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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