Mind, the Minefield🔗

Let me narrate a small and beautiful story from Ramakrishna, the great Hindu master and mystic.

Once upon a time, there lived a poor woodcutter near a forest. He used to cut the trees in the forest and sell them as firewood for his livelihood. One day an enlightened master suddenly appeared before him and told him: 'Go Deep'. The man went deeper into the forest and discovered a copper mine. Mining the copper, he earned enough money for a very comfortable life.

After some time, the enlightened master appeared again and repeated what he had said earlier, 'Go deep'. The man went deeper into the forest and this time discovered a silver mine. He mined the silver and now became a rich man.

A few months later, the master appeared again and repeated the words, 'Go Deep'. Intrigued, he did as he was bidden and went deeper into the forest to discover a gold mine. By mining the gold he was now an immensely rich man.

The master appeared for a fourth time and predictably said, 'Go Deep'. No longer wondering as to what and why, he followed the instructions and found a treasure trove of diamonds. He was now as rich as a king.

When the master appeared a fifth time, he forestalled the master before he could speak and asked him not to ask him to go any deeper, as he done all that and achieved everything that any person could possibly wish for.

The master simply laughed and said once more, 'Go Deep'. It was then that the woodcutter realized the true implication of the master's words and began to look within himself to finally realize the ultimate wealth of enlightenment.

This story is simple, however it has a significant meaning. When we start digging into the minefield of our mind, we begin to achieve some useful things in the outer world and also some extraordinary powers…however towards the end we achieve something which is beyond the comprehension of our mind.

At the initial level, we achieve s*akti or, the power to convert our dreams into reality. When we go deeper we achieve the buddhi* or intellect to realize that whatever we think is reality is nothing but our dream. There are two things for us to note here…first…converting our dreams into reality and second…realizing that the reality is but a dream. Now let us know more about the sakti to convert our dreams into reality.

A doctor once told me, 'You masters have the sankalpasakti' (The power to translate decisions into reality). I tell you that sankalpasakti is not the ultimate quality of a master…an enlightened person. Translating dreams into reality is just one path. Realizing that whatever we think is a dream…now this is the real path!

Sakti and Buddhi…these are required*…the former to give us the power to achieve our dreams and the latter to realize that the reality is our dream. A person becomes a master only when he realizes that whatever is termed as reality is nothing but a dream. A person, who has sankalpasakti*, or the power to convert his dreams into reality, could be called a y*ogi,* an adept. But only when he realizes that the reality is but a dream would be become enlightened…when the experience of the ultimate happens to him.

It is apparent that as the woodcutter went deeper into the outer world, he kept reaping the benefits of that world. The power of the mind is such that it can help fulfill any desire. But the master kept repeating 'Go deep'. He conveys that there is a world beyond what he is seeking and he is inspired to go further till he realizes the ultimate in himself. The sakti serves as a beacon light to travel the path of the outer world, however understand clearly that this path itself is not the end.

Patanjali speaks beautifully of siddhi, or the extraordinary manifestation of powers that meditation can achieve by exploring the mental powers of the human. Let us look into the aspect of powers that can be achieved by working on the mind, or rather, with the mind after we look at what is concentration.

Patanjali uses the word, samyama or concentrating the mind completely on a particular object. The word 'concentrating' is itself intimidating, as something not within reach of the normal person. We say we cannot concentrate because we often choose the wrong object to concentrate on. Let us analyze therefore, what concentration means, with an open mind.

A small story:

An elderly lady once went to Ramakrishna for help as she found that she could not concentrate on anything.

He asked her what it was that she was attached to so much that her concentration was affected. She replied that her attachment to her grandson was the cause of the disturbance. Ramakrishna then advised her to concentrate solely on her grandson and not to think of him as a disturbance. By doing so, her concentration would become a power by itself, so much so, that it could be wielded as a separate energy. An object for concentration is required only in the initial stage… later on this would not be necessary and one could divert the concentration into oneself.

Another person approached Ramakrishna and told him that he had a drinking problem and wondered if this technique would work for him! Unfazed, Ramakrishna advised him that if he concentrated hard enough on his problem it would simply disappear. The people around were shocked as to how a Paramahamsa, an enlightened master, could advise a person to indulge intensely in drinking? But to everybody's surprise the person returned after a week to say that he could not drink anymore.

