SMT Throughout the world, about 900 million trees are cut down annually.

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RED SQUIRREL 

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Is it effective if I only do meditation for 15 minutes?

Yes. If you spend the entire 15 minutes just witnessing your mind, thoughts, feelings and body sensations, with no engagement or identification, in that one 15 minute sitting, you could fully awaken!

A man at a fair showed a beautiful white horse, with a golden gilt saddle, and a sign that said “Win this horse.” An interested fairgoer approached the horse owner and said, “What do I have to do to win the horse?” The horse owner said, “If you can sit in meditation, totally unidentified with your mind and your ego’s desires, for just one full minute, you win the horse.” The fairgoer, a regularly-practicing meditator, said, “Oh, that’s a cinch, I will win that horse for sure.” He sat down, closed his eyes and cleared his mind. 15 seconds passed, 30 seconds. 45 seconds passed. Suddenly, the fairgoer opened his eyes and asked the horse owner, “Do I get the golden saddle, too?”

Dropping into your true witnessing awareness makes you instantly free, not in 15 minutes, 5 minutes or even one minute. Instantly you know you are the neutral watcher, not your mind, and instantly, you are free.

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Gist – Ramana Maharshi on the Dream-like Nature of the World

1. Life as a Dream-like Illusion:

   • Lakshmana suggests that life itself is a worldly dream.
   • Ramana Maharshi does not say the world is an actual dream but likens the waking state to a dream, emphasizing its unreal nature.

2. Unreality of Both States (Waking and Dream):

   • Both the waking and dream states are creations of the mind.
   • While immersed in either state, the mind cannot doubt their reality.

3. The Mind’s Illusion:

   • Just as you accept impossible things during a dream (e.g., speaking to the dead), you also accept the waking world without question.
   • The mind that creates these experiences cannot easily perceive them as unreal.

4. Turning Inward to the Self:

   • Reality can only be realized by withdrawing the mind from external experiences and turning inward toward the Self.
   • By abiding in the Self, the world becomes as unreal as a dream.

Core Teaching:
Both waking and dream states are illusory from the standpoint of ultimate reality. True knowledge arises by turning the mind inward and realizing the Self, which is the unchanging substratum behind all experiences.

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