There is a plethora of literature on the mind which has not enlightened much.You may ask what is the need for further dissertation on this topic. A legitimate question may also arise whether it is to confuse the confusion or otherwise.In any case an addition to this literature will not in any way make a dent on its reputation as being the most intractable thing. I have often been intrigued by the intricacies of the mind- the most lauded and at the same time the most despised of human organs.It can work miracles and also wreak havoc.It can take us to heights and also dump us in abysmal depths. It is divine and also profane.It is a sinner and is also sinned against.
No sanguine mind will try to define the mind itself for it is beyond definition. If I may venture a definition, I may say that like the all pervading God it is also immanent but unseen.
It is said that self- conquest is the best conquest.What is this self?
To my untutored mind it is another version of the mind for you can reach the self only through this all powerful but deceitful instrument.Saints and sages may not vote for my theory but I maintain that this the only route.
We have often been advised to keep an open mind.Our scriptures
have a hymn saying that let noble thoughts come to us from every
side.To receive noble thoughts, no doubt, we require an open mind.
But what is the guarantee that only noble thoughts would enter it.
Have you ever tried to battle with your mind? If not try it. Your wit and wisdom arrayed on one side and the mind on the other.Initially you may think that your wit and wisdom are more than a match to the mind. But soon you will realise, to your consternation, that from the word 'go' you are the loser. All your strategies and stratagems will come to a nought and you will be simply worsted.
We make a resolution that we will not allow the mind to enslave
us; rather we will conquer it.We will sit in meditation. Lo and behold unsavoury thoughts which do not normally visit us cross our mind and assail us.See again the confusion caused by some of the votaries of meditation. One school of thought asks us to just watch our thoughts and not react.Another school of thought contradicts it and says that you should counter all unholy thoughts with holy thoughts. An uninitiated practitioner is just left high and dry and perhaps more confused.
In my wanderings in the woods of thoughts I have gathered lot of 'moss'.( I have borrowed this usage from the much repeated saying that a rolling stone gathers no moss.) I have simply applied this doctrine in the reverse gear. But this moss has only deepened my confusion more or less like a confused cockroach. What is then the mind.? Some say that it is the ability to reason and think and comprehend. Again some say that it is intellect, etc. Can we treat it as a definition of the mind. What is said seems to be only plausible and not necessarily possible. Our spiritual lore says that mind and intellect are different and not synonymous. I have mellowed with age but my grey cells have not yet been able to comprehend what is mind. It is famously said that the mind can be compared to an inebriated monkey bitten by a bee. It is not difficult to imagine what will be the state of a person with such a mind. Again this does not say what is mind.
Mind revels in our predicament, helplessness. Mind makes short-shrift of our moves. Mind eludes and more often deludes us. Even then see the paradox. Only the mind alone can lift itself
from the morass in which it is enmeshed. Mind is the best of friends and worst of enemies. We should not antagonise it if we want any favour from it. It then requires to be courted, cajoled, coerced and befriended. How to achieve this goal. Our legendary hero of the Mahabharata fame Arjuna is a classic case of confusion and delusion.It required all the ingenuity and a lengthy haranguing on the part of the Supreme Lord to pull him out of his unhealthy delusion and depression and dispel all his doubts and reservations. The Lord could not accomplish it with any ease for Arjuna had some lingering doubts. He said that the mind is unsteady, turbulent, tenacious and powerful and it is difficult to control it. The Lord agrees that the mind is restless and difficult to be curbed but all the same it can be brought under control by constant and regular practice and by the exercise of dispassion. Consistency, regularity and eternal vigil are, therefore, the mantra to yoke the turbulent mind.
Shall we practice it? Any takers?
No sanguine mind will try to define the mind itself for it is beyond definition. If I may venture a definition, I may say that like the all pervading God it is also immanent but unseen.
It is said that self- conquest is the best conquest.What is this self?
