Overcoming Inactivity of the Mind

Manolaya or the inactivity of the mind, is the biggest hurdle to overcome when trying to expose the self after attending to the deepest sheaths of the mind during self-inquiry or subjective meditation. When inquiry has been in persistent motion of reversing attention inward, you start to go thoughtless. It is here, your mind can either switch off and become inactive (deep sleep) OR it can pierce through this inactivity and plunge into its own awareness with complete and full clarity. Viveka or the ability to turn attention even more inward (while being completely alert) is needed to pierce through this inner most covering or veil that hides the pure self. 

 

When there are less thoughts, there is either less activity (sleep) or less identification with activity. This means you can either go completely inactive and be absorbed in deep sleep (pure tamas), i.e. where the mind ceases to function, OR, you can completely isolate awareness from the mind and abide in Turiya (pure sattva), i.e. jnani samadhi.

 

This same principle of inactivity applies when you are doing simple meditation (not necessarily deep inquiry). It is common for seekers to get tired when meditating, simply because there is less activity. There is a subsidence in thoughts (though some continue to arise) as the physical body goes in rest mode. Because the waking body is going in rest mode, awareness has no choice but to transition from the waking state (physical body) to the dream state (subtle body). Thoughts are now being experienced by awareness in the inner mind. It is only a matter of time when this same awareness transitions over to the deep sleep state, when all thoughts become latent/dormant and ceases to arise all-together.

 

The possibility of manolaya when you are in deep inquiry, is slightly comparable (though not exactly the same) to falling

asleep when you are practicing simple meditation (as a means to develop concentration).  In both cases, awareness is now accessing the inner sheaths of the mind. Either you do so consciously (like during self-inquiry) or you do so unconsciously (like how everyone transitions from the waking state to the dream state every night). This means when you are doing self-inquiry, the mind the will feel as if it is in the dream world, even while you are completely awake in the physical body.  It is like having a lucid dream while still being in the waking state. This is why it will feel as if everything around you is a dream and the physical world will not feel substantially real as how most interpret reality in the waking state.

 

When awareness is now consciously in the inner mind of the subtle body, it is here you can succumb to the deep sleep state (manolaya) OR can consciously dive into pure awareness because that is the only other inner space left to attend to (its own pure self). This means both rajas (i.e. waking and dreaming) and tamas (i.e. deep sleep) are all fully negated as your attention transcends them all and rests in its own natural self.

 

This is why it is taught that one should not meditate while being sleepy or on a complete full stomach. You must stay alert at all costs, because the nature of awareness is pure alertness. If you’re not alert, you will end up in some form of manolaya (inactivity). Of course, this advice is only given to beginners as a guide to not succumb to the inactivity of the mind, however, for those who are advanced, it wouldn’t matter if they are sleepy or on a full stomach. The only obstacle for them is to not plunge into deep sleep as their awareness tries to transition to its own self.