Bhagavad Gita Ch16 part 10 on 18 September 2021

Full Transcript(Not Corrected)

Om Jananem Sharadam Devem Ramakrishnam Jagadgurum Pada Padme Tayo Sridhva Pranamami Mohor Moho Om Vasudevasutam Devam Kamsachanuram Ardhanam Devaki Paramanandam Krishnam Vande Jagadgurum Sarvopanishadho Gavo Dogdha Gopalanandana Partho Vatsa Sudhir Bhokta Dugdham Geetha Amritam Mahat Mookam Karoti Vachalam Pangam Langayate Kirin Yath Kripa Tamaham Vande Paramananda Madhavam We have been discussing the 16th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita. We have completed three very important spiritual qualities, which every sincere aspirant has to develop. There is no excuse for not developing. There is no choice. It's not an option. Aluruptham, 17th quality of the 26 qualities mentioned in the 16th. Non-covetousness or it is also defined as when in the presence of strong sensual attractions, not to become restless or to come under the control of those sense objects, sensory impressions, not to become too emotional. That is called Aluruptham, non-covetousness. 18th quality is Mardavam, gentleness. And that is why in English language, mysticism or spiritual life in plain English language is also called a person who practices mysticism is called mystic. A mystic is one who had become very, very misty in Bengali language, not mysterious in English language, but very sweet. Sweet because everyone is beloved. Everyone is beloved because everyone is none other than the manifestation of God in different dresses. So it is said a dog recognizes its master in whatever dress he comes in. It is because it doesn't see the dress, it smells. So God, as it were, smells the devotee and finds out who is good, who is evil, who is healthy, who is unhealthy, etc. Of course, unlike human beings, God does not keep anybody away. But that evilness, that smell, evil smell keeps, covers our eyes from feeling the presence of God. Therefore, one of the great qualities is cultivate sweetness and we don't lose anything by that. And it takes a long and hard practice to acquire this sweetness because we are all under the control of temporariness, emotionalism. So mardavam, mridatvam, sweetness. Then we have come to this Harihi, modesty. So Harihi is one of the names of the Divine Mother, Harihi, Shrihi, etc. Modesty, Lajja. And Shankara is a beautiful definition. What is Lajja or modesty or what is it that when akarya nivrtti hetu garha nimitta mano vrittihi, that state of mental status where when a person, he cannot resist doing something akarya, should never be done, prohibited actions, then he feels terrible in his mind, he feels troubled more than other people and that is what is called Lajja. It means it becomes whenever we do something wrong, there is something inside us that is called conscience. And this conscience produces this quality called feeling terribly ashamed and there is nothing more painful than being ashamed. We feel like bending down our head, not able to look into other people's eyes and even we are not able to look into our own eyes. Strangely, sometimes we attribute this when after doing something which we should not do, we enter into the shrine room, every day the very darshan of Sri Ramakrishna or God becomes a joyous affair. But today as if with soul, soulful eyes, He has been looking at you morosely, that is what the person who did something which he should not do, feels actually God only reflects in the form of the conscience which says you should be ashamed of what you have done. But once or twice we experience it, we decide we should never again suffer from this problem and when we attain to that state, that is called modesty, that is called Lajja, that is called Hari. Having resolved not to violate the injunctions of the Vedas and other sacred books and for the devotees of Sri Ramakrishna, it is the Gospel and the Gospel of Holy Mother, etc. The established usage, the hesitation that one feels in violating them is known as Hari, Hari, modesty. But here is something which Merriam-Webster dictionary gives a definition of modesty, the quality of not being too proud or confident about yourself or your abilities. As an example, she accepted the award with modesty. Second, propriety in dress, speech or conduct. The young man was known for his modesty. Even worldly literature also gives such a beautiful definition. When we feel so ashamed and we feel extremely hesitant to undertake anything that brings our conscience down, that quality we have to increase as we go on progressing. It comes automatically as we go on practicing, developing this quality, spiritual progress on the converse. Also makes headway. So this is Hari, modesty is one of the divine treasures and one of the most indispensable of spiritual qualities. Without its cultivation, one cannot progress in spiritual life. There