Silencing the monkey of mind: 1

 

Silencing the monkey of mind:  1.

Our mind is like a monkey it bounces from one thought to another. If you ever sit quietly and observe your thought process, you will realise our thoughts are like a tree which follow a linear pattern and shoot off to different branches. The result is we have unnecessary thoughts to and fro in our mind. How to calm this monkey of our mind then?

The main focus of  yoga is calming the mind as Patanjali’s yoga sutra begins with an aphorism: “yog chitta vritti nirodha” which means yoga means calming down the turbulence of the mind. Is that easy? It is certainly not but it can be achieved through certain habits of minds or niyamas as stated by Patanjali. Modern psychology talks about habits of mind as problem solving strategy to be successful in reasoning and thinking. In meditation habits of mind are the habits we cultivate to train our mind to calm down. Patanjali the great author of yoga sutra has talked about this process in his eight limbs of yoga. These eight limbs are eights steps toward making our life meaningful and getting in touch with our inner self.  The eight limbs are yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, pratyahara, dharan and dhyana.

 Out of the eight limbs let us have a look at the second one Niyama before any other.

Niyama consists of :

Saucha: purity

Santosha: contentment

Tapas: austerity

Svadhaya: self study

Ishvara pranidhan: devotion to God.

The first step to stillness of mind is Saucha or purity. What does purity imply? Purity means not just clean house, clean environment, clean body but also clean mind. How to achieve this purity of mind? For the mind to be pure we must first have clean surroundings. So first clean, declutter and reorganise the house by putting everything in its place. Once the eyes see everything in order, mind will be able to think in an orderly manner. However, whatever we see in the outer world is limited therefore, we have to endeavour to reach the inner world which has more mysteries to share. But the path to the inner world is through the outer world so by getting mind over matter let us try a few things mentioned below.

• Firstly, it is a good idea to open all the doors and windows of the house and let in fresh air once in a day.
• Secondly, while mopping your house use sea salt in the water to clean as sea salt has great capacity to clean negative energy.
• Thirdly, if you light a lamp or burn incense every evening before your altar, keep this practise going as fire brings in positive energy and for people it works on cleansing the lower chakras of the body by eliminating anger, envy, frustration, helplessness etc.
• Ring a bell or cymbals or clap in every corner of your house in the evening to ward off negative energy. In this process do not forget to chant OM SHREE SWAMI SAMARTH. It takes less than five minutes to this.
• Shree Swami Samarth has also advocated the practise of Agnihotra  havan at sunrise and sunset which is a powerful cleanser of the environment, body and mind but that might be difficult in today’s busy life. However, it can be done on the weekends.

Once your surrounding is clean, you can think better and then it is time to declutter the mind of all the negative thoughts clinging to us. Some steps which can help are as follows:

1. Getting up in the morning sitting for 5 minutes on the bed chanting OM SHREE SWAMI SAMARTH mentally can be refreshing and will set the rhythm in the body.
2. Then  do netra snan(explained in previous blog)
3. In the shower while cleansing the body,  the process of cleaning of mind can be incorporated by letting go all the negativity, forgiving all the people who have done you harm.
4. Once out of shower continue chanting OM SHREE SWAMI SAMARTH while getting ready for work and once ready to leave, it is a good idea to ask for peace and happiness to all and peace to yourself as well.
5. At night before sleeping send peace and happiness to the universe and tell your inner self you are very happy and at peace. Before falling to sleep make sure you chant OM SHREE SWAMI SAMARTH making this a daily routine. 

Saucha or purity does not mean you have to stop eating meat or onions or fast. Saucha is all about our thought process. Sometimes we have no control over our thinking because there are external factors which instigate us to lose control. Nevertheless, we have to endeavour to purify our thought process. Saucha is also about how you can make your heart selfless, compassionate, altruist. It is a complex process and takes time to achieve. Remember in Yoga the focus is internal we have to focus towards the inner world because there is more depth in the inside world. Declutter your mind of negativity, anger, jealousy and judgement. During this practise if negative thoughts invade mind  either at work or home or something enrages you, remember to chant mentally OM SHREE SWAMI SAMARTH which will dispel this negative energy.

Always remember every thought has energy and Science has proved that energy cannot be destroyed…therefore, the thoughts that you have  are energies so why not have thoughts which are positive and healing.

OM SHREE SWAMI SAMARTH is a magic mantra and once you get into this practice  Swami will declutter your mind, you will feel lighter and be successful in your Sadhana

There are numerous ways of practising Saucha…..this is just an outline which one can adopt it to one’s own ways. You can then extend it to other things for example, like getting rid of tinned food or microwaved food…. eat fresh food….etc.

The best part of Swami Bhakti is we have freedom to choose what suits us best. Nevertheless, follow your own path repeating OM SHREE SAMARTH incessantly.