Darshan with Swami Krishnananda during 1997

by Swami Krishnananda

54. The Mind

(Darshan given on November 15th, 1997)

A visitor: I want to know what is the test to know that you are genuinely seeking God and not...

Swamiji: What is the test that it is daytime now and not midnight?

Visitor: That you can see the sun.

Swamiji: Then you can see this also. The daytime does not exist because you are seeing the sun. Even if you don't see it, it is daytime only. Just because you close your eyes and don't see the sun, does it become night? It is day only. Your conscience will tell what it is. Your conscience is your teacher. Your deepest heart of hearts will tell what is the position. There is no need of reading books, and all that. There is what is called the inner voice. It tells you the truth. You may hear anything from anybody, but that is not sufficient. Finally, you have to go to your inner voice: What does my heart say? That is the correct answer. Am I on the correct path, or am I treading a foolish way? Your heart will tell that.

Visitor: The reason why doubt comes is sometimes the mind is confused. The mind enters in and makes all these arguments.

Swamiji: The mind is not wanting... There is no mind. You are the mind. Where is the mind? Is the mind sitting inside like a small ball? You yourself are the mind. Somebody is speaking to me; the mind is speaking to me now. There is no you, and all that. The mind – the whole thing that I am seeing is the mind only. It is a big shape of mind that is sitting here. It is the mind that is talking. Why do you say 'my mind'? There is no such thing as 'my mind'. It is the mind only talking.

Visitor: Sometimes the consciousness of God is there, and sometimes the consciousness of something that feels separate from God is there, so when that alienation is there, then I think what caused my mistake.

Swamiji: Go on chanting the name of God continuously. Then the alienation will not take place. Go on repeating the name of God the whole day, either mentally or verbally, as the case may be. Then there is no alienation. You should not sit and wool-gather. Then it won't come. Repeat the word again and again, again and again, again and again, again and again. Din that name into your ears, and then it will prevent all alienation.

There is no such thing called 'mind'. You yourself are the mind. The whole personality is only a hardened, concretised form of mind. You should not think, “I am here and the mind is somewhere else.” This is a poor village boy's answer: my mind. If the mind is somewhere and you are somewhere, what is the connection between the two?

Visitor: It seems that there's different layers to who I am, and the mind is one of them.

Swamiji: They are different layers of you only, not different layers of mind. You yourself are the mind. The whole thing that I'm seeing in front is the mind taking the shape. And there may be layers of it; it is okay.

Visitor: So, layers of mind.

Swamiji: Layers of you. Again you are making a mistake. Who is speaking to me just now? You are speaking or the mind is speaking?

Visitor: I am speaking.

Swamiji: Where is the mind then? Again I am telling you, you are making a mistake. The mind is not sitting outside you, nor is it inside you. You yourself are the mind. That you cannot understand it is the tragedy of the whole thing. There is no use of arguing all these things. You chant the name of God.

Another visitor: My question is, I'm in Rishikesh just for a very short time, a week, and then I have to go home to the West. So many people come to Rishikesh from the West and they spend much time here, or a little time. I'd like to know in your opinion what I'm supposed to take with me from Rishikesh back home, because this is not my home. I can't stay here.

Swamiji: What do you want to take from Rishikesh? Rishikesh is the place where there is abundant knowledge. There is nothing else in Rishikesh except knowledge and the holy vibrations of great Masters who lived in this place many centuries back.

This is called Rishikesh. Rishi means 'sage, great Master'. Many rishis were living here. This particular locality is called Muni-ki-reti. Muni means saint, ret means sand. This is the place where the sands have been trodden by the great saints of yore, so it is a holy place. Any amount of irregularity of behaviour of people cannot counteract this holy atmosphere, just as even if you spit on the sun, the sun does not become impure. You abuse the sun, call it names, spit, what does it matter? The same glory of the sun will continue. So whatever be the irregularities, stupidities, foolishness of people, which you will also find here, it cannot contaminate the great divine vibrations that are here in this place. They will be eternally here. Even if you simply breathe the air, that is sufficient. It will benefit you. So that is one thing that you can carry from here.

The other is, there are people of knowledge in Rishikesh, and that knowledge you have to take: the knowledge of the fact that a thing called God exists. And since that thing which is called God is an all-pervading presence, it includes you also. So you are perpetually immersed in God. It is a great thing to hear all these things.

But though you are immersed in God, you do not seem to be in any way benefited by that immersion, in the same way as a spoon that is thrust into a pot of sweet porridge cannot taste the sweet porridge. Tasty dishes are there, very sweet. You thrust a spoon into it. The spoon does not know that it is inside that sweet dish. So that is the case with hard-boiled individual egos of people, who are perpetually immersed in that omnipresent Being, but because of that hardened, steel-like, spoon-like ego of the individual, this immersion doesn't help. People take bath in the Ganga so that they will attain salvation. Huge stones are already inside the Ganga. Will they attain salvation? Fish are swimming inside the Ganga. Will they attain salvation? They will not. So it is not enough if you simply immerse. It depends upon what you are immersing.

This knowledge you carry. I told you only a few words: the sanctity and the vibrations of the holiness of this place, and the wisdom of God.