How to Control the Mind?

His Holiness Message

What is the obstacle to one-pointed meditation? The answer is the unstill mind. All
problems are caused by the mind, by the desires arising in it. It is not easy to control
the mind and keep it away effectively from desire. If we ask the mind to think of an
object, it seems to obey us for a moment, but soon it takes its own course, wandering
off. When I speak to you about meditation and tranquillity, for a moment your mind
will perhaps become still and you will be happy. But in a trice it will go astray and the
calm you experienced for a few seconds will give place to unquietness.

If you bid your mouth to keep shut, it obeys you for a brief moment. Similarly, if you
close your eyes asking them not to see anything, they shut themselves off from the
outside world for some moments. But try as your might to tell your mind not to think
of anything, it will not listen to you.

The mind must be kept under control. Thinking and non-thinking must be govenred
by your will. Only then can we claim that it is under our control, that we are masters
of our consciousness.

Lunatics are usually referred to as people with no control over their minds. In fact
none of us has any control over the mind. A mad man keeps blabbering. But what
about us? We let the mind go freely to keep blabbering inwardly.

Do you know what it means to have mental control? Suppose you are suffering from a
severe pain. If you ask your mind not to feel the pain, it shall not feel it in obediance
to you (that is you will not feel the pain). Even if a tiger comes face to face with you
and growls, you will feel no fear if you ask your mind not to be afraid of the beast.
Now we keep crying for no reason. If the mind is under control we will keep smiling
even if there is cause for much sorrow. And under the gravest of provacations it will
not be roused to anger and will remain calm.

First we must train our mind not to keep wandering. One way of doing it is to apply it
to good activities. When oil falls in a steady flow, without spraying, it is called
"tailadhara". The mind must be gathered together and made steady. It must be
accustomed to think of noble and exalted objects like the Lord. Eventually, the very
act of "thinking" will cease and we will dissolve in Isvara (God) to become Isvara.

Before we pass on, we must find a way to control the mind. Otherwise, we will be
born again and we will be subject to the constant unquietness of the mind again. So
we must use the opportunity of this birth itself to subdue the mind even while we are
in the midst of so much that can rouse our desire or anger. A man who has succeeded
in bridling his mind thus is called a "yukta" by the yogins. He is a "sukhin", one who
truly experiences bliss, so says Sri Krishna.

You must not turn away from yoga thinking that it is meant only for people like the
sages. Who needs medicine? The sick. We suffer from manovyadhi, mental sickness.
So we must take the medicine that cures it.

There are two different ways of mastering the mind - the first is outward (bahiranga)
and the second is inward (antaranga). We must have recourse to both. The Matha has
a cartman and a cook. Their work is outward in nature. Then there are those who
prepare the wicks of the lamps, gather flowers for the pooja-they are "inward"
workers. Both types are needed for the functioning of the Matha. By employing both
the outward and inward means, the mind must first be applied to good things one-
pointedly and eventually led to a state in which it does not think of anything at all.

The ourward means consists, for example, of sandhyavandana, sacrifices, charity and
so on. The best inward means is meditation. There are five inward (or antanranga)
means to aid meditation. They are ahimsa (non-violence), satya (truthfullness),
asteyam (non-stealing), saucha (cleanliness) and indriya-nigraha (subduing the senses,
if not obliterating them). To practise ahimsa is to imbue the mind with love for all and
not even think of harming others. Asteyam means not coveting other people's goods.
For satya, or truthfullness, to be complete one's entire being, including body, mind
and speech, must be involved in its practise. Saucha is hygiene, observing cleanliness
by bathing, maintaining ritual purity, etc. Indriya-nigraha implies limits placed on
sensual enjoyment. "The eyes must not see certain things, the ears must not hear
certain things and the mouth must not eat certain things" - restrictions with regard to
what you can see, listen to, eat and do with your body. The body is meant for sadhana,
for Atmic discipline. The senses must be "fed" only to the extent necessary to keep the
body alive. These five dharmas are to be practised by all Hindus without any
distinction of caste or community.

Purify Our Mind

THE most important thing in our life should be "To Purify Our Mind". In
this page I will donate my knowledge and time to work with those who are
interested in this field. Any questions are welcome.
TO purify our mind, we need to first broaden ourselves with activities of
compassion so as to gradually get rid of the self-centered habits.

