On the seat of meditation, the mind cannot be quiet due to a whole bunch of desires. As a part of his teachings, Sri Adi Sankaracharya provides a list of things to renounce so that meditative experience can be achieved.
Don’t have expectations. Asha means expectation or hope. Desire is commonly understood as a feeling. Desire and expectation differ in a subtle way. Expectations are illogical and unfounded. Variables and controls are not in our hands for us to be able to get something. Each of our experiences is shaped by many events and people. As a result, to expect something specific to happen that we like can drain our energy, as we cannot control the outcome. Thus, the master compares vain hope to poison.
Expecting any sense object of our liking-words, sights, smells, tastes, touches, thoughts, and feelings-is as harmful as anticipating death itself. As we want our minds to rest in meditation, we must also let go of any appreciation of our caste, heritage, stage in life as students, housewives, recluses, or renunciates; throw away from our personalities anything that agitates without concern for the greater good.
An important thought to give up is the identification with the body alone. Focus only on your true self. You are pure consciousness, transcending all names, forms, and qualities. You are the essence of all that is. Discarding unwanted items must come first before any process of tidying can begin. The teacher describes the methods for meditating after removing the qualities that impede it.
The first step is to keep your mind steadily focused on that supreme reality, Brahman. Keeping your senses in their proper places within the body is the next step. Some may argue that seeing is a gift of the eyes and that hearing is a gift of the ears. It is true that they do not move around. However, the mind moves out through the eyes to touch objects we like and through the ears to hear the most desirable sounds. When we imagine an image of ourselves as a cartoon, we can see our eyes fluttering to the forms of our choice, or our tongue reaching out for the flavors we desire. To feel an object, the skin can expand for several miles. A sense organ should not be allowed to travel too far through the mind.
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Be still and let go of all worries about the body’s care. Let your thoughts stay only in Brahman alone, drinking that one unbroken sap and relishing it. Beyond this, what else is there? Any other activity we may pursue in life is nothing more than a big void devoid of life.
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