Mind : ( 24/10/2012. )

PATH OF SPIRITUALITY :-9. SOONER OR LATER ONE REALIZES, IF INTELLIGENT, THAT ALL THE WEALTH ACQUIRED, ALL OBJECTS OF PLEASURES PROCURED, ALL RELATIONSHIPS MAINTAINED, NAME AND FAME GAINED, WORK DONE, ACHIEVEMENTS ACCOMPLISHED --NONE OF THEM HAS ANY RELEVANCE TO THE INNER ACTUAL PEACE AND JOY LIVED. THE ENTIRE LIFE THEN SEEMS AN EMPTY STRUGGLE, A FUTILE EXERTION, A MEANINGLESS MISSION. THUS THE  RISHIES  DECLARE THAT THE PANGS  OF LIFE LIVED BY THE MANY ARE ALL DUE TO THEIR OWN SPIRITUAL IGNORANCE, CONSISTING OF IRRESISTIBLLY COMPELLING URGES OF LOVE, TO ACQUIRE, AND TO ENJOY THE WORLD AROUND. THE REMOVAL OF THIS IGNORANCE IS THE GOAL OF MEDITATION. WITH THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE SPIRITUAL CENTER, THE SELF, THI IGNORANCE IS ENDED. SEEK THE SELF IS THE SILENT SCREAM OF THE HIGHEST MEDITATION.  ON THIS GRAND PATH OF SPIRITUALITY, HASTEN SLOWLY.--[END BY SWAMI CHINMAYANANDA.    

PATH OF SPIRITUALITY:-8. --------------------------------------------------------------/ THE CASUAL LEVEL OF OUR PERSONALITY --THE UNCONSCIOUS DEPTH--LAYER OF OUR MIND --IS INDICATED IN THE UPANISHADS DISCUSSIONS AS IGNORANCE. THE IGNORANCE OF THE SPIRITUAL ESSENCE, AND ITS INFINITE GLORY AND PERFECTION, IN US IS THE CAUSE FOR OUR SENSE OF RESTLESSNESS, LONELINESS, FEAR,ETC; AND THEREFORE THE INTELLECT DESIRES FOR, THE MIND AGITATES WITH, AND THE SENSE ORGANS INDULGE IN THE WORLD OF SENSE OBJECTS. THE SENSE GRATIFICATIONS BRING BUT MORE AND MORE FATIGUE AT ALL LEVELS IN THE SENSUOUS MAN AND WOMAN, AND NEVER A DEEP, CONSOLING SATISFACTION. DISSATISFIED, THE INDIVIDUAL'S INTELLECT PLANS YET ANOTHER DESIRE, AND THE BODY SWEATS AND TOILS AGAIN  TO SEEK AND FULFILL IT --ONLY TO DISCOVER THE SAME DISCONCERTING SENSE OF EMPTINESS FILLING IN THE HEART, A PAINFUL WEIGHT OF DISSATISFACTION CRUSHING HIM/HER IN THE END.   

PATH OF SPIRITUALITY:-7. THE FORCE THAT DRIVES  THE MIND TO WHIP AND HERD THE SENSE ORGANS INTO THE POOL OF SENSE OBJECTS IS THE INTELLECT, AND ITS VARIOUS SCHEMES FOR HAPPINESS CALLED DESIRES.AGAIN, THESE DESIRES GURGLING UP IN THE INTELLECT, POISONING THE ENTIRE PERSONALITY, ARE THEMSELVES MANIFESTATIONS OF THE ULTIMATE SOURCE OF ALL CONDITIONING'S  THE MOTIVATING URGES DEEP IN THE UNCONSCIOUS IN MAN AND WOMAN, CALLED VASANAS. THIS LEVEL OF OUR PERSONALITY IS CALLED BY THE RISHIES THE CASUAL BODY,BECAUSE IT IS THE FINAL DETERMINING FACTOR THAT ORDERS THE TYPE OF MIND AND THE INTELLECT, THE SUBTLE BODY AND ALL  BEHAVIOUR  ON THE PHYSICAL LEVEL, THE GROSS BODY.  

