Evolution of love

ANNAMALAI SWAMI – FINAL TALKS

Q: It is fairly easy to stop a thief from breaking into a house You just lock the door. But in this particular case the thief is already inside. First, we have to catch him and throw him out. Only then can we safely close the door.

AS: To believe that this thief is something real, something that has to be fought and caught, is just like believing that your shadow is some kind of alien intruder who needs to be fought and expelled.

If you try to raise your hand to hit your shadow, your shadow will also raise its hand to hit you. You cannot win a fight with your mind because all your fights will be like shadow-boxing.

You cannot knock out your shadow by hitting it because there is nothing there to receive the blow. The shadow will keep dancing around for as long as you keep dancing around trying to hit it.

There are no winners in a fight like this, only a lot of frustrated losers. If you start from the assumption that the mind is real and that you have to fight it and control it by manipulating your thoughts in some way, the ego mind will get stronger, not weaker. If a particular sadhana assumes that the mind is real, the practicing of that sadhana will perpetuate the mind rather than eliminate it.