Mastery Over The Mind

The study of the Vedhic lorehas been with them and theirfamilies for centuries; but, yet,they are finding it hard to live up
to Vedhic standards ofBrahminhood. How then can youtake it? Four persons have a rupeecoin each; if each changes the coin
into naya paise and keeping 25for himself, gives 25 each to theother three, no one loses. Each ofthem has a hundred paise, instead
of a single coin, but, there has beenno diminution of the purchasingpower each had at the beginning.The Ramayana, the
Mahabharatha and theBhagavatha are 100 paise; theVeda is the rupee. That is all thedifference. Why then lose
yourself in this campaign ofhatred? Why try to can’ a burdenwhich is beyond the capacity ofyour shoulders? Look at all thetime-tables, the restrictions andregulations, the ceremonies andrites that the Brahmins haveburdened themselves with. Theirpurpose is not merely to ensuresecurity and solace to themselvesbut, even more, to ensure theorderly working of the forces ofnature for the benefit of all
mankind, of all beings in all theworlds. That is the high ideal forwhich they have imposed onthemselves all the toil and
tribulation.Our duty is to concentrate onthe development of the Divinitylatent in us; once we do that, allhate and all pride will disappear;
we will become humble fellowpilgrimswith the Brahmins, to thesame goal, though along parallelpaths. Remember these things
cannot be decided by the countingof votes or measuring popularsupport. We cannot judge fish asmore precious than diamonds,
merely because there are morecrowds in the fish-market, andonly a handful of customers in theshops selling diamonds.
The cottage and the castle areboth built on the earth: so too, allfaiths and religions, all disciplineshave the Veda as the basis. The
special feature of Indian cultureis that here the dress anddemeanour, the language andliterature, the manner and mode
of living, the ideals and institutionsare all attuned to the spiritualprogress of man, emphasising asthey do the superiority of the
spirit over the body, the subtleover the gross. Everything issubordinated to that supremetask. The body should be fed and
kept free from disease. Why? Sothat it may be fit for spiritualdiscipline. Spiritual discipline forwhat? For the realisation of the
truth about oneself. The subtle isthe basis for the gross; the Divineis the basis for the Human. IndianCulture turns our eye to the basis,
not to what is built upon it. Thisoutlook was, for long, the naturaloutlook for every Indian; it wasautomatic, even. It was imbibed
at the mother’s lap, from thefather in the field, the teacher atschool, from neighbour andfriends and relatives, from the old
and the young, from whateverwas done or written or spokenby those around. Good and badcannot be kept together in the
same vessel; then, the good alsowill turn bad. Night and lightcannot coexist. The Sun wasproud that he had no enemies left.
But, some one told him that hehad one enemy left, viz.,Darkness. Then, he sent his rays,the emissaries, to seek out the foe,
but, wherever they went, theysaw only light, the darkness wasnowhere to be found. Theyreturned and reported · There was
no such thing as Darkness uponthe earth; we made the mostrigorous search!We can gain that victory onlyby rigorous Sadhana. Spiritual
discipline is more arduous thanphysical discipline; imagine thetremendous amount of effortundergone by the lady who runsalong a wire stretched across thering, underneath the circus tent.After all, the gain is just a fewrupees. The same steadfastnessand systematic effort aimed at ahigher reward can endow we withmental balance and we canmaintain our equilibrium under themost adverse or the most
intoxicating circumstances. TheJnanendhriyas are more importantfor this type of sadhana than theKarmendhriyas, the intellect more
important than all the rest of theinner instruments given to man.Make the intellect the Master ofour mind and we will not fail; we
will fail only when the sensesestablish mastery over the mind.

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