Mind Control
The control of the mind is equal
to the finding of the relation between the finite and the Infinite. Great
persistence, great understanding and capacity to discriminate is called for.
When we drive a nail
continuously on the wall, without changing the spot, with the determination to
drive the nail into the wall, it will go inside and yield to our pressure. But,
if we strike at one place and find a brick, at another place a stone, in a
third place something else, we will not succeed in driving the nail at all.
In a similar manner, several
methods have to be adopted in a continuous determination to achieve a purpose.
This determination takes various phases of expression. It is not that everyone
can manifest this determination in the same way.
There was a great saint called
Swami Narayana. His followers are very large in the area of Gujarat, though he
hailed from Uttar Pradesh. One day he observed some villagers struggling with a
cow. They were unable to milk it because it was giving a kick the moment
anybody approached it. They could not go near the cow. Whenever it felt that
somebody was coming near it, it would kick with its foot.
Swami Narayana was not only a
saint but also a wise man. He told these villagers, "I shall find a way of
stopping this kicking." He took a long stick and, sitting a little away
from the cow, slowly touched the cow's leg with that stick; it gave a kick
immediately. After a few seconds he again touched it; it gave another kick. He
sat there for the whole day, without taking food from morning to evening, doing
only one work – touching the leg of the cow with the stick. To the surprise of
all the people who were witnessing this phenomenon, for a continuous twelve
hours, this touching went on. How long will the cow give a kick? It is also a
living being. It got fed up, tired, and stopped kicking. Then he told them to
milk the cow; it never kicked afterwards.
The mind is turbulent in some
way of this kind. It has to be treated in the same way as the swami treated
the cow. Whatever we say, the mind will not agree. It has its own voice and
something else to say, quite different from what we are wanting it to do. If we
say, "Do this," it will say, "No, I will do another thing."
There was a couple, husband
and wife. The wife always did the opposite of what the husband said. If he
said, "Today will you prepare some good meal with coconut?" she would
say, "No, I will not use coconut." She would make a thin, watery dal and
give him. Then, he would say, "Today I am not feeling well, so don't make
any dish. I want only a little thin watery dal."
"No, I will make a good dish for you," she said, and she made a
sumptuous meal, and he took it. "Today some venerable guests are
coming," he said; "Will you cook some good meal for them?" She
said, "No, I will not. I will give only water to the guests." Then,
after some days, when the visitors were actually expected, he told the wife,
"Today I am not expecting anybody and I don't think any special meal is
necessary." "No, I will make a very good meal for twenty
people," she said, and she cooked twenty people's food; the visitors came
and they were delighted with the food.
This is what the mind is
telling us: "I will not listen to you. You may say anything, but I have
some other way." How will you deal with it?
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