Raja Yoga, Message 4
.jpg)
Time — A Mode of the Mind
Time is but a mode of mind. It is also illusory like the objects. When your mind is deeply concentrated, a period of two hours appears like five minutes. If the mind is distracted and wandering, half an hour appears as two hours. This is everybody's experience. In dream also the experiences of some years take place within ten minutes. Through the play of the mind a kalpa is considered as a moment, and vice-versa.
If all the modifications of the mind stop through restraint (nirodhah), time will vanish. Time is a mental creation. Mind is a product or modification of the indescribable power of the Lord. The one power (shakti), which is known by various names, assumes various forms for keeping up the divine play of the Lord.
Wonderful is the illusive power of the Lord! Still more wonderful is the Lord and His divine play (lila). He who obtains the grace of the Lord through total unreserved self-surrender and unswerving devotion understands His divine play, rejoices in Him, goes beyond time and mind and attains immortality.
Atman is One
Bulbs are of different colours but the light is the same in all bulbs. Even so, the bodies and mental attitudes (bhavanas) are different but Atman (the Self) is one in all beings. A white bulb represents sattvic mind or sattvic bhavana; a red bulb rajasic mind or rajasic bhavana; a black bulb tamasic mind or tamasic bhavana.
Bodies are different, mental attitudes are different, gunas (qualities born of nature) are different and actions are different, but the Self is the same in all beings.
Noses are different. Some noses are aquiline, some are broad, but the power (shakti) that grasps the smell is one in all noses. Flowers are different, colours of flowers are also different, but the organ that sees is one.
Even so, bodies are different and minds are different, but the Intelligence (Self, Atman or consciousness) is one.
All colours are centred in the eye, all tastes are centred in the tongue, all touches are centred in the skin, all sounds are centred in the ear, all scents are centred in the nose, all senses are centred in the mind, all minds are centred in OM or Atman or the Supreme Self, the support of everything.
This universe is also an aspect of the Lord, because its creation, preservation and dissolution proceeds from Him. Golden ear-rings, armlets, etc., are nothing but gold; so also this world of names and forms is nothing but the Lord. All the forms are divine manifestations of the Lord. If you remember this constantly you will have a new angle of vision. You will be freed from attachment and hatred. You will attain Self-realisation through the worship of the Lord in His form as the manifested universe.
Metaphysics of the Inner Man
The physical body, the astral body, life-force (prana), intellect (buddhi), the instinctive mind, the spiritual mind and the spirit are the seven principles of man. Buddhi is pure reason. The seat of buddhi is just below the crown of the head in the pineal gland in the brain. Buddhi is manifested only in those persons who have developed right intuitive discrimination (viveka). The ordinary reason of worldly people is termed practical reason, which is dense and has limitations.
Prana is the vital-force or life-energy. It is the eternal symbol of God or Brahman. It is the link between the astral and physical body.
Prana is divided into physical prana and psychic prana. Breathing is an external manifestation of physical prana. All thoughts are due to the vibration of psychic prana in the sub-conscious. Prana is the horse and the body is the chariot. It vibrates and mind is set in motion. Mind thinks when prana moves. If it departs from the body all functions of the body will stop. The physical body will remain like a log of wood. Separation of prana from the physical body is called 'death' in common parlance. Control of prana leads to control of mind and vice-versa.
Just as an arrow is propelled by a bowman, so this body is propelled by prana. It is prana which manipulates this physical body and which fills and permeates it.
By the command of Brahman the ocean does not exceed its limits. By His command the sun shines and rises at the appointed time in the east. By His command the fire burns. By His command the mind, prana and the senses function.
Matter, prana and mind are the three relative manifestations of the Absolute. Prana is really a modification or manifestation of mind. Prana is the faculty of action. Matter emanates from prana. Prana proceeds from mind. Matter is below prana. Prana is above matter but below mind. Prana is positive to matter but negative to mind. Mind is positive to both prana and matter, but negative to will. Will is the centre of ego. Will is the general-in-chief which directs the mind and prana to all parts and in all directions. Intuition is above reason and is the channel of communication between man and spirit. Development of the will-power by auto-suggestion is the basic principle of raja yoga or vedanta.
The Power Within
If you separate yourself from negative feelings and identify yourself with the Supreme Being no external influence can affect you. You will be invulnerable. Sometimes depression manifests on account of some disappointment or failure, severe dyspepsia or heated debates, wrong thinking or wrong feeling. Drive out the feeling of depression and gloom at once by enquiry, singing divine songs, prayers, chanting of OM, pranayama, a brisk walk in the open air or thinking of the opposite quality, the feeling of joy. Try to be happy in all states and radiate only joy towards all around you.
Why do you weep, my child? You are more emotional than rational. Control the emotions and become calm. Remove the bandage from your eyes and see now. You are surrounded by truth and truth alone. All is light and bliss only. The cataract of ignorance has blurred your vision. Extract the cataract immediately. Put on a new pair of glasses by developing the inner eye of wisdom through regular practice of concentration.