Path of Spirituality:-6. -----------------------------------------/ The inner and subtler forces are more powerful than the outer and grosser factors ordering our life and our world and, therefore, the Rishies  advise us first to learn to conquer, control and tame the outer equipments  of perception--the sense organs. And they are, in us, miserable slaves in their own chosen harem of enchanting objects. Remember, it is certainly excusable  if the physical sense organs seek to fulfill  themselves  in the physical objects; for there is always a natural affinity for matter towards matter. But the individual personality should not get involved in them. So long as we live identified with the sense organs, and so completely committed  to their passions, we can never  wean ourselves away from the confusing medley of our riotous sense appetites.  In fact, the sense organs cannot function without the mind; and so, by raising the vision of the mind and engaging the mind entertainingl

Path of Spirituality:-5. --------------------------------------------/ The direction of thoughts in mind is determined by the peculiar sub-surface motivating factors found within the emotional profile of each of us. These are called " VASANAS". When we are conscious of their pull, when we realize that they  are-at least some of them--conditioning us and dragging us into incompetency and the futile mental and physical dissipations, we call them mental hang-ups. All of us have many such hook-ups, and we struggle in vain against them and ultimately, in our weariness, we come to yield to them. Aspiritual seeker must conquer these vasanas in order  to master mind. Without this mastery over the thought flow, self expansion and self experience are mere hpes, false dreams, empty claims, unprofitable bluffs.

Path of Spirituality:-4. ---------------------------------------/ The final peak of success aimed at by a mind in meditation is its own merger into the great silence -into the dynamic pure Coconsciousness which is the matrix behind all the subtle world of subjective thoughts and emotions, and the gross realm of objective things and beings. The conscious thoughts in their enlivened vitality, give us apparent illusion of an individuality, known popularly as the ego[AHAMKARA/JEEVA ]. Mind is the thought flow in us. The quality, quantity and direction of the thoughts in an individual determine the type of flow in him/her, and consequently it alone decides the worth, the beauty and the effectiveness of his personality as expressed in life. All psychiatric treatments doled out today are attempts to jerk the thought flow of the patient into rhythm. But the valleys cut by the long periods of wrong flow have created disturbing pattern of thought -gush in this subject, and he/she has a

Path of Spirituality:-3. ---------------------------------------/ As we travel ahead we must be alert to read the road signs and obey implicitly their directions; nay, at places where one is in doubt, it will always be rewarding to slow down, even stop and get out, meet others on the road, enquire  and ascertain whether one is travelling in right direction. For a true and sincere seeker all these are useful hints, and a successful  meditator of today among us is one who faithfully kept to this general plan of action. 

Path of Spirituality:-2. Throughout our Hindu spiritual literature there are scattered points and sigh-posts in order to guide the seekers who thus got stranded on the great path. Silhouetted against the dim light of our enthusiasm , each one of them presents but a vague shape of the pointing hand of the post.  Everyone must pursue the pilgrimage in the direction so confidently shown by the unerring words of the Upanishads: all commentaries and explanations, annotations and discourses are attempts to raise a fluttering candle to the ambiguous cross road signs left in the scriptures. Without all the preliminary preparations no one should start for a great pilgrimage. If one does so, it is clear that one has no sincerity, or sense of urgency, to reach the destination. The vehicle must be properly rigged, the fuel filled, the engine well tuned up, and the tools packed ready before one gets behind the wheel and drives away. The traveller  must have the necessary technical knowledge

PATH OF SPIRITUALITY:-1. ----------------------------------------------------------- The cruelest periods  for a sincere seeker during his/her spiritual life are the moments before the final experience --Divine. The pathetic anguish felt by him/her on the path is called "the dark night of the soul". This stage of extreme helplessness, complete disappointment, total dejection and utter despair--though unavoidable--can be minimised if the seeker, on his/her meditation--flight to the transcendental, is well equipped and fully trained for his supreme, subjective adventure--Divine. It is the unpreparedstudent who falls into unproductive, progress--halting ruts of thoughts and gets torn in the rising storms within him/her. 

ATMABOTHAM:-[BY ADI SANKARACHARYA] SLOGAM-1. DON'T MISUNDERSTAND THAT VRATHAM AND MIND CONTROL ARE THE ONLY WAY TO ATTAI PARAMAPADAM. IT IS NOT BOTH ABOVE ARE OK, BUT JNANAMONLY TAKES YOU TO THE LORD,IE MUKTHI. HERE THE ELIGIBILITY FOR THE READERS OF THIS BOOK IS DEFINED:- TAPAS,PAPAM,SANTHAM,RAGAM,MUMUKSHA ARE TOUCHED IN THIS SLOGAM. APART FROM THIS FOUR ITEMS MENTIONED ,THESE THINGS COMBINELY CALLED AS ANUBANDACHATHUSHTAYAM. THEY ARE 1.VISHYAM[OBJECTS], 2.PRAYAJANAM [USEFULNESS], 3.SAMBHANDAM[RELATIONSHIP], 4.ADHIKARI [AUTHORITY]. TAPAS:-IN THE FIELD OF KARMA, ALL DEDICATED ACTIVITIESB ARE TAPAS. PILGRIMAGE,FASTING, JAPA,MEDITATION ARE ACTIVITIES  DONE FOR MIND CONTROL.[ATMA]THESE THINGS ARE DIFFERENT KINDS OF TAPAS. BY THIS PAPAM IS MINIMISED. PAPAM:-PAPAM ARE NOT KARMA BUT VASANAS[MOTIVATING FACTORS IN EMOTIONAL PROFILE]. THIS  IS DUE TO FORMATION  OF VASANAS [WRONG DOINGS] IN THE MIND. THESE PAPA VASANAS EXTINGUISH  [ATMA NIYANTRANAM] WITH THE HELP