are two ways of looking at this. Not only in spiritual life, if we have got some commendable quality, some greatness, it could be wise, it could be beauty of the body, it could be strength of the body, etc., to attribute it solely to the grace of God and not to take upon oneself that I am the possessor of such and such a thing. That is one side of this Hari. Other side is that there are so many people in this world. From worldly point of view, they have got so many qualities. They have power, beauty, position, wealth, talent, skillfulness, cleverness and so many such experts. For example, there are so many men who are the best cooks in the world. So some great drivers are there. Even when they are going above the speed limit, they do not lose control at all. Some people are excellent speakers. Some people's voices are so mesmeric that it makes us to feel like hearing more and more. It is said of Swami Vivekananda that his friends, when he was even young, they used to just provoke him. It doesn't matter what is he going to speak. It may be spiritual, it may be worldly, it may be nonsense, but whatever he speaks, that's not the point. But the voice, it brings such a tremendous calmness and what is called like a lullaby. It makes a person so quiet. Even a restless person becomes quiet like a snake as it is said upon hearing the sound of the nagaswara. It becomes very quiet and starts moving its head in dance. That is what the popular snake catchers exhibit. So this is a great quality we all have to develop. Two points. If we have any greatness from a spiritual point of view, it is all grace of God, manifestation of God. Grace of God means manifestation of God. Secondly, if it is any worldly things, it is also the grace of God. Of course, we have followed the injunctions of what our scriptures tell. We acquire punya and without doing that, nobody is going to acquire it. But having acquired it to misuse them for advancing one's worldly prosperity, name and fame, power and position and to look down upon rivals who are more or less in the same condition. All these things only make us what we call demons and day by day we go down in our spiritual life. What is modesty? There was a great saint called Gnanadeva and I think all of us have heard about him. He was one of the greatest Maharashtrian saints. Unlike Shankaracharya, he defines modesty as a feeling of deep shame when a spiritual aspirant thinks or does something ignoble and unspiritual. Sri Ramakrishna. Who can be greater than Sri Ramakrishna? Even the great Swami Vekananda said, avatara varishthaya sthapakaya cha dharmasya that is common with all the incarnations. It is one of the greatest manifestations. It is not a comparative degree. Sri Ramakrishna was greater than Rama or Krishna. To understand Sri Ramakrishna in that way is sheer stupidity, foolishness and ignorance. What it means is a grown-up person manifests more of his inner potentialities than a child. So in this age, Sri Ramakrishna more than Rama, Krishna, Buddha, Jesus manifested more of that sattvika power. That's all what Swami Vekananda implies. It is impossible. Sri Ramakrishna never claimed any greatness. He always maintained that it is the Divine Mother who speaks, who acts through him and he knows nothing. Ami kichu janina. I know nothing. I just eat and drink and make merry. What about Holy Mother? It's impossible for ordinary people nurtured in secular and sensate cultures to understand the depth of Holy Mother's spiritual stature. They can hardly appreciate, much less understand a Divine character of immaculate purity like Holy Mother. The veil covering Sri Sharada Devi's face was really a curtain over the supernatural splendour of her inner life. Swami Sharadanda once remarked, We could get some inkling at least of the greatness of the Master but of this lady we cannot understand anything. He has drawn the veil of maya so thick around her that none can see through it and have a glimpse of her greatness. There were so many devotees who were privileged to meet and mingle for a long time in the most intimate manner with Holy Mother and yet they found her mysterious. One devotee had the courage to ask, Mother, why do I see you like this? And she said, Baba, I am Mahamaya. Seeing her dressing vegetables, talking what you call ordinary things in the most simplest of the language but if we just open our eyes, profound depths of meaning we can get in every world of the Holy Mother. So she said, what can I do? I am just like that. But at one point she also declared, Liberation which I can give is in my hands. If a person has got a fruit in his hands, he can give it to anybody. So she said, the power of liberating Jivas is in my hands. So modesty may be described as that virtue which prompts us to be decorous, proper and reserved in the way we