At the Sunday Satsang on July 27, 2025, I spoke on “Dive Deep, O Mind,” keeping the focus on diving “inside the mind,” a recurring theme not only in the songs that Sri Ramakrishna sang but also in his teachings:
“One should learn the essence of the scriptures from the guru and then practice sadhana. If one rightly follows spiritual discipline, then one directly sees God. The discipline is said to be rightly followed only when one plunges in. What will a man gain by merely reasoning about the words of the scriptures? Ah, the fools! They reason themselves to death over information about the path. They never take the plunge. What a pity!” (Gospel, p. 543)
Among the songs that Sri Ramakrishna sang were these two:
Taking the name of Kali, dive deep down, O mind,
Into the heart’s fathomless depths,
Where many a precious gem lies hid. … (Gospel, p. 124).
Dive deep, O mind, dive deep in the Ocean of God’s Beauty;
If you descend to the uttermost depths,
There you will find the gem of Love. … (Gospel, p. 153).
I used a diagram to illustrate what “diving deep” in the mind can mean. Here is a brief summary of the points I made:
-
The world that we experience is the result of the sensations of sight, smell, taste, touch and sound that enter through the senses and are processed inside the mind—magically producing a three-dimensional reality which really seems to be out there.
-
The part of the mind that “sees” the world is the conscious mind. It is like the living rooms in the house where we probably spend most of our lives.
-
But the mind also has a large part, a kind of basement where we don’t go often. This is the unconscious mind, which stores all the memories and impressions (saṁskāra) of our past thoughts and actions, represented by the dark sediment in the basement. It is from these impressions that desires arise, like bubbles from a pot of boiling water. We become aware of these desires only when they reach the conscious mind.
-
Beyond the unconscious mind is the “clear mind,” the part of the mind that is transparent and calm, and it is here that the light of the Ātman shines most brightly.
-
During prayer and meditation, we try to shut out as much of the world as possible and try to “dive inside.” But before we reach the clear mind, we have to waddle through the unconscious and the saṁskāras there. This is the toughest part of the practice.
-
The goal is to expand the conscious mind, shrink the unconscious, increase the positive and healthy saṁskāras and weaken the negative and unhealthy ones. Eventually, through God’s grace, the unconscious disappears, the mind is fully conscious and alert, and the light of the Ātman shines through it as through a clean, transparent glass.
-
The world doesn’t disappear, but it looks radically different when seen through the lens of the clear mind. What was earlier a material world now appears alive with divine presence.
You can see the full presentation at this YouTube link. Its audio version is available at this link. You can also download it from your favorite podcast app. Simply search for “Vedanta and Yoga.”
Have a blessed summer!
from Vedanta Blog - Vedanta Society https://ift.tt/gDJ0fxF