It is important to understand the theory of karma. Anything half done leaves a samskara (impression in the mind) in our being. Anything not lived fully leaves an imprint or samskara in our being, which time and again pulls us back, attracts us to travel the same path and fulfill it. This is a very important concept of yoga which explains the cause of addiction. In my own experience of having worked with hundreds and thousands of people individually, at least a few thousand cases of addiction have been healed by meditation. The basic truth about addiction is that it is due to something lived vaguely, of not having lived fully or with the whole being. This creates a samskara which pulls one back to fulfill the experience.

Any emotion lived intensely simply liberates us of that emotion…be it anger, fear, desire to eat, attachment to any object or person. One is liberated fully of anything when one lives it fully.

If a person keeps going back to a problem pattern time and again, it only means that he or she has not lived out the problem fully.

Patanjali has propounded what may be termed as a law in human behavior which states that when we live, half our mind is elsewhere.

When I first read this, I wondered how this could be possible. For instance a man who is addicted to sweets would surely eat more of it. One would try and enjoy what one likes as much as possible, focus on it with all one's mind and body.

Patanjali says beautifully, 'the more the quantity, the less the quality'. The moment the quality of enjoyment of any object increases, its quantity decreases in direct proportion, of its own accord. Therefore, it is the quality that needs to be increased.

Ramakrishna asks an addict to concentrate intensely on drinking to the exclusion of everything else. I have given this technique to many people who are addicted to smoking and drinking. They simply dropped the habit, or rather, the habit drops them. Drinking and smoking can happen only when we are unconscious. It is not possible for a conscious person to blow smoke into his own system. The moment one becomes aware of the harm these habits do to his system, he automatically drops it, rather, the habit leaves him. I tell you this from the conviction and experience of having worked with a vast cross-section of humanity.

We have a very wrong idea of concentration because we choose the wrong objects. One of the noteworthy predicaments of the mind is dilemma. People coming to the Bidadi ashram in Bharat to attend discourses ask me if they ought to attend the weekend workshop. When I say yes, they immediately bring forth reasons or excuses as to why they cannot attend it. But if I ask them to go ahead with their work, they again begin to talk of the experiences they would be miss in the workshop if they did not attend it!

The mind is such that if you were to sit on one side, the other side immediately argues why you should sit on its side. The nature of the mind is dilemma which is why when you choose an object for concentration, you are always in a dilemma as to which object to choose. This is why Patanjali says 'Concentrate on whatever gives you a beautiful, comfortable feeling'. I feel he is the first and last person to offer a solution to the problem of concentration. Concentrate on whatever gives you a feeling of comfort or relaxes you.

People are shocked and say, 'Master, how this can be? Are we not supposed to concentrate on the Divine, on what is right?'

Patanjali says that the moment we concentrate on anything, the object of our concentration simply disappears. Even if our notion or idea is wrong, the moment we concentrate on it intensely, the object disappears. It is the concentration itself which is important, not the object of concentration.

That is why Ramakrishna says that when you have concentration and bhakti, even a stone becomes God and blesses you. When you don't have concentration, even if God Himself appears in front of you, you would probably ask him his for identity card!

There is a beautiful verse in the spiritual book Narada Bhakti Sutra or Aphorisms on Divine Love, which states that whom you surrender to is not important...it is surrender itself that is important. You can surrender even to a stone and you will see that God speaks to you through the stone.

Vivekananda, in his commentary on Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, says that the object of our concentration is not important; the concentration itself is enough. He adds that all our prayers to God serve only one purpose…that of awakening our own inner potential energy. When we pray intensely, banishing the thought that our prayers are heard somewhere and someone blesses us... our own inner potential energy is awakened and it showers its blessing on us in the form of God, irrespective of what form we worship.

Vivekananda reveals that when we pray intensely the kundalini sakti, the inner power within us, is awakened and this energy showers us with blessings and guides us. So it is the concentration that is of paramount importance. We may concentrate on whatever gives us happiness.

Patanjali says that once we master the art of concentration or samyama, the object of our concentration would disappear and the light beam of concentration could simply be turned into us.

He goes on to say that it does not take years or months to achieve samyama…a few weeks are enough. Any person with normal, average intelligence can achieve samyama in 21 days. All one needs to do is choose the object towards which one's mind automatically flows.

