Lessons to the Mind - Take Your Mind to Task Everyday

  Therefore, my dear Atman! If you desire to attain your supreme good then you must constantly counsel your mind and convince it, “O restless mind! Now be quiet and steady. Why do you disturb me by wandering all the time? Has anybody every attained true happiness in the external world? Whoever has experienced true happiness, has done so within his own Self. Even Kind Bharthrihari, who ruled over all of India and possessed an abundance of luxuries and riches, was unable to attain happiness in the external world. And you desire external pleasures? Why don’t you take recourse to discrimination like King Bhartrihari and Prince Uddalak and return to the Bliss-personified Self?  

 Prince Uddalak’s discrimination had awakened in his early youth and he would often retreat to the mountain caves where he would counsel his mind, “O mind! Why do you make me wander? You are enamoured with perfumes, with taste and with some music at different times.   

“O foolish mind! You have ruined me. You gave me transitory happiness and robbed me of my Self Bliss. You have made me hanker after sense pleasures and thus impaired my energy, intellect, luster, health, longevity and zeal.”   

Prince Uddalak continued, “O mind! Time and again you run after sense pleasures and worldly relations, seeking company of the wife, children, friends etc., but why doesn’t the simple fact dawn on you that they are all short-lived? You have been forced to abandon them in all of your previous lives and will have to abandon them in this life as well. Then why do you still think about them? You are such a fool. Why don’t you immerse yourself in the meditation of your True Self, who is always with you, who is never distant from you, and who is Bliss Supreme? You have already wasted so much time and precious life. Be quiet at least now! Let me earn some spiritual wealth! Until now I did your bidding, and in your association made wretched resolves, fell into bad company and indulged in sinful acts. Now be kind enough to abandon your old habits and delve within.”   

Like Uddalak, one should take the mind to task, not just once, but everyday. The mind is so deceptive. Never trust it. Keep a constant watch to see whether the mind is following your commands. Keep an attentive vigil on its activities at all times. The stick of insightful discrimination must always be ready in your hand to discipline the mind. Punish the mind for its every act of transgression against established principles and time tested social norms. Don’t give it food and make it observe a fast. Only then will it realize that it is under the command of a tough administrator and any misstep will bring a severe punishment.