Swami Vivekananda once compared the mind to a monkey. The mind asks for things, things that make us and things that break us. It is an extremely powerful tool that everyone has at his or her disposal.
The mind gives us strength when we are down. The mind gives us nightmares when we fear something bad may happen. The mind lets us achieve great heights and the mind drives people to their misery.
कबीर बैरी सबल है, एक जीव रिपु पांच
अपने अपने स्वाद को, बहुत नचाबै नाच।
The great saint Kapila, who was the 10th child of sage Kardama and Devahuti, once sat and explained to his mother, how to control your mind. The entire discussion is mentioned in detail in Shrimad Bhagwatam in Canto three as Kapila Devahuti Samvad, or discussion between Kapila and Devahuti. Here he explains that the senses are our servants and we can use our mind to control them. The only way to control our mind is to not give into its demands and give it the exact opposite till we control it and it does not control us.
Lord Dattatreya in his journey, made an arrow maker his 21st Shiksha Guru . Dattatreya saw that an arrow maker, while working on his arrow was concentrating so hard that a pompous parade just crossed his house making a lot of noise but the arrow maker not only was not bothered, he couldnt even remember hearing anything once he was done with his arrow. It is the mind which gives the arrow maker so much resolve.
In Gita, Shri Krishna told Arjun that it is the mind which is the reason for a person to be in bondage or free. Attaching oneself to the desires of the world entraps us to this world and freeing oneself from these thoughts renders us free.
मन एव मनुष्याणां कारणं बन्धमोक्षयोः ।
असंशयं महाबाहो मनो दुर्निग्रहं चलम् |
अभ्यासेन तु कौन्तेय वैराग्येण च गृह्यते ||
The mind gives us strength when we are down. The mind gives us nightmares when we fear something bad may happen. The mind lets us achieve great heights and the mind drives people to their misery. कबीर बैरी सबल है, एक जीव रिपु पांच
अपने अपने स्वाद को, बहुत नचाबै नाच।
The great poet Kabir, says in the lines above that the enemy is very strong and it has 5 weapons. The weapons here in these lines are our 5 senses. While these can be our greatest strengths, our mind controls them and since we don't have any control over our mind, these senses betray us and lead us to our doom. Mind is a double edged sword. It is a power tool and if used without caution can destroy us.
The great saint Kapila, who was the 10th child of sage Kardama and Devahuti, once sat and explained to his mother, how to control your mind. The entire discussion is mentioned in detail in Shrimad Bhagwatam in Canto three as Kapila Devahuti Samvad, or discussion between Kapila and Devahuti. Here he explains that the senses are our servants and we can use our mind to control them. The only way to control our mind is to not give into its demands and give it the exact opposite till we control it and it does not control us.
Lord Dattatreya in his journey, made an arrow maker his 21st Shiksha Guru . Dattatreya saw that an arrow maker, while working on his arrow was concentrating so hard that a pompous parade just crossed his house making a lot of noise but the arrow maker not only was not bothered, he couldnt even remember hearing anything once he was done with his arrow. It is the mind which gives the arrow maker so much resolve.
In Gita, Shri Krishna told Arjun that it is the mind which is the reason for a person to be in bondage or free. Attaching oneself to the desires of the world entraps us to this world and freeing oneself from these thoughts renders us free.
मन एव मनुष्याणां कारणं बन्धमोक्षयोः ।
बन्धाय विषयासक्तं मुक्तं निर्विषयं स्मृतम् ॥
Also Krishna explains that the one who has controlled his mind, the mind is his friend and the one who cannot control his mind, it acts as his enemy.
बन्धुरात्मात्मनस्तस्य येनात्मैवात्मना जित: |
अनात्मनस्तु शत्रुत्वे वर्ते तात्मैव शत्रुवत् ||
The great poet Kabir has written a simple explanation of this Shloka
मन के मारे बन गये, बन तजि बस्ती माहि
कहं कबीर क्या किजीये, येह मन ठहरै नाहि।
मन के हारे हार है, मन के जीते जीत
कहे कबीर हरि पाइये, मन ही के परतीत ||
Kabir says the mind makes a man think we have had enough of this material world, wishes he leaves everything and become a monk. As soon as he does become a monk, the mind misses the good food and luxury and makes a person wish to go back as before. The mind never sticks to one thing. The mind of a man determines whether he feels like a winner or a loser and it is this mind which helps a man come face to face with God.
We have seen how the mind can free a man or hold him hostage. But the question is, how to control the mind ?
As per Shrimad Bhagwad Gita, there are 2 ways to control your mind, none of which is easy :
Also Krishna explains that the one who has controlled his mind, the mind is his friend and the one who cannot control his mind, it acts as his enemy.
बन्धुरात्मात्मनस्तस्य येनात्मैवात्मना जित: |
अनात्मनस्तु शत्रुत्वे वर्ते तात्मैव शत्रुवत् ||
The great poet Kabir has written a simple explanation of this Shloka
मन के मारे बन गये, बन तजि बस्ती माहि
कहं कबीर क्या किजीये, येह मन ठहरै नाहि।
मन के हारे हार है, मन के जीते जीत
कहे कबीर हरि पाइये, मन ही के परतीत ||
Kabir says the mind makes a man think we have had enough of this material world, wishes he leaves everything and become a monk. As soon as he does become a monk, the mind misses the good food and luxury and makes a person wish to go back as before. The mind never sticks to one thing. The mind of a man determines whether he feels like a winner or a loser and it is this mind which helps a man come face to face with God.