It is not thought alone that determines action. There are some intelligent people who think reasonably on the pros and cons of a thing, but when the time comes they are led astray by temptations. They do wrong actions and repent later on. It is the feeling that really goads man to action. Some psychologists lay special stress on imagination and say that it is imagination that really determines action. They bring the following illustrations in support of their view. Suppose a long plank one foot broad is placed between two turrets, each twenty feet high. When you begin to walk on this plank you imagine that you will fall down, and so you actually fall down, whereas you are able to walk on the same plank when placed on the ground. Suppose you go on a bicycle along a narrow lane. You see a big stone on the way. You imagine that you will hit the cycle against the stone, and so you actually run the cycle against the stone. Some other psychologists say that it is the will that determines an action. Will can do everything. Vedantins are of this latter opinion.
Will is the basic power in man. It is the soul-force. If the desires are destroyed, will-power develops. Control of the sense organs also augments the will-power. Determination, patience, interest, attention, perseverance, tenacity, application, fixity of purpose, persistency, practice of celibacy and meditation on the Self develop the will-power. A man of strong will has perfect self-confidence. He achieves sanguine success in all his attempts. Failure is unknown to him. Do not mistake obstinacy or stubbornness for strong will. Stubbornness is born of tamas or inertia. It is a form of stupidity.
Within you is a vast magazine of power, within you is the ocean of knowledge, within you is the fountain of bliss. All faculties are latent in you. The inner man is the immortal Soul. You are identical with the supreme
Self. Realise this and be free. Unfold your latent faculties through meditation. Tap the source, dive deep within and bring up the pearl of the Atman. Be bold, be cheerful. May you become a superman!
You are the architect of your own fate and fortune. You are the master of your own destiny. You can do and undo things. You can attain Brahmanhood by right thinking, right feeling and right acting. You can break old morbid habits by the power of your will.
You can destroy wrong tendencies, unholy desires and incorrect imaginations. You can cultivate new habits, you can change your nature, you can build up a beautiful character. You can move the whole world by your spiritual force, you can elevate others also to the status of divinity. You can control the forces of nature and command the elements.
The powers of the mind are like rays of light dissipated. The rays of the mind are drawn towards various objects. You will have to gather them patiently through dispassion (vairagya) and practice (abhyasa), renunciation and austerity, and then march boldly on with indefatigable energy towards God or Brahman.
When the mental rays are concentrated, illumination begins.
The intelligent, skilful and ever vigilant yogi is ever ready with his arrows to kill this wandering mischievous, turbulent mind. He attains ethical perfection, discipline of the senses and the mind, steadies the body, regulates the breath, adjusts the diet, controls the semen and finally hits at the mind straightaway. Then he enters into deep samprajnata-samadhi. You will find in the Mandukya Upanishad: "Pranava or OM is the bow, the mind or the lower self the arrow, and Brahman the mark or the target. If one carefully shoots at the mark, he becomes one with it."
The Subconscious Mind
It is an admitted psychological fact that the mental processes by which you obtain knowledge are not merely confined to the field of consciousness, but also cover the field of subconsciousness. If you know the technique of speaking to your subconscious mind and the art or science of extracting work from it just as you would speak to your servant or a dear old friend, then all knowledge will be yours. Yes, it is a question of practice, and practice will make you perfect.
All that you have inherited, all that you have brought with you through innumerable births in the past, all that you have seen, heard, enjoyed, tasted, read or known either in this life or in past lives, are hidden in your subconscious mind.
When you are unable to solve some puzzle in metaphysics, science or philosophy, ask your subconscious mind to do the work for you with the full trust and confidence that you are bound to get the right solution from it. Master the technique of concentration and way of commanding your subconscious mind and make full and free use of all that knowledge. Command your subconscious mind in the following manner: "Look here, you subconscious mind! I want the solution to this puzzle or problem very urgently tomorrow morning.
Kindly do it quickly." Let your command be given in very clear terms, and let there be no ambiguity about it. You will positively get the answer from your subconscious mind the next morning. But sometimes the subconscious mind may be busy otherwise, and in such cases you will have to wait for some days. You will have to repeat the same command regularly every day at a fixed time.
If an idea is planted in the mind it grows at night through the operation of the subconscious mind. The subconscious mind never takes any rest. From the authentic writings and the experiences of a hypnotised person we can clearly infer the existence of the subconscious mind which operates throughout the twenty-four hours.
Practice of telepathy, thought-reading, hypnotism, mesmerism, distant healing, psychic healing, etc., clearly prove that mind exists and that a higher developed mind can influence and subjugate the lower mind.
The occult phenomena that take place in the mental world are all based on scientific laws. Occultists and raja yogins should have a comprehensive, intelligent understanding of these laws. Then only will they be able to easily control the psychic forces.
Mind is Like a Chameleon
Mind is not only daily made, but hourly made. Every minute it changes its colour and shape like a chameleon. It is very wavering and unsteady.
Neem leaves are bitter when you are in normal health, but if you taste them when you are bitten by a cobra, they are sweet. Bitterness and sweetness do not lie in the leaves, but they are in the subject. They are created by the mind. It is the mind that gives the qualities of shape, colour, taste, etc., to the object.
Just as the water that flows from a tank to the fields through channels assumes the forms of the respective fields, so also the mind goes out through the channel of the eyes, pervades the objects and assumes the forms of the respective objects. As soon as one field is filled with water, the water is diverted and sent to the next field. Water thus flows from one field to another field. Even so, the mind assumes the form of one object, and then it jumps to another object, then to a third object and so on.
Sometimes one says: "I was absent in mind, I did not hear. I was absent in mind, I did not see." In this manner it is evident that a person sees with the mind and hears with the mind. Desire, determination, uncertainty, belief, unbelief, steadiness, unsteadiness, intellect and fear are mind alone.
