Regularity, Daily Introspection and Useless Thoughts
You must be very regular in your practice. Then only you will succeed. Regularity is of paramount importance.
You
should know the ways and habits of the mind through daily
introspection, self-analysis or self-examination. You should have
knowledge of the laws of the mind. Then it will be easy for you to check
the mind-wandering. When you sit for meditation, when you deliberately
attempt to forget the worldly objects, all sorts of worldly thoughts
irrelevant and nonsensical thoughts, will crop up in your mind and,
disturb your meditation. You will be quite astonished. Old thoughts
which you entertained several years ago, old memories of past enjoyments
will bubble up and force the mind to wander in all directions. You will
find that the trapdoor of the vast magazine of thoughts and memories
within the subconscious mind is opened or the lid of the storehouse of
thoughts within is lifted up and the thoughts gush out in a continuous
stream. The more you attempt to still them the more they will bubble up
with redoubled force and strength.
Do not be discouraged. Nil
desperandum. Never despair. Through regular and constant meditation you
can purify the subconscious mind and can control all thoughts and
memories. The fire of meditation will burn all thoughts. Be sure of
this. Meditation is a potent antidote to annihilate the poisonous
worldly thoughts. Be assured of this.
During introspection you
can clearly observe the shiftings of the mind from one line of thought
to another. Herein lies a change for you to mould the mind properly and
direct the thoughts and the mental energy in the Divine Channel. You can
rearrange the thoughts, make new association on a new Sattvic basis.
You can throw out useless worldly thoughts just as you remove the weeds
and throw them out. You can cultivate sublime, Divine thoughts in the
Divine garden of your mind or Antahkarana. This is a very patient work.
This is a stupendous task indeed. But for a Yogi of self-determination,
who has the grace of the Lord and iron-will, it is nothing.
Meditation
on the Immortal Self will act like a dynamite and blow up all thoughts
and memories in the subconscious mind. If the thoughts trouble you much,
do not suppress them by force. Be a silent witness as in a bioscope.
They will subside gradually. Then try to root them out through regular
silent meditation.
The practice must be constant. Then only one can attain Self-realisation, surely and quickly. He who practises meditation by fits and starts for a few minutes daily will not be able to achieve any tangible result in Yoga.
How can sense-control be tested in a lonely forest, where there are no temptations? The Yogic student of the cave (seclusion) should test himself after growing sufficiently by entering the plains. But he should not test himself every now and then like the man who removed the young plant daily after watering to see if it had struck deep root or not.
May you all attain success in Yoga and enter into Nirvikalpa Samadhi or the Blissful Union with the Lord by controlling the senses and the mind and practising regular and constant meditation.
(pgs. 109-110, Concentration and Meditation by Swami Sivananda)
You
should know the ways and habits of the mind through daily
introspection, self-analysis or self-examination. You should have
knowledge of the laws of the mind. Then it will be easy for you to check
the mind-wandering. When you sit for meditation, when you deliberately
attempt to forget the worldly objects, all sorts of worldly thoughts
irrelevant and nonsensical thoughts, will crop up in your mind and,
disturb your meditation. You will be quite astonished. Old thoughts
which you entertained several years ago, old memories of past enjoyments
will bubble up and force the mind to wander in all directions. You will
find that the trapdoor of the vast magazine of thoughts and memories
within the subconscious mind is opened or the lid of the storehouse of
thoughts within is lifted up and the thoughts gush out in a continuous
stream. The more you attempt to still them the more they will bubble up
with redoubled force and strength.
Do not be discouraged. Nil
desperandum. Never despair. Through regular and constant meditation you
can purify the subconscious mind and can control all thoughts and
memories. The fire of meditation will burn all thoughts. Be sure of
this. Meditation is a potent antidote to annihilate the poisonous
worldly thoughts. Be assured of this.
During introspection you
can clearly observe the shiftings of the mind from one line of thought
to another. Herein lies a change for you to mould the mind properly and
direct the thoughts and the mental energy in the Divine Channel. You can
rearrange the thoughts, make new association on a new Sattvic basis.
You can throw out useless worldly thoughts just as you remove the weeds
and throw them out. You can cultivate sublime, Divine thoughts in the
Divine garden of your mind or Antahkarana. This is a very patient work.
This is a stupendous task indeed. But for a Yogi of self-determination,
who has the grace of the Lord and iron-will, it is nothing.
Meditation
on the Immortal Self will act like a dynamite and blow up all thoughts
and memories in the subconscious mind. If the thoughts trouble you much,
do not suppress them by force. Be a silent witness as in a bioscope.
They will subside gradually. Then try to root them out through regular
silent meditation.The practice must be constant. Then only one can attain Self-realisation, surely and quickly. He who practises meditation by fits and starts for a few minutes daily will not be able to achieve any tangible result in Yoga.
How can sense-control be tested in a lonely forest, where there are no temptations? The Yogic student of the cave (seclusion) should test himself after growing sufficiently by entering the plains. But he should not test himself every now and then like the man who removed the young plant daily after watering to see if it had struck deep root or not.
May you all attain success in Yoga and enter into Nirvikalpa Samadhi or the Blissful Union with the Lord by controlling the senses and the mind and practising regular and constant meditation.
(pgs. 109-110, Concentration and Meditation by Swami Sivananda)
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