Gita 6.25

Sadhak: "Guruji, 'slowly, slowly'—this is discouraging. I want liberation now. Why must the process be so gradual?"

Guru: "Have you tried to still your mind quickly? What happened?"

Sadhak: "It was impossible. The more I tried, the more agitated it became."

Guru: "Exactly. The mind cannot be forced into stillness any more than you can force sleep. Sleep comes when conditions are right and you stop trying. Stillness is similar—it emerges from patient preparation, not violent effort. Krishna's 'slowly, slowly' is not a limitation but a mercy. He is saving you from the frustration of impossible forcing."

Sadhak: "But some teachers speak of sudden awakening, instant enlightenment. Isn't gradual progress just for slower students?"

Guru: "Those sudden awakenings typically come after long gradual preparation—or they come and go without being stabilized because the ground wasn't prepared. A flash of insight that fades is not liberation. What Krishna describes is the building of permanent transformation. This takes time. Even if awakening happens suddenly, the integration happens gradually. Don't be deceived by dramatic stories; sustainable transformation is incremental."

Sadhak: "The verse says intellect held with firmness. My intellect seems weak—easily distracted, prone to doubt. How can it hold anything firmly?"

Guru: "Firmness is cultivated, not given. Each time you continue practicing despite doubt, firmness grows. Each time you return attention despite distraction, firmness grows. You are building this capacity through practice itself. The firmness required at the end of the path is developed during the path. Don't wait until you have firmness to begin; begin, and firmness will develop."

Sadhak: "'Think of nothing whatsoever'—that seems impossible. Even in deep meditation, thoughts arise."

Guru: "Notice Krishna says 'cintayet'—one should not think, not 'thoughts should not arise.' These are different. Thoughts arising is a phenomenon you witness; thinking is an activity you do. In deep stillness, thoughts may still arise like ripples on water, but you are not generating them and not following them. You are not thinking; thinking is merely appearing and disappearing while awareness remains undisturbed."

Sadhak: "What is the difference between this stillness and sleep or unconsciousness?"

Guru: "In sleep, awareness is dimmed—you know nothing. In unconsciousness, awareness is absent. In the stillness Krishna describes, awareness is maximally present; only thought is absent. You are more awake than ever, but the content of awareness is not mental objects—it is the pure fact of awareness itself. This is difficult to understand conceptually because concepts are thoughts. It must be tasted directly."

Sadhak: "How do I fix the mind on the Self when I don't know what the Self is?"

Guru: "You know the Self directly right now—it is that which is aware of this conversation. It is not an object to be known but the subject that knows. 'Fixing the mind on the Self' means withdrawing attention from objects—including thoughts—and letting it rest in its source, in the sheer fact of being aware. The Self is not something to find; it is what you are when you stop pretending to be thoughts, feelings, and sensations."

Sadhak: "That's very abstract. Can you give me something concrete?"

Guru: "Notice right now: you are aware. Before you were aware of my words, after you're aware of silence, throughout all changes in content, the fact of awareness remains. That unchanging awareness is what Krishna means by Self. You don't need to create it or find it; you only need to stop ignoring it in favor of its contents. When attention rests in awareness itself rather than chasing objects, this is 'fixing the mind on the Self.'"