MIND AND THOUGHTS  FLOW:- -----------------------------------------------------------------/ MIND IS THE THOUGHT-FLOW IN US. THE QUALITY, QUANTITY, AND DIRECTION OF THE THOUGHTS DETERMINE THE TYPE FLOW IN HIM/HER, AND CONSEQUENTLY IT ALONE DECIDES THE WORTH, THE BEAUTY AND THE EFFECTIVENESS OF HIS PERSONALITY  AS EXPRESSED IN LIFE. ALL PSYCHIATRIC TREATMENTS DOLED OUT TODAY ARE ATTEMPTS TO JERK THE THOUGHT-FLOW OF THE PATIENT INTO RHYTHM. BUT THE VALLEYS CUT BY THE  LONG PERIODS OF WRONG FLOW HAVE CREATED DISTURBING  PATTERNS OF THOUGHT-GUSH IN THE SUBJECT, AND HE HAS IRRESISTABLE TENDENCY TO DASH BACK INTO THE OLD  FAMILIARSTREAM OF THINKING AND LIVING. A SPIRITUAL SEEKER, TO BEGIN WITH, MUST THEREFORE LEARNTO INITIATE NEW AND HEALTHIER  CHANNELS OF THOUGHT IN HIMSELF/HERSELF AND THEREBY ON THE WHOLE, ETCHING  VIVIDLY  THE DESIRED SCHEME OF SPIRITUALITY CONDUCIVE MENTAL BEHAVIOUR. 

PROBLRMS? FACE THEM:-[BY SWAMI CHINMAYANANDA] WHO HAS NO PROBLEMS? BUT ALL ARE NOT VICTIMISED BY THEIR OWN PROBLEMS. MAJORITY ARE; BUT NOT ALL. A CROUD OF PROBLEMS MARCHING TOWARDS US WITH PLANS TO CONQUER US IS "LIFE" TO THEMAJORITY BUT SOME RARE FOLKS DISCOVER, EVEN IN THE  MIDST OF A THREATENING PROBLRMS, AN ARTISTIC WAY OF TICKLING THEM ALL TO LAUGHTER! 

The force that drives the mind to whip and herdn the sense-organs into the pool of sense-objects is the intellect, and various "schemes for happiness"called desires [raga]. Again, these desires gurgling up in the intellect, poisoning, the entire personality, are themselves manifestations of the ultimate source of all conditionings the motivating urges deep in the "unconscious" in men and women called vasanas. This level of personality is called by the Rishies[sages] the "Causal Body", because it is the final determining factor that orders the type of mind and intellect, the "Subtle Body"and all behaviour  on the physical level, the "Gross Body".  [BY SWAMI CHINMAYANANDA]

, I THE CRUELEST PERIODS FOR A SINCERE SEEKER DURING HIS SPIRITUAL LIFE ARE THE MOMENTS BEFORE THE FINAL EXPERIENCE--DIVINE. THE PATHETIC ANGUISH FELT BY HIM ON THE PATH IS CALLED "THE DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL". THIS STAGE OF EXTREME HELPLESSNESS, COMPLETE DISAPPOINTMENT, TOTAL DEJECTION AND UTTER DESPAIR--THOUGH   UNAVOIDABLE --CAN BE REDUCED IF THE SEEKER, ON HIS MEDITATION-FLIGHT TO THE TRANSCENDENTAL, IS WELL EQUIPPED AND FULLY TRAINED FOR THIS SUPREME, SUBJECTIVE ADVENTURE-DIVINE. IT IS THE UNPREPARED   STUDENT WHO FALLS INTO UNPRODUCTIVE, PROGRESS-HALTING RUTS OF THOUGHTS AND GETS TORN IN THE RISING STORMS WITHIN HIM/HER. [BY SWAMI CHINMAYANANDA]  (TO BE CONT--D)

"just as clouds born of the sun's rays cover the sun, so the mind and ego, born of the self, veil the self and play as though there is no self behind them".

TO CONQUER THE MIND WE MUST:-1]Reduce our clinging attachmenrs. 2]End our thirst to enjoy objects. 3] when we are eager to master ourmind, less number of thoughts arise in us. 4].perceptions of objects feeds the engine of our mind , and so ,cutoff  this steady supply of vitallity to the mind