Monday, February 10, 2014

391. If Mind is Ocean, Thoughts are Waves and Emotions the Wind……

http://www.speakingtree.in/public/spiritual-blogs/seekers/self-improvement/if-mind-is-ocean-thoughts-are-waves-and-emotions-the-wind


A Master and his disciple were walking on a beach besides an ocean. It was a cold full moon day and the wind was blowing strongly over the ocean, raising very high waves.

After walking for some distance, the master stopped, looked at his disciple, and asked: “What does this jerky ocean remind you, my son?”

“It reminds me of my mind. Its waves are as restless and as unpredictable as my Thoughts,” answered the disciple.

“Yes, of course mind is as stormy as this ocean and the waves are the thoughts, but mind is neutral like the water. It is neither good, nor bad. It is the wind that is the cause for the waves, exactly as desires and insecurity produce our thoughts,” said the master.

“I pray I never want to be on a boat in the middle of the ocean with such a storm,” Exclaimed the disciple.

“You are always there in such a situation.” Responded the master and continued, “Every human being is on a boat without a rudder in the middle of a stormy ocean but are not aware of it. Most of the people have their mind as restless as this ocean. Thoughts both good and bad come and go constantly agitating the mind like this stormy ocean's waves.”

“Very true,” disciple interrupted, “I know that the thoughts and mind disturb me hence I am with you. I want to calm down the waves of my mind.”

Master looked at his disciple for a while, smiled, and said:
“It does not make much sense to calm the ocean by holding the water still and not letting it move. It is also not wise to stop the wind. The wind is like emotions that are made of the thoughts, desires, and insecure feel. Do not let them rule your life. If you learn to control them by controlling your attention towards them, and then the ocean of your mind becomes calm. In the middle of the ocean the waves are smooth because the water ignores the wind, but when it is near the shore the water is passionate towards the land and hence allows the wind to drift it towards the shore in a hurry. If you learn not to let the emotions rule over you than you have won.”

“How do I do that Master?” asked the disciple.

“The wind causes waves on the surface of the ocean by transferring some of its energy to the water by creating friction between air and water molecules. Stronger the wind huge is the wave. Suppose if the ocean is to ignore the wind, what would happen then?” asked the master.

“There would be no waves. However, it is impossible to stop the wind, which are the emotions.” said the disciple.

Master looked at him with a mysterious smile and said: “Why not? The wind, the ocean, and thoughts are all within the realm of the mind. If you can control the mind, you can control everything within it. But it is important to control your mind first, which means you have to control your attention.”

“Yes Master,” said the disciple, “I am trying to do the same. You say whoever controls his mind can also control the wind also. Can I do that too?”

“First learn to calm down the ocean of your mind, and then find out if you can calm down the ocean. It is better to learn to control the mind by controlling the attention towards your emotions, the more you give prominence to your emotions good or bad, and then you are either enjoying or suffering from the tricks that the mind plays. When you calm your mind, you can calm down everything else.” said the master as he walked.

”How can I be inattentive to my emotions, Master” asked the disciple.

“By simply being a Nirvikari, a person who has no modifications in the mind due to emotions.” told the master. A person who is a Nirvikari has no interest in his thoughts this leads him to become Nirvishayi, disinterested in sense pleasures. This does not mean he is going to shun all the pleasure which come his way. He is very solicitous and experiences the pleasures as the gift from Absolute but will never go after it. He is so because he has understood the Upanishad verses “Dhyanam Nirvishyam Manaha” Meditation is the state of mind where there are no sensuous thoughts. With Vishyaaskti (dissoluteness), a seeker can never obtain the will to calm his Mind, just as the wind causes the waves to occur in the ocean. 

1 comment:

  1. Yes mind means thought waves.and restlessness.Unless we control them it is difficult to get peace.But there we can make a counter point.!!While sitting on the sea shore or in the mind it self we can make it a meditation.!!!keep the mind on the waves They come and go continuously.and fix the mind on that.!!and make it a meditation.!!!Try it.

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