fix the mind in the Self

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Day by Day with Bhagavan________21-11-45 Afternoon A lady visitor from Sri Aurobindo's Ashram askedBhagavan, "When I concentrate, all sorts of thoughts rise anddisturb me. The more I try, the more thoughts rise up. Whatshould I do?"Bhagavan: Yes. It will be so. All that is inside will try tocome out. There is no other way except to pull up the mindeach time it wants to go astray and to fix it on the Self.Bhagavan quoted the verse in the Bhagavad Gita which saysthat as often as the wavering mind goes after anything, it shouldbe drawn away and fixed in the Self.Siva Mohan Lal asked Bhagavan, "When I concentratehere in Bhagavan's presence, I am able to fix my thought onthe Self easily. But in my place it takes a long time andmuch trouble to do so. Now why should it be so, especiallyas I feel convinced that Bhagavan is everywhere and is myantaryami?" I said, "It must of course be so. Though we aretold that God is immanent everywhere, are we not also toldthat he is more manifest in some objects or places than inothers, e.g., in temples, and images or avatars?" Bhagavansaid, "Ask Muruganar, who is here. He has sung a song wherehe says Ramanasramam is not simply here for him, buteverywhere." Thereupon Muruganar read out the followingstanza from (non-english script) (Ramana Devamalai):(n-e script)Which means, `Because (by His grace) the mind has attainedquiescence and remains calm everywhere as it used to remainat Ramanasramam, wherever I may go in this world it is to meRamanasramam, to which even devas go with keen desire.' Inother words, Ramanasramam is chid akasa which is everywhereand to which we gain access by killing the mind. Bhagavanadded, "Time and place really do not exist. Even in the radiowe have a hint of this truth. We have Hyderabad here. What issung there, we hear here at the same time as it is sung there.Where is time and place?"(to be concluded)