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Freedom From Mind And Bondage
'It is the mind that causes bondage, and it is the mind that liberates man,' says the Upanisad. ( Amrtabindu Upanisad) Sounds paradoxical. How can one that binds also liberate? The answer is that a pure mind liberates, and an impure mind binds. Shri Ramakrishna says, 'God cannot be known by the sense-organs or by this [impure] mind; but He can be known by the pure mind, the mind that is free from worldly desires.'(The Gospel of Shri Ramakrishna (Madras: Sri Ramakrishna Math. 1980) p.328-29)
Freedom from the mind, therefore, means freedom from the bondage imposed by an impure mind.
What are these bondages? There are eight bondages (asta-pasa) traditionally enumerated in our scriptures: 'Aversion, shame, pity, suspicion [or fear], hatred, and [pride of] family, [of] character, and [of] community.' These are bondages because they are products of ignorance and bind one to the world. The master often referred to another set of bondages called the 'six enemies' (sad-ripu). These are: desire, anger, greed, pride, attachment and jealousy. These are 'enemies' because they are bent on stalling your spiritual progress and ultimately on destroying you.
How
do
we
get
rid
of
these
bondages
and
attain
freedom
from
mind?
We
can
do
it,
says
Vedanta,
by
simply
asserting
our
real
nature
in
every
situation,
at
every
moment
of
our
life.
To
teach
man
about
this
profound
power
of
self-affirmation
was
what
Swami
Vivekananda
considered
his
ideal
in
life.
He
wrote:
My
ideal
can
indeed
be
put
into
a
few
words
and
that
is:
to
preach
unto
mankind
their
divinity,
and
how
to
make
it
manifest
in
every
movement
of
life.
All the bondages enumerated above are not natural to us. That is to say, they are not a part of our real nature. Our true nature is divine; every one of us is a free, perfect and immortal being. Anything that negates this is simply an accretion that needs to be shaken off. The abiding awareness of oneself as the atman — free, blissful and luminous — breaks off the bondages in a simple, natural way. What happens when the sleeping soul is roused to self-conscious activity? It spontaneously manifests power, glory, goodness, purity and everything that is excellent. It is, however, not easy to maintain always the awareness of oneself as the atman.
Intense efforts are necessary to overcome the opposing pulls of the wayward mind. Indomitable will-power coupled with spiritual aspiration takes the seeker slowly but surely to the state of natural and effortless self-affirmation.
Shri Ramakrishna showed another natural method of overcoming the bondages created by an impure mind. According to him, these become 'bondages' only because they are directed towards the world; direct them to God, he said, and not only will they cease to be bondages but will also become positive helps in your spiritual journey.
Shri
Ramakrishna
showed
on
several
occasions
how
this
re-channelling
can
be
done.
He
said,
The
impulse
of
lust
should
be
turned
into
the
desire
to
have
intercourse
with
Atman.
Feel
angry
at
those
who
stand
in
your
way
to
God.
Feel
greedy
for
Him.
If
you
must
have
the
feeling
of
I
and
mine,
then
associate
it
with
God.
Say,
for
instance,
'My
Rama,
my
Krishna.'
If
you
must
have
pride,
then
feel
like
Bibhishana,
who
said,
'I
have
touched
the
feet
of
Rama
with
my
head;
I
will
not
bow
this
head
before
anyone
else.'
If you must have desire and greed, then you should desire love of God and be greedy to attain Him. If you must be conceited and egoistic, then feel conceited and egoistic, thinking that you are the servant of God, the child of God.
Instead of desiring worldly pleasures, desire God... If you cannot get rid of anger, then change its direction... say, 'What? I have repeated the hallowed name of Durga, and shall I not be liberated? How can I be a sinner any more? How can I be bound any more?' If you cannot get rid of temptation, direct it toward God. Be infatuated with God's beauty.
When the freedom from mind is sought from the 'eight bondages' (asta-pasa) and the 'six enemies' (sad-ripu) it becomes pure. This purification can also be brought about by selfless service, intense prayer, and surrender to the Divine. Armed now with this moral freedom (freedom from mind), the seeker proceeds to encounter the barrier of the intellect which lies ahead. The mind (manas) and the intellect (buddhi) are usually considered two faculties of the one internal organ (antahkarana). For a complete purification, both must be purified.
To be continued
'Freedom from Mind' is an excerpt from Swami Tyagananda's (Ramakrishna Math) elaborate article 'Degrees of Freedom' in which he deals about the ultimate freedom or spiritual freedom which is the goal of every spiritual seeker.
- sri ramakrishnaDegrees of Freedom
- thoughtLiving in Freedom and Enquiry-Part IV
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- anecdotesBuddha And The Knotted Handkerchief
- paramahamsa nithyanandaGod Gives You The Freedom To Be In Bondage!
- sri ramakrishnaThe world changes, The Lord Remains.
- thoughtEssence of Bhagavatam-(Parikshit-Suka Deva Dialogue)
- thoughtThe Essence Of Bhagavatam (Story of Parikshit)
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- sri ramakrishnaFreedom from the intellect