Never Mind The Mind-Part I

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M: It is the nature of the mind to wander. You are not the mind. It is impermanent whereas you are eternal. To inhere in the Self is the thing. Never mind the mind. If its source is sought it will vanish leaving the Self unaffected. (Talks 97, pg. 93)

In any walk of life one has certain definite goals towards which one is working. These goals keep shifting and are jacked up with reference to prior achievements. A student would be working for merit ranking, scholarship, competitive examination, foreign studies and so on. An officer of the government would be aiming at going up the official ladder, or getting posted to a more influential seat and a politician is concerned with widening his popular base, in strengthening his position in his part hierarchy and generally to be regarded as a leader.

A businessman would be keen on adding to the number of companies in his group by his keen competitive edge and political clout. One important point to remember is that one can always check up and one does check the progress or lack of it with reference to these goals and constantly reappraise the needs of the situation. Also we are prepared to give all that we have got, to pour into our efforts every ounce of energy in order to be successful. However, when it comes to the spiritual side alone one does not seem to be clear about what exactly one is seeking from it. Often one may be bogged down by theoretical and idealistic goals. For instance, on might think that the goal is 'mukti', liberation, or Self-knowledge or God – vision. While undoubtedly those having these goals are serious about their beliefs, the difficulty is that one cannot be passionate about such goals so long as it is a theoretical adherence and not a felt need. How real can the objective of liberation be to one who does not feel that all this is a passing show, a 'vanity of vanities'? Without dispassion, without awareness of the transitoriness of everything which we seek and hold dear mukti becomes only an idea, not something for which one would care deep down within oneself.

So in order to go far one has to come near and look at his own daily turmoils, look at his endless fears and fix his goals with reference to them. If one does give a reflective look at what he is and plans to end the gaps to happiness, then and only then there would be realism in the goals. If I am constantly living in fear of the reaction of others lest I should lose their love, if I am always in expectation of support from others to dear causes, if my mind is restless and agitated what should be my goal? To escape from the shadow of desire and fear must be our aim if we are to give a practical turn to our endeavours. Then the goal would be meaningful for it would have been integrated to life as we live it.

One might stress the fact that unless the chosen goal has a direct relation to our problems it would not be possible to sustain the zest for effort. In one sense, this is a realistic turn to our goals and therefore to our sadhana. Does this mean we are living up spiritual goals, held out before us as ideals in the scriptures? The answer is 'no' if one goes into their true meaning. For instance when one aims at 'mukti' he is in effect seeking to be restored to his natural state of peace.

To be continued...