CONVERSATIONS WITH ANNAMALAI SWAMI
You can only stop the flow of thoughts by refusing to have any interest in it.
If you remain in the source, the Self, you ca...n easily catch each thought as it rises. If you don't catch the thoughts as they rise, they sprout, become plants and, if you still neglect them, they grow into great trees. Usually, the inattentive sadhaka only catches his thoughts at the tree stage.
If you can be continuously aware of each thought as it rises, and if you can be so indifferent to it that it doesn't sprout or
flourish, you are well on the way to escaping from the entanglements of the mind.
Q: It is relatively easy to do this for some time. But then inattentiveness takes over and the trees flourish again.
AS: Continuous attentiveness will only come with long practice. If you are truly watchful, each thought will dissolve at the moment that it appears. But to reach this level of disassociation you must have no attachments at all.
- LWB p. 348
You can only stop the flow of thoughts by refusing to have any interest in it.
If you remain in the source, the Self, you ca...n easily catch each thought as it rises. If you don't catch the thoughts as they rise, they sprout, become plants and, if you still neglect them, they grow into great trees. Usually, the inattentive sadhaka only catches his thoughts at the tree stage.
If you can be continuously aware of each thought as it rises, and if you can be so indifferent to it that it doesn't sprout or
flourish, you are well on the way to escaping from the entanglements of the mind.
Q: It is relatively easy to do this for some time. But then inattentiveness takes over and the trees flourish again.
AS: Continuous attentiveness will only come with long practice. If you are truly watchful, each thought will dissolve at the moment that it appears. But to reach this level of disassociation you must have no attachments at all.
- LWB p. 348