dress, stand, talk, walk and sit in general, in the way we behave exteriorly, of course interiorly. Modesty is allied to the virtue of temperance or the habit of self-restraint or self-covering. A modest person is intelligent and well aware of both his capacities and limitations. So what is not modesty? On the other hand, indiscriminate self-assertion, selfish display of one's gifts of body or soul, inordinate display of one's intelligence or talents or skills or abilities in any field of human achievement, overtly or covertly are all examples of what modesty is not. What is meant here is that you should not show your intelligence. Show it but don't proclaim it to everybody. Look how clever, how intelligent, how skillful, how capable, what an expert I am. Through look also one can do it. Now what is the present day condition? These days modesty is identified exclusively and excessively with dress, especially that of women even though men also. We may recall the admonition of Holy Mother, mark you my dear, modesty is the greatest ornament of a woman. A very remarkably meaningful statement. So in the words of Holy Mother, what does it really mean? It means that a woman who makes other people respect her, revere her as a sister, as a mother through her behavior, such a person is more modest. It's very interesting also that it is not the uncovering. Most of the fashions is nothing but showing different parts of the body, highlighting different parts of the body. There are so many communities where women do not wear or very wear very little dress but the society it can understand, it can respect. A mother also is seen exactly in the same way by her children. So there it is all depends upon the what type of cultural environment we are living, what type of scriptural teaching we are taught, what type of examples our elders are setting out before us. That is very important. That was what Arjuna was lamenting. If most men die, traditions will die. Here is an example. A flower best serves its purpose when it is offered to a deity else it may as well wither on the plant. So there is some truth in the above teaching. True modesty is much deeper than mere dress or even proper conduct. It includes a whole range of good qualities such as purity, humility, chastity and simplicity. The injunction of Saint Teresa of Avila says be modest in all your words and works implies that modest dispense all external expressions of our internal possession of humility. The practice of modesty is intimately related to chastity. It's a very important point. The practice of modesty is closely related to chastity. Chastity means to be faithful to one's spouse by implication to one's ideal in religion to God. One cannot be chaste and immodest at the same time. For immodesty means drawing attention to oneself. Look at me how beautiful and desirable I am be it in dress or speech or conduct in any form. Immodesty is unattractive and injurious. I have noticed some people put on excessive what you call scents. They spray all over. They bathe themselves like it is said Cleopatra used to bathe in donkey's milk. Somebody said that will make your skin very smooth. But she died a very miserable and what is called unfulfilled death. So modesty nowadays is to be in everything. Do not draw attention unnecessarily but at the same time make other people keep a distance not because you are great because there is some quality in us which will make them respected keep themselves a little bit away from us. So modesty is a very highly desirable spiritual quality. It's very endearing and attractive quality. All of us are helplessly drawn to modest person. This is a wonderful psychological truth. Look is it supposing there is a crowd. There is a reception party. You meet some new people and you analyze the people whom you met and invariably I am attracted to that person. Why? Because that person is so modest and so free from all self-consciousness etc. On the contrary when we come across immodest people we are repelled by them. Even if they come in any form even if we may not say anything for fear of being politically incorrect and here is a gem of reality. There is also a misconception that modest persons are too self-effacing, shy and possibly suffer from an inferiority complex. Nothing can be further from the truth. When we look at Sri Ramakrishna, Swami Vivekananda, Buddha or Christ we do not find them suffering from any complex neither inferior nor superior. They knew their worth more than anyone else. Yet all of them are models of modesty. I just now remembered a beautiful incident from the life of Swamiji. He was in America. He was living with the Mead sisters in Pasadena and one evening he gave a talk nearby and that was one of the most inspiring talks the Mead sisters had ever heard from Swamiji's mouth though they have