Countless Memory of the Sound

There cannot be a measure for the acuteness of the power of the mind. It goes faster than a thousand horse powered engine or even than a rocket. If the mind's capabilities are properly controlled and conditioned a man can hear quite distinctly every word of the conversation being carried on between two persons thousands of miles apart, and they can be seen as if sitting very near. Not only this, but it is possible to know what goes on in the mind of persons thousands of miles away. Television and tele-audition are the achievements of a controller mind. The great sage Patanjali propounding the characteristics of Yoga has said:

"The meaning of Yoga is nothing else but controlling the tendencies of the mind." A master yogi can do anything. He can achieve the incomparable ecstasy of knowing God (Brahma) or can overawe the people by displaying miraculous feats. Mesmerism and Hypnotism, which are considered base psychic tricks, do not contribute to any spiritual upliftment of him who practices them. For true upliftment, mind should be directed towards spiritual quest. Even if this quest of the inner self cannot be revealed in concrete results, a reasonable person by reading, knowing and hearing about this wonderful power of the mind can surely endeavor to develop in himself this heavenly mental capacity.

In Nepal, which is the home of Yoga, one will never experience a dearth of miracles. The westerners are aware of this fact. In this connection a western correspondent's experience is worth nothing. He writes, "I was traveling by a river boat in India. As soon as the boat toughed a port, an Indian dressed only in a loin cloth boarded the boat with a bundle. He took a coil of rope lying there. Taking one end of it he knotted it and threw it upwards to the sky with all his might. The knot was going higher and higher and the coil below was being unwound of its own accord, and in a short time the whole coil of rope vanished in the sky. A coconut shell was lying nearby. He filled it with water, the amount of which was meager. Yet pouring the water in a pail, he filled the pail to the brim. He repeated this process and filled fifteen pails in a row. Then he chanted something and raised up his hand, the coconut shell disappeared, and when he lowered his hand there was a pail seen in it. Seeing all this we were so amazed, that we could not make out what all that was?"

Paul Burton wandered all over India in search of such miracles and as a result of what he saw he wrote a book in support of this secret lore. Louis Jackalion, a French magistrate of Pondichery has also written a book on similar lines in which he has praised very much this secret lore of India. What others look up as wonderful miracles or displays of secret lore are considered by the Yogis as a little glimpse of the power of the mind. Though the display of this power is attractive to observe, it is a serious impediment to the ultimate goal of self-realization. The aim of controlling the mind is to know the True self. By achieving this knowledge man can experience freedom from life's bondage and enjoy bliss of heaven.

In "Ramottartapaniya Upanishad", in the discussion of the capabilities of the mind, it si stated; "The meeting place between the eyebrows and the nose is not only heaven, but something higher than heaven, but it is controlled by nature. Thus knowing Brahma one must worship this meeting point of achieving the un-manifested Brahma is limited to the physical meeting point of the eyebrows and the nose calls the point as spiritual Kashi.

Mind is the chief means of achieving salvation. Lured by desires, man becomes a slave to passions. Enjoyment of passions does not lead to diminishing the force of passions but on the contrary to augmenting them. The powers of the mind are thus dissipated in such loose worldly affairs. Hence for the realization of the Highest Essence, it is desirable to discard all passions and desires of the mind and to concentrate it on the inner self. The pivotal point of creation and continuation is the mind.

Life is perennially new, but the mind is old and ancient. The dust of the past goes on collecting on it and this layer of dust covers the mirror of consciousness. Only the lure of material things remains active. Thus the mind falls into bondage. For the true experience of living, freedom from mind's bondage is essential.