THE MIND AND THE OCEAN

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THE MIND AND THE OCEAN

Baba said, "You read daily these sacred books and still your mind is impure and

your passions uncontrolled" in Sri Sai Satcharitra, ch. XXVII.

Swamiananda and his disciple Ranga were strolling on the beach by the ocean. It

was a cold day and the wind was blowing strongly over the ocean, raising very

high waves.

After walking for some time, Swamiananda stopped, looked at his disciple and

asked: "What does the choppy ocean remind you of?"

"It reminds me of my mind. Of my rushing and restless thoughts," answered Ranga.

"Yes, the stormy ocean is like the mind, and the waves are the thoughts. The

mind is neutral like the water. It is neither good, not bad. The wind is

causing the waves, as desires and fears produce thoughts," said Swamiananda.

"I wouldn’t want to be on a boat, in the middle of the ocean,"

"You are there all the time," responded Swamiananda and continued, "Most people

are on a rudderless boat in the middle of a choppy ocean, even if they do not

realize it. The mind of most people is restless. Thoughts of all kinds come and

go incessantly, agitating the mind like the ocean’s waves."

"Yes", Ranga interrupted him, "You don’t have to tell me. This is the reason I

am with you. I want to calm down the waves of my mind."

Swamiananda looked at Ranga for a while, smiled and said: "You don’t calm the

ocean by holding the water and not letting it move. What is necessary is to

stop the wind. The wind is made of your thoughts, desires and fears. Don’t let

them rule your life. Learn to control them by controlling your attention, and

then the ocean of your mind becomes calm."

"And how do I do that?"

"Suppose it is possible for the ocean to disregard the wind, what would happen

then?" asked Swamiananda.

"The waves would cease. But no one can stop the wind."

Swamiananda looked at him and a mysterious smile and said, "Why not? The wind,

the ocean, and thoughts are all within the mind. When you can control the mind,

you can control everything within it. But first you have to control your mind,

which means you have to control your attention."

"Yes master," said Ranga, "this is what I am trying to do. You say whoever

controls his mind can also control the wind. Can you do that?"

"First learn to calm down the ocean of your mind, and then find out if you can

calm down the ocean. It is better to learn to control the mind, then enjoying

mental tricks. When you calm your mind, you can calm down everything."

(East and West Series)

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Whatever you do, do it in the best way you can. It is your offering to the Lord.

Tamaso Ma Jyotirgamaya.......

Question: I do good to others and they return good with evil. Is this the way of the world?

Answer: To begin with, root out pride of doing good, rather thank God. He has

enabled you to help, and never expect that they should be grateful to you. You

should be humble to those whom you serve. Moreover, it may be only suspicion

that people return good with evil, therefore banish this idea. Nobody can harm

you.

The cause of your present troubles may be the result of your past actions. The

present is the fruit of the past. Remember, you will not suffer without

sufficient cause. Laws of Nature dictate that effect cannot precede the cause.

Whatever misfortune is, this is the result of one’s actions. It is only to

relieve you of past actions that God in His Mercy has devised the present chain

of events. A spiritual person and devotee of God should only think that the

person causing pain is only an agent, and therefore to be pitied, not hated. To

be annoyed with him, to wish ill of him is not the right approach-Pray like

Jesus Christ for his good.

A person who returns good with evil is despicable, who returns evil with evil

belongs to a low category, who returns good with good is of average category,

and the one who returns evil with good deserves God realisation.

(-Swami Premanandaji Saraswati )