When one is under chloroform anaesthesia, the activity of the cells of the brain is inhibited by the effect of chloroform. The mind, which has its seat in the brain during waking consciousness, now rests in a place midway between the throat and the heart and so one has no feeling of pain even when his leg is amputated.
Man feels pain only when the mind is connected with the body. When one is under chloroform the mind is disconnected from the physical body.
When the mind is fully occupied in the affairs of warfare the soldier does not feel any serious injury when he gets a gunshot wound in the leg. He is filled with enthusiasm. He is not conscious of his body for the time being. When the excitement is over, when he sees some blood spots on his clothing or when one of his comrades points out to him the wound on the leg, he comes to consciousness. Then he is alarmed a bit. The power of imagination havocs now. He gets a collapse. The power of imagination always exaggerates.
Conscience is the result of the action of environment on the mind. It is one's own convictions. It is ever-changing. The conscience of one man differs from that of another. If you acquire some more experience you will have a different conscience.
Though the mind is the same, the mode of thinking is different in different persons. The mentality, temperament and latent tendencies are different in different persons. A Persian poet, a Delhi grocer and an Ayodhya priest were travelling together on the road to Badrinarayan. Near Deva Prayag, where the Ganges and the Alakananda meet together, a nightingale was singing in a very melodious tune. The Persian poet said:
"This bird is singing subhan teri kudaret — How magnanimous is Thy nature's glory." The grocer said: "The bird is singing hing haldi adharak — Asafoetida, turmeric, ginger." The Ayodhya priest said: "The bird is singing Rama-Sita-Dasarath (names of God)".
A philosopher will make out some kind of philosophy even from abusive words and unpleasant expressions.
The mind born of meditation is free from desires and impressions. There cannot be any abode for desires or attraction and repulsion or virtue and sin in the mind that is born of meditation.
Marvels of the Mind
Look at the marvels of the mind! One is struck with awe and wonder when he witnesses a hypnotised person in trance and hears his narratives. The hypnotised person narrates very lucidly the life history and incidents of a person whom he has not seen in his life.
A maid servant who was attending on a Hebrew priest used to hear the Hebrew verses during her service.
She suddenly developed a double-personality when she was sick in the hospital, and repeated Hebrew verses. She did not know the Hebrew language. All the impressions (of hearing from the priest) were in the subconscious mind, and she repeated the verses. No impressions are lost. They are indelibly recorded in the gramophone machine of the mind stuff (chitta).
A priest used to forget his old personality and assume a new personality, a new name and a new vocation for six months. When he developed a double-personality he would leave his old house and entirely forget all about his old life, and then return after six months and entirely forget all about the second personality he assumed for six months.
Power of Thought
Man is thought-formed. "As a man thinks, such indeed he is and as he thinks in this world he becomes on departing hence." —Chhandogya Upanishad: III-41-1
If all thoughts are eliminated there remains nothing which can be called 'mind'. So 'thoughts' are the mind.
Again, there is no such thing as the world independent of and apart from thoughts.
Your thoughts mould your character and shape your destiny. Thought has tremendous power. It is more powerful than electricity. Thoughts control your life. Conquer your thoughts.
Thoughts gain strength by repetition. If you entertain an evil thought or good thought once, this evil thought or good thought has a tendency to recur again. Thoughts crowd together just as birds of the same feather flock together, so if you entertain one evil thought all sorts of evil thoughts join together and pull you down. If you entertain any good thought, all good thoughts join together and raise you up.
Kill ruthlessly the fear-thoughts, selfish-thoughts, hate-thoughts, lustful-thoughts and other morbid negative thoughts. These evil thoughts induce weakness, disease, disharmony, depression and despair.
At first an evil thought enters the mind. Then you entertain a strong imagination. You take delight in dwelling on that evil thought. You give it consent to stay in the mind. Gradually the evil thought, when it is not resisted, takes a strong hold in your mind. Then it becomes very difficult to drive it off. The proverb goes: "Give a rogue an inch and he will take a mile." This is true of thoughts also.
Like attracts like. If you entertain an evil thought this thought attracts all sorts of evil thoughts from others.
You pass on that thought to others also. Thought moves; it is a living force. Thought is a thing. If you allow your mind to dwell on a sublime thought this thought will attract good thoughts from others. You pass on that good thought to others. You pollute the world with your bad thoughts. You improve the world with your good thoughts.
Cultivate positive thoughts such as mercy, courage, love and purity. The negative thoughts will die by themselves. Try this and feel your strength. Pure thoughts will infuse in you a new exalted life.
The thoughts you create in your mind and the images you form in your daily life will help in making you what you are or what you want to become. If you constantly think of the pure, immortal Atman and meditate on the formula 'I am Brahman', you will become identical with Atman. If you constantly think of Lord Krishna you will become identical with the Lord. You will abide in Him for ever.
Sublime divine thoughts produce tremendous influence in the mind and drive away evil thoughts and change the mental substance. Mind is wholly changed into light by entertaining divine thoughts.
Thoughts are solid things, more solid than a lump of stone. They have tremendous force or power. Utilise this thought-power carefully. It can serve you nicely in a variety of ways. But do not misuse this power at random. If you do misuse it you will have quick downfall or a terrible reaction. Utilise it to help others.
