life. Sri Rama (Yoga-Vasistha, 1.30.11–13) urges the assembly of sages to explore how wise beings remain untainted by worldly attachments despite being active in the world and seeking a state free from sorrow. "O sage, tell me, what is that state that is truly significant, free from strain, without constraints, and devoid of delusions, where there is absolutely no sorrow? Noble souls like King Janaka were deeply involved in all kinds of worldly actions and engaged in practical duties, yet how did they attain the highest state of liberation? Oh respected, even though one is attached to the body and worldly activities in many ways, how can a man not be soiled by the mud of this worldly existence? "Sri Rama, as a seeker, asks how to reach a state free from grief; how active people like Sage King Janaka were liberated; and how one can live in the world without being tainted by its attachments, similar to a lotus leaf in mud.

 

2. Scriptures 

The scriptures say the mind is in bondage when attached to worldly desires and free when not. This suspension between Kama, or desire; Moha, or attachment; Trishna, or craving; Vairagya, or dispassion; Nishkama, or desirelessness; and Santosha, or contentment, is central to the Upanishadic teachings, which instruct that the mind must be purified through Self-introspection, Self-knowledge and Self-realisation to attain supreme oneness with Brahman, or the Cosmic Self, and realise eternal bliss. Amritabindu Upanishad (Mantra 2) explicitly states that the mind is the only cause of one's bondage or liberation. An impure, desirous mind binds, while a pure, desireless mind sets free. Kena Upanishad (1.3-4) states that Brahman, or the Cosmic Self, is the unmanifest Reality, or Neti...Neti, or not this, not this, or the substratum behind all that is manifest through mind-perceived consciousness. It teaches that Brahman is that which "the mind cannot think, but by which the mind thinks". One cannot speak about it; it is what makes one speak. The mind cannot imagine it; it is what makes the mind think. Because Brahman is the subject, not an object, any mental concept of it is a limitation rather than the truth. Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (4.4.5) teaches that "you are what your deep, driving desire is." That Atman, or Self, is indeed Brahman, or Cosmic Self, as well as identified with the intellect, the mind and the vital force; with the eyes and ears; with earth, water, air and the ether; with fire and what is other than fire; with desire and the absence of desire; with anger and the absence of anger; with righteousness and unrighteousness; with everything—identified, as is well known, with this, or what is perceived, and with that, or what is inferred. As it does and acts, so it becomes; by doing good it becomes good, and by doing evil it becomes evil—it becomes virtuous through good acts and vicious through evil acts. Others, however, say, ‘Self is identified with desire alone. What it desires, it resolves; what it resolves, it works out; and what it works out, it attains.’ When the mind is fully controlled within the heart and all attachments are eradicated, it attains the state of Supreme Bliss. This state of Supreme Bliss is often described as a profound sense of peace and contentment, free from the turmoil of worldly desires. In such a condition, the individual transcends the dualities of pleasure and pain, embracing a more profound Absolute Existence.

3. Remarks 

Suspension of the mind, Swami Sivananda teachings (Mind – Its Mysteries and Control, Swami Sivananda, Divine Life Society, Rishikesh, Twelfth edition, 1994), refers to the advanced meditative state of no-mind, or Manonasha, where the mind’s Vrittis, or thoughts, are completely stilled or merged into Atman, or Self, resulting in a state of 'no-mind' or absolute stillness. It is when the mind ceases to be a master to become a "no-mind" to become one with Atman without any separate identity based on psycho-physical structure but a state of heightened awareness, where one is free from the limited adjuncts of time, space, desire and ego as one becomes one with Atmam, or Self. In this the mind is free from thoughts, desires, and mental wanderings. It brings supreme peace and allows one to experience Absolute Consciousness. Here, according to Swami Sivananda, one takes a vow to Mauna, or controlling the speech, as a way to control the mind. By taking a vow of silence, one conserves energy and limits the distraction of the mind, aiding in "suspending" its extroverted tendencies. This mind suspension, Swami Sivananda emphasises, is achieved by developing an "invincible will", regular meditation, self-discipline, and the "Neti-Neti" (not this, not this) method of negation. To understand the Real, the mind is instructed to negate all that is not Atman, nor Self (body-mind complex), a process that requires moving beyond sensory and intellectual inputs. The result is a state of "Cosmic Consciousness" or "Yogarudha", a state of permanent liberation, free from the cycles of rebirth and Karma. That way, Yoga-Vasistha (1.30.25–27) advises the blossoms of the arbour of heavenly happiness that shed about the coolness of the full-moon beams that sprout forth. Self-knowledge, teach me so that one may obtain the fullness of his heart and may not come to grief and sorrow in the Samsara Chakra, or wheel of birth and death.

-Asutosh Satpathy