been hearing for weeks and weeks together. When they returned, one of the Mead sisters just not flattering but saying, Swamiji, today's your speech is the most inspiring I have ever heard. You know Swamiji was Swamiji. He wants to make light of everything. So immediately he turned towards her and said, Madam, it is all because of the excellent breakfast you made today morning. Some pancakes, some omelets, something like that she made. I do not remember. You see, he very deftly reflected her praise not coming to her and as I mentioned also whatever came out of his mouth he sincerely believed has come from the Divine Lord in the form of say Ramakrishna and whatever not so is his own weakness, his own ignorance that came out. So modest people are not necessarily selfie facing. Most of the time when it is not necessary, they do not draw unnecessary attention but when it is necessary, they are more than bold enough to draw the attention not because of their person but because of some noble cause. Pretence of false modesty also draws our attention. It is very interesting. Ramakrishna used to imitate some immoral women how they put on their veil, how there is a nose ring or a part of the hand is shown, how they sit, how they laugh, how they talk. It was so realistic. All the male devotees, they laughed out, they could not hold their stomachs but at the same time on one occasion Girish Chandra Ghosh was there and he asked, Thakur, you do not mix with women. How do you know all these things? Then Ramakrishna said, all this I learnt through observation only, not because I am in close contact. Who was more closely in closeness to these kind of women? It was Girish Chandra Ghosh. Yet he was shocked that Ramakrishna could gauge the inner with the external behaviour of these people so accurately. Let us not forget, Ramakrishna was one of the greatest actors, just I am making fun, supposing at some time of his life, point of his life, he feels the salary I am getting as a priest is not enough. Had he gone out as an actor or as a singer, he would have been more than all of the rock singers put together nowadays. He would have become very, very rich and it is not a false declaration because once Ramakrishna said, Hriday, had I known this world to be real, I would have paved the streets of Kamarpukur with gold. Coming back, there are people full of pride and arrogance, almost bursting in worldly but who pretend external humility and modesty. Whenever we come across them, there is something within us. Immediately, we mark them and say, what arrogance but in the form of modesty. God help those who fail to notice their humility or modesty. We come across such a person in the gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. Here is an instance. Addressing Dr. Sarkar, Sri Ramakrishna said, give up this false modesty. Why should you feel shy about singing the name of God? God, the proverb says very truly, one cannot realize God if one is a victim of shame, hatred or fear. Very interesting statement. If we just reverse this particular statement of Sri Ramakrishna and which we are discussing now, Hriday means shame. Hriday means fear, shame of doing things which should not be done, fear of doing things which should not be done and hatred that I will be away from God. I will have to pay heavy price if I violate the injunctions of the scriptures. So Sri Ramakrishna says, one should not suffer from shame, hatred or fear. What does he mean? Taking the name of God, one should not be ashamed, one should be very proud. I belong to my religion. I worship God in this form. The name of God my Guru has given is the greatest name. There should be no shame at all. But at the same time, these things, they are by themselves, they are not bad. But depending upon how they are manifesting, that makes the difference between spiritual regression or spiritual progress. Absence of modesty is a sure indication that one is impure, proud, arrogant and full of oneself. It means one doesn't give credit to God for whatever capabilities or talents one has but he appropriates all this, all credit to oneself. Therefore, every spiritual aspirant must cultivate the virtue of modesty as Krishna declares in the Gita, all extraordinary manifestations of power belong only to one being, that is God. Many times I have quoted, there is no harm in quoting it many more times. There was a very interesting incident in Mahabharata, Kurukshetra war was over and Arjuna was sitting on his chariot and then it is usually, you know, the chauffeur, the driver gets down and opens the door in all the modern instances, accepting of course a taxi driver. So this Sri Krishna told Arjuna, Arjuna get down first. Instead of his getting down, he asked Arjuna, you get down. We don't know whether Arjuna took it amiss but he got down. Then immediately