THE MIND
When a person makes his mind the dwelling of god, he is all bliss.
- Nirankari Baba Hardev Singh Ji
Mind is a part and parcel of the unit called man. It is an intangible functional organ in every man – the other parts comprising soul and body. An important aspect of the mind is that it functions both positively and negatively. However, it is flexible enough and its negativity can be converted into positivity and vice versa. Also, it is the mind that enjoys the activities of five senses. For example, when we relish a delicacy, it is actually the mind that enjoys. If the mind is ''dead'', eating is no more than a biological activity. Similarly, the other four senses – seeing, listening, touching, smelling – can be put to use if the mind enjoys it. It is not body which controls the mind but vice versa. Such is the power of the functioning of our minds. Therefore, the frame in which we dwell our mind is very crucial for our overall functioning. It is very important for us to have some control over our minds so that we steer ourselves on to the path of spirituality.
A desultory mind is like a serpent. His Holiness True Master Baba Hardev Singh Ji Maharaj often narrates a story in his discourses that a cow may eat dry fodder yet it gives milk. A snake may drink milk yet it gives out poison. This is the nature of the mind. We serve ourselves with the best of physical comforts, yet our mind yearns for more and thinks negative because desires are never-ending and keep popping up eternally. Desires are like a raging fire. No matter how much wood we feed to the fire, it would still rage for infinite amount of wood. This is the paradox of satisfying our desires. Our indulgences satisfy us for sometime but the mind again craves for something more and something better.
Satisfaction of a desire is like a night’s sleep.
When we wake up a new desire crops up.
- Nirankari Baba Hardev Singh Ji
A story which His Holiness often narrates symbolizing the never ending desires of man is of a man called Paham (“How much land does a man need?”) who wanted to be a big landlord. He would often think that he is the monarch and that there is none to dispute with him. One day an angel appeared and Paham sought that he be made owner of vast tract of lands. The angel grants him the time between the sunrise and the sunset to cover as much land as he wishes to own by walking or running. The next day, Paham started walking and then realizing that he was going too slow and could cover more distance by running, he ran beyond his health would allow. He did not even spare himself the time to rest and eat food. The whole day he kept running in the greed to cover more and more area. Just when the sun was to set he saw a hillock that he thought he better captured lest some enemy might attack him from that strategic hillock overlooking his tracts of land. Already burnt and worn out by tiredness, and gasping, he tried to climb the hillock. As he was climbing, he vomited blood and got so breathless that he breathed his last while trying to cover more and more distance. Ultimately, his body was buried in the six feet long pit. His desires ended with his death and sadly his lust for land became the cause of his premature death.
The truth is that fulfillment of desires creates more hunger even as they are satisfied. The mind eternally craves and, therefore, is always devising ways and means to fulfil desires. The result: a fleeting mind creates a dithering personality. As a consequence, a lot of worries and mental tensions afflict a person.
How to control mind?
Mind is a composite of positivism and negativity that can also be referred to as angelic or satanic tendencies respectively. And the state of mind depends upon in what I involve myself with. It could be saintly or cruel, pessimistic or optimism et al. Therefore, what we are it is because of the state of our mind and its attitude. It is true that it is very difficult to control the mind because it gets attracted to the temptations of the colorful world. But scriptures have prescribed an easy way to control the mind. The following words are very useful in this context:
MAN BECHEY
SATGURU KEY PAAS
TIS SEWAK KE
KARAJ RAAS
- Guru Granth Sahib
(A person who surrenders his Mind to the True Master never faces any problem.)
If the mind houses the teachings of the True Master then the mind is also in under control and a devotee’s chores are also not stalled. A controlled mind is a mind devoid of ego or prejudice. In the olden times, the princes were sent to gurukuls (in the True Master’s school cum residence) to keep their ego in control, and thereby their minds. The princes were made to do all the menial jobs along with other not-so-privileged students to inculcate in their minds the feelings of equality and respect of all and root out ego and prejudice from their minds. So, the mind becomes what it is made to be. Therefore, if the mind guided by satanic tendencies it would lead to selfishness and if it is guided by the realization of the Almighty or divinity it leads to self-effacement because the ego vanishes. Can a drop have any ego when it witnesses the expanse and scale of an ocean? Similarly, when the soul realizes the Infinite God, the mind understands that it has no reason to be egoistic and, therefore, submits itself. My father was once asked to control an unbridled horse. Because he was an adept rider he could control the horse and tame it too. Likewise, mind can be controlled and even tamed with the rider – the Divine-Knowledge.
