Articles for Saadhana

Harih Om Tat Sat. Jai Guru.

I was speaking during the past one or two days about the seeker having to understand the place of mind, the nature of the mind and the purpose of the mind. Without understanding these, he should not think about grumbling that “My mind is not alright. When I meditate so many thoughts come, disturb.” etc. I said that mind is supposed to think. It is thinking and the thinking cannot be arrested as such. Can you imagine a life where our mind is not able to think, bring the timely memories, timely reactions and emotions?

You are walking on the road, on the footpath, a vehicle come from the opposite side. The footpath is a little narrow. You will have to react to the arrival of the bus runningly and within the narrow footpath you will have to leave sufficient space so that the vehicle goes and you are safe. The motivation here is facilitating the travel and also reacting to the possibility of a danger that means fear. There are fear elements which are necessary, but imaginary fear should be avoided. “I am not able to write the examination, I am afraid, I have not prepared, whether I will fail, what kind of questions will come.” You will know the questions only when you go to the examination hall and read the question paper.

What we require is a training of the mind, encouraging and allowing the mind to express timely reactions and responses, discouraging the mind from untimely and unnecessary expressions, avoiding imaginary fear, honoring and respecting timely and necessary fear. Aspirations which are good should be fostered. A seeker must have a burning aspiration for liberation. We don’t discourage aspiration but disproportionate and impossible aspirations should be avoided. So, what you need is a culture of the mind, culture of the mind.

While explaining meditation in the dhyāna yoga, sixth chapter of Bhagavad Gita, Krishna speaks about āsans, holding the body erect etc. This is only the first part, first phase of meditation. When he goes to the second phase, he says only about the mind, intelligence and will.

Buddhyā dhṛti-gṛhītayā. The intelligence should be restrained by your will, sankalpa. So, he explains it in this manner - Yato yato niścarati manaś-cañcalam-asthiram. He calls the mind cañcala, always swinging, swerving, desultory, asthiram, unstable. So, nobody will have an unswerving and stable mind. We have to make it stable and steady. That stability and steadiness are qualities to be developed in the mind and you can develop them only by getting into the mind. Be conscious of these qualities, wish them, want them, aspire for them. Tell the mind that these are what it needs and insert them into the mind by being fond of them, remembering them, discussing them and deliberating about them in your own mind. I would like to call it mind hours spent on the qualities, mind hours spent on the qualities.

Think of people who have these qualities. What did they do? How? Reflect about the meaning and purpose of these qualities yourselves. Try to arrive at your own definition of these qualities. You try to define it yourself. In this way you can spend time. When sufficient mind hours are spent on a quality, the quality will have become yours, part of the mind.

Yato yato niścarati - For whatever reason the mind distracts, manaś-cañcalam-asthiram, mind is desultory, unstable, unsteady. So, it will always flicker, flicker, swing, swerve. Whenever it swerves, you go into it - Why is it swerving, why is it swerving, is it authentic, justified? So, a process of enlightening tuition will be there. Tuition for whom?  For oneself, one’s mind.

Tatas-tato niyamyaitad - So bring it back from the distractional note, bring it back from the distractional note.

Ātmany-eva vaśaṁ nayet. My dear mind, you don’t have to get distracted. Distraction will result in grief, lack of peace, comfort. So, do not get distracted, do not get distracted. After all, what is it that I want? Nothing. My mind alone is capable of giving me happiness. It is that mind which gives happiness in any situation with regard to anything. So, it is its birth right, it has ample stock of happiness.

Always remember the sleep. You are sleeping independently, without the help of the body, help of the mind, help of the intelligence, help of the ego, help of the world. None of these things was present there. Yet you describe yourself as joyful, joyful, joyful. A man who had an operation and post operation pain was severe, is severe, that man is also put to sleep and he sleeps comfortably, comfortably, comfortably. That comfort doesn’t come from the body, from the world. So, it comes from oneself. You are that comfortable, joyful, joyful, consciousness, self. Remind the mind like that. Ask it to come back. Ask it to come back, persuade it.

Ātma-saṁsthaṁ manaḥ kṛtvā, ātma-saṁsthaṁ manaḥ kṛtvā, ātma-saṁsthaṁ manaḥ kṛtvā. What we want in meditation is mind not functioning, mind not thinking. So, the thinking and distracted mind should be led to non-thinking and non-distractedness. It should be led to its own itselfness. Mark my expression - Mind should be led to its own itselfness. Mind has got a nature, a presence, a character. It should be led to it. That is what takes place in sleep. We rest in ourselves but we are unconscious, that is why we don’t know. We must get into a conscious sleep, conscious sleep. That is called ‘Samadhi’. Conscious sleep.

Ātma-saṁsthaṁ manaḥ kṛtvā na kiñcid-api cintayet. Lead the mind to itselfness and then, na kiñcid-api cintayet. Do not think of anything. Think, but of nothing. Now this is called the real meditation, the real, the real, the real meditation, the real meditation. It is not a magic. It is not a miracle, but it is the super essence, super essence of understanding, introspection.

For many years, at least a few years, I must have, may not be few years, but one or two years at least, I must have perhaps sought something different from the mind, something different from sleep, something different from the self, not knowing what it was. But I found that true meditation is a relaxation, true meditation is a cessation of thinking. True meditation is effortless pleasant absorption. True meditation is a sleep, but being conscious of the sleep. It is a conscious slumber or it is a sleepy wakefulness. It is a sleepy wakefulness, sleepy wakefulness. This condition will come to you, grace you, provided you approach the subject with knowledge, discretion. That is why we have so much of emphasis on sastras.

These sastras repeatedly speak about, enlighten the seeker about the self. Krishna started speaking from the second chapter and he had illumined Arjuna. The same illumination Arjuna was seeking further confirmation for. So, he went on speaking, the third chapter, fourth chapter, fifth chapter which we are covering now. Then he goes to sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh, twelfth, thirteenth, fourteenth, fifteenth, sixteenth, seventeenth, eighteenth. The same subject he was speaking again and again. It is worth going through Bhagavad Gita.

When you read Bhagavad Gita, try to understand it. The mind and intelligence are engrossed in it. That engrossment is what we want. It is not like pooja, it is not like nivedya, it is not like circumambulation, pradakshina, it is not like climbing a hill, taking a bath, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. It is making your mind pure, sublime, serene, blissed. It is making your intelligence clear, clear, stable and poised. The mind which is agitated now will become peaceful, quiet. The mind will become peaceful, quiet. Why don’t you sit in a place? Do not feel tense at all. Simply enter into the mind plane, mind arena. For some time, live and move with your thoughts, then tell them – ‘Please stop, keep quiet.’ The mind will simply cooperate. Meditation is thus a very pleasant and sensitive handling of your mind, an attentive handling of your mind.

Harih Om Tat Sat. Jai Guru. Jai Guru.