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Churning of the mindWhen the mind is churned, many poisons from its innermost depths - emotions, fears, anxieties and desires, come to the surface and only then they vanish.
Sri M
Last Updated IST
<div class="paragraphs"><p>Oasis logo.</p></div>

Oasis logo.

Credit: DH Illustration

In Sanskrit, the word for churning up is Manthan. Only when the mind is churned up, can it explore fresh horizons. Else, it becomes a fossilized mind that is of no use to you.

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When the mind is churned, many poisons from its innermost depths - emotions, fears, anxieties and desires, come to the surface and only then they vanish. There is no other way. From the point of view of yoga psychology, bottling up is not the answer.

How can the mind, that always jumps around, be made calm and still, so that one can go deep into the reservoir of all peace, energy and creativity? 

The great Rishis have said, that only when the mind becomes still, is no longer dissipated and has reached its original state of complete vacuity, is it full of energy. From such a mind, springs forth creative thought, action and great joy, for it has somehow come out of the throes of sorrow. 

That Supreme Truth, the Self that you seek, is beyond the ordinary modes of linear thinking. It can be experienced, only when the mind, having discovered the futility of ordinary thinking, has become absolutely still.

When it becomes still, the mind reaches its source. This source is the creative source of everything in this universe - the Supreme Being. 

When you have a problem that appears insurmountable and you have tried all known ways of dealing with it, the Upanishadic solution, is to completely drop it.

Believe me, if you do this, you will find that one day, that problem, which you were trying to solve, is solved from nowhere, through no known method. All you had to do, was to let your mind relax and be free of any kind of obsession.
Obsession conditions the mind and when the mind is free, it finds its own answer and that answer comes like
a flash. The mind has to relax to be able to think clearly, to go beyond thought and begin to experience that which lies beyond the ordinary state of consciousness.

When one does sadhana, one prepares the ground for being still and attentive. You are keeping your room in order, sweeping the cobwebs, opening the windows and you are ready. Then, infinite patience is required. The breeze of understanding is definitely going to blow in. When it will come, nobody knows and when it comes, it comes in a flash. That is why sadhana or practice is necessary. 

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(Published 31 January 2024, 02:38 IST)