Tuesday, February 9, 2016

SENSES TRAVEL IN A VARIOUS DIRECTIONS


Meaning: Man's senses are never steady in a single direction. As soon as they get an opportunity, they are attracted towards their own lust. For that reason, man should always be alert to save himself from the lust of his senses.
Message: Restraint of the mind is necessary for all. It is deeply related with every person wishing for the uplift of his soul. For success in the practice of religion and upliftment in spiritual life one has to fight these types of problems of the mind. Without the control of the mind, neither man's not society's qualitative development work can ever be completed.
It is especially very difficult to keep the mind engrossed in the religious sphere. When we sit for recitation or meditation, at that time as if all the senses rebel together. Eyes, ears, nose, with the slightest indication, get swayed and start wandering here and there, and the mind? Well it goes on producing thoughts from far and near from its treasury and it becomes extremely difficult to concentrate on reciting the name of God. In our practical life also, a similar situation arises. We are not able to do any work properly. the mind starts moving in all four directions and in the end, because of failure, there is a lot of unhappiness and repentance.
The wavering condition of the mind occurs because of fear, desires and impurity. Because of that the flame of concentration and absorption of any subject starts swaying and ultimately gets extinguished. By allowing the minds to wander after gratification of desires and indulgence and by becoming slavers of our senses we create an unhappy situation by which the soul's independence gets destroyed. We get liberation only by a control over our senses struggle and labor. We get liberation only by a control over our senses and by a life of purity. A spiritual life is a harsh life full of struggle and labor. We aspire for liberation and freedom from fear, wish to be freed from the limitations of the body and mind, but this is not possible as long as we are addicted to our wish and desires.
This wavering of the mind can be considerably reduced by a regular daily routine. For this we must cultivate the habit of thinking in an organized manner and working accordingly. There should ba a unity in all the aspects of our character. For this, the most important mater is 'chittasuddhi' or cleaning the mind and purifying it. First of all, restraint must be given the topmost priority thus preventing any further dirty thinking from entering the mind. Along with it, by using discretion, we must throw out blind and foolish beliefs and also throw out our faults and wicked tendencies. The process of 'chittasuddhi' is certainly slow but it is possible with constant practice.
To keep the mind under proper control is a very interesting mental game. Although there is a possibility of being defeated, one should keep an attitude of sportsmanship and fully enjoy this Endeavour. For playing this game we have to develop qualities like full alertness, skill, a sense of humor, sincerity, knowledge of strategy, patience and velour. These qualities rescue us from disappointment despite hundreds of failures.

This is the wonder of 'atmabal' (strength of the soul).

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