From thinking comes attachment; from attachment desire is born; from desire proceeds anger — anger arises when desire is frustrated by some cause or the other; from anger arises delusion; from delusion, failure of memory, from failure of memory, loss of intellect; from loss of intellect man is totally ruined. If you want to attain everlasting peace do not think of objects but think always of the immortal, blissful Atman alone.
Desires by themselves are harmless. They are galvanised by the power of imagination or thought. Then only they do much havoc. Man muses or thinks on the objects of the senses. He imagines that he will get a great deal of pleasure from them. This imagination cooperates with the desires. Then the desires are invigorated or vitalised. They attack the deluded jiva vehemently.
The external objects are continuously acting upon the brain. The sense-impressions reach the brain through sense-avenues and produce mental stimuli. Now you are conscious of the external objects. Consciousness may be caused by an awakening, either by an external stimulus, i.e., a stimulus from a sense-impression or an internal stimulus through memory. Each simple sense-impression is a highly complex bundle of afferent-stimuli (stimuli that are carried from outside towards the brain). A stimulus is an awakening in the substratum of the mind. The associations of awakenings which arise from a single sense-impression are very complex.
When the mind thinks of worldly objects there is order. The mind may think of a rose and then it may think of a bungalow, money, sea-voyage, aeroplane, motor car, restaurants and pictures. You may think that the mind is aimlessly wandering, but there is order in its movement. The idea of a bungalow comes when it thinks of a rose because the rose is grown in the compound of a bungalow. As soon as it thinks of a bungalow the idea of money creeps in, because a wealthy man who possesses money lives in a bungalow. Then the mind wants to enjoy pleasant objects with the help of money. It wants to take a pleasure-trip to Europe and move about there in an aeroplane and automobile, to eat dainties in hotels and to see pictures in cinemas.
Molten gold which is poured into a crucible assumes the shape of the crucible. Even so, the mind assumes the form of the object which it intensely dwells upon. If it thinks of an orange it assumes the shape of an orange. If it thinks of Lord Krishna it assumes the form of Lord Krishna. You must train the mind properly and give it proper pure sattvic food for assimilation. Have a pure background of thought or mental image.
It is the mental attitude that determines the nature of an action and brings its fruits. You may embrace your mother or sister or your wife. The action is the same but the mental feeling (bhava) is different.
Watch your ideas and feelings always. Your attitude should always be pure. You should always entertain thoughts of God. Watch the feeling during meditation.
If you have purity and concentration you can make the mind assume any feeling you like. If you think of mercy your whole being will be saturated with mercy. If you think of peace your whole being will be pervaded with peace.
Chitta
The subconscious mind is termed chitta. Much of your subconscious consists of submerged experiences, memories thrown into the background, but recoverable.
When you show symptoms of losing your memory as you grow old, the first symptom is that you find it difficult to remember the names of persons. The reason is not far to seek. All the names are arbitrary. They are like labels. There are no associations along with the names. The mind generally remembers through associations, as the impressions become deep thereby. You can remember in old age some passages you have read in school and college, but you find it difficult to remember in the evening a passage you have read in the morning. The reason is that the mind has lost its power of grasping ideas. The cells have degenerated.
Those who overwork mentally, who do not observe the rules of celibacy and who are afflicted with many cares, worries and anxieties, lose their power of memory soon. Even in old age you can remember old events as there are associations with these events.
The mental processes are limited to the field of consciousness alone. The field of subconscious mentation is of a much greater extent than that of conscious mentation. Only ten percent of mental activities come into the field of consciousness. At least ninety percent of our mental life is subconscious. We sit and try to solve a problem and fail. We look around, try again and again, but fail. Suddenly, an idea dawns and leads to the solution of the problem. The subconscious process was at work. Messages when ready come out like a flash from the subconscious mind or chitta.
Sometimes you go to sleep at night with the thought: "I must get up very early in the morning to catch a train."
This message is taken up by the subconscious mind and it is this subconscious mind that wakes you up unfailingly at the exact hour. Subconscious mind is your constant companion and sincere friend. You repeatedly fail at night to get a solution for a problem in arithmetic or geometry. In the morning when you wake up you get a clear answer. Even in sleep it works incessantly without any rest. It arranges, classifies, compares, sorts all facts and works out a proper satisfactory solution. This is all due to the subconscious mind.
When you desire to remember a thing you will have to make a psychic exertion. You will have to go up and down the depths of the different levels of the subconscious mind and then pick up the right thing from a curious mixture of multifarious irrelevant matter. Just as the mail sorter in the Railway Mail Service takes up the right letter by moving the hand up and down along the different pigeonholes, so also the sorter in the subconscious mind goes up and down along the pigeon-holes in the subconscious mind and brings the right thing to the level of normal consciousness.
The other functions of chitta are remembrance, attention and investigation. When you repeat a mantra it is the chitta that does the remembering. It does a lot of work. It turns out better work than the mind or intellect.
With the help of the subconscious mind you can change your vicious nature by cultivating healthy, virtuous qualities that are opposed to the undesirable ones. If you want to overcome fear, mentally deny that you have fear and concentrate your attention upon the opposite quality, the ideal of courage. When this is developed, fear vanishes by itself. The positive always overpowers the negative. This is an infallible law of nature. You can acquire a liking for distasteful tasks and duties by cultivating a desire and taste for them. You can establish new habits, new ideals, new ideas and tastes and a new character in the subconscious mind by changing the old ones.