To my untutored mind it is another version of the mind for you can reach the self only through this all powerful but deceitful instrument.Saints and sages may not vote for my theory but I maintain that this the only route.
We have often been advised to keep an open mind.Our scriptures
have a hymn saying that let noble thoughts come to us from every
side.To receive noble thoughts, no doubt, we require an open mind.
But what is the guarantee that only noble thoughts would enter it.
Have you ever tried to battle with your mind? If not try it. Your wit and wisdom arrayed on one side and the mind on the other.Initially you may think that your wit and wisdom are more than a match to the mind. But soon you will realise, to your consternation, that from the word 'go' you are the loser. All your strategies and stratagems will come to a nought and you will be simply worsted.
We make a resolution that we will not allow the mind to enslave
us; rather we will conquer it.We will sit in meditation. Lo and behold unsavoury thoughts which do not normally visit us cross our mind and assail us.See again the confusion caused by some of the votaries of meditation. One school of thought asks us to just watch our thoughts and not react.Another school of thought contradicts it and says that you should counter all unholy thoughts with holy thoughts. An uninitiated practitioner is just left high and dry and perhaps more confused.
In my wanderings in the woods of thoughts I have gathered lot of 'moss'.( I have borrowed this usage from the much repeated saying that a rolling stone gathers no moss.) I have simply applied this doctrine in the reverse gear. But this moss has only deepened my confusion more or less like a confused cockroach. What is then the mind.? Some say that it is the ability to reason and think and comprehend. Again some say that it is intellect, etc. Can we treat it as a definition of the mind. What is said seems to be only plausible and not necessarily possible. Our spiritual lore says that mind and intellect are different and not synonymous. I have mellowed with age but my grey cells have not yet been able to comprehend what is mind. It is famously said that the mind can be compared to an inebriated monkey bitten by a bee. It is not difficult to imagine what will be the state of a person with such a mind. Again this does not say what is mind.
Mind revels in our predicament, helplessness. Mind makes short-shrift of our moves. Mind eludes and more often deludes us. Even then see the paradox. Only the mind alone can lift itself
from the morass in which it is enmeshed. Mind is the best of friends and worst of enemies. We should not antagonise it if we want any favour from it. It then requires to be courted, cajoled, coerced and befriended. How to achieve this goal. Our legendary hero of the Mahabharata fame Arjuna is a classic case of confusion and delusion.It required all the ingenuity and a lengthy haranguing on the part of the Supreme Lord to pull him out of his unhealthy delusion and depression and dispel all his doubts and reservations. The Lord could not accomplish it with any ease for Arjuna had some lingering doubts. He said that the mind is unsteady, turbulent, tenacious and powerful and it is difficult to control it. The Lord agrees that the mind is restless and difficult to be curbed but all the same it can be brought under control by constant and regular practice and by the exercise of dispassion. Consistency, regularity and eternal vigil are, therefore, the mantra to yoke the turbulent mind.
Shall we practice it? Any takers?
This is a very nice analysis.
ReplyDeleteBy suggesting that we control the mind through dispassion and using "consistency, regularity and eternal vigil," it looks like you are batting for the Buddhist meditative technique. Most vipassana teachers prescribe the same method.
I also think the method of planting nice thoughts is a good supplementary tactic and can be useful.
Respected Uncle,
ReplyDeleteThis is an evocative piece of writing.
Mind is certainly the superior most faculty of the human body, yet it has certain limitations of its own. Negative thinking is one such fallout of an unhealthy mind, but as you very rightly suggested, we can discipline our mind "through dispassion and using consistency, regularity and eternal vigil".
My own little mantra, which I sometimes invoke to tame my mind, is deciding to be ignorant about things and matters that are likely to upset me. Though ignorance is considered to be an antithesis of our knowledge-driven society, I swear by ignorance when it comes to immunising my mind to all that is unproductive and regressive.
Looking forward to reading more from you:-)
Madhavi