Mind: How to control it
IV
By communion with Naam, attention would rise above the plane of senses, purifying the mind. It would no longer be defiled by the external impressions gathered through the outgoing faculties. By listening to the Sound Current, ingrained and accumulated impressions of previous births are burnt away. What is the criterion of a pure mind? There are no more mental oscillations; instead there is steadiness. By constant remembrance of the Lord, all the worldly impressions are nullified. In such a state of equipoise, Naam can be developed. Consequently, mind would be cleansed and be able to adore the Lord in the true sense. It is only a question of stilling it.
Bhai Nand Lal says,
A Perfect Master is a sovereign remedy for the mind.
The earlier discussion was concerned with the malady affecting the mind. How a Perfect Master can consolidate a scattered mind is explained now:
An Adept in Spiritual Science brings about concentration of mind through His charged attention. A glance of His Grace is sufficient to emancipate us.
So the company of a Spiritual Adept is indispensable. The Master now says that Divine Music is reverberating within you; commune thou with It. Mind would, consequently, be purified and be able to sing the praise of the Lord. Once you think of something that will be ever before you, only then mind is cleared of its defilements.
So, the first step is the association of an Awakened Person; and the second is to commune with the Word within, a Real Satsang. Both the steps will help in the stillness of mind and its purification. One would understand the significance of adoring the Lord and reap the fruit thereof.
In the association of a Saint, if the mind is engaged elsewhere,
says Kabir,
the condition of such a man is like a raw coconut which cannot be dyed by any colour.
Swami Ji also says,
Go and sit in the company of a Great Soul with a receptive mind. Listen to Him with rapt attention.
For a moment, cut yourself off from all sides and wash away all worldly thoughts; only then will you derive benefit from the charged atmosphere. Such a Satsang is worth one thousand Satsangs heard with scattered attention. So attend a Satsang with undivided attention: Then only can you take full advantage of it.
Guru Amar Das now gives out His personal experience of how He controlled His mind:
Self-knowledge dawns through the guidance of a Godman; only then can the soul enter the True Home. Oh Soul! sky is thy dwelling place; but alas thou are trapped by the bondage of matter.
All Great Souls have said that, before attaining the Kingdom of God, you would be blessed with self-knowledge through the instructions of the Master.
The Upanishads also state
Know thyself.
Guru Nanak has said,
Nanak, without self-analysis, the miasma of delusion does not disappear.
Christ has said the same thing:
Know thyself.
Unless we realise the self, the mirage of the outside world does not disappear. All Saints have stressed this point. Its secret is self-analysis, which means self-realisation by liberating the soul from the clutches of the mind and senses. How can you know the Lord without knowing your self?
The first question which all Great Souls have placed before us is self-knowledge. Self-knowledge precedes God-Knowledge. This can only be attained by the practical guidance of a Spiritual Adept Who has analysed His own self. What does He enjoin upon us? Shake off the mortal coil and rise above body consciousness. There are various sheaths covering the soul – physical, astral, causal, and great causal. As the soul transcends the limitations of the three bodies – physical, astral, and causal – one gains self-awareness, cosmic awareness, and super-cosmic awareness respectively. By rising above the causal body, self-knowledge dawns, and one is nearer to the Reality and knower of it.
How can the mystery of knowing thyself be solved? Through the Grace of a Godman you can have experience of self-realisation and thus enter the mansion of the Lord which is the True Home of the soul. You may call It Sach Khand or Sat Lok which is immune from the haunt of dissolution and grand dissolution.
Having experienced this, Guru Amar Das explains:
Oh mind, get intoxicated with the Elixir of Naam and glorify the Lord.
You (mind) have had a taste of sensual and worldly pleasures. Now you experience the bliss of Naam and differentiate between the two. You will find that there is no comparison between the two. Naam, the Elixir of Life, is far more blissful than the insipid pleasures of the world. All Great Souls have commended it. Guru Nanak said the same thing when He went to the Mughal Emperor Babar. He was taking Indian hemp, an intoxicant, and offered it to Guru Nanak also.
Guru Nanak said,
Oh Babar, the intoxicant you are taking would produce but a passing inebriation and momentary forgetfulness. I have that intoxication (of Naam) with me whose effect is felt all the time. The intoxication of Naam, oh Nanak, works around the clock.
Shamas-i-Tabrez has also mentioned of this state of intoxication.
I am the fountainhead of Eternal Bliss. If, after my death, manure is made of my body, and if that manure is scattered in a field where wheat is grown, the cook and bearer of chapatis (bread) made of that wheat will dance in ecstasy.
Great Souls have made an attempt to describe that bliss by comparing it with worldly pleasures. But there is absolutely no comparison between the two. The bliss of the pure wine of Naam – Water of Life – is far more exhilarating than the mundane sensual pleasures. There are no parallel examples to describe that state.
Guru Amar Das now says:
Oh mind, you are conversant with sensual enjoyments, now you experience the intoxication of Naam and see the difference between the two. Lord is the bestower of all comforts, by uniting with Whom all the desires emanating in the mind would be fulfilled.
He says that the Lord is the ocean of all comforts and giver of happiness. What would be the effect of establishing a communion with Him? At present, various desires crop up in the mind, but none of them appear to be fulfilled. But with God-Realisation one becomes a Conscious Co-Worker of the Divine Plan, and nature automatically works to one’s advantage. This leads to the purification of one’s mind. Nature will be at the beck and call of such a person.