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What is a silent mind? || Acharya Prashant, on Raman Maharshi (2017)
Scriptures and Saints
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2 years ago
Silence
Ramana Maharshi
Uparati
Mind
Senses
Uparanta
Nirmal Indriya
Consciousness
Description

Acharya Prashant discusses the four kinds of silence mentioned by Shri Ramana Maharshi: silence of speech, eyes, ears, and the mind. He explains that these silences fall under the classical term 'uparati', which signifies returning to oneself and being contented rather than being greedily attracted to external objects. A noisy eye or ear is one that is obsessed with consuming external stimuli, wandering restlessly or seeking gossip and news to avoid feeling starved of input. While one can close their eyes, the ears have no such facility and will inevitably receive sounds from the environment. Acharya Prashant clarifies that silence of the mind is the most important and highest form of silence because the senses, by their very configuration, will always allow some information to enter. Even pure senses will take in sensual inputs coincidentally. A silent mind is one that remains non-reactive and inert toward this incoming information, refusing to give weight to accidental happenings or feel a compulsive need to engage with them. It is the final frontier where the mind disposes of everything that reaches it, remaining free from internal pressure or identification with miscellaneous external data.