TO broaden ourselves, we should FIRST FILL OUR MIND with

BEAUTIFUL THOUGHTS:
WE should try to make our mind like land, because land has beautiful
virtues: when animals shed their excrement on land, land never express
anything angrily, because it is not swayed and is completely indifferent;
when humans (the rich and famous, sages and saints, or perfect people)
walk over land, land feels nothing, again because it is not swayed and is
completely indifferent.

Land is not involved or affected by favorable or dangerous situations. Land

always welcomes all kinds of situations. It will not take or give up
anything, is never confused, is never swayed or attracted by anything, never
starts an idea or gives up an idea, peacefully enjoys leisure and endures
patiently, and is completely serene. These are some of the beautiful virtues
of the land that we step on every day.

IF you have no mind to all living things, then what's the harm of letting
these things surround you? We really should learn the spiritual part of land
and cultivate the broad and generous mind. This will help to purify our
mind.

THE GOOD and THE BAD: 

WHEN you face favorable situations or dangerous situations, you can still
do everything without the least worry and feel comfortable and able to do
anything of your own free will. When you meet somebody, perhaps the
person you like the least in your life, a person who looks at you with dirty
stares, do you still feel comfortable and free? As a matter of fact, in these
kinds of moments, there is a fight between "The state of holiness and
wisdom" and "The temptations or evil influence." If we use the worldly
words it's like a fight between "The Good" and "The Bad." Becoming The
Good or The Bad is all depended on our MIND.
BECAUSE The Good and The Bad are decided by our mind, maybe we can
put it this way: The Good and The Bad share our mind. When The Good
defeats The Bad, the whole of our mind is Good. When The Bad defeats
The Good, the whole of our mind is Bad. From this angle you might have
an idea that The Good and The Bad are all from our mind. 
THE way our mind treats the situations we face creates the difference
between "The state of holiness and wisdom"(The Good) and "The
temptations or evil influence"(The Bad). If our mind is contaminated by
situations, the mind becomes "The Bad." If our mind is not contaminated by
situations, the mind becomes "The Good".

WHY BOTHER: 

WHEN adverse circumstances come, just let them do what they like; when
adverse circumstances go, just let them do what they like also. When
fortunate circumstances come, just let them arise naturally without extra
effort; when fortunate circumstances go, again just let them depart naturally
without extra effort. Our mind should not be linked up with any
circumstances, whether good circumstances or bad circumstances. This will
help Purify Our Mind.

WHEN adverse circumstances come, do not feel delighted, when adverse

circumstances leave, do not feel disappointed. If the mind feels delighted or
disappointed, it shows that we can not control ourselves. In this moment,
our mind will have all kinds of entanglements of love, hate, desire, and
possession by force. After this step, all kinds of problems will follow and
never end.

THE IDEA OF the word "IMPERMANENT": 

IF we observe things around us, we will find out that "None is permanent".
Things, whether material or non-material, change constantly. Some of the
changes are evident, some of them are not. Ever since life began, natural
phenomena have been like this. From this point of view, we should
understand that things always arise depending on conditions. When the
appropriate conditions come together, things arise; when those conditions
disperse, things cease. 

IF you could understand the point that Nothing is permanent, you will not
keep thinking of something in your memory all the time, because it is
impermanent and will eventually vanish, no matter how much you keep
remembering it. In such a case, why don't we just leave it alone?
IN the Universe, everything that we can see, hear, and think of all arising
depending on conditions, meaning that everything is impermanent. The
people we love the most or the situations we like the most will all vanish.
The people we hate the most or the situations we like the least will all
vanish too. Do we still want to persist in our own opinions of things that
happen one minute and vanish the next in this world? 

THE THOUGHTS in OUR MIND:

THERE are all kinds of thoughts in our mind: evil thoughts, greedy
thoughts, and kind thoughts. These thoughts are always confused, tangled,
profuse, disordered, and most of the time, we can not control them. Actions,
motions, works, and even mistakes all arise from thoughts in our mind.
When we put an idea of going to a place in our mind, then action will lead
our body to that place. When we start an idea of going to the church, then
action will bring us to that church. We will spend our entire fortune doing
something because of a little thought in our mind. We will begin to be
deeply attached to one thing or act on momentary impulse because of a
little thought in our mind. We will offend people by our words because of a
little wrong thought in our mind. We might do something offensive or
harmful to society's morals because of a little evil thought in our mind.

WE always maneuver for positions or benefits against rivals. We try to

cause alienation between friends or relatives by spreading rumors or doing
something. Does anybody know why? It is because "What one is thinking
of at any given moment is often evil thoughts." 