8888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888
Time — A Mode of the Mind
Time is but a mode of mind. It is also illusory like the objects. When your mind is deeply concentrated, a period of two hours appears like five minutes. If the mind is distracted and wandering, half an hour appears as two hours. This is everybody's experience. In dream also the experiences of some years take place within ten minutes. Through the play of the mind a kalpa is considered as a moment, and vice-versa.
If all the modifications of the mind stop through restraint (nirodhah), time will vanish. Time is a mental creation. Mind is a product or modification of the indescribable power of the Lord. The one power (shakti), which is known by various names, assumes various forms for keeping up the divine play of the Lord.
Wonderful is the illusive power of the Lord! Still more wonderful is the Lord and His divine play (lila). He who obtains the grace of the Lord through total unreserved self-surrender and unswerving devotion understands His divine play, rejoices in Him, goes beyond time and mind and attains immortality.
Atman is One
Bulbs are of different colours but the light is the same in all bulbs. Even so, the bodies and mental attitudes (bhavanas) are different but Atman (the Self) is one in all beings. A white bulb represents sattvic mind or sattvic bhavana; a red bulb rajasic mind or rajasic bhavana; a black bulb tamasic mind or tamasic bhavana.
Bodies are different, mental attitudes are different, gunas (qualities born of nature) are different and actions are different, but the Self is the same in all beings.
Noses are different. Some noses are aquiline, some are broad, but the power (shakti) that grasps the smell is one in all noses. Flowers are different, colours of flowers are also different, but the organ that sees is one.
Even so, bodies are different and minds are different, but the Intelligence (Self, Atman or consciousness) is one.
All colours are centred in the eye, all tastes are centred in the tongue, all touches are centred in the skin, all sounds are centred in the ear, all scents are centred in the nose, all senses are centred in the mind, all minds are centred in OM or Atman or the Supreme Self, the support of everything.
This universe is also an aspect of the Lord, because its creation, preservation and dissolution proceeds from Him. Golden ear-rings, armlets, etc., are nothing but gold; so also this world of names and forms is nothing but the Lord. All the forms are divine manifestations of the Lord. If you remember this constantly you will have a new angle of vision. You will be freed from attachment and hatred. You will attain Self-realisation through the worship of the Lord in His form as the manifested universe.
Metaphysics of the Inner Man
The physical body, the astral body, life-force (prana), intellect (buddhi), the instinctive mind, the spiritual mind and the spirit are the seven principles of man. Buddhi is pure reason. The seat of buddhi is just below the crown of the head in the pineal gland in the brain. Buddhi is manifested only in those persons who have developed right intuitive discrimination (viveka). The ordinary reason of worldly people is termed practical reason, which is dense and has limitations.
Prana is the vital-force or life-energy. It is the eternal symbol of God or Brahman. It is the link between the astral and physical body.
Prana is divided into physical prana and psychic prana. Breathing is an external manifestation of physical prana. All thoughts are due to the vibration of psychic prana in the sub-conscious. Prana is the horse and the body is the chariot. It vibrates and mind is set in motion. Mind thinks when prana moves. If it departs from the body all functions of the body will stop. The physical body will remain like a log of wood. Separation of prana from the physical body is called 'death' in common parlance. Control of prana leads to control of mind and vice-versa.
Just as an arrow is propelled by a bowman, so this body is propelled by prana. It is prana which manipulates this physical body and which fills and permeates it.
By the command of Brahman the ocean does not exceed its limits. By His command the sun shines and rises at the appointed time in the east. By His command the fire burns. By His command the mind, prana and the senses function.
Matter, prana and mind are the three relative manifestations of the Absolute. Prana is really a modification or manifestation of mind. Prana is the faculty of action. Matter emanates from prana. Prana proceeds from mind. Matter is below prana. Prana is above matter but below mind. Prana is positive to matter but negative to mind. Mind is positive to both prana and matter, but negative to will. Will is the centre of ego. Will is the general-in-chief which directs the mind and prana to all parts and in all directions. Intuition is above reason and is the channel of communication between man and spirit. Development of the will-power by auto-suggestion is the basic principle of raja yoga or vedanta.
The Power Within
If you separate yourself from negative feelings and identify yourself with the Supreme Being no external influence can affect you. You will be invulnerable. Sometimes depression manifests on account of some disappointment or failure, severe dyspepsia or heated debates, wrong thinking or wrong feeling. Drive out the feeling of depression and gloom at once by enquiry, singing divine songs, prayers, chanting of OM, pranayama, a brisk walk in the open air or thinking of the opposite quality, the feeling of joy. Try to be happy in all states and radiate only joy towards all around you.
Why do you weep, my child? You are more emotional than rational. Control the emotions and become calm. Remove the bandage from your eyes and see now. You are surrounded by truth and truth alone. All is light and bliss only. The cataract of ignorance has blurred your vision. Extract the cataract immediately. Put on a new pair of glasses by developing the inner eye of wisdom through regular practice of concentration.
It is not thought alone that determines action. There are some intelligent people who think reasonably on the pros and cons of a thing, but when the time comes they are led astray by temptations. They do wrong actions and repent later on. It is the feeling that really goads man to action. Some psychologists lay special stress on imagination and say that it is imagination that really determines action. They bring the following illustrations in support of their view. Suppose a long plank one foot broad is placed between two turrets, each twenty feet high. When you begin to walk on this plank you imagine that you will fall down, and so you actually fall down, whereas you are able to walk on the same plank when placed on the ground. Suppose you go on a bicycle along a narrow lane. You see a big stone on the way. You imagine that you will hit the cycle against the stone, and so you actually run the cycle against the stone. Some other psychologists say that it is the will that determines an action. Will can do everything. Vedantins are of this latter opinion.
