Controlling of the Mind
and Senses Through the Sadhana-Chatustaya
From Divine
Life Society Publication: “The Path to
Freedom: Mastering the Art of Total Perception”
by Swami Krishnananda
Why is it that you
want the spiritual life? What do you know about it? What has made you get
attracted towards it? The details may be variegated, but there is one very
essential point to remember: Your want for God should be a positive longing and
not a negative retreat.
We treat the world as
a kind of object, and we would like to treat spiritual life and the path of
spiritual sadhana, also as a kind of
object. The first and foremost psychological qualification required of us is
peace of mind. A self-controlled person with a tranquil mind, subdued in the
senses and the mind alone approaches a Master for the knowledge of the higher
life.
Sadhana-chatustaya
is a Sanskrit word which means the fourfold qualification of sadhana:
Viveka is discrimination, power of understanding, the
capacity to discriminate the real from the unreal
Vairagya is dispassion, the lack of taste for the objects of
the world due to the recognition of their essence
Satsampat or the sixfold qualifications is of an emotional
and personal nature
Mumukshutva is the yearning for freedom
After these
qualifications shravana-chatustaya or the other set of four is said to
follow:
Sravana is listening to the teachings from the Master;
Manana is reflection, deep consideration over it, thinking
deeply over what is heard;
Nididhyasana is profound meditation; and
Satshatkara is realization
The third of the sadhana-chatustaya
is satsampat. Kshama (tranquility of the mind) and dhama
(control of the senses), said to
be the internal and external control respectively, are perhaps
the most prominent of moral qualifications, followed by uparati, shraddha, titiksha, and samadhan.
Mumukshutva
– longing for God in its essential nature, is supposed to be pre-eminent among
the four qualifications.
The tranquillity of
mind that one has to acquire and the control of senses that one is to achieve,
called kshama, shanti, should be a
natural outcome for God-realisation. The mind cannot be subdued by ordinary
means of tapasya – by dieting, vigil, studies, walks, and so on – though
in the beginning it appears to be subdued. As long as there are samskaras or psychological impressions
in the inner layers of our hearts, our minds cannot be in peace.
Physical
isolation from tempting objects is one part, though, the objects are not the
temptations, they are used as temptations by the power of our own mind. Some of
the important preparations for control of the senses and subdual of the mind
are:
Svadyaya, a disciplined study of a specific literature
like Moksha Sastras, conducted daily,
Japa of a mantra, like the Gayatri mantra,
Physical
isolation from tempting things as far as possible,
Prarthana
or prayer to God , an inner contact established with God, with devotion.
If we cannot pray without words, we may offer prayers with words, chants,
mantras, hymns, stotras, etc., because the stotras, in words, convey prayers
or thoughts for our sake.
Remember, na hi kalyāṇakṛt kaścid durgatiṁ tāta gacchati (Gita
6.40): If we honestly aspire for the good, we shall not be defeated. The grace
of God is there and the meritorious deeds that we performed in the past will
also help us. Therefore, sadhakas
should go with confidence of mind that the world is behind them as a help and
not as an opposition, because God will speak through the faces of nature. The
divinities that preside over the corners of the world shall act as a leaning
staff to the plodding soul in its march to perfection, if only its longing is
genuine and the aspirations come from the heart.
Continue to read:
“The Meaning and Method of Meditation” by Swami
Krishnananda
“Sadhana
Tattva” by Swami Sivananda
“The
Purpose of Life” by Swami Sivananda
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