DISCOURSES Volume II - Avatar Meher Baba Trust

158 DISCOURSESImportance of makingthe mind stillthought or meditation in the ordinarysense. These forms of meditation,therefore, can at best take the aspirantvery close to self-knowledge which can only dawn in its full glorywhen the domain of the mind is completely traversed. Someimpersonal forms of specialised meditation are therefore concernedwith mental operations, and they ultimately aim at stilling themind.To acquire control over thoughts is to become fullyconscious of what they are. They have to be attended to beforethey are controlled. In ordinary introspection it is seldom possibleWriting downthoughtsfor the beginner to devote adequate attention to allthe shadowy thoughts which pass through hismind. It is helpful, therefore, for the aspirantoccasionally to write down all his thoughts 6 as they come and thento inspect them carefully at leisure. This process is different fromwriting planned articles. Thoughts are allowed to arise without anydirection or restraint so that even repressed elements from thesubconscious mind have access to the conscious mind.In a more advanced stage, an intensive awareness of mentalprocesses can take place while thoughts appear in consciousness,and writing them down becomes unnecessary. Observation ofWatching mentaloperationsmental operations 7 should be accompanied bycritical evaluation of thoughts. Thoughtscannot be controlled except through anappreciation of their value or lack of value. When the diversethoughts which assail the mind are critically evaluated, and theinternal6 Meditation No. 10, Table of Enumerative Classification (Part V).7 Meditation No. 11, Table of Enumerative Classification (Part V).