THE MIND

           Who or what is in love with and attached to the objects of the world?
           It is our Mind . Therefore, if there is any obstacle between the soul and the Lord, it is truly our mind . If there is one worst enemy of all in the world, it is our mind for at one time it is our friend, at another our foe . If you consider the matter carefully, you will discover that it is under the influence of the mind that religion fights against religion ;nation fights against nation, and brother against brother and each wishes to get the best of the other . We    are often engaged in making plans or plots to harm others . The prime architect of all this is our mind . We cannot realize the Lord and become one with Him, therefore, as long as we do not control the mind .
           What do we mean by the term "controlling the mind"?
           Just as the soul is of the essence of the Lord, so is the mind no mean power . It is of the essence of Brahm and its origin is in 'Trikuti'(The second spiritual region).But alas! Caught in the network of illusion, it has forgotten its place of origin . The soul has become its handmaid and both are tied together, as it were, in a knot . So long as the soul does not give up the company of the mind, it can never know itself. Nor can it know its source . It leaves the company of the mind only when the mind returns to the place of its origin . Whatever efforts, therefore, we have to make must be directed towards undoing the knot of the mind and the soul .       "Know thyself"--Socrates .
           The meaning of knowing oneself is to rise above the domain of matter and mind,to remove from the soul the three coverings, namely the physical, astral and causal bodies, and to rise above the three attributes inertia, activity and harmony . Only then does one know oneself . Our soul was originally pure, spotless and holy, but because of its association with the mind, it has become extremely impure and unclean .
The condition of our soul is-- Caught in the closely-woven net of the illusion of this world, the soul has become completely subservient to the mind .In its turn, the mind has become fond of sensual pleasures . Whatever the mind does, the soul must perforce suffer its consequence . Unless it gives up its association with the mind, it is not worthy enough to merge in its source .
           All our efforts, all our struggles, and all the techniques we use must be directed towards subjugating the mind and withdrawing it to its source at the top of the second spiritual region . We try in a thousand ways to control the mind . We turn for help to holy books, to worship and baths in rivers . We even leave our homes and go into the solitude of forests, we hide ourselves in mountain caves . Through discipline we try to detach our mind from the objects of the world, but because our thoughts do not become attached to something superior and beyond, our mind reacts and rebounds and comes back into the world with us much strenght and cunning as ever . When we face the world again, the same carvings and desires of the mind, which have lain dorment for a time, make us once again dance to their tune . The fact is, this is because the more we suppress a thing, the more it revolts .
           For this reason, we can never subdue the mind through forcible discipline . We may obtain a certain amount of relief and peace for a while, but we can not control the mind for all time . If, therefore, we wish to subdue the mind, we have to study its nature and habits .  From experience we know that the mind is fond of pleasure . Thus it may love something or someone very much, but the moment it comes across something better, it leaves the first and runes after the second . No love or attachment can ever keep the mind constant or stable . No one love can ever keep the mind fixed . So long as the mind does not get something superior, nobler and higher then worldly love, it is not ready under any circumstances to give up the pleasures to the world .
What is the superior love, by finding which our mind will give up its love for and attachments to the world?                It is the taste of Word or Lagos, the inner unstruck  music, which is so sweet and so captivating that on gaining it,our mind is automatically and completely satisfied and made calm . Those who get rubies and diamonds have no use for pennies . Girls play with dolls only till they are married .
           There is only one method of subduing the mind and this is to give it the sweet and unchanging taste of Word or Logos . As it gets the taste of Word, it begins to shed its love for and attachment to the world . The magnetic pull of the Word will detach it completely .
           Our mind, entangled in love for and attachment to the world and its pleasures,wanders aimlessly about like a deer which has musk in its navel but runs madly around in the forest to try to find it . But when the mind comes in contact with 'Word 'it becomes motionless forever . It is futile to think about or to try any other method to quieten the mind .                                       
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