Dr. Vijai S Shankar MD.PhD.
Published on www.academy-advaita.com
The Netherlands
24 July 2019
Word (3)
“Thoughtlessness”
The enlightened have declared that life is the timeless and thoughtless ‘Here and Now’ in life. But to every man and woman with knowledge, however, numerical time and word are present in the here and now in the mind in life and the mind is full of intermittent words.
So what is the understanding of the enlightened, which is wisdom, is the question?
Wisdom reveals that a word is not present in every moment of daily life or in every moment in the mind. If a word was indeed present in every moment of daily life or in the mind, the mind would be unable to recognise the word in it or in life. It is also impossible for every moment to have a word either in life or in the mind.
It is impossible because in between a moment and the next is a moment as well. Therefore, if a word were present in every moment, the word would not be recognised by the human mind either in the mind or in life.
The reason why the mind would not be able to recognise the word, if every moment had a word, including the moment in between moments, is the fact of the moment in daily life. The fact of the moment in daily life is that the moment in daily life and in the mind is continuous, spontaneous, uncontrollable and unpredictable.
To know the numerical time present in a moment is also impossible because a distinct, actual moment separate from the next cannot be determined, because there is no separation between moments in life or in the mind.
What is present in every moment in life and in the mind is a continuous, spontaneous, uncontrollable and unpredictable sound of various intensities and qualities. In the human mind only particular sounds of varying intensity and quality appear as an illusory word in the mind, whose presence too is illusory.
Now a word is made up of letters. The ‘here and now’ in the mind does not contain numerical time to be able to contain a letter for a word. This signifies that the ‘here and now’ is only sound in the mind with varying intensities and quality.
This implies that intermittently a word with a context, which does not actually exist as an actuality, is precisely manifested by the intelligence in life. This convinces man and woman that an actual word actually exists, while all that exists in any moment is only sound, which appears as illusory words with illusory content, illusory context and illusory presence as well.
This signifies that the waking state, with a word and without a word, is actually word-less, because the ‘Here and Now’ neither contains a letter nor a word with content and context. This is because wisdom reveals that a gap of time is ever present, not only between two thoughts, but also between two letters in a word. The gap of time does not have numerical duration needed to have either a letter or a word in the mind.
Wisdom reveals that we do not consciously capture those moments of thoughtlessness between two thoughts or between two letters in a word, because moments are continuous.
Wisdom reveals that in every moment in life and in the mind only light and sound exist.
The enlightened have rightly proclaimed that life is timeless and thoughtless and the words in daily life in the mind are illusory and not real.
Author: Dr. Vijai S. Shankar
© Copyright V. S. Shankar 2019
Editor’s Note:
The certainty with which the human being is convinced that he or she makes the word that is uttered, with the meaning that is intended, with the emotional content that is present and whenever it is needed is accepted as fact, as true. The depth of understanding of the wise, however, meticulously reveals in this article that the guidance of the intelligence of life is gifted to every human being in every moment. There is no actual word either in life or in the mind, but only sound is present in life and in the mind. The sound in the mind appears as an illusory word to humans. Thus, the depth of understanding available for each man, woman and child is measured to what it is meant to be.
Julian Capper, UK.
German Translator‘s Note:
Numerous spiritual, religious and psychological methods and techniques promise people freedom from unwanted thoughts and unpleasant feelings. None of them has functioned permanently so far. The wisdom in this article by Dr. Shankar shows why this is so and why it cannot be otherwise. Thoughts are an illusion of sounds that mysteriously appear as words with meanings. Man has as little control over the movement of the sounds in his mind as he has, albeit illusory, over the sounds outside. For the conditioned mind, meanings are real words. For the enlightened, the meanings are illusory present as sounds. This is a “calm mind”.
Marcus Stegmaier. Germany
Dutch translator’s note:
Thoughts are words in the mind with a meaning and coherence. The whole day seems filled with thoughts, only interrupted by deep sleep. Thoughtlessness seems therefore almost impossible. Yet Dr. Shankar shows in this article that every mind is in fact thoughtless. Clearly is proven that words are illusory and can impossibly be real in the moment in life or in the mind. Furthermore, between the sounds in the mind and in life there are gaps without sound of which we are not conscious. We already are enlightened, but the words and their meanings are so attractive, we gladly abide with them. The words in this article refer to a state of being where words are only sounds and the mind is not in turmoil.
Paula Smit, The Netherlands.