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What is a silent mind? || Acharya Prashant, on Raman Maharshi (2017)
Acharya Prashant
2.5K views
8 years ago
Ramana Maharshi
Silence of the mind
Uparati
Sensory inputs
Non-reactivity
Silence of the eyes
Silence of the ear
Internal compulsion
Description

Acharya Prashant discusses Ramana Maharshi's teaching on the four kinds of silence: silence of speech, eyes, ears, and mind. He explains that the first three are forms of 'uparati', which means returning to oneself and being content without a desperate need for external association. A noisy eye is one that wanders restlessly, driven by a desire to consume objects, while a noisy ear is obsessed with gossip and external feed, feeling starved without constant input. These senses, by their very configuration, will always allow some information to enter the mind, even if one is not actively seeking it. Acharya Prashant emphasizes that silence of the mind is the most important and highest form of silence. While the eyes can be closed, the ears cannot, and sensory inputs will inevitably reach the mind. A silent mind is one that does not feel a compulsive or obsessive need to react to, engage with, or identify with the miscellaneous information it receives. It treats accidental sensory inputs as unimportant and remains non-reactive and inert toward them. Ultimately, the mind must dispose of everything that the senses bring in, making mental silence the final frontier of spiritual practice.