Sri Krishna got down. As soon as Krishna got down from the chariot, the whole chariot burst into flames and turned into ashes. Arjuna was surprised and then he was given the explanation, so the power of so many astras, weapons, Sri Krishna was holding, protecting his beloved child Arjuna from harming him. He was holding them as if he was putting a shield and protecting Arjuna. But then the moment Arjuna got down, there was no more need of that shield. So as soon as Krishna got down, that power came and immediately burnt the whole thing. Had Arjuna been there, it would, as soon as Krishna got down, the whole thing would have burnt down. Here is what one of the greatest saints of Christendom, who was not Saint Francis of Assisi, but Saint Francis de Sales of France of the 16th century and one of his greatest works, he had many works, is how to be devoted to God. He says, if you want to know whether a man is really wise, learned, generous or noble, see if his life is moulded by humility, modesty and submission. If so, his gifts are genuine, otherwise they are only surface and showy. Simplicity, gentleness and modesty are to be desired in all society. There are some people who are so full of affectation in whatever they do, that everyone is annoyed by them. There are some people, unfortunately, so even if they have to utter a single word, whatever they do, they seem to be attracting the notice of everybody and that person thinks that it is because of my greatness. Because of my greatness, he doesn't, that fool doesn't understand, everybody is annoyed at his behaviour. There is this kind of common quirk within us all. We want to be admired by others. We want people to think well of us and our natural tendency is to put on our most attractive behaviour in the presence of others, so as to obtain their attention and admiration. The best way of securing attention is to practice modesty. The best way, there is a beautiful book, How to Win Friends and Exert Influence and he has given some things, Dale Carnegie in his book, but that doesn't really work here. So what is it that really works? The best way of attracting the attention of people is modesty. These days, we have become the worst idolaters. What is it? We have become worshippers of the human body. At no time in history do we see the human body so much publicised, decorated, advertised and idolised as these days and it is increasing more and more. Since we derive so much of our pleasures from the satisfaction of bodily desires, all efforts are made to encourage bodily satisfactions immediately also. Remember in the Chandogya Upanishad, the people who enjoy body and bodily enjoyments, they are called demons. They belong to the lineage of what is called asuras and the definition in Sanskrit for this asura is asushu ramate iti asuraha, one who dwells in the sense organs. Asu means prana, prana here means another name for indriya, senses and those who are completely submerged in themselves in the sensory satisfaction, they are called asuras that is body worshippers, that is idolaters. So what we call nowadays fashion is nothing but vulgar display especially the female body. Now there is something I have to add even if I have to maybe not acceptable to everybody especially some of the women, there are quite a number of them, they want to show their body, why? I am very attractive and that very thing itself arouses unwanted desires, unlawful desires from the other onlookers, nowadays whether it is men or women etc. So this unnecessarily drawing attention to one's own body is the greatest sin any devotee can commit male or female. Of course male should do it in a different fashion that is to say they go on talking all about themselves, I did this, I did that and all those things. So one has to be very careful about these things. Under these circumstances, who can dispute that the practice of modesty is indispensable? In conclusion, modesty is an invaluable and indispensable spiritual quality. It is valuable because of the following reasons. One, it is a sign that a person keeps things in perspective in proper balance. Two, it prevents one from being too easily distracted from what is really important that is spiritual progress by an excessive concern for how one is esteemed or appreciated. Three, it makes one keenly aware of the grace of God and the ephemerality of life. Four, since a modest person believes that all that he has is a gift from God, it keeps destructive emotions like pride, jealousy and envy in check. Needless to say, those who wish to realize God must cultivate modesty. I will conclude this particular topic by citing an example from Sairam Krishna. Once Sairam Krishna went to Jairambhati. At that time, he was quite young and his body has the color of gold, pure molten gold. But more than that skin color, the