What does it mean to be still like a lake? It means being thoughtless. This state of thoughtlessness is referred to as Consciousness. It is being like a still lake, with no ripples or waves of thoughts.
So, how can we be thoughtless, without thoughts? It is important to tame the mind that jumps like a monkey from branch to branch and make it into a monk. We must watch it, catch it and latch it. In fact, we have to kill the mind. What does it mean to kill the mind? In reality, there is no mind. Have you ever seen the mind? We have all seen images or X-rays of different parts or organs of the body. But has a doctor ever shown us an image of our mind? Of course not. Then, how can we kill it? The truth is that the mind is nothing but a bundle of thoughts. When we eliminate these thoughts from attacking us, then we are eliminating the mind. Have you seen the waves of an ocean on a stormy day? Boats fear capsizing because the waves are very fierce. When our mind becomes fierce with thoughts of fear, worry, stress, anxiety, and depression, how can we be calm or peaceful? Peace is the foundation of happiness. For seekers of the truth, seekers of God, taming the mind is critical. Because it is only when the mind is silent, still, that we can contemplate the truth. If thoughts continue to bombard us, we will be unable to reach that state of Consciousness in which Enlightenment happens. Therefore, the analogy of a
still lake is the best goal that we must set for ourselves. We must be still. When we kill the mind, the MTR, the Mental Thought Rate, drops from fifty thoughts a minute to just one. Even that one thought is dormant as it dissolves in our Consciousness. It is in such a state of Consciousness that an enlightened being experiences a flash of realization. These flashes of the truth are difficult to define in words. They are experienced as a direct experience. Sometimes, there is no logic. It seems like magic because Enlightenment cannot be defined.
When we live in Consciousness, still as a lake, the ripples of thoughts that fill our life with the myth disappear. We live in the Consciousness of truth, and experience bliss. This state is known as SatChitAnanda. Sat is Truth, Chit is Consciousness and Ananda is eternal bliss. The ecstasy of this silence, this stillness in which we experience everlasting joy is a happiness that cannot be defined. It is a state of being, not becoming. People who have not experienced it, may wonder how silence and stillness can give more bliss than the pleasures of this world. Alas! Such people are prisoners who live in the noise, and they do not experience the Divine voice. For centuries, we have heard the enlightened masters say that silence is magical. Sometimes, when we have a dreamless sleep, we wake up in a state of great bliss. Unfortunately, while we have all experienced the joy that comes from silence, we do not get the opportunity of experiencing stillness. The mind, which is a monkey robs the stillness, our peace, the very foundation of happiness by jumping from thought to thought. Will anybody deny that peace is the foundation of happiness? Where there is no peace, there can be no joy; peace is the effect, where silence is the cause. The world talks so much about meditation, but unfortunately, instead of meditation actually creating silence, peace and bliss, it has lost its relevance. When will we learn to live like a still lake and awake?
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