Guest guest Posted May 20, 2007 Report Share Posted May 20, 2007 SAi Ram Dear Brothers and Sisters, (continued from posting no.63) We are in the midst of understanding the expression, " Purity of MInd " as a prerequiste or pre-qualification for any seeker in Spiritual Path. Impurity of mind is the cause of sorow and agitation in us, and in turn this is reflected in our interactions in the society as well. Vedanta holds that mind is the seat of emotions. All conflicts in family and society are born out of our own likes and dislikes, passions, hatred, differentiations based on race, caste colour, wealth etc., and other prejudices. Our mind gets clouded by such narrow prejudices. The numerous mental problems of the average person to-day make it difficult for him to live happily and peacefully, what to talk of making progress in spiritual path. In this regard, the Bhagavad Gita in its 5th chapter beautifully declares, " The one who can withstand and overcome the storm of passion and anger that rises in the mind alone is a happy person " (Saknoti ihaiva yah sodum prak sareeravimokshanat Kama krodhotbhavam vegam sa yuktah sa sukhi narah). Regardless of whether a seeker follows the path of Detached Action (Karma Yoga), Devotion(Bhakti Yoga), Knowledge(Gnana Yoga), Meditation(Dhyana Yoga) or renunciation(Sanyasa Yoga) as envisaged in the GIta , the sole obstacle is one`s own mind. All the spiritual practises aim at attacking the mind. The scriptures declare that we are not the limited body, mind, or intellect but we are the infinite. The moment we drop the identification with the body, mind and intellect we become the blissful Self. But the mind does not allow this to happen very easily, In the Bhagavad Gita and Upanishads, it is clearly stated that the mind alone is our best friend and our worst enemy. The mind is the cause of our bondage and is also the means of our liberation. What we nedd to do is to make mind our friend. All ideas of winning over or conquering the mind are nothing but our attempts to understand it. When we do understand it, all impurities vanish. A person possessing a pure mind will be most successful in any given field of life. Hence a spiritual seeker needs to pay much more attention to this fact. What are the impurities of the mind? We have touched upon this earlier . To be more specific , and even at the cost of repetition, likes, dislikes, hatred, jealousy, lust, passion, anger, greed, ego, selfishness and all other negative tendencies are the impurities of the mind. Because of the prescence of these impurities, we do not recognize that we are blissful by nature, and since we do not know this , we keep searching for happiness in the world. The human mind looks for justifications for this and continues to think. " May be I am missing out on something. Perhaps, the objects contain some joy, but I just do not how to get it, " or, " The joy may not be in this object , but perhaps it is in that one! " etc. It is a paradox that the Self is ever present but is veiled by ignorance and the impurities of the mind. When the impurities of the mind go away, then the uninterrupted experience of bliss shines forth. Sruti declares , " Even though the Atman is beyond the mind, It will have to be reached through the mind only(Eshah Anuh Atma Chetasa Veditavyah yan manasa na manute manasa eva Idam aptavyam). It is very important to realize that one can not merely circumvent the mind and proceed higher. We must understand the mind before we can go beyond it. All the impurities of our mind are like a court injunction which prevents us from enjoying our wealth. These must be cleared, or else the unique bliss of Self-realization or liberation while living can not be enjoyed by us. (to be continued) With Loving SAI RAMs, G.Balasubramanian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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