inner thejas, inner light as if from every pore of the body, the light is emanating and the pore is blocking actually the coming out of the light. And people were attracted by this and that is called thejas and that is called true magnetism and Swami Vekananda had it in abundance. Anyway, so he was in Jairambhati, everyday people used to come and the last day has come, Sairam Krishna put on a red bordered silk dhoti and with his red bordered cloth on his shoulder. Chewing a bitter leaf after eating food, he came out to enter into the palki and the whole village turned up there. And Sairam Krishna was surprised because he was not expecting anything like that. They had nothing to do with him, he had nothing to do with them. So he asked Hriday, why are these people here? And Hriday, truthfully he said, Mama, you look so beautiful. So all these people have come to see the beauty. Sairam Krishna was shocked. Immediately he got down from the palanquin and then said, what, to see this filthy body, so many people have emanated, they have gathered here, what is there in this filthy body? It is inside filthy, outside filthy, they should be ashamed. I will not go today. Saying this, he postponed his going for the next day or so, we don't know. And then in those days when he was practicing, especially the tantric sadhana, tremendous light used to come out from his body and that's why on the faces of many saints and sages, light halo is always projected, symbolic of the inner light that comes out of their bodies. Sairam Krishna prayed, oh mother, go inside, go inside, they should never come outside. He said, after earnestly praying, mother, in this manifestation of light coming out of the body, she has withdrawn and since then this body appeared to be dull. And that is absolutely true. So, in the case of holy mother, Swami Vekananda, deliberately they cover themselves, lest ordinary people, unwary of these things, get attracted for a wrong purpose, etc. Anyway, a funny story, I remember incident in the life of Swamiji, there was a young lady, very rich, attracted to not one lady, most ladies got attracted to Swami Vekananda. He was not only young, he was looking like a god of love, Kamadeva, as it were literally like a Greek god as described by the journalist. So, this one of the women made bold, but Swami Vekananda could read the minds of everybody. Sairam Krishna could see the content of one's mind as things in a glass case. So, also Swami Vekananda. So, immediately he turned and said, look, if you look like this in this way at me, you will become a green frog. And that was one of the most horrible things to say to any woman. So, it is needless to say that those who wish to realize God must cultivate modesty, humility, simplicity, and try to control as much of outers as possible. But at the same time, when it is called into service, immediately they should come and disappear at all. Now, we enter into the 20th quality called achyapalam. Chyapalam means restlessness. Achyapalam means terribly resting, being restful. The opposite of it is what is called steadfastness, equanimity. So, what is achyapalam? Shankaracharya, it's a beautiful concise definition. What is achyapalam? Freedom from restlessness, absence of unnecessary movement of the organs such as speech, hands, and feet. So, not to have this restlessness or like a monkey and are trying to do things which are of absolutely no use. That is called chyapalatvam. And one should never do indulge in such things and not to do those things. That is called achyapalatvam. So, the opposite of this spiritual quality is called restlessness. Like rocking one's hands and feet, etc. Tearing pieces of straw, eating grass, scratching the ground under one's feet, eating one's own fingernails, pencils, pens, anything that comes handy. Indulging in incoherent talks and wild thoughts and similar fruitless activities of the hands and feet, speech and mind constitute what is known as chyapala or restlessness. It is also called pramada. Pramada means danger or carelessness. Achyapala is the total negation of this restlessness. Why I quoted this one? Once I went to Brindavan with some devotees and there some people deliberately trained the monkeys to snatch the spectacles of people and one devotee's spectacles was snatched suddenly. I was able to see it just because I was just a few feet behind that person and this monkey jumped in no time, went and sat on a windowsill. What was it doing? Started chewing the end of these spectacles or human beings any less. That's why many times some great people say naro va naraha. Funny, making fun. Nara va naraha. Naro, but they say naraha va va naraha. That is, are you a man or are you a monkey? In most persons, the mind has been allowed to run wild and follow its own sweet will. The mind is like a spoiled