by Smt. Mandira Lahiri
In today’s world, the
majority of us are spending all our energy on materialistic pursuits most of
the times. Our senses and mind are preoccupied in this rat race at all time.
Our goal is mainly objective pleasures which are so short-lived that once one
objective is fulfilled, another one crops up. For the majority of the people
life goes on this way. Fulfillment of desires give us temporary joy, and
non-fulfillment of the same give us temporary grief. There is no peace, no
contentment. There is violence and destruction all around. Even the big and
powerful countries of the world are not happy. They want to usurp the land of
other countries. Common people have to
bear the brunt of their greed. Innocent people get killed and because of this,
there is suffering and misery all around.
I came across an
article written by Sant Rajinder Singh and published in The Speaking Tree of
TOI Bangalore dated 3/12/20 which alludes to the aforementioned phenomenon.
Here I present some relevant excerpts from that article — “When we look around,
everything seems to be spinning out of control. The 24hour news cycle keeps us
entangled in the ongoing turmoil. Our hearts break for the world’s suffering.
We cannot put an end to life’s challenges. We have no control over the outer
universe. Problems and setbacks often take a toll on us.”
“What can we do to
face these challenges with a sense of fearlessness so that we are not
incapacitated by fear and despair? We yearn for a place where we can retreat
from the problems of the world and find peace and solace.”
“There is a place of
safety, a refuge from the sorrows of life. It is within us, and we find it when
we sit in silence, in meditation. When we meditate on the Inner Light and Sound
of God, we come in contact with God’s love within us which fills us with peace,
joy, bliss and happiness. This experience takes our attention away from the
stress and pain of the outer world. As we spend time in meditation, we create a
calm haven in which we restore equilibrium and peace to our mental functioning.”
“Another benefit of
meditation is the change in our perspective. As we experience God’s love, we
find there is more to our existence than what goes on in the physical world. We
become more detached from events and problems that might have bothered us in
the past and see the larger picture of life, and over time, develop mental
equilibrium to function more effectively and peacefully.”
“Once we directly
experience divine love in meditation, we are convinced of divinity in our
lives. It is this personal experience that strengthens our faith and helps us
to face the ups and downs of life”.”
Excerpts from The
Speaking Tree of TOI dated 18/2/24:
In this piece, Jamina
Gomes wonders how to cultivate stillness of the mind – A story goes that once a
master and disciple were having a conversation. It was a cold day and as the
master and his disciple were strolling on the beach, strong wind started
blowing over the ocean and high waves began to rise. The master stopped and asked
his disciple, “What does this ocean remind you of?” The disciple answered, “It
reminds me of my mind and its restless thoughts.” The master said, “Yes, the
mind is neutral like water. It is neither good nor bad. As in a stormy ocean,
the wind creates waves, so do desires and fears produce thoughts.”
The master then asked,
“Okay, tell me, would you like to be in a boat in the middle of such a stormy
ocean?”
“Certainly not,” the
disciple replied. The master responded, “You are right, but in real, you are
there all the time, within this storm. Most of the people are in a rudderless
boat in the middle of a stormy ocean and they do not realize it. The minds of
most people are restless; thoughts of all kinds come and go incessantly,
agitating their minds like ocean waves.” The disciple said, “Yes, I know, that
is the reason I want to learn from you.”
The master smiled at
his disciple and said, “You can’t calm the ocean by holding the water and not
letting it move. What is necessary is to stop the wind, you need to calm them
down. You can learn to control them by controlling your attention, focus and
actions, only then the ocean of your mind would be calm.”
He further added,
“Suppose it is possible for the ocean to disregard the wind. What would happen
then? In real, you can’t control the wind in nature, but you can calm the winds
in your mind. Learn to focus your mind, develop will power and discipline, and
learn to meditate, only then can you control your mind and make it peaceful.
Don’t focus on changing the outer world but in calming your inner world; then
you will be able to control the world around you.”
Once when Raman
Maharshi was asked by one of his devotees as to how to meditate, his reply was:
“Concentrate on that one whom you like best. If a single thought prevails, all
other thoughts are put off and finally eradicated. So long as diversity
prevails there are bad thoughts. When the object of love prevails, only good
thoughts hold the field. Therefore, hold on to one thought only. Dhyana is the
chief practice. Dhyana means fight. As soon as you begin other thoughts will
crowd together, gather force and try to sink the single thought to which you
try to hold. The good thought must gradually gain strength by repeated
practice. After it has grown strong the other thoughts will be put to flight.
This is the battle royal always taking place in meditation.”
“One wants to rid
oneself of misery. It requires peace of mind, which means absence of
perturbation owing to all kinds of thoughts. Peace of mind is brought about by
dhyana alone.
“When dhyana is well
established it cannot be given up. It will go on automatically even when you
are engaged in work, play or enjoyment. It will persist in sleep too. Dhyana
must become so deep rooted that it will be natural to one.”
Calmness can be
cultivated through the reading of spiritual books; listening to one’s Guru’s
discourses; reminiscing about the time spent with one’s Guru; praying; writing;
pursuing a hobby; shunning negativity, stress and mindless chatter; keeping the
company of like-minded people; extricating ourselves from unnecessary social
gatherings and get-togethers; expressing gratitude and thankfulness to the
Almighty for bestowing us with Guru’s Grace.
Sadguru Prajnanpurush
Sri Sri Babathakur has taken the cultivation of calmness to a different level. In ‘Science of Oneness’ Sri Sri Babathakur
explains – “The inner nature is instrument for the Self Divine, in and through
which the Self Divine manifests Itself, and that manifestation as a whole
appears as the Universal Creation. The truth is that you are neither within
this universe, nor the universe is within you. It is all illusory conception of
mind, which composes these things by desire; so, desire is the cause of all
sorts of experiences of diversities. When there is no desire, there is no
anger, and fear. Then this consciousness is ever free and all perfect. To
desire means to follow the nature and not the Self. And desirelessness means the
ever-perfect Consciousness. Now, the realizers of the Truth, the saintly people
are all perfect, because they are said to be desireless, anger-less and
fearless.
‘So long as there is
desire, there is anger and fear. Anger and fear will not desert one who has
desire. Now, how to become desire-free. Only by constant remembrance of your
True Nature which is Pure Consciousness only. If you do this for few hours or
more according to your convenience daily, you will find your True Nature ever
present inwards and outwards, above and below, forward and backward, and all
around. Then in everything and everywhere you will find yourself alone.”
Sri Sri Babathakur
reiterates — “The spiritual discipline is needed to make mind/intellect
purified and refined as well as steady and stable. And that is possible, very
easy to attain, only by remembrance of your True Nature which is Pure Consciousness.”
