The Silence of the One Mind
If a philosophy is needed at all, it should be this and nothing else: There is nothing but the One Mind.
It simply means: this book before your eyes is no "book", this body reading this book is no "body". – There is no "book" as an object with autonomous existence, there is no "body" as an object with autonomous existence. – "Book and body" is one movement of the One Mind, appearing as form of the One Mind, and thus nothing but the One Mind Itself.
What then is the One Mind? It is an imperceivable depth showing itself as perceivable silence, which is the substance all perceived phenomena consist of.
Silence is not the absence of sound, and there is no inner silence distinct from outer silence. Silence means the intuitive perception that sound is nothing but silence, form is nothing but emptiness.
Silence is not absence of thinking. Thinking cannot disturb silence, because thinking is not apart from silence. Thinking is nothing but an illusory movement of silence, and therefore silence itself. There is no problem in thinking, and there is no need to distinguish between conceptual thinking ("thinking mind") and thought ("working mind").
The concept op enlightenment creates greed for those who think they have not yet got it, arrogance for those who think they have got it. Truly nothing is missing, nothing is gained.
Having understood that there is nothing but the One Mind, concepts like enlightenment, awakening, liberation, deliverance, total understanding, final understanding, become irrelevant.
Thinking can never be stopped, enlightenment has never existed – what a relief!
Every single phenomenon, every single sense perception, every single emotion or felling, every single thought or thinking, is nothing but silence, which is the perceivable aspect of the One Mind.
Silence is not merely underneath the attributes of a phenomenon. Every single attribute of every singele phenomenon is itself silence.
Any phenomenon, such as fear or joy, is nothing but silence temporarily appearing to take a form, which is conceptually interpreted as "fear" or "joy". Any conceptual interpretation is thinking, which is only an illusory movement of silence.
Attachment, involvement, identification with a phenomenon means forgetting the substance of silence, which is all every single phenomenon consists of.
If the substance of a brass statue showing a goddess is forgotten, the statue may be mistaken as a goddess. Still this phenomenon appearing as the form of a goddess is nothing but brass.
Being attached to form is called false perceiving. True perceiving means perceiving the substance of silence, and being the substance of silence. Being the One Mind is seeing the One Mind in everything.
Diving in to silence means perceiving silence, and disappearing into silence. In being silence there is an intuitive certainty of the imperceivable depth of the One Mind.
Silence is essentially pure presence without any quality. It is felt as peace, calmness, serenity, being the immediate expression of the profound and mysterious depth of the One Mind.
The Wolf
No "one", no "thing"
Explanations for "The Silence of the One Mind" and "No ‘one’, no ‘thing’"
Written spontaneously on 27. October 2000 in Munsyari.
There is nothing but the One Mind.
This first statement could be the last statement, if it would be understood in its entire depth. Having understood this highest possible insight, nothing more needs to be understood. The following statements are only explanations and elaborations of that one sentence, which contains all teachings.
The term "One Mind" was used by John Blofeld in his famous translation of talks by and dialogues with Chan Master Huang Po. Just as in our personal dream – which is not "ours" – personalized mind – which is nothing but the One Mind having personalized itself – creates a dream world out of itself and within itself, so the One Mind expresses itself as this dreamed universe. The One Mind may be called Creative Intelligence, which creates out of itself images as appearances. These created appearances of phenomena do not exist in themselves, separate and independent from the One Mind. The mountain that we see in our personal dream is not an object, which really exists – it is an appearance , which seems to exist, but is actually nothing but a fantasy product. The same is the case with the mountain that we see in the waking state, which is also a dream dreamed by the One Mind.
The "one without a second" has been given different names, such as Consiousness or Chit, Self or Atman, Brahman, Tao, God or Ishwar, Allah. We only have to understand that by God, Ishwar, Allah we do not mean an alpowerful, almighty, omniscient entity separate from the manifestation, we do not mean a Creator separate from the created. The philosophy of "One Mind only" does not teach oneness in the sense of unity of parts. This teaching does not say that "All things are one". This teaching says: "There are no things as such, there is nothing but the One".
