Cultivating Calmness

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.”