How does one experience True Self?
True Self is prior to your moving mind. So, words, concepts, knowledge, these cannot reveal True Self to you. This is why the Masters pointed pointed to That which exists prior to moving mind. The point of the pointers were so that you can can go there in your own direct experience.
Stillness is one such pointer.
The mind dominates your experience. Mind is nothing more than a stream of thoughts, and the low-fidelity memory trail left behind from thoughts and sensory experiences. For an average person, that is on the order of 40,000 thoughts a day. Attached to thoughts, it is hard to fathom true silence, it is hard to experience stillness.
Yet, the Masters say that stillness IS True Self (stillness is a pointer to it). If this is so, stillness should be always ON (because True Self is always ON, the only Reality upon which other relative realities appear to arise and exist). So, stillness should be accessible in your experience.
Fortunately the Masters and teachers have left us clues about this.
Everything inside and around us wants to reflect itself in us. We don’t have to go anywhere to obtain the truth. We only need to be still and things will reveal themselves in the still water of our heart.
Thich Nhat Hanh
Enter into the stillness inside your busy life. Become familiar with her ways. Grow to love her, feel [her] with all your heart and you will come to hear her silent music and become one with Love’s silent song.
Noel Davis
A quiet mind married to integrity of heart is the birth of wisdom.
Adyashanti
“When speech comes from a quiet heart, it has the strength of the orchid, and the fragrance of the rock. “
Stephen Mitchell
Stillness, as these Masters and teachers say, is associated with the heart. To me, this implies the heart-center. Said to be the seat of True Self itself, the heart-center is the gateway to stillness.
Sit in a quiet place. For a few minutes, give yourself the space, time and openness for this practice. Take a few deep breaths to physically relax yourself. Gently guide the attention that is feeding your mind, to rest in the heart-center. If attention wanders, gently guide attention back to resting in the heart-center.
Book into The Peace Practice, available online, free, on weekdays helps you cultivate the art of resting attention in the heart. Join us for 15-minutes each weekday in The Peace Practice to cultivate silence, stillness.
You, the real-you are that stillness. Formlessness produces form and form in its essence is formless. And you are That!
Love
Sundar.
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* The Peace Practice is a simple meditation, that is live, online and free to join on all weekdays. Join in this daily cultivation of silence with Sundar Kadayam.
* The No-otherness Series of books are resources for your awakening and living awake.
* Check out the book, “What is Enlightenment? A Simple Guide“, which demystifies Enlightenment, and brings you clarity on preparatory practices vs direct paths to Enlightenment.
* Available now, “Awaken: An Experiential Exploration of Enlightenment” – this book guides you on the direct path of Self-Inquiry, to the experiential realization of Reality, your true nature. On this official page of the book, you can see reviews and interviews about this book.