The Mind with its five Wives, the Senses
This king is the mind, and he is never able to satisfy all his wives, namely,
the senses. The eye demands, "Take me to a place where only the most beautiful
sights are to be seen." The tongue demands that only the tastiest of foods be
supplied to it. The ear commands that the most melodious sounds be played for
it. The skin desires to feel only materials which are the most pleasing to
touch. And the nose wants to smell the very best perfumes in the world. Who can
satisfy all these desires of the senses? There is no coordination and
cooperation among them. If you yield to the sense organs, they are going to
give you a lot of trouble. Right from the beginning you must find a way to
bring them under absolute control. Then you will have accomplished something
truly worthwhile. The real hero in this world is the one who has managed to
completely control his senses.
When the senses make their demands do not listen to them. Instead, turn your
mind towards the higher intellect. Let it decide what is to be done. Then, the
lower mind will follow and, in turn, give its commands to the senses. This way,
the senses will have to obey. That is the proper way to curb the senses. A
person who bases his life on his lower mind and senses will come to ruin and
become worse than an animal. The wise one bases his life on his higher mind,
which is his intellect, his power of discrimination and discernment and
intuition. One who follows his higher mind becomes the most excellent of human
beings. If you base your life on your higher mind, your buddhi, it will take
you straight to the final goal. But if you base your life only on the lower
mind and the senses, then every moment new changes will come about. It will
become difficult to predict what will happen to you and where you will land. It
is something like crossing a raging river or a storm-tossed
ocean in a small boat. You do not know when your little boat will get flooded
and when disaster will overtake you.
http://www.atmapress.com/saibabagita/saigita168.html
Sai Baba Gita, Compiled and edited by Al Drucker - Published by Atma Press -
http://www.atmapress.com - ISBN: 0963844903Online Edition:
http://www.atmapress.com/saibabagita/index.html
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Mail - More reliable, more storage, less spam