To be alive…attachment to something is essential, be it a house, God, money, comfort, relationship and so on. Begin concentrating or meditating on whatever it is that you are attached to for 21 days. Patanjali is the first and last master who liberates us from the problem of concentration.

Contrary to popular belief, this is not a struggle at all. It becomes a struggle only when your mind is in a dilemma. Here is another technique for you to follow…tell your mind not to remember the object of your concentration and you would not be able to forget it. For instance, if you want to spread any secret, according to popular belief,, whisper it to a few middle aged Hindu women who are free the whole day and swear them to secrecy…in less than an hour the whole city would know of it! Our minds are no different.

There is a beautiful story explaining the workings of the mind.

A man wanted the siddhi or extraordinary powers…that of reading others' minds, walking on water and flying in the air. Mind you, people who seek such powers are invariably asking for trouble! He went to a master in the Himalayas and requested him to grant this power. The master advised him not to ask for such powers but seek enlightenment instead. The man insisted that he wanted only the powers. The master relented and gave him a medicine which would infuse him with these powers but warned him that the medicine will have no effect if he thought of a monkey when he took it. If he did so, he would have to take a bath and repeat the process.

This man thought it was a simple thing to do. Just a he was about to take the medicine, the thought of a monkey came to him; unbidden even as he was trying to avoid it! He tried again and again. To his utter chagrin the man found that he could not take the medicine without thinking of a monkey; so much so, he was engaged in constantly taking baths. He was reduced to a state where he could think of nothing but monkeys! He returned to the master and begged him to take the medicine back and liberate him from monkeys!

This is the way of the mind.

If Patanjali's instructions appear to be paradoxical, it must be understood that the mind itself is paradoxical. It is like using a thorn to remove the thorn already in your mind.

Patanjali was a person who completely understood the working of the mind. That is why he asks one to concentrate his mind on any object that attracts him. After research on this subject for many years, it is my own conclusion that by concentrating on any object it drops or disappears, but leaves the power of concentration with you like a beam of light. This beam of light can be directed on any subject for it to simply open itself to you. In Patanjali's words, what one needs to do is create this light beam. The beam could then be directed on any subject to know it completely. If this can be achieved, it is possible to achieve anything in this mortal world that is worth achieving.

Vivekananda says that by studying a handful of clay intensely it is possible to know about all other types of clay on earth. Similarly the moment you concentrate on any object, the object itself dissolves leaving the beam of concentration with you and that is enough for you to direct it towards any subject.

In the Mahabharata, there are three versions of the Gita given…the Bhagavad Gita and the Anugita , both delivered by Lord Krishna and the third and important one called Vyadagita which is the song of a butcher. This Gita is delivered by a butcher…a man who is considered a low born sinner, a chandala, an untouchable. You will be surprising to know how this was delivered.

There lived a great Yogi, a spiritual adept, who was meditating under a tree in a forest. The droppings of a crane sitting on that tree fell on him. Disturbed, he opened his eyes and looked angrily at the bird. Instantly the crane was burnt down by the power of his gaze.

Here it must be noted that in real meditation it is inner silence that is necessary. Egoistic people like this yogi who do not have the inner silence, create outer silence to the discomfiture of all around them.

The yogi was proud of what he has done and his ego was now on a high. He went to a house and begged for food as he was required to by his spiritual practice, chanting bhagavati biksham dehi or please give me some food. The lady of the house called out from inside the house and asked him to wait as she was serving her husband. The yogi was upset that the lady, instead of giving food to a great yogi like himself, should be serving her husband instead.

He was only thinking these thoughts when the lady's voice is heard again as if in answer to his thoughts, 'I am not like a crane to be killed so easily. Your powers may be used against birds but not with me…so relax!'

Shocked, he apologized to the lady when she came out to give him food and wanted to know how she had divined his thoughts, and how she knew about what had transpired in the forest. She replied, 'You achieved only sakti…I have achieved buddhi". He begs her to teach him buddhi, whereupon she directs him to the butcher for his lesson.

The butcher explains to the yogi how he himself had achieved buddhi, the ultimate experience. By concentrating intensely on his job he could achieve samyama and the moment he did so, the object disappeared leaving the beam of concentration in its wake. He realized that the light beam could be directed towards anything. Thus the truth was revealed to him.

