What is the mind? The mind is a bundle of thoughts based on memory and habit. It is the result of past impressions and conditioning.
The mind is like a monkey, restless and jumping from one thing to another. It is not your true nature. You are the witness of the mind.
Why does the mind keep moving? Because of desire and fear. It seeks pleasure, avoids pain and is never satisfied.
Its restlessness comes from always searching for something to hold on to. But it can never find peace in the things it chases. Can the mind ever be still?
Yes, when it loses interest. When you no longer give attention to its movements, it becomes quiet by itself. Stillness is not something you create.
It is what remains when the mind is no longer entertained. How do I quiet the mind? By watching it, not interfering with it.
Let thoughts come and go without grabbing onto them. Be interested only in the sense I am. When your attention stays with that alone, the mind slows down naturally.
Is the mind my enemy? No. The mind is not evil.
But if you identify with it it becomes a source of confusion and suffering. Use the mind as a tool, not as your identity. It is there to serve, not to rule.
What happens when the mind is silent? Then what you truly are shines by itself. In silence there is clarity and peace.
You become aware of being without thought, without movement. This is your natural state. Can understanding alone bring peace?
Understanding is the beginning. It prepares the ground. But peace comes from going beyond the mind.
Not just understanding it, but leaving it alone. Stop trying to fix the mind. Let go.
What is the role of memory and imagination? They are part of the mind's movement. Memory binds you to the past.
Imagination pulls you into the future. Stay with the present, with the I am and you go beyond both. How do I deal with obsessive thoughts?
By refusing to follow them. Don't resist. Just don't feed them.
Bring your attention back to the sense of being. If you remain as the witness, the thoughts lose power. What remains?
When the mind is not active. What remains is awareness. Silent, spacious and untouched.
There is no thinker, no doer, no division, just Presence. This is the Self.