There was a rich man who wanted a servant who could do all his work. One day, the rich man found a servant who agreed to do all his work but quite strangely said that he would kill the rich man the moment there is no work for him. The rich man agreed. The servant did all the work of the rich man at an amazing speed. Soon the rich man realized that he was running out of work. The servant soon found that there was no work left for him to do and asked the rich man to give him some work to do else face death. Now the rich man had no option but to run away. The servant started chasing the rich man. In the meanwhile, the rich man took the refuge of a saint and related his problem to him. The saint advised the rich man to climb a tree and tie a rope and then direct the servant to climb up and down the rope till further work is assigned to him. The rich man did likewise and soon found that the servant who was after his life could now be kept busy forever and could also be directed to do anything as and when required without proving to be harmful to him. Those who followed this story closely must have realized by now that climbing up and down the rope is symbolic of the realization and the continuous remembrance of the Almighty. The mind is not just kept busy this way but busy in a useful way.
Similarly, in the Indian mythology we see goddess Durga seated on a tiger. The tiger actually is symbolic of our mind. A realized soul too rides the wild mind and keeps it at its beck and call. Only after the realization of the Almighty is the mind characterized by Sato Gun (i.e. goodness and not Tamo Gun and Rajo Gun which relate to the greed of the worldly pleasures, ego, malice, et cetera.).
His Holiness Satguru Baba Hardev Singh Ji Maharaj once said in his discourse that youth is like a river in flood. If a dam is built in its way, the wrath of the river can be controlled and its energy can be used for productive things like feeding the irrigation canals and so on. And I have felt that similarly, mind is also always in a flood of thoughts and desires which can be channelised by the dam of “Divine-Gyan.” This way mind can be controlled and it is “Paradise Regained” because the soul is enlightened and communion with the Almighty is established. When the mind is in the control of never-ending desires, it is “Paradise Lost.”
In the legendary Indian epic, Ramayana, Sita is abducted by Ravana and prisoned in Ashok Vatika. Ashok Vatika is set ablaze by Lord Hanuman and then a war ensues between the Ravana, the demon king and Lord Rama. Sita is, hence, finally liberated from the shackles of Ravana.
Saints have drawn spiritually inspiring parallels to the story of Ramayana. Sita is an allusion to the soul, which is enamoured by the Ravana who symbolizes mind. Lord Rama is symbolic of “God-Realization” which unfetters the soul from the mind and thus gets liberated.
The mind is also like a lift in some ways. A lift is meant for our convenience to travel up and down in a building. But if a fault in the lift causes it to move up and down unstoppably, it will be mind-boggling. Never ending desires are like the fault in a lift. They keep the mind engaged and unsettled like a faulty lift. The true function of the mind, however, is to provide convenience to the body by regulating our thoughts and desires and focusing on continuous remembrance of the realized Almighty.
The great warrior, Abhimanyu, mentioned in the longest epic Mahabharata, knew how to strategically enter the trap of the soldiers set in place to kill him. But he did not know how to come out of it. As a consequence, Abhimanyu was mercilessly assaulted by many warriors and killed in the trap he was caught in. The state of mind is too like Abhimanyu. The mind connives elaborately to achieve physical comforts and belongings but gets embroiled in them and does not know how to liberate itself. The man dies with an inconclusive list of desires unfulfilled and objectives unachieved.
Does that mean we should kill our desires? Certainly not.
By annihilating desires, you annihilate mind.
- Claude Adrien
The desires need not be killed. They just need to be controlled and channelised.
Long-time back, I went to Kurukshetra, the place where the great battle of Mahabharata was fought. I saw a Sadhu (ascetic) who was wearing saffron-coloured clothes. I asked him, “How to conquer or control mind?” He replied, “It can only be controlled by penance and meditation.” That was quite surprising. An uncultivated mind is like an unbridled wild bull. It runs amuck and destroys whatever comes in its way. And if I say that I sit in penance and meditation in front of the wild bull to control it, I am being ignorant and unwise. A wild bull can be made docile only by a ringmaster and needs to be tethered. And if a cart is attached to the bull it becomes a bullock cart that is highly useful. The True Master who tethers the mind with “God-Realisation”, lets devotees controls their minds. And if the mind is used for devising ways to serve the mankind and the saints, it becomes like the beneficial bullock cart. Satguru Baba Hardev Singh Ji Maharaj is blessing the seekers with the “God-Realisation,” only by which the mind can be controlled and its negativity converted into positivity. Just like a radio catches the signal for the frequency at which it is set, the mind too catches the effects to which it is attached. If it is attached to the world it won’t think beyond the mundane. If it is attached with the Almighty then it works positively and for the welfare of the mankind.
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