Will is the basic power in man. It is the soul-force. If the desires are destroyed, will-power develops. Control of the sense organs also augments the will-power. Determination, patience, interest, attention, perseverance, tenacity, application, fixity of purpose, persistency, practice of celibacy and meditation on the Self develop the will-power. A man of strong will has perfect self-confidence. He achieves sanguine success in all his attempts. Failure is unknown to him. Do not mistake obstinacy or stubbornness for strong will. Stubbornness is born of tamas or inertia. It is a form of stupidity.
Within you is a vast magazine of power, within you is the ocean of knowledge, within you is the fountain of bliss. All faculties are latent in you. The inner man is the immortal Soul. You are identical with the supreme
Self. Realise this and be free. Unfold your latent faculties through meditation. Tap the source, dive deep within and bring up the pearl of the Atman. Be bold, be cheerful. May you become a superman!
You are the architect of your own fate and fortune. You are the master of your own destiny. You can do and undo things. You can attain Brahmanhood by right thinking, right feeling and right acting. You can break old morbid habits by the power of your will.
You can destroy wrong tendencies, unholy desires and incorrect imaginations. You can cultivate new habits, you can change your nature, you can build up a beautiful character. You can move the whole world by your spiritual force, you can elevate others also to the status of divinity. You can control the forces of nature and command the elements.
The powers of the mind are like rays of light dissipated. The rays of the mind are drawn towards various objects. You will have to gather them patiently through dispassion (vairagya) and practice (abhyasa), renunciation and austerity, and then march boldly on with indefatigable energy towards God or Brahman.
When the mental rays are concentrated, illumination begins.
The intelligent, skilful and ever vigilant yogi is ever ready with his arrows to kill this wandering mischievous, turbulent mind. He attains ethical perfection, discipline of the senses and the mind, steadies the body, regulates the breath, adjusts the diet, controls the semen and finally hits at the mind straightaway. Then he enters into deep samprajnata-samadhi. You will find in the Mandukya Upanishad: "Pranava or OM is the bow, the mind or the lower self the arrow, and Brahman the mark or the target. If one carefully shoots at the mark, he becomes one with it."
The Subconscious Mind
It is an admitted psychological fact that the mental processes by which you obtain knowledge are not merely confined to the field of consciousness, but also cover the field of subconsciousness. If you know the technique of speaking to your subconscious mind and the art or science of extracting work from it just as you would speak to your servant or a dear old friend, then all knowledge will be yours. Yes, it is a question of practice, and practice will make you perfect.
All that you have inherited, all that you have brought with you through innumerable births in the past, all that you have seen, heard, enjoyed, tasted, read or known either in this life or in past lives, are hidden in your subconscious mind.
When you are unable to solve some puzzle in metaphysics, science or philosophy, ask your subconscious mind to do the work for you with the full trust and confidence that you are bound to get the right solution from it. Master the technique of concentration and way of commanding your subconscious mind and make full and free use of all that knowledge. Command your subconscious mind in the following manner: "Look here, you subconscious mind! I want the solution to this puzzle or problem very urgently tomorrow morning.
Kindly do it quickly." Let your command be given in very clear terms, and let there be no ambiguity about it. You will positively get the answer from your subconscious mind the next morning. But sometimes the subconscious mind may be busy otherwise, and in such cases you will have to wait for some days. You will have to repeat the same command regularly every day at a fixed time.
If an idea is planted in the mind it grows at night through the operation of the subconscious mind. The subconscious mind never takes any rest. From the authentic writings and the experiences of a hypnotised person we can clearly infer the existence of the subconscious mind which operates throughout the twenty-four hours.
Practice of telepathy, thought-reading, hypnotism, mesmerism, distant healing, psychic healing, etc., clearly prove that mind exists and that a higher developed mind can influence and subjugate the lower mind.
The occult phenomena that take place in the mental world are all based on scientific laws. Occultists and raja yogins should have a comprehensive, intelligent understanding of these laws. Then only will they be able to easily control the psychic forces.
Mind is Like a Chameleon
Mind is not only daily made, but hourly made. Every minute it changes its colour and shape like a chameleon. It is very wavering and unsteady.
Neem leaves are bitter when you are in normal health, but if you taste them when you are bitten by a cobra, they are sweet. Bitterness and sweetness do not lie in the leaves, but they are in the subject. They are created by the mind. It is the mind that gives the qualities of shape, colour, taste, etc., to the object.
Just as the water that flows from a tank to the fields through channels assumes the forms of the respective fields, so also the mind goes out through the channel of the eyes, pervades the objects and assumes the forms of the respective objects. As soon as one field is filled with water, the water is diverted and sent to the next field. Water thus flows from one field to another field. Even so, the mind assumes the form of one object, and then it jumps to another object, then to a third object and so on.
Sometimes one says: "I was absent in mind, I did not hear. I was absent in mind, I did not see." In this manner it is evident that a person sees with the mind and hears with the mind. Desire, determination, uncertainty, belief, unbelief, steadiness, unsteadiness, intellect and fear are mind alone.