In "The Silence of the One Mind" the experience of silence is emphasized, because it is the closest experience possible towards the inexperiencable. The depth of the One Mind, which is also termed the Source or Ground of all, can never ever be experienced, grasped, known, understood, felt – because it is that which experiences, grasps, knows, understands, feels everything experiencable, graspable, knowable, understandable, feelable. The depth of the One Mind is Pure Subjectivity without the slightest taint of anything perceived.
Silence has often been understood in a dualistic way, opposed to sound ,opposed to thinking. In this Sutra silence is not seen in any dualistic context. Silence is not one form among other forms within the world of forms. Silence is the substance of each and any form, just as brass is the substance, out of which countess forms are made. We are usually attached to form and get involved into the appearance of a phenomenon. We are taken in by "joy" and are in heaven. We are taken in by "fear" and are down in hell. Truly "joy" and "fear" are only faces of the substance of silence.
In our sadhana we need to become aware of silence through realizing its immense value. This can only happen , if other goals, from which fulfillment is sought , have lost their meaning. Finally silence remains as our single focus. We appreciate silence more than anything else, we start loving silence as our own home, where we have come from, where we will return to, where in the meantime even we have always been and will ever be.
In the process of sadhana deepening and meditation deepening, the "me" gets dissolved slowly. The "me" that became aware of silence, was seeking silence, disappears into silence. Then I am no more the enjoyer of silence, I am silence itself, without a feeling of a separate "me". In being silence, there is no "one" separate from silence, and there is no "thing" separate from silence. In being the One Mind, everything is seen as the One Mind. The attachementis no more with the appearing form, the one and only substance os silence is seen in everything and everyone.
No "one" means the total and absolute denial of any personal "I" as a separate, independent center of command and control within the human body, preferably within the human brain. There is no "little man" somewhere in the brain governing our actions and producing our thoughts and decisions. Language, which comes out of human conditioning and thinking, suggests the existence of an autonomous operational center by using the concepts of "I". We do say: "I" see, hear ,smell, taste, touch, think, feel, experience, do. And what is seen, heard, smelt, tasted, touched ,thought, felt, experienced, done is understood by "us" in a certain way, which means conceptionally interpreted according to our thinking patterns. We can certainly state, that perceiving happens and subsequent thinking happens. But do "I" perceive and do "I" think? Is not "I" or the "me" itself thinking? So which I produces the thinking that is the "me"? This I is the real, impersonal Self or the One Mind.
No "thing" means the complete denial that any "thing" exists as an object. The chair that we see in a room, is no more there, if it is not seen. When seen, the chair appeared to be present as a kind of hallucination, or mirage or dreamed figure. But the chair cannot exist without conciousness producing the image of something, that is interpreted as "chair". The "chair" is as much a dreamed phenomenon in our waking state, as the mountain is in our dreaming state.
When there is no "one" perceiving and no "thing" perceived, then nothing but the One Mind remains. The One mind as Creative Intelligence is Potential Energy, which has the tendency to express its own potentiality into an actuality. So the One Mind dreams, fantasizes, hallucinates images, the One Mind creates dramas, plays, lives out of itself, in order to entertain itself, enjoy itself. The human being is only a dreamed figure of God, without free will and free decision. What the human being thinks is "his" own will, is really God’s Will. What the human being likes to do, is really what God likes him to like. So our doing is not done by "us", God does some doing via the body, which is interpreted as "my" body experiencing "my" deed. But even this co-called false interpretation, that "I" am doing, experiencing, feeling, thinking, perceiving, is God’s Will – and so not "our" fault.
The teaching of the "One Mind only" is found in India in Advaita Vedanta as the essential doctrine of the Upanishads. Besides the works of Adi Shankara, the Avadhuta Geeta of Dattatreya and the Karika on Mandukya Upanishad by Gaudapada, in the 20th century Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi of Tiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu, represents the highest understanding of the One Self. In Buddhism the Lan Kavatara Sutra points out the existence of the One Mind only. This sutra was the basis of Bodhidharma’s teaching who brought this supreme insight to China, where it merged with Taoist philosophy, brining about flowers of wisdom throught Chan Masters like Hui Neng, Hui Hai, Shen Hui and Huang Po.
The Wolf