Question 150: Managing the Mind

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Managing the Mind The young Rama asks about bringing the mind under control quickly: how is this done? Respect is a key issue, in the guidance of the Sage.

Glossary:
danava (dhaanava). Class of demons, daityas, or asuras; enemies of the Gods (devas). Children of Dhanu and Kasyapa.

dwesha (dhvesha). Hatred.

raga (raaga). Sense of attachment, passion, affection; tune;

manas Feeling, mind.

manasa (maanasa) Mental.

maya (maayaa). Worldly illusion, mistaking the transient for the real; non-awareness of actuality, appearances masquerading as reality.

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Question 150: Sir, kindly suggest to me a way of controlling the mind quickly, after which one does not experience any sorrow.
Answer: Ramji, I shall now explain to you an excellent method by which the mind is controlled easily and becomes very cooperative. To begin with, if the mind is treated with strictness and deprivation and then it is dealt with respect, it becomes very cooperative. The mind is controlled in such a manner that it does not run after sensual gratifications. By this approach, the mind becomes very gentle. After this, if it is engaged in mundane functions it is no longer hostile and becomes very friendly and helpful. Then the jiva enjoys great bliss (ananda). As a kite (bird) keeps flying in the sky until it finds flesh on earth, and then it descends on land, so does the mind descend to the world when it finds sensuous gratifications; but if it is denied gratification, then with the pull of discrimination it continues to fly high.

Pleasures appear attractive but are transitory. He who is attached to pleasures is dragged towards hell. The pleasures of living in a golden palace are insignificant compared to the joy of a gyani who is desireless. He who has vanquished the illusory senses has a very charming bearing. A jiva gets deliverance from desire-like devil (vasana) only when he has controlled the mind by mastery over any particular tattva (element). When the mind becomes cooperative, then like a father, it bestows immense protection. Control your mind with discrimination (vivek). The body is unreal; so too are its joys and sorrows.

Ramji, I shall narrate to you the story of Dam, Vyal and Kat who suffered for a long time due to the illusions in their minds. You are not to live like them, but be without sorrow like Bhim, Bhas and Dridh who were free from the ideations of the mind, and abandoning the feelings of duality (of I and you) had lived in peace. Seeking dependence on ‘That’ (Tat) and practising it ceaselessly, destroy the instability of your mind.

Man comes into the world burdened with Maya and its instrument, the Mind. The Mind expresses itself through Attraction and Repulsion, Raga and Dwesha, Affection and Hatred, towards the external world. Raga is Rajasic in its effect; it can be used for one’s uplift, as Narada used it to fix attention on the Lord. Dwesha is Thamasic, as Durvasa expressed it in his dealings with Ambarisha and others. Without Raga and Dwesha, the mind cannot function at all. If these two are removed, there can be no mind and no Maya, and you get fixed in Jnana. Let Raga and Dwesha go and let Rama enter; then there will be no Manas or Maya. The Tattiriya Upanishad analyses the mind and its behaviour very well. It gives directions to merge the mind in God: the weapons with which you can foil the tactics of Raga and Dwesha. Use them for positive purposes, as Narada and Durvasa did. Have attachment to the Lord and aversion towards evil, pride, egoism. Water and fire are incompatible; fire is put out by water. But, by means of fire, you can convert water into steam and use it to haul long lines of heavy wagons. -Prashanti Nilayam, 4-2-63

Man is a mixture of daiva, danava and manava, god, demon and man. The wickedness of the ogre can be overcome by daya, the quality of mercy and charity, of sympathy and fellow-feeling; the pride of the god can be overcome by dama or self-control, detachment, renunciation; the egoism of man can be overcome by following dharma prescribed by the impartial sages who have been purified by tapas, and by canalising the instincts and impulses into fruitful fields. When these three are thus sublimated, manava is transformed into Madhava. Each one must take up this process of purification, by discovering his faults and failings and realise the road to success. -Prasanthi Nilayam-24-7-64

 

Managing the Mind
Effort, action, is important for managing the mind. Repetition gets the message to the monkey mind

 

Hamsa Gayatri
Om Hamsaaya Vidmahe
Paramahamsaya Dheemahi
Tanno Hamsa Prachodayat

“May we realise Hamsa that is our own Self as the Swan. Let us meditate on that Paramahamsa, the Supreme Self. May Hamsa illumine us.”

 

 

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