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Chapter 6
CONTROL OF THE MIND
31. Abhyasa (Constant Practice), Vairagya (Non-Attachment) And Faith
25. In short, the yoga of meditation needs one-pointedness of mind, regulation and moderation in life and a friendly, fair and positive outlook. Two other aids have also been suggested: vairagya (non-attachment) and abhyasa (cultivation through constant practice). One is negative in nature while the other is positive. Vairagya is akin to uprooting weeds from a field. It is negative in nature. Abhyasa is akin to sowing the seeds. To sow seeds is constructive work. Abhyasa is constructive. It involves rumination over pure thoughts. 26. How could one imbibe vairagya? We say that a mango is sweet. But is sweetness really a quality of the mango? No. Sweetness is really an attribute of the Self, and a particular thing tastes sweet when it is infused with that sweetness. One should, therefore, learn to taste the sweetness within. Sweetness is not in things themselves; it is in the Self which is an ocean of sweetness. As this realisation sinks deep within us, vairagya will become ingrained in us. Sita gave Hanuman a pearl necklace. Hanuman cracked every pearl to see whether Lord Rama was within it. In no pearl could he find Rama. So he threw away all the pearls. Rama was there in his heart. Fools would have gladly paid millions of rupees for that necklace. 27. While explaining the yoga of meditation, the Lord has made one important point at the very outset—one should make a firm resolve, ‘I want to redeem myself, I shall go ahead, I shall scale great heights, I shall not remain within this human body for ever, I shall have the courage to make efforts to realise God.’Listening to all this, Arjuna had a doubt. He said, “I am no longer in the prime of my life and am destined to die soon. What is then the use of spiritual pursuit?” The Lord replied, “Yes, you will die. But death is nothing but a long sleep. We sleep daily. Are we afraid of it? On the contrary, we are worried if we do not get sleep. Death is as necessary as the daily sleep. We resume our daily work after waking up; likewise we resume our spiritual pursuit in the next birth from the very point we had reached at the time of death. We do not lose what we have already gained. No spiritual pursuit ever goes waste.” |
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