In a way, the Vyadagita can be considered to be higher than the Bhagavad Gita because in the latter you receive instructions from God Himself. And you know God can never be practical for he is so loved and pampered! But the Vyada, the butcher…is a working man earning his livelihood from day to day. Such a person's experience is therefore more practical than Krishna's.

This is why the basic qualification of a Master in Bharat is that he should have traversed the length and breadth of the country on foot. This is a basic necessity and the only way he could gain an insight into the practical problems of the people, by seeing for himself how the people really lived their lives. Only when he knows and understands this can he teach them.

Most difficulties can be attributed to people who have the ability to teach but who lack the practical knowledge of what they teach. Such people always teach the academic knowledge they have learnt but seldom with a view to benefit the people whom they teach. This is why in Bharat the qualification for any religious preacher is that he should have wandered at least a few years from city to city, village to village, begging from house to house before he can teach or preach.

I wandered for nine years doing my research towards enlightenment and spirituality and not contributing anything useful to society. I had taken a vow not to touch money or carry the next meal with me. But the culture of Bharat is such that I was supported during all these nine years, with respect and honor. This is something unimaginable in any other country.

In other countries I would have been called homeless and hounded…but in Bharat I was respected as a parivrajaka sanyasi, a wandering ascetic. This is also why so many enlightened masters are born time and again in Bharat. Bharat is to an enlightened master what an incubator is to a premature baby. This is why the Vyada is in a way, superior to Krishna.

Patanjali says that it takes thousands of techniques to realize the different energies, powers and sakti of the mind. He shows how the mind can be a minefield. Amusing as it may sound, it is possible to achieve anything with closed eyes. He not only declares but also proves it.

Be clear…the outer world is nothing but a projection of the inner world and it is the eye which projects it. Whatever is visible as the outer world is but a projection. For instance, if there was a scene in a movie that we did not like, we would not be able change it by trying to clear the screen; instead, what we would need to do is switch off the projector or change the reel. Likewise, all our frustration and depression in trying to change our life is owing to our attempt to manipulate the screen and not the projector as is needed. We try without success to change things in the outer world instead of changing ourselves!

We fantasize of holidaying on a beautiful beach in Hawaii and imagine it to be the ultimate in bliss but when it really happens, our thoughts are not of the beach but of our office and deadlines! I often tell people that if you sit in the house and worry, it is homework. If you sit in the office and worry, then you call it office work and when you sit on the beach and worry, it is vacation!

The mind is the same, only the location is different. How can you change the mental state by changing the place? We are engaged all the time in changing the status, not the state.

We need to work to change the state, not the status!

When we begin to change the state, we would be working with the projector and would make progress, but if we changed our status it would be like working with the screen. Changing our spouse, house or car is like working with the screen and does not help us. Changing our mind, our state and therefore our fantasies is the only way.

This is why Patanjali says that it is possible to achieve anything simply by closing the eyes. This naturally poses the question…how can one live by just closing the eyes? I assure you that if you learn the art of sitting with closed eyes, you would earn ten times more than what you earn now! Both, method and creativity would find expression within you. All negative energies like exhaustion, depression and worries would disappear.

We will become far more effective in the outer world than we are now. However the sad reality is that we never trust ourselves to transform ourselves.

We look at ourselves as a chain and we always try to judge our strength by our weakest link. Understand well that this logic is applicable only to a chain and not to ourselves. We disrespect ourselves by constantly judging ourselves by past mistakes and decisions.

Bhagavan Ramana Maharishi was once asked the qualification for enlightenment. Bhagavan replied simply that being alive was the only qualification.

If we are alive, it is enough to concentrate and achieve the samyama.

If you sincerely wish to reach the Ultimate all you need to do is in three steps.

First, do not create a dilemma on what object to concentrate.

Next, concentrate your mind on what naturally makes you happy and comfortable. The moment you achieve concentration, the object of your concentration will disappear leaving behind the light beam which is what you must pursue to achieve. In Zen Buddhism they enlighten people through archery…concentration by aiming…directing the concentration to within themselves and ultimately gaining enlightenment.

Above all, believe that that we can concentrate as we have convinced ourselves that we cannot concentrate. Dehypnotize ourselves by saying that we can!

Let us carry this message in our life. Let us pray to the great master Patanjali, the Divine energy to bless us all with the Ultimate Experience, Eternal Bliss, Nithya Ananda. Thank you.