MIND AND SERENITY - SWAMI TATWANANDA

[Guest guest]

"There is no knowledge for the unsteady. For the one who is unsteady there is

no meditation and for the one who is not meditative, there is no peace. For

the one who has no peace, how can there be happiness?"

"The mind, which follows in the wake of the wandering senses, carries away

one's knowledge, just as the wind carries away a boat on the waters."

"Therefore, O mighty armed One, the one whose senses are withdrawn from sense

objects his knowledge soon becomes steady."

(Chap.2-Verses-66, 67, 68. B.G.)

 

 

You cannot judge any situation rightly if you are part of it. Your judgement

/assessment of a situation is right to a great extent, if you are free of its

influence from the very beginning of the situation. To be free of such

influences that arise within, even when involved actively is called

"renunciation."

 

Renunciation is the essence of strength and knowledge. Unless you have this,

your faculties do not come into existence with full brilliance to study,

understand and act rightly as the situation demands. The attitude or poise to

grasp the message of this creation is the springboard of inspiration and

wisdom.

 

The imaginary fears of situations that cause the restlessness of the mind are

a sign of ignorance. Restlessness never helps one to take the right decision.

Indecisiveness restrains one from involvement, even when there is a need.

Remaining unresponsive to the call of responsibility, the mind grows further

restless and irritable and this leads to friction in relationships.

 

Relationships being the mirror of yourself, you find yourself broken and

shattered. Just as a boat, hit by strong winds tosses and moves, loses

direction, and reaches no where, so is the unsettled mind swayed by the

stranglehold of sensual pleasures.

 

It is clear that this unsettlement is due to the wrong values and judgements

developed over the years about oneself and the world of relationships. When

these mistaken notions are withdrawn, one becomes blessed with mental poise.

With the firm judgement that life is a series of opportunities to reveal the

poise one has discovered within, one must learn to keep the senses

controlled, poised and purposefully active in different pursuits.

 

The appreciative faith one has in Esvara's "laws" that govern one's efforts

and the sequence of situations helps one to remain of free of negative

thinking. Such an attitude invokes a sense of freedom from the cycle of

action/results and at the same time instils in that mind a reverence for this

creation. That freedom and reverence makes one an adequate person. This

natural adequacy is recognized as a reality if one learns to look at oneself

in the moment of that poise, where Self-communication takes place!

 

Problems in life are not solved by controlling/suppressing the faculties that

reveal them, but by making the faculties understand the problem. Suppression

is not a sign of growth in an individual or society. On the other hand

sublimation may help one to discover the meaning of life. There is

sublimation for the faculties, when one makes the mind look at this world not

as the field for seeking but as a field to express one's own sense of

adequacy. This sublimation is the freedom advocated by the enlightened

masters.

 

(Excerpted from Swamiji's talks published in Mind and Serenity-1984.)