But
how to attain it? What should be done for it? The Lord says, one should fix the
mind in the Self and think of nothing else. ‘न
किञ्चिदपि चिन्तयेत् ।’ But how to do this? To still the mind is extremely important.
Concentration will always elude us if we do not forcefully stop the revolving
wheels of thought. The 'outer wheel’ may perhaps be stopped somehow—we may put
a stop to worldly activities—but the 'inner wheel’ continues to revolve. As we
go on employing different means for the concentration of mind, the 'inner
wheel’ revolves all the faster. You may sit in this or that posture and fix
your gaze; by itself it will not achieve concentration of the mind. The
important thing is that one must be able to stop the 'inner wheel’.
9The mind is crowded with the thoughts of limitless samsara—affairs
and happenings in the outside world. Concentration of the mind is impossible
until all those thoughts are put out. We dissipate the Self’s boundless
potential power of knowing in brooding over worldly trifles. This must not
happen. A man who has become rich, not by robbing others but through his own
hard work, will never squander his money. We too should not waste the Self’s
power in gross and petty matters. This power can lead us to enlightenment. It
is our priceless treasure. But look, how we waste this power! If we find at the
dining table that there is not enough salt in the vegetable, we grumble and
complain about it. Is it that important? We waste our power to know on such
petty matters. Children are taught within the four walls of the class-room. We
are afraid that they would get distracted by the crows and the sparrows if they
are taught in the open. Poor little children! Their minds can get concentrated
if they do not see a crow or a sparrow. But what about us? We are grown-ups! We
have lost our innocence and have become worldly-wise, and therefore cannot
concentrate our minds even if we are kept within a seven-walled fortress. We go
on discussing merrily, each and every trivial matter in the world. We go on
expending our power of thought, which can lead us to the Lord, in discussing
the taste of vegetables and pat ourselves on the back for this feat!
Day
and night, this frightening samsara is always surging around
us, within and without. Even our prayers are for some material gain. There is
no longing to become one with the Lord, forgetting samsara at
least for a moment. Our prayer is nothing but a show. When such is the mental
state, sitting cross-legged and closing the eyes is bound to be in vain. As the
mind is disposed to get distracted all the time by the things without, a man's
strength is completely sapped. He loses any kind of discipline and controlling
power. We are witnessing this state of affairs at every step in our country.
Truly, India is a land of spirituality. It is believed that her people live at
the high altitude of spirituality. Still, how pitiable is our condition! It is
painful to see us engaged in hair-splitting over trivial matters. Our minds are
always immersed in such matters.
‘कथा पुराण एकतां । झोपें नाडिलें तत्त्वतां
खाटेवरी पडतां । व्यापी चिंता तळमळ
ऐसी गहन कर्मगति । काय तयासी रडतीं’
('While listening to the narration of epics and stories from mythology, sleep
overtakes us; but when in bed, anxieties keep us awake. Such is the inscrutable
way of karma—actions accumulated in the present and the earlier
lives. What is the use of shedding tears over it?’)
The mind is either focused on nothing or is focused on too many things at the
same time, but it is never fixed on one single object. Man is such a slave to
the senses. Once a gentleman asked me, "Why is it said that the eyes
should only be half-open while meditating?" I replied, "I give you a
simple answer. If the eyes are fully closed, one is likely to go to sleep and
if they are kept wide open, attention would be diverted and there would be no
concentration. Proneness to sleep when the eyes are closed is tamas and
the diversion of attention when the eyes are open is rajas.
Therefore, an intermediate state has been prescribed."
In short, there cannot be concentration of mind without change in its
disposition. The disposition of mind should be pure. This cannot be attained
merely by sitting in particular postures. All our worldly activities should be
purified for this purpose. This requires a change in the goal of those
activities. We should not engage in them for our own personal gains or for
satisfying baser instincts and desires, or for any material purpose.
The whole day, we are engaged in
doing some or the other worldly activity. What is the purpose of all this toil?
‘याजसाठीं केला अट्टाहास । शेवटचा दिस गोड
व्हावा ।।’ (‘All my persistent efforts were to make the last moment happy.’)
All the toil in this life is to be done to have the last moment happy.
Throughout life bitter poison is to be swallowed—suffering and hardships are to
be borne—to have a calm, serene and holy end. The last moment of the day comes
in the evening. Had the activities throughout the day been carried out with a
pure heart, then the night prayer would be sweet, bringing a sense of
contentment and fulfillment. If the last moment of the day is sweet, it means
that the day’s work has been fruitful. Then the mind can easily get
concentrated.
Purity of life is essential for concentration. Mind should never be preoccupied
with worldly matters. A man’s life is not long, but even in a short span of
life he can experience the eternal, divine bliss. Two men may appear to be cast
in the same mould, but one of them becomes God-like while the other sinks to
the level of a beast. Why does it happen? When all are the children of God—‘अवघी
एकाचीच वीण’—why is there such a difference? why does one 'nara'1 become 'Narayan'whereas
the other becomes 'vanara'?
There have been men in the past who have
shown what great heights man can scale. Such men are there even now in our
midst. This is a matter of experience. The saints have shown what a man can
achieve even while remaining caged within the body. If some men can do
miraculous deeds while remaining within the body, why should it not be possible
for me? Why should I set bounds to my imagination? I too possess the same human
body, dwelling in which others have done heroic deeds. Why should then I be in
such a sad plight? There must be something wrong with me. My mind is all the
time focused on things outside. It is too preoccupied in finding faults in
others. But why should I judge others? ‘कासया
गुणदेश पाहों आणिकांचें । मज काय त्यांचें उणें असे ।।’ (‘Why should I be
concerned with the virtues and vices of others when I myself have them in
abundance?') If I remain busy in observing and criticising the faults in
others, how could I have concentration of mind? Then I am bound to be caught
between rajas and tamas—the mind will either
wander aimlessly or it will go blank.
It is true that the Lord has given suggestions about the sitting posture, the
fixing of gaze etc. for attaining one-pointedness of mind. But they could be
useful only when one has realised the need of having one-pointedness of mind.
Then one will seek and find for oneself the means to attain it.