Tuesday, January 22, 2013

DEVELOP YOUR SIGHT - Swami Sivananda


DEVELOP YOUR SIGHT

Whenever you meet a person, look at his figure carefully from top to bottom. Mentally note his peculiar features - the condition of his eyes, eyebrows, teeth, arms etc., the sort of dress he is wearing, what kind of cap he wears, whether he has a moustache or not. Notice his behaviour, his looks, his gait, whether he seems to be kind-hearted or cruel, whether he is intelligent or dull, polite or impolite, his colour, etc.

Many people cannot give a clear description of the faces of their own friends, their own parents! The obvious reason is that they have not developed the power of memory. Enter your friend's room; notice carefully all the things you see there. Then close your eyes and reflect. Come out of the room and note mentally all the things which the room contains, in order. Then re-enter the room and verify what you noticed. Practise this for some months - you will develop a wonderful power of sight.

Memory culture is very, very important. It brings success in God-realisation as well. A forgetful man always fails in his endeavours - he commits serious mistakes again and again. A man with a strong and retentive memory gets sanguine success in all his ventures and undertakings. He who has memory can conduct his business affairs very successfully. A student who has a retentive memory will get success in all his examinations. Intelligence is only one-tenth of memory.

The Sanskrit term for memory is smrti. Smarana is remembering. This is the function of the sub-conscious mind or citta. The samskaras (habits) of thinking and acting are deeply impressed in the citta, which is like the sensitive plate of a camera. All impressions are indelibly recorded there. Whenever you attempt to remember past events or things, they come to the surface of the mind through the trap-door. They come out in the form of big waves of thought or as mental images.

He who dwells in the sub-conscious mind (citta) and in memory, he who is within this memory, whom the citta and the memory do not know, whose body is the memory (and sub-conscious mind), who rules the memory and citta from within - he is thy self, the inner ruler, immortal Atman, antaryami, amritam. My silent adorations and prostrations to this inner ruler!

********************************************************************************

No comments: