by Gurani Anjali
To the seeker of truth much repetition is necessary. Much. Repeating the sacred mantras, repeating the sacred songs, repeating the reading of sacred texts. Constantly bring to mind the blessings of life. Constant repetition is so necessary for the seeker of truth. To the seeker of truth every stone is lifted up, every veil is uncovered, every illusion discriminated away. The seeker of truth will constantly be restless until the truth is sought, until the truth is embodied. The seeker of truth finds no rest.
What happens when the truth is found? It has been said so many times before ‘The truth makes you free”—it will set you free. Free to be what? Free to uphold the truth. Once you find the truth, then you have to be the bearer of truth, you have to uphold it. It is not getting free and then saying “Well, now I’ve got it all together. Now I can go and do what I want to do. But change—why? I can do anything I want to do. So let’s roast a big fat pig. Let’s have a luau. Let’s have some beers. Let’s have some drinks. Let’s go dancing. Let’s go skiing. Let’s do all those things that I could not do because I was doing sadhana (method, means). Now I know the truth, now the sky’s the limit. Now I can do everything.” Now you have got a surprise awaiting. After you find the truth, then you have to protect the truth. And you have to care for it, you have to uphold it. You have to be the bearer of truth. This means you’ll be constantly keeping a check on yourself, which is a wonderful thing to do for a change. Instead of someone else telling you what to do, you’ll be watching over yourself.
Find the truth. Om Isvara (Highest Vision). Perfect purusha (pure consciousness). Untouched by klesha (affliction). Untouched by avidya (ignorance), asmita (I-am-ness), raga (attachment), dvesa (aversion), abhinivesha (clinging to life): purest purusha. That is to be worshipped. That is to be given adoration. Offerings of flowers and incense, giving alms to the needy- all for purusha. Purusha, silence beyond mind, is to be worshipped.
Silence is always touching silence. And in the touching of silence, sound is produced. Silence is always touching silence. And when silence touches silence, there is manifestation of the silence. And it takes form and it takes color. When silence touches upon silence, it becomes all it can become. Did you ever try this? Take one hand- it is silent. Take another hand- it is silent. Put them together. There has to be heat, there has to be vibration, there has to be sound. Okay, take one hand, take another hand, and come on, get it together [clap], silence touching upon silence. This is just a small, simple example. You can carry that further into your daily life, and see how silence is always touching upon silence. This brings out the form and the color of silence. Om purusha Om Isvara. Perfect purusha. Untouched by klesha. There is joy and jubilation when silence touches upon silence. There cannot be anything else but joy and ecstasy because silence is touching upon silence. And that’s what we are seeking. We are seeking that ever-silent experience of life, the life which says more than the mind can imagine.
Without the mind, we do not know how to act, and we don’t know what to do. We do bring the mind constantly into our existence, so that it may lead us to do all that we must do. We have so many names, so many experiences that are locked in the mind, but at any given moment you can go exploring the mind for experiences you forgot or that you long for, and the mind is ever-ready to produce. Just like a computer, it will produce anything that you want it to produce. So there, too, we must worship the mind because it is so perfect, it is so real, it is so ready, and it is always there. Mind is everything. Without mind what can we do?
When silence touches upon silence there is joy and there is jubilation. And that is experienced in silence. When that experience occurs, there is laughter; there is an overwhelming power of existence, knowledge and bliss. The experience of sat-cit-ananda (existence, knowledge, bliss) is enjoyed when silence touches upon silence. And that is happening all of the time, silence is touching upon silence. Some know it and some do not.
When you experience that, there is a state of nirodhah (restriction of thought). And in the state of nirodhah, citta-vritti-nirodhah (restriction of the modifications of the mind), that experience of the silent jubilation can be overwhelming. But, because the mind is filled with all kinds of activities, one rarely experiences the silence touching upon silence. May you experience that as the days go by. Always, silence is touching silence, always, but we don’t see it. You don’t see it, but it is always occurring. It has to occur in that manner. There is no other way for it to occur. The manifested world comes out of silence and it is when silence touches upon silence that the manifested world is experienced. To the seeker of truth this is an important experience. Seek it daily in your life. May you experience it. It’s a wonderful experience. Om shanti.