child which is indulged by his parents or it is like a badly trained animal. Control of the mind is a thing unknown to most of us. It is said the average attention span of a modern mind is no more than 20 seconds or less than 20 seconds. So what is the importance of the mind control? No question has been asked or answered as frequently as to control of the mind. Our feeling of well-being depends entirely on the state of our mind. Remember, happiness is a state of mind, nothing to do with external things. The mind plays a most crucial role in human life. Bhagavad Gita itself told us in the sixth chapter that mind is our best friend and when kept under control and becomes our worst enemy when we lose control over it. If we do not restrain and direct the mind towards the sense of fulfilment, towards a higher goal, we will never feel the sense of fulfilment and joy of life. Inability to restrain the mind can lead to mental sickness and I quoted, nowadays more than 40% of the people all over the world are mentally sick in spite of having such a high standard of life which even a poor man can afford even if not frequently at least once in a while. So this is something which our Rajas, Maharajas, Emperors, they never enjoyed. I was reading the life of Martin Luther who started the protest movement in the 15th, 16th century and what a suffering he had to go through, physical ailments, unable to breathe and terrible joint pains etc. But in spite of that, that gigantic will had accomplished something fighting against an established Catholic religion, against the Pope, against the Cardinals and other things. Even today, organized bodies that is to say organizations, they are a den of sin wherever we see that one. So inability to restrain the mind can lead to definitely mental sickness. What could be more revealing than the fact that one person in four is mentally sick in the developed and one third is in the all over the world. The mind uncontrolled and unguided is a dangerous instrument that brings harm to ourselves and to others whereas a controlled mind will save us from the dangers of life and will free us from all bondage. A controlled mind brings success in any field of life. There is a beautiful Sanskrit saying Manayeva manushyanaam karanam bandha mokshayoh. Mind alone is the cause of bondage and liberation, of happiness and unhappiness, of success and failure and of health and sickness, of good and evil. What has Sri Ramakrishna got to say? It is all a question of the mind. Bondage and liberation are of the mind alone. If you are in bad company, then you will talk and think like your companions. On the other hand, when you are in the company of devotees, you will think and talk only of God. There is a well-known saying, beautiful saying in Bengali that even after one obtains the grace of three, the grace of God, the grace of the Guru and the grace of the holy company, one comes to grief for the lack of the grace of one thing. What is that one thing? One's own mind. There is no greater blessing than a mind that is filled with righteous, noble, positive and strength-giving thoughts and no greater treasure than a mind filled with joy, peace and harmony. Such a mind is the key to success, health, wealth, power, prosperity and of course to spiritual progress. Realization of God or self-knowledge is the goal of life according to Vedanta. Only a pure and controlled mind can liberate us and lead us to God realization. No wonder so much of importance is given to the study and control of the mind. Patanjali, the author of the yoga aphorisms defines yoga as we all know the perfect control of mind stuff that is what goes by the name of yoga or spirituality. But why is the mind so restless? That is the question. The mind is restless because it is weak and impure. This is one answer. This is not the right answer but it is one answer. On the surface, the mind seems to be so fickle and restless because it is filled with innumerable desires and every desire is for infinite desire. So it is natural for us to conclude that when all the desires are fulfilled, the mind will automatically become calm and tranquil. Nothing is further from truth. Giving in to the desires is like adding fuel to fire. One great king he said that that desires are never become peaceful by fulfilling them. But on the contrary, like pouring petrol into burning fire, they flare up even more. However, many times we may fulfill desires, the mind will never become satiated. On the contrary, desires will only become all the more stronger. So what is the real answer? What is the question? Why is the mind so restless? The mind is restless because it knows instinctively though unconsciously that we are all divine. I am infinite. I am the immortal Atman. The mind can become tranquil only when it realizes this innate