Blog

October 2021

Mind at rest is a temple of joy.
– Chinmaya

A peaceful mind is a mind at rest.

There are two ways to happiness:
1. Strive to get what we want. And if that doesn’t work then,
2. Like what we get.

In this world, 99% of the situations are choiceless situations. Getting what we want is almost impossible. Hence the only solution is a cheerful acceptance of what comes in our life. We may not have control over the external happenings, but internal peace is our choice. 

Somewhere in the year 1968-69, Pujya Gurudev’s yajna was arranged in Nigeria. After the yajna, Gurudev went to Ghana and the Canary Islands. On the return flight from the Canary Islands, despite the organiser’s prior request to the airline to serve pure vegetarian food to the devotees’ group, to their dismay, they found the vegetarian food garnished with egg slices! Their hearts stopped as they watched Gurudev.

Gurudev simply removed the egg slices from the top with a spoon, kept them aside, and started eating. All the others breathed a sigh of relief and copied him.

Later, when a devotee asked him how he could tolerate it, he said, “Look, apart from me, there are three other diabetics in the group, and all of them are elderly people. If I had made a fuss, nobody would have eaten and that is dangerous for diabetics. It depends on how you look at things. I do not go to the kitchen to check how the food is cooked. As long as your mind is clear, these sorts of things should never bother you.”

Resting the mind in peace is the most difficult task in the world.

Guru Vasishtha told Rama: “If I were told that someone has lifted the Himalayas, I may, for a moment, assume that there is such a person in the world. If someone were to say he has swallowed the sea, incredible though it may seem, I may, for an instant, believe him too. If someone were to assert that he has tamed the winds of the world, he is not to be taken seriously, but, for a split second, I may agree with him.”

“However,” the sage added, “if someone were to boast that he has controlled his mind, I would never believe him.”

Is there an easy way to quieten the mind?

Geeta says that the easiest way is to trust the Lord. The Lord Himself has promised: yogakshemam-vahaamyaham. Hence our responsibility is to ever remain at His Lotus Feet in loving surrender and devotion.

A boy went to a great Mahatma in Gujarat and asked, “Swamiji, how to develop faith in God?”
Swamiji looked at him and asked, “Will you do whatever I say?”
The boy said, “I am ready to do anything Swamiji. I am at your disposal.”
Swamiji said, “Ok then, go back, remove all your clothes, become naked, and take a vow of silence for 12 years.”
The boy was shocked!

He prostrated to the Mahatma and in a deeply pensive mood, returned back. All the while his mind was worrying, “If I become naked I will not be even able to come out of my house. How then am I going to feed myself? I can’t even ask for food if I take the vow of silence. How will I survive? This is impossible. Forget about it…”

But he was not at peace. There was a conscience prick from within, “I have promised this Mahatma that I will do whatever he said. Hence I cannot go back on my words. I must obey him at any cost, come what may.”

He became naked and locked himself inside a room. The worry about the next meal constantly haunted him. He had no choice but to hold on to God dearly!

The compassionate Lord never abandons anyone. Mysteriously he kept getting his food from somebody or the other, even from unexpected corners, every day, without fail!

This went on for 6 years. One night, while lying down, a worrying thought came to him, “Today I got my food. But who knows what will happen tomorrow?”

At that very instant, he heard a stern but loving, loud and clear voice from within, “Fool, for the last 6 years, I have been taking care of you without fail, and still, you doubt Me?”

The boy, hearing these words, broke down in tears. He apologized from the depth of his heart, “O Lord! Forgive me for my ingratitude! You took care of me so well, even then I doubted You O Lord! I am such a thankless sinner!”
He wept uncontrollably for a long time with intense repentance, after which his mind became very peaceful. From then on, all the worries regarding life completely left him.

This boy went on to become a very famous saint named Poornananda Bapu in Gujarat.    

The greatest tragedy is that we don’t trust the Lord. The result? The mind is always busy brooding or worrying about life’s happenings. It is never at rest.

The great saint Kabir used to go out for walking, and on the way, he would always find a man sitting in his fields.
“Sir, instead of sitting idly in your fields,” Kabir stopped and said to the man, “you could better spend your time in some spiritual practice.”
“I have very young children, and will be able to afford the time for spiritual practice only after they have grown up,” the man replied.

After the children had grown up, Kabir met the man again.
“Do you now find time for meditation?” he asked him.
“Ah, sir, now I must wait for the children to be married, so they can look after themselves independently. Then I will have the time to devote myself to meditation.”

Some years later, Kabir met the man again.
“And now, my fortunate man, all your children are married, so you are no doubt devoting yourself for the spiritual work?” he asked.
“Ah, now,” the man replied, “I am eager to see my grandchildren grow up and get married.”

After this had taken place, Kabir again asked the man, “What is your position now, my friend?”
“Oh, sir,” the man replied, “I find that my grandchildren are very careless. As a result, I have to look after the house, even during the night. For, if I were also careless, thieves would come and steal what little we have.”

Some years later, Kabir visited the man’s house and enquired where the old man was. The sons and grandsons said that he had died.

“Ah, what a great pity,” Kabir said. “Poor man, he has wasted this precious human life. Even a few moments of remembrance of the Lord would have done him great good.”

When the man was alive, he had been very much attached to his family. He also looked after the cows and buffaloes and was particularly fond of one cow. Kabir, with his inner vision, saw that the man had reincarnated as her calf!

Mind is at total rest only when it is with the Lord. And once the mind tastes this higher spiritual joy, it craves for nothing thereafter.

A lady in Dhilvan village was dying. She summoned her family and said, “My satguru has appeared. I am ready to leave. I hope you will not cry at my death, because I am going to my true home. My satguru is taking me with him. What else can make me happier?”
“What will become of us?” her sons asked her.

“That is for you to see,” she replied with a calm detachment.

Let us mind our own business – to rest the mind in the Self and be in the temple of joy.

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