We have seen how the mind can free a man or hold him hostage. But the question is, how to control the mind ?
- Practise
- Detachment
असंशयं महाबाहो मनो दुर्निग्रहं चलम् |
अभ्यासेन तु कौन्तेय वैराग्येण च गृह्यते ||
The mind is like a child. It seeks out everything good and bad and still stays dissatisfied thus needs to be disciplined. Practicing meditation is the best way to making your mind submit to only doing one thing. So the question is what will your mind do when you are trying to meditate ? Make it concentrate on the lord's feet, then the lord's udar (or stomach) and then finally on his smiling face.
It will not be easy. The mind will take you back to how hungry you are, on your itchy nose , on what mistakes you made that need fixing, what your neighbour said about you or something else but you need to realise that you have diverted and pull your mind back on the lord. This will take years to master. But the key is to start the process. This will come through practise. First time people begin typing, they are able to type one word in a minute. But after a year’s typing, their fingers run on the keyboard often without looking. That's the power of practise.
Detachment is a state of mind when the mind wants no more. When in good or bad, sorrow or in happiness the mind is content, this is a true state of detachment. This occurs when the mind has reached a higher state of satisfaction by practising meditation. I will soon have a piece ready on Detachment as it is a big topic in itself.
Ati sunder Dada....🌷🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🌷
ReplyDeleteThank you sir. Sab apke prerna se hi sambhav ho paya hai
DeleteThank you for sharing this beautiful article explaining about the traits of mind and knowlege of elevating the conciousness by our great gurus. Mind is not given an importance in Yogic system because mind is accumulating information from outside and it is driven based on the information it has accumulated. Yogic system is an absoloute science which teaches us how to elevate the conciousness and initiate the inward journey. By elevating conciousness, we can experience the true nature of life. Talk on Yoga and conciousness is endless yet extremely interesting. Lord shiva has given us this elaborate science of yoga through patanjali. There is an amazing guidelines of 8 limbs of yoga in Patanjali which are 1-Yama, 2-Niyama, 3-Asana, 4-Pranayama, 5-Pratyahara, 6-Dharna, 7-Dhyana and 8-Samadhi. I will keep it short here and will place some text of Patanjali on meditation and turning inward which was guided in Limbs 5-Pratyahara, 6-Dharna, 7-Dhyana.
ReplyDelete5. Pratyahara
Pratyahara, the fifth limb, means withdrawal or sensory transcendence. It is during this stage that we make the conscious effort to draw our awareness away from the external world and outside stimuli. Keenly aware of, yet cultivating a detachment from, our senses, we direct our attention internally. The practice of pratyahara provides us with an opportunity to step back and take a look at ourselves. This withdrawal allows us to objectively observe our cravings: habits that are perhaps detrimental to our health and which likely interfere with our inner growth.
6. Dharana
As each stage prepares us for the next, the practice of pratyahara creates the setting for dharana, or concentration. Having relieved ourselves of outside distractions, we can now deal with the distractions of the mind itself. No easy task! In the practice of concentration, which precedes meditation, we learn how to slow down the thinking process by concentrating on a single mental object: a specific energetic center in the body, an image of a deity, or the silent repetition of a sound. We, of course, have already begun to develop our powers of concentration in the previous three stages of posture, breath control, and withdrawal of the senses. In asana and pranayama, although we pay attention to our actions, our attention travels. Our focus constantly shifts as we fine-tune the many nuances of any particular posture or breathing technique. In pratyahara we become self-observant; now, in dharana, we focus our attention on a single point. Extended periods of concentration naturally lead to meditation.
7. Dhyana
Meditation or contemplation, the seventh stage of ashtanga, is the uninterrupted flow of concentration. Although concentration (dharana) and meditation (dhyana) may appear to be one and the same, a fine line of distinction exists between these two stages. Where dharana practices one-pointed attention, dhyana is ultimately a state of being keenly aware without focus. At this stage, the mind has been quieted, and in the stillness it produces few or no thoughts at all. The strength and stamina it takes to reach this state of stillness is quite impressive. But don't give up. While this may seem a difficult if not impossible task, remember that yoga is a process. Even though we may not attain the "picture perfect" pose, or the ideal state of consciousness, we benefit at every stage of our progress.
Thank you Kamal for this is great information. You are already a yogi and well en route to becoming a great Yogi
DeleteI never really thought of myself as a spiritual person. It wasn’t until I started practicing yoga did I become more spiritual and realize that I didn’t need a religion to find God, that God was already within me. With yoga, I felt this wonderful connection with my body. It was magical. It was like I was reintroduced to my bones, muscles, tendons, skin, nerves, breath. In a way I started to become awake to life. We are all these beautiful beings – true miracles.
ReplyDeleteI am sharing yogic science here because Lord Krishna considered him a yogi above anything. The resulting conversation between Arjuna and Krishna develops into a discourse on the nature of the soul, the purpose of one’s life, and the threefold path of yoga. The Bhagavad Gita is a unique scripture in that it is considered both Shruti (divine revelation) and Smriti (ancient stories). The Gita serves as both an ancient story of Krishna leading Arjuna into battle and a spiritual text on the inner struggle for self-mastery and the attainment of happiness through yoga.
ReplyDeleteIt is really amazing having 2 of my 3 Shiksha Gurus speak their minds in the comments.
ReplyDelete