Hari
OM
Application - that is what 'Workings-days' are about!
We are now undertaking basic technical
discourse on Vedanta. The text
forming the basis of these posts is 'Kindle Life'. Please do reread previous posts using the labels 'Workings-days' or
'Kindle Life'.
How
has the Gaayatri practice been going? Short and regular practice is likely to
yield greater result than every now and then at length. A daily dose of ten
minutes will begin to imprint the mantra.
Indeed, one of the common remarks made by those who make such a
commitment is that they find the mantra/s somehow always playing in the
'background' of their mind… this is good, this is japa!
We
now enter chapter 29 of Kindle Life which, whilst it is not the last chapter in
the book, (the others spread out over other posts - remember to use the
relevant label to read the whole), has been left till last here as it deals
with something with which we are all familiar.
Chapter
29: AT WAR WITH MIND.
The
technique of japa lies in engaging the mind totally in a self-repeated sound,
having a very subtle and profound philosophical significance. After a time,
when the mind is fully engrossed in it, we will then cease from it, withdrawing
the mind from a sole occupation and back into daily mode. With each practice,
the theory is, that the mind wishes to linger longer and longer in the state of
japa, wishing to experience 'the silence of the heart'.
However,
in fact, with the practice many experience (regardless of technique and wisdom
propounded) there are hurdles. The mind wanders even when deep in japa. To
gather the mind and to hold it as an integrated whole at the point of
meditation calls for a painful and difficult strategy. This inner struggle is
really the battle of the Mahaabhaarata (in the section which is separately called the Bhagavad
Gita); and it is an eternal one. This
struggle is the price that we must pay for the eternal reward of liberation.
Mind,
we have seen, is a product of the impressions we have gathered so far in all
our lives, from the beginning 'time' until now. In all our incarnations, we
have been living, moment to moment, endless experiences and each such lived
moment could not have but left a few dots and dashes on our mental sheath. Goaded by these impressions, an irresistible
mind, wild and surging, drives our physical structure endlessly hither and
thither. Tossed between them, we earn our agitations and feel shattered in our
attempts at our meditations. When the
good and the bad meet face to face, there must be a field of tension and
activity. It is an eternal law. We can never mentally get away from these two
feelings and, as such, identifying with them, we suffer the consequent
dissipation.
At
one moment we are identifying with the call of the good in us - 'the soft small
voice of the within' - and feel unhappy that, in spite of ourselves, we are
tempted to act in contradiction to it.
At another moment, strangely, in spite of our darker inclinations, we
succeed in doing good and from this feel elated. This tension between the light
and dark (the Pandavas v. the Kauravas) within the bosom is ever there, for
all seekers. All the scriptures in the world unanimously declare that
ultimately the success belongs to the 'Arjunas' who have made the Lord Himself
their 'charioteer'.
To
the seeker who has given up his body-chariot entirely to the supreme control of
the Divine Charioteer, even disasters may be turned to successes!
The
challenge facing every meditator is the threat of the mind. The mind by its
very nature is ever running into is own self-chosen, instinct-ploughed ruts
(the vaasanas). The seeker's attempt is
to bundle up all the wasteful vaasanas and to make the waters of the mind run
through one redefined channel, which will then irrigate the field of the divine
within his or herself. A thorough
knowledge of the strategies of the mind and full control of ourselves by which
we can hold the mind back to the point of concentration becomes absolutely
essential, if we are to win ultimately in this subjective war against our
lower-selves.
Next, we will see some recommendations of Gurudev
for methods to begin taming the mind. They are not all to be employed at once but trying each one out, over a period of time, will enable each to find what
works best for them. At different times, different methods may be required
also, so paying attention to all initially ought to help you 'choose your
weapon' with which to fight your own, individual battle.