When one is under chloroform anaesthesia, the activity of the cells of the brain is inhibited by the effect of chloroform. The mind, which has its seat in the brain during waking consciousness, now rests in a place midway between the throat and the heart and so one has no feeling of pain even when his leg is amputated.
Man feels pain only when the mind is connected with the body. When one is under chloroform the mind is disconnected from the physical body.
When the mind is fully occupied in the affairs of warfare the soldier does not feel any serious injury when he gets a gunshot wound in the leg. He is filled with enthusiasm. He is not conscious of his body for the time being. When the excitement is over, when he sees some blood spots on his clothing or when one of his comrades points out to him the wound on the leg, he comes to consciousness. Then he is alarmed a bit. The power of imagination havocs now. He gets a collapse. The power of imagination always exaggerates.
Conscience is the result of the action of environment on the mind. It is one's own convictions. It is ever-changing. The conscience of one man differs from that of another. If you acquire some more experience you will have a different conscience.
Though the mind is the same, the mode of thinking is different in different persons. The mentality, temperament and latent tendencies are different in different persons. A Persian poet, a Delhi grocer and an Ayodhya priest were travelling together on the road to Badrinarayan. Near Deva Prayag, where the Ganges and the Alakananda meet together, a nightingale was singing in a very melodious tune. The Persian poet said:
"This bird is singing subhan teri kudaret — How magnanimous is Thy nature's glory." The grocer said: "The bird is singing hing haldi adharak — Asafoetida, turmeric, ginger." The Ayodhya priest said: "The bird is singing Rama-Sita-Dasarath (names of God)".
A philosopher will make out some kind of philosophy even from abusive words and unpleasant expressions.
The mind born of meditation is free from desires and impressions. There cannot be any abode for desires or attraction and repulsion or virtue and sin in the mind that is born of meditation.
Marvels of the Mind
Look at the marvels of the mind! One is struck with awe and wonder when he witnesses a hypnotised person in trance and hears his narratives. The hypnotised person narrates very lucidly the life history and incidents of a person whom he has not seen in his life.
A maid servant who was attending on a Hebrew priest used to hear the Hebrew verses during her service.
She suddenly developed a double-personality when she was sick in the hospital, and repeated Hebrew verses. She did not know the Hebrew language. All the impressions (of hearing from the priest) were in the subconscious mind, and she repeated the verses. No impressions are lost. They are indelibly recorded in the gramophone machine of the mind stuff (chitta).
A priest used to forget his old personality and assume a new personality, a new name and a new vocation for six months. When he developed a double-personality he would leave his old house and entirely forget all about his old life, and then return after six months and entirely forget all about the second personality he assumed for six months.
Power of Thought
Man is thought-formed. "As a man thinks, such indeed he is and as he thinks in this world he becomes on departing hence." —Chhandogya Upanishad: III-41-1
If all thoughts are eliminated there remains nothing which can be called 'mind'. So 'thoughts' are the mind.
Again, there is no such thing as the world independent of and apart from thoughts.
Your thoughts mould your character and shape your destiny. Thought has tremendous power. It is more powerful than electricity. Thoughts control your life. Conquer your thoughts.
Thoughts gain strength by repetition. If you entertain an evil thought or good thought once, this evil thought or good thought has a tendency to recur again. Thoughts crowd together just as birds of the same feather flock together, so if you entertain one evil thought all sorts of evil thoughts join together and pull you down. If you entertain any good thought, all good thoughts join together and raise you up.
Kill ruthlessly the fear-thoughts, selfish-thoughts, hate-thoughts, lustful-thoughts and other morbid negative thoughts. These evil thoughts induce weakness, disease, disharmony, depression and despair.
At first an evil thought enters the mind. Then you entertain a strong imagination. You take delight in dwelling on that evil thought. You give it consent to stay in the mind. Gradually the evil thought, when it is not resisted, takes a strong hold in your mind. Then it becomes very difficult to drive it off. The proverb goes: "Give a rogue an inch and he will take a mile." This is true of thoughts also.
Like attracts like. If you entertain an evil thought this thought attracts all sorts of evil thoughts from others.
You pass on that thought to others also. Thought moves; it is a living force. Thought is a thing. If you allow your mind to dwell on a sublime thought this thought will attract good thoughts from others. You pass on that good thought to others. You pollute the world with your bad thoughts. You improve the world with your good thoughts.
Cultivate positive thoughts such as mercy, courage, love and purity. The negative thoughts will die by themselves. Try this and feel your strength. Pure thoughts will infuse in you a new exalted life.
The thoughts you create in your mind and the images you form in your daily life will help in making you what you are or what you want to become. If you constantly think of the pure, immortal Atman and meditate on the formula 'I am Brahman', you will become identical with Atman. If you constantly think of Lord Krishna you will become identical with the Lord. You will abide in Him for ever.
Sublime divine thoughts produce tremendous influence in the mind and drive away evil thoughts and change the mental substance. Mind is wholly changed into light by entertaining divine thoughts.
Thoughts are solid things, more solid than a lump of stone. They have tremendous force or power. Utilise this thought-power carefully. It can serve you nicely in a variety of ways. But do not misuse this power at random. If you do misuse it you will have quick downfall or a terrible reaction. Utilise it to help others.