perfection, attains the self-knowledge or which is called God-realization. And Swami Vikaranda says about conquest of mind, how hard it is to control the mind, well has it been compared to a maddened monkey. There was a monkey restless by your nature. As if that were not enough, someone made him drink freely of wine. So he became even more restless. Then a scorpion strung him to complete his misery. A demon entered into him. What language can describe the uncontrollable restlessness of that monkey? It is difficult to control the mind. But there are definite guidelines that slowly but surely help us in controlling the mind. So here are some ways how we can control our mind. How many ways are there? At least nine ways I am going to outline. First, have a definite noble goal in life. A person without a goal is like a rudderless boat adrift in the sea of life. A fixed goal is a great help in restraining the restless mind. This is absolutely true. Second, the mind can be controlled by repeated practice and dispassion. What is Abhyasa? Constant effort to fix the mind on God or the Self. What is Vairagya? It is the dispassion or non-attachment to all things that are our enemies or which prove to be obstacles in our life. Three, sit alone and watch the thoughts of the mind as a witness. Do not identify yourself with the thoughts. Let us not think of the past or the future. Nor allow the mind to build images. Let us try to live in the present. Then the mind will gradually become calm and comes under our control. Another way to control the mind, four, is to do a thing which the mind does not want to do and deny a thing which the mind hankers after very much. Five, regular practice of simple pranayama, anuloma, viloma, pranayama, simple rhythmic breathing for a few minutes can certainly help to some extent. Six, in this age, easiest way for controlling the mind and attaining liberation is through japa and meditation. Japa is singing the names and glories of the Lord. Japa of the mantra of our chosen deity and contemplation of the divine destroys the impurities of the mind, makes the mind inward and helps concentration, eventually leading to control of mind and attainment of God-realization. Who is saying this? Patanjali himself says, this japa destroys all the hard to remove obstacles in spiritual progress. That's why Holy Mother used to say, japa siddhi. Seven, regular study of spiritual books, a bit of austerity and above all cultivation of holy company goes a long way in the control of mind. Eight, the quality and quantity of food we eat is a great influence over mind. Sattvika food such as milk, fruits, etc., and that's why Sri Ramakrishna advised M, the composer of the gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, to cook a bit of rice in milk and eat only that one, especially at night. So, sattvika food calms the mind. Rajasika food excites the mind. Tamasika food makes us slip into carelessness, pramada, alasya, nidra, moha. And lastly, retiring into solitude now and then can help greatly. Swami Brahmananda has this to say, easiest way to purify and steady the mind is to retire into solitude, control cravings and engage yourself in contemplation and meditation. The more you occupy the mind with holy thoughts, the greater will be your spiritual unfoldment. Another way, he says, to steady the mind is to let it wander, but to keep a steady watch over its wanderings. After a while, the mind itself becomes tired and comes back to find peace in God. If you watch your mind, your mind will in turn watch over you. But adding selfless service according to one's capacity is very helpful in purifying and controlling the mind. An American psychologist had taken hardened criminals and experimented, keeping them busy from morning till evening in hard physical labor, plus some learning lessons had helped quite a number of them to control their mind. Many criminals, they do these criminal activities because they can't help themselves. Finally, let us not forget that mind can be brought under control only by the grace of God alone. Ramakrishna says, bondage and liberation are both of my mother's making. By her maya, worldly people become entangled in woman and gold and again through her grace, they attain their liberation. She is called saviour and the remover of the bondage that binds one to the world. The greatest illustration of this is none other than the Advaita guru of Sriram Krishna himself, Totapuri. Another example is Shankaracharya himself, the divine mother has taught both of them, many of them that without my grace, you would not have been able to progress in spiritual life. Om Jananim Sharadam Devim Ramakrishnam Jagadgurum Pada Padme Tayo Shritva Pranamami Mohur Mohuhu. May Sri Ramakrishna, holy mother and Swami Vikananda bless us all with bhakti and jnanam. Jai Ramakrishna.