Dear readers, since years through myriad articles of Akhand Gyan you all had great number of spiritual legends unfolded and great many spiritual truths revealed. You have understood the true significance behind many of our practices and traditions. Our revered master His Holiness Ashutosh Maharaj ji’s divine guidance through his discourses is of utmost importance. We should realize the precious time and effort he has bestowed for our spiritual upliftment. It is the duty of every spiritual aspirant to focus on the goal, the ultimate destination and not to waste precious time and energy on the trivialities of life. The ultimate destiny, the goal of human life is the most simple and the most straight forward path of all paths.
All the terror, strife and atrocities in this world have a single entity behind it. It is the mind of every individual that is the culprit. It is the mind that plays havoc with the neat and straight divine path laid out right in front of our eyes. Again it is this precious mind that is gateway to heavens and indescribable joy and happiness. Thus we can easily say it is the mind that is the key to heaven as well as hell. It remains our will to choose either. The biggest problem with understanding the mind is the tendency of the mind to want to control is quiet strong and habitual. We often don't realize the many times it tries to push our inner wisdom and natural sense of ease and love aside.
There is no book or course that will change the nature of our mind. The problem has the solution inherent to it. How we use mind is the real test.
'The mind is everything. What you think you become.'
Mahatma Buddha
He says further, 'All wrong-doings arise because of mind. If mind is transformed can wrong doing remain?'
James Allen said, 'A man's mind may be likened to a garden, which may be intelligently cultivated or allowed to run wild; but whether cultivated or neglected, it must, and will, bring forth. If no useful seeds are put into it, then an abundance of useless weed seeds will fall therein, and will continue to produce their kind.'
Your thinking determines your actions; your actions determine your outcome. Right thinking will grant you everything you desire; wrong thinking is a vice that will eventually destroy you. One encages oneself by creating walls around him and holding onto grudges rather than letting them go. First and foremost is the tool of forgiveness.
''Holding on to anger and other negative traits is like grasping hot coals with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.''
Stephen Covey said, ''Seek to understand first, then to be understood.'' Easy to say, very difficult to do; you must labour to understand the 'other' person’s perspective. When you feel anger or negative tendencies rising, let it cease. Listen to others, understand their perspective, and you will have more peace.
''It is a man's own mind, not his enemy or foe that lures him to evil ways.'' More than 2,500 years ago Buddha was teaching people about the human mind so that they might understand themselves better and discover that there was a way out of suffering.
In an analogy Buddha compares the human mind as being filled with drunken monkeys, jumping around, screeching, chattering, and carrying on endlessly. We all have monkey minds, with dozens of monkeys all clamouring for attention. Fear is an especially loud monkey, sounding the alarm incessantly, pointing out all the things we should be wary of and everything that could go wrong.
Meditating on the glorious effulgence of the self is the true method to tame the drunken monkeys in our minds. Meditation is a wonderful way to quiet the voices of fear, anxiety, worry and other negative emotions. A true celebration of the master’s sojourn on this earth is implementing his/her teachings in our life.
One cannot realize God unless one's heart is clean. God does not dwell in mountains, forests, or skies alone. He is the controlling and balancing power behind everything. He is within all of us. All great saints and sages have declared that the Lord dwells in every human heart. The reason is that our hearts are polluted. We cannot reach our goal without purity of heart. To be established in purity we will have to make efforts. Until the mind is stilled, we cannot realize Him. Those with pure hearts say: "Open your inner eye and have a glimpse of Him."
Every one of us is afflicted with the malady of mind. Upanishads state, "Human body is like a chariot wherein the soul is a rider, the mind the driver, the intellect the reins and the senses are the powerful steeds running amuck in the mire of sensuous gratification." Under the influence of mind, our soul is attached to the external objects at the sensual plane. Now mind is trapped by the senses. Presently, soul and mind are identified with each other.
So long as one is outflowing, one cannot realize the Reality within. Shri Guru Amar Das says: "One whose mind is continuously flowing out through the ten channels, how he can sing the praise of the Lord? If the mind is stilled, then only the question of adoration (of the Lord) arises." Guru Nanak Dev Ji questions: "One whose heart is not intact, how can he realize God?"
Today when a man is confused, he would lament that his mind is not good or something is fundamentally wrong with him. It is said: "If you are firmly resolved to proceed to the Beloved Lord, you put one foot on the mind, and the other will enable you to reach the alley of the Beloved." Control your mind, and the next step you take will be in the mansion of the Beloved. Guru Nanak Dev Ji says: "By conquering the mind, you can win over the entire world."
So the subjugation of mind is the first step not only on the path of Spirituality, but also to achieve success in every walk of life. The mind is running outward bound through the ten outlets of the body. Thus first, 'attention' is totally under the control of mind. We need to pull this attention from all transient things in life and firmly fix it on the Eternal Lord.
Kabir Das Ji says: "Mind is an unattainable ocean in which endless tides spring up." This mind is like an ocean in which unending waves of animal instincts, anger, greed, attachment, and egotism are constantly emanating. Unless it is stilled, the goal cannot be reached "It is not possible without a competent Master who can ferry us across the mighty sea of mind. The association of an adept master like these above luminaries who have controlled the mind and transcended its limitations can help an aspirant to do likewise; otherwise, there is no way out.
It is our greatest privilege that through the grace of His Holiness Ashutosh Maharaj Ji we have got the Brahm gyan and with this as a tool to control and channelize our mind to the true goal we should steadfastly walk towards the goal.
Stephen Richards has put it very well, 'When you connect to the silence within you, that is when you can make sense of the disturbance going on around you.' Connect to the silence, connect to your Self!!!
Mind