The windows of the mind

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The windows of the mind

 

 

Will Power motivated by God is the active force available for your

uplift. This is called Sankalpa Bala. Develop it by concentration

and japa (chanting the Divine Name).The mind must be compelled to

submit to the dictates of the will. Now, you are easily led astray

by the vagaries of the mind.

 

That is why, I say, WATCH! `W' is for watch your Words; `A' is for

watch your Actions; `T' is for watch your Thoughts; `C' is for watch

your Character; `H' is for watch your Heart. If the watch reminds

you every second of the need to watch these five, you can be quite

happy.

The mind swings like a pendulum between one pleasant object and

another. To stop the pendulum, the easiest means is to stop winding.

That will put an end to the swing. So too, stop encouraging the mind

by following its whims and fancies. When we beat another or cause

harm to him, we justify it as only right and proper; when he beats

us or harms us, we revolt and call it wrong and punishable.

Everything is judged by us on the touchstone of the ego. The mind is

a double-edged sword - it can save, but it can also bind. Yoga is

the restraint of the waves natural to the mind. By learning and

practising the disciplines of yama, niyama, aasana, pranaayama,

prathyaahaara dharana, dhyaana and samaadhi (abstention from evil-

doing, various observances, postures, control of breath, restraining

the sense organs, concentration, meditation, absorption in the

Aathma), the seeker can overcome and eliminate the mind.

The Five Elements and The Five Senses

When the mind is eliminated, the Reality will become patent! It is

like the discovery of the lost " tenth man. " Ten friends waded across

a river in floods, and when they reached the bank opposite, each one

took a count and found only nine, for he did not count himself! So,

they inferred that " the tenth man " was drowned and began lamenting

his loss.

 

Then, a passer-by came along and counted them. He found that all

were there; the tenth man too was there; only ignorance had kept him

unrecognised. This is the consequence of illusion. Since you do not

know the real nature of the Self or Aathma, you do not recognise the

Self at all; when this knowledge is communicated by the Guru or

scripture, the ignorance of the Self disappears.

The senses are the prime motive forces for the mind and the illusion

it suffers from. The Five Elements have each a characteristic that

affects and attracts one of the five senses: Sound (Ether), which

fascinates the mind through the ear; Touch (Air) which draws the

mind to itself through the skin; Form (Fire) which manipulates the

mind in its favour through the eye; Taste (Water), which enslaves

the mind through the tongue and Smell (Earth), which attracts the

mind through the nose.

Contact with the external world is maintained by the senses for the

sake of these experiences - which yield joy or grief. In order to

escape being tossed about on the waves of joy and grief, one should

cultivate unconcern (upeksha), an attitude of welcoming either, as a

sign of Grace. Sri Raamakrishna Paramahamsa (an enlightened soul)

said that if you must avoid the sticky fluid in the jack-fruit from

contacting your fingers when you peel it, you have to apply a few

drops of oil on them. " So too, " said he, " if you do not want the

world and its reactions to stick to you, have a few drops

of `unconcern' applied on your mind. " This unconcern leads to the

deepest yearning for God.

Chaithanya (a great devotee of Lord Krishna) went to Brindavan (the

place where Krishna spent His childhood), and every particle of dust

there was sacred for him, since Krishna trod that soil centuries

ago. He did not see or hear or touch or smell or taste anything

except Krishna at Brindavan. He was rendered so forgetful to the

world around him that he ignored the demands of hunger, thirst and

social etiquette. He yearned for the consecrated food that was

offered to Krishna in the Temple.

But, one night, the Lord appeared before him, and admonished him for

entertaining that one desire too! When at last, he gave up that

desire also and was overwhelmed with the thirst for Him and Him

alone, Krishna manifested before him, from within him. The Divine

Chaithanya (Consciousness) illuminated the Chaithanya in human form.

Learn therefore the discipline that can make the mind settle on God

only and never waver therefrom.

- Divine Discourse in Prasanthi Nilayam on October 9, 1967

 

(Sharing with Sai Love)

Ram.

 

Ram Chugani

Kobe, Japan

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