From thinking comes attachment; from attachment desire is born; from desire proceeds anger — anger arises when desire is frustrated by some cause or the other; from anger arises delusion; from delusion, failure of memory, from failure of memory, loss of intellect; from loss of intellect man is totally ruined. If you want to attain everlasting peace do not think of objects but think always of the immortal, blissful Atman alone.
Desires by themselves are harmless. They are galvanised by the power of imagination or thought. Then only they do much havoc. Man muses or thinks on the objects of the senses. He imagines that he will get a great deal of pleasure from them. This imagination cooperates with the desires. Then the desires are invigorated or vitalised. They attack the deluded jiva vehemently.
The external objects are continuously acting upon the brain. The sense-impressions reach the brain through sense-avenues and produce mental stimuli. Now you are conscious of the external objects. Consciousness may be caused by an awakening, either by an external stimulus, i.e., a stimulus from a sense-impression or an internal stimulus through memory. Each simple sense-impression is a highly complex bundle of afferent-stimuli (stimuli that are carried from outside towards the brain). A stimulus is an awakening in the substratum of the mind. The associations of awakenings which arise from a single sense-impression are very complex.
When the mind thinks of worldly objects there is order. The mind may think of a rose and then it may think of a bungalow, money, sea-voyage, aeroplane, motor car, restaurants and pictures. You may think that the mind is aimlessly wandering, but there is order in its movement. The idea of a bungalow comes when it thinks of a rose because the rose is grown in the compound of a bungalow. As soon as it thinks of a bungalow the idea of money creeps in, because a wealthy man who possesses money lives in a bungalow. Then the mind wants to enjoy pleasant objects with the help of money. It wants to take a pleasure-trip to Europe and move about there in an aeroplane and automobile, to eat dainties in hotels and to see pictures in cinemas.
Molten gold which is poured into a crucible assumes the shape of the crucible. Even so, the mind assumes the form of the object which it intensely dwells upon. If it thinks of an orange it assumes the shape of an orange. If it thinks of Lord Krishna it assumes the form of Lord Krishna. You must train the mind properly and give it proper pure sattvic food for assimilation. Have a pure background of thought or mental image.
It is the mental attitude that determines the nature of an action and brings its fruits. You may embrace your mother or sister or your wife. The action is the same but the mental feeling (bhava) is different.
Watch your ideas and feelings always. Your attitude should always be pure. You should always entertain thoughts of God. Watch the feeling during meditation.
If you have purity and concentration you can make the mind assume any feeling you like. If you think of mercy your whole being will be saturated with mercy. If you think of peace your whole being will be pervaded with peace.
Chitta
The subconscious mind is termed chitta. Much of your subconscious consists of submerged experiences, memories thrown into the background, but recoverable.
When you show symptoms of losing your memory as you grow old, the first symptom is that you find it difficult to remember the names of persons. The reason is not far to seek. All the names are arbitrary. They are like labels. There are no associations along with the names. The mind generally remembers through associations, as the impressions become deep thereby. You can remember in old age some passages you have read in school and college, but you find it difficult to remember in the evening a passage you have read in the morning. The reason is that the mind has lost its power of grasping ideas. The cells have degenerated.
Those who overwork mentally, who do not observe the rules of celibacy and who are afflicted with many cares, worries and anxieties, lose their power of memory soon. Even in old age you can remember old events as there are associations with these events.
The mental processes are limited to the field of consciousness alone. The field of subconscious mentation is of a much greater extent than that of conscious mentation. Only ten percent of mental activities come into the field of consciousness. At least ninety percent of our mental life is subconscious. We sit and try to solve a problem and fail. We look around, try again and again, but fail. Suddenly, an idea dawns and leads to the solution of the problem. The subconscious process was at work. Messages when ready come out like a flash from the subconscious mind or chitta.
Sometimes you go to sleep at night with the thought: "I must get up very early in the morning to catch a train."
This message is taken up by the subconscious mind and it is this subconscious mind that wakes you up unfailingly at the exact hour. Subconscious mind is your constant companion and sincere friend. You repeatedly fail at night to get a solution for a problem in arithmetic or geometry. In the morning when you wake up you get a clear answer. Even in sleep it works incessantly without any rest. It arranges, classifies, compares, sorts all facts and works out a proper satisfactory solution. This is all due to the subconscious mind.
When you desire to remember a thing you will have to make a psychic exertion. You will have to go up and down the depths of the different levels of the subconscious mind and then pick up the right thing from a curious mixture of multifarious irrelevant matter. Just as the mail sorter in the Railway Mail Service takes up the right letter by moving the hand up and down along the different pigeonholes, so also the sorter in the subconscious mind goes up and down along the pigeon-holes in the subconscious mind and brings the right thing to the level of normal consciousness.
The other functions of chitta are remembrance, attention and investigation. When you repeat a mantra it is the chitta that does the remembering. It does a lot of work. It turns out better work than the mind or intellect.
With the help of the subconscious mind you can change your vicious nature by cultivating healthy, virtuous qualities that are opposed to the undesirable ones. If you want to overcome fear, mentally deny that you have fear and concentrate your attention upon the opposite quality, the ideal of courage. When this is developed, fear vanishes by itself. The positive always overpowers the negative. This is an infallible law of nature. You can acquire a liking for distasteful tasks and duties by cultivating a desire and taste for them. You can establish new habits, new ideals, new ideas and tastes and a new character in the subconscious mind by changing the old ones.
8888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888
No comments:
Post a Comment