Blog

March 2012

An unruly mind fluttering with greeds and fancies, worries and fears cannot be expected to settle on sublime thoughts. – Chinmaya

An excited youngster, after listening to an inspirational talk of a great leader, poured out his enthusiasm to his father, “Dad, I have decided to dedicate my life in wiping clean all the imperfections in the society. What is your opinion Dad, where should I begin from?”

The father said, “Hmm…good, begin from your room.”!

When I find fault with my neighbours, talk ill of my in-laws, criticize the politicians, make fun of my boss and the subordinates, ridicule the Government, lament on corruption,…the underlying thought current is – A perfect man (myself) in an imperfect world!

But the fact is the world is ever perfect. It cannot be otherwise. The perfection of the Creator is clearly reflected in his creation, be it the movement of the planets, the changing of seasons or the operation of natural laws.

The only thing imperfect is my own creation – my mind. There God doesn’t interfere, unless permitted!

 My imperfection can be easily proved. Sit silently for just one minute with closed eyes and watch one’s mind. The misconception “I am perfect” will find a permanent grave!

As the wise say, “Don’t accept your dog’s admiration as conclusive evidence that you are wonderful”!

It needs a lot of maturity to admit one’s imperfection. In fact, this realization alone marks the true beginning of the spiritual journey in a spiritual seeker.

The intense awareness of our imperfection coupled with our helplessness takes us to the next stage – Total surrender. From here, the Lord takes over, purifies the heart of all its filth, replacing it with a cheerful heart, filled with divine inexplicable joy. Such a purified heart becomes a means to intuitively experience His Presence.

It was extremely hot. Lord Buddha, tired of walking, sat under a tree. He asked his disciple, Ananda, to bring some water for him. Ananda went near a pond to fetch some water. But a bullock cart had just passed over and the water had become dirty. Ananda returned and told Buddha that the water had become dirty but said that he would arrange water from somewhere else. But Buddha asked him to go to the same place after some time.

Later, Ananda went again, and this time the mud had settled and the water was pure. To his dear disciple, the Master said, “Ananda, allow the muddy mind to settle, and you will see the Truth, shining forth in all Its glory.”

The subtlest Truth needs an equally subtle mind to experience It. A fluttering, worrying mind has no entry into the royal gateway to the Infinite Self.

It is well said, “If you have mastery over the mind, nothing else matters; if not, nothing else matters”!

 Plato is considered as one of the greatest Greek philosophers, who, along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, helped to lay the foundations of Western philosophy and science.

Plato was sentenced to death by the king. But due to certain reasons, the royal orders could not be executed. Plato’s death sentence was then changed to slavery. It was one of the greatest punishments during those days to declare someone a slave. In fact, declaring someone a slave was considered a punishment above death sentence.

But the king, as soon as he came to know that Plato, who had been declared a slave, was a great philosopher and thinker, withdrew his orders and freed him.

The king apologized to him and said, “Sir, punishment order was passed not knowing your real identity. I am sorry to have caused pain to you unknowingly.”

At this Plato said, “O King! I am busy in the quest of Truth. I was not even aware that you had sentenced me to death, slavery etc. Hence the question of forgiveness doesn’t even arise.”

The lighter a thing, the higher it goes. So too with the mind.

And to such a sublime mind, which has learned to scale the heights of Inner Perfection, even death becomes an insignificant happening, what to talk of the mundane worldly problems!

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