THE Good and The Bad all are from our MIND. We are the masters of the
mind and also are the watershed of The Good and The Bad. Mind produces
all kinds of thoughts; mind is the origin of events that follow from Good
thoughts and Bad thoughts. From this point of view, we all should
understand how important it is to purify our mind. 

TO DEAL with THOUGHTS:

IF we want to avoid disasters or calamities made by ourselves, we have to

stop putting ideas in our head. The moment we stop an idea arising is
called "True Awakening".
THERE are all kinds of garbage in our mind. If we want to purify our mind,
getting rid of the garbage in our mind might be the first thing we have to
do. What is the garbage of mind? Dirty and polluted thoughts, greedy
thoughts, hateful thoughts, infatuated thoughts, worried thoughts,
suffering thoughts, haughty thoughts, impudent thoughts, envious
thoughts, indecent thoughts, heterodox thoughts, dreary thoughts, and
hollow thoughts. These can all be called garbage of the mind. 
Someone in history said once that one who can govern a battalion of a
million soldiers is not a hero: the real hero is that person who can govern
his mind. We should understand the meaning of these words. 

IF an evil thought arises in our mind, then more evil thoughts like water
will come in torrents; nothing can ward them off. These evil thoughts will
forever lead us to thinking, speaking, and acting evil. Ever since life began,
the habitual temperament of human beings makes us like this. It is doubly
difficult to get rid of them. 

WHEN we can govern our thoughts, our mind will not be affected by
situations. From this, our mind can be free. This is a very hard level to
reach, but the first step always is hard.

FOR those who have too many friendly feelings (such as being crazy about
women), if they do not control their feelings well, they will follow their
thoughts and will sink into the deep sea of feelings. For those who desire
wealth and honor greatly, their minds are clouded by material desires, the
covetous thoughts will lead them to fame and wealth, and they will be in
the bondage of reputation and wealth forever.

ALWAYS keep a watch on thoughts in your mind. Try to realize or know

what and where your thoughts are. As a matter of fact, according to the
experienced people's idea, "Thoughts always vanish when you watch
them." If we could practice like this all the time, the power of our thoughts
will decrease over time. This is not a very easy level to reach, but at least we
have an idea that there is a way to get rid of thoughts. 

LIKE we mentioned, things arise always depending on conditions: when

conditions come together or gather together, things arise; when conditions
disperse or dispel, things cease. [This is a doubly important notion]. When
we understand this notion, we will also understand that everything in the
universe is impermanent; from this point of view, it should be easy to get
rid of CLINGING, and always persisting in our opinion. Always remember
and practice the notion of IMPERMANENCE. This will help to purify our
mind a lot.

THE ORIGINAL NATURE OF HUMAN BEING:

WE should live in a world which belongs to our real inner self or original
nature of human being. This world is bright and brilliant, where there no
dispute, and we are not bothered by material concerns. It is pure and
peaceful, enjoying leisure and not sorrowful; but we never try to act in
response to this world, we never try to be a friend of our real inner self. The
only thing we do day in and day out is to try and climb up socially. This is
what the Chinese call "Attending to the superficials and neglecting the
essentials". 

WHEN our real inner self is led astray by human desires, we all know that
desires are bottomless. We all will not be able to do anything of our own
free will, and we become the slaves of human desires. 

THE power of temptation of human desires is doubly brutal. Some people

always try to attain their desires with nefarious tactics. The moment we
have a thought like this, the moment we lose the chance to contact our real
inner self, we are going to be gone far away from purifying our mind.

OUR mind will not stop producing thoughts because of human desires.
Therefore, our real inner self will be clouded by material desires
forevermore, and our original nature will be contaminated forevermore
also.

WHY does our mind always produce thoughts? Before we talk about this
subject, maybe we should understand some evil ingredients in our mind.
According to the experienced people's idea, " Being greedy for everything,
angry at everything, and not understanding the real truth are the most
common evil ingredients in our mind." 

THESE evil ingredients influence and poison our mind very strongly. That
is the reason why our mind produces thoughts every minute of the day.
And like we mentioned, "What one is thinking of at any given moment is
often evil thoughts." From this, we should understand that fighting these
evil thoughts is the most important thing we are going to do.

TO REDUCE THE THOUGHTS IN OUR MIND:

BESIDES what we have already mentioned, there are other ways to reduce
thoughts in our mind. Here we try to introduce some of them. Hopefully
this will benefit everybody who is seriously interested in this field.

TRY our level best to understand that all living things in the universe are
equal; otherwise, we will have a special mind which always looks at things
from a dualistic perspective. For example, making a distinction between the
good and the bad. And all the problems will be starting from right here,
such as "Always persist our own ideas", "Always argue", "Always hate",
"Always fight", …and never stop. 

