The Real Rest

To the seeker of wisdom, the word ‘rest’ has a deep and growing meaning. The familiar meaning of rest as cessation of activity in order to recover our strength and freshness is not discarded, but the rest promised is shown to have a deeper source—a source related to the ultimate truth of what we are. This is the rest referred to in the sayings and writings left to us by the illumined sages, to be confirmed in our own experience.

We find, for example, the words of Christ:

Come unto me all who labour and are heavily laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me… You shall find rest for your souls.

This is more than physical rest. It is freedom from suffering and indicates a higher state of consciousness. In the Bhagavad Gita, the same release is taught as life’s goal and fulfilment. (5:20)

One who knows Brahman (the reality) can neither rejoice on obtaining the pleasant nor grieve on obtaining the unpleasant. Steady-minded, undeluded, resting in Brahman.

In these and countless other sources, it is shown that the Reality is approachable and that one can rest in it. But how does this Reality relate to our Self? The answer lies in discerning our own true identity. There is no relationship because the true nature of the Self is Brahman, and Brahman is the selfhood of the self. All talk of a relationship is a mental makeshift, a provisional substitute destined to be superseded and replaced by the higher knowledge.

The truth is that all the time we are resting in Brahman. The sage Shankara has given the following verse in a short piece known as ‘Spiritual Medicine’ that is included in his Thousand Teachings:

Since I am not other than the supreme eternal self, I am eternally contented and am not in quest of any end. Ever contented, I do not desire my individual welfare. Make efforts, O mind, to attain peace. Herein lies your welfare. (19:3)

Self, as Brahman, is perfect, but the mind needs to make adjustments in order to recognise the immediacy of perfection. These adjustments are not a question of forming new qualities and virtues in ourselves, but of adjusting our mentality so that it awakens to what is already the case. Our inner life is not limited to the mind, with its endless stream of thoughts. Mind has its being in a more subtle principle that is transcendent, limitless, like formless space in its purity.

It is our thoughts that determine our moods and state of mind generally. Our ability to control and turn our mental energy into worthwhile channels is the key to happiness. To bring the mind to a thought-free rest, with the help of the practices regularly described in this journal, is not only to free ourselves from present discontents, but to begin to unveil that deeper self-brahman reality in which thought lives, moves and has its apparent being.

Here is a text for meditation which, infiltrating the mind stream, will reveal the way of higher progress available to all.

O MY MIND, FIND REST
IN THAT MOST BLESSED PEACE
WHICH IS EVER WITHIN THEE
AND FOLLOW NOT AFTER THAT
WHICH IS TRANSIENT.