CHAPTER 4

Dreaded silence to some and silence sought after by others. Silence is not easily attainable. The mind itself, like a forest full of chattering monkeys, is next to impossible to keep quite.

THE SILENCE OF MOUNA

After over half a century of studying and teaching Yoga, I feel I can safely say that I have provided quite a fair presentation of many views on a wide range of spiritual and philosophical topics. Those familiar with my work will have at some time gone through my presentation of the arguments both for and against the need for structured religions, dogma and superstition. All this is intimately linked to man's innate quest for meaning in the heavens, hells and hereafters, of reincarnation and karma and the host of related issues involved in man's thirst for the truth. In most cases, however, after all the "thinking" and "reflection", one finds that there has been little or no progress along the path towards truth.

As the mind feverishly ponders some of the more weighty issues at stake, the real answers seem increasingly elusive and the fevered mind appears only to come up with confused answers that tend, in turn, to generate even greater confusion, leading one inexorably further astray. Some of us lost in this labyrinth of seemingly endless dead-ends, however realize that the only way is to backtrack and start all over again. It is for the benefit of these few that I shall now endeavour to outline what exactly is required to attain self-realization without having to constantly face the bitter disappointment of finding even more dead-ends.

The truth is that the inner Self, dormant within each one of us, tries tirelessly to achieve its ultimate fulfillment through us, but as it gradually rises upwards to enter our conscious thought patterns, it becomes grossly distorted. I have discovered two ways to attain a direct reading of one's Soul force without any distortion at all - one method is extroverted, the other introverted.

Through Yantra Yoga, it is possible to attain immediate and balanced harmony by reconfiguring the mathematical vibration of one's personality to the exact time of birth on this earthly plane. This extroverted method allows one to transform one's personality into a balanced and harmonizing life-long Mantra.

The introverted way is to dive so deeply within one's Self that all mental fluctuations are eliminated. Through this technique, the self becomes self-evident and the unique message of self-fulfillment for each one of us bubbles forth and finds utterance. One becomes attuned to the inner Self, almost as if one can fine-tune the soul like a radio to receive a distant broadcast crisp and clear.

This state is obviously the ultimate goal of all the Yogas. Few, indeed, are those who, by design or good fortune, stumble upon a teacher who can emanate this truth of self-discovery in silence (mouna). The quote below is from a book of interviews with Ramana Maharshi.

A questioner asks, "Why doesn't Ramana go about teaching the Truth to the people at large?"

Ramana answers: "How do you know I am not doing it? Does preaching consist of mounting a platform and haranguing the people around? Preaching is a simple communication of knowledge, it can really be done in Silence only. What do you think of a man who listens to a sermon for an hour or so and goes away without having been impressed by it enough to have changed his life? Compare him to another who sits in a Holy Presence and goes away after some time with his outlook on life totally changed. Which is better, to preach loudly without effect or to sit Silently and send out Inner Force?"

What are the origins of speech? First there is abstract knowledge that begets the ego which in turn generates thought that is the father of the spoken word. So basically, the Word is the great-grandchild of the original source. If, therefore, the Word can generate an effect, it boggles the mind to consider how much more powerful preaching through silence must be…"

Only very few of us come to understand this elegantly simple truth, the truth of our ever present, eternal experience, the Truth of the Self. Blissfully unaware of the Self that most would not even like to hear of, the large majority excitedly seeks what lies beyond, feverishly eager to unravel the secrets of heaven and hell and reincarnation. Craving knowledge of mysteries, the madding crowd ignores the truth and in their crazed attachment to the meaningless noisy clamour of excitation, the hordes seek not inner silence, but formulate the most improbable rituals in the vague hope that the vain trappings of ceremony, religiosity and scriptural rectitude will bring them some enlightenment, only to be steeped in ever deeper chasms of darkness. For in the end, the real destiny of each and every one of us, is to return to the self in total silence.

Patanjali, one of the few souls who managed to rise above the surrounding cacophony, gave us this precious teaching in what is perhaps his most famous aphorism, Chitta Vritti Nirhoda, which means, total and complete annihilation of all mental fluctuations - silence without thought. To abide in the Self, one must find a path leading home. One such path is to study Yantra Yoga and choose a harmonized personality for oneself or else another road leads one to the inner Silence in which one realizes Ramana's sadhana, by asking "Who am I?" These are but some of the ways, for there are many others.

Another of such paths is the meditative technique I use. It is unlike most others since it does not require objects of concentration, such as mantras, to focus the mind. This technique can be used for meditation even while one is engaged in mundane activities such as walking to the local bus or doing household chores. Mantras and other fixed objects of concentration will eventually have to be done away with, since they tend to cement the mind. After years of repetition, mantras tend to become self-starting, enslaving the mind, quite like a needle that gets stuck in an overplayed LP record. Ultimately, one must become free of all mental fluctuations.

In summing up, if one wishes to unite with the Paramatman, then one must be ruthless and rid the mind and sensitivities with all their preconceived ideas of religious affiliations, no matter how comforting they are. It leaves one feeling rather bare, but this is what is called "walking the razor's edge." Be fearless!

There are those who are born fearless and wish not to have their mind conjoined to belief systems that others have constructed, but for those who have to let go after a lifetime of attachments, it is hard. Real Yoga is a way to learn to let go.

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