LIKE we mentioned in the beginning, we should try to make our mind like
LAND, and be tolerant of other people's mistakes, or wrongdoing or
weaknesses. Try to express solicitude for everybody (Friends, enemies,
good, and bad) equally. Try not to dispute or discuss in minute detail
gaining or losing. Try not to be moved by sad or delighted things. Try not
to feel so pleased when people respect or praise us. Try not to hate or abhor
when people slight us.

WHEN people show their beautiful virtues (like helping others), we should
show our respect and join in their actions, and we should try not to be
jealous of other people's beautiful virtues. When we see people facing
troubles, we should not gloat over their disaster. 

ACCORDING to the experienced people's idea, "The highest wisdom

comes from a merciful heart", the merciful heart comes from "Solving
people's problems without any conditions and helping people to get peace,
calm, and sagacity without any conditions either".
IF we look at things or treat things unequally, from here, all the worry,
trouble, and prejudice will be produced almost right away. Thus if we want
to purify our mind, we have to learn to look at things or treat things with
equality. 
SOMEDAY when we realize that all the beings are equal and could be
blend or mix together, and become "ONE" in some way, we will understand
really what is the "Real Truth".

Are you easily frustrated by even the smallest mistakes? Do you have anger management
problems? Do you find managing work and personal life rather stressful?

An essential element in personality development is being able to control anything that goes
into your mind- your thoughts and ideas are very important because whatever your mind
conceives will dictate your actions and behaviors.

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The mind is a very delicate matter; it can grasp just about anything and everything. Try to
keep your mind blank for a few seconds and you will find that it is not the easiest thing to
do. It takes discipline, focus, and effort. At the same time, it also takes lots of practice to be
able to effectively achieve mind control.

We are going to help you control your mind through three very easy methods. These are:
commitment, repetition, and meditation.

Commitment

The first step towards controlling your mind is to really make a conscious decision to stop
negative thoughts. The problem that most people face is that we find it really hard to break
free of thought patterns and old habits that we would even go as far as saying that we
actually take pleasure in inviting these thoughts in, though unconsciously. In any case, we
need to commit ourselves to really stop this from happening. We should be aware of the
adverse outcomes of these thoughts so that we will not allow them to enter.

Repetition

While we cannot always sift through every thought and take out the bad from the good, we
can certainly do this one step at a time. As the adage goes, “repetition is the mother of all
skills” which means that if everyday for the next 30 days, we spend an hour to consciously
stop negative thoughts from coming in, then it will just naturally be embedded in our mind
to do this every time an undesirable idea or thought is made.
Meditation

Buddhism has introduced mankind to meditation, which is a form of mental exercise that
allows one to fully concentrate on what is going on around him. Although evidence shows
that meditation has been practiced since the Neanderthal era, it became more
acknowledged for the last 5,000 years.

There are many ways to do meditation; the main object is to create mental discipline in
whatever you do. The following are some of the meditation techniques you can use:

1. Basic Meditation

This is something anyone can do. All you need is a small space for you to sit comfortably,
preferably in a quiet location. Close your eyes and “observe” your thoughts. Whatever
thoughts enter your mind, all you have to do is to let them go.

2. Focused Meditation

While the first type of meditation allows any and every thought to come in, focused
meditation requires you to concentrate on a particular thought or idea. You can use any of
your five senses to do this. For example, you can use visual by staring at an object; you can
use auditory by listening to the swaying of the leaves; and so on.

3. Activity-Based Meditation

This meditation technique allows you to engage in an activity that requires repetition. These
repetitive activities like gardening, paper cutting, or yoga will help you quiet your mind,
allowing your brain to shift.

4. Spiritual Meditation

Prayer is a good example of spiritual meditation; though it does not have to be religious and
is certainly not specific to any kind of religion. People can practice this by asking spiritual
guidance, wherein God ‘speaks’ and we ‘listen.’ In this type of meditation, we can start by
asking a particular question, and we clear our mind so that we can ‘listen’ to the answer.
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These three methods are very effective in our goal to be able to control our mind. By
committing ourselves to this undertaking, we are taking a step towards achieving our goal.
By making an effort to practice on a regular basis, we are working towards making it a
habit. And lastly, by knowing the ways to meditate, we are constantly engaging in mental
discipline that will seal our success in controlling our mind. And when we know how to
control our mind, developing our personality can be so much easier.