Simon

In the town where we live, if someone asks us, ‘Where are you from?’ we would give the street name, house number, something like that.

But if we go out of the town and someone asks us, ‘Where are you from?’ we would give the name of the town. Then when we go out of the county or state we will give the name of the country or state. If you leave the country we will say, ‘I am from this country’, we won’t be mentioning the small street or home number.

So like that our consciousness is expanding from the small home, small street – now we belong to a big country. All countrymen are like our brothers and sisters. Then if we get a chance to go out to another planet, when we meet somebody else also from Earth, ‘Oh I am from planet Earth, you are also from planet Earth!’ We would feel that oneness, ‘Oh, we are one family from the same planet, Earth.’

In this way, our consciousness, our awareness has expanded to fill a bigger space.

This is what happens as we meditate regularly. As we cleanse the mind of its mental habits, it becomes less narrow-minded, and is able to think of a larger cause always. Not just how I or my group is affected, but the whole society, whole world. We would think, ‘If I want to be happy, then someone else would also want that same happiness’. In that way we can consider others more and see that oneness. We would value peace – we would not like to go into conflict.

If we can gain peace for ourselves in meditation then our awareness automatically expands.

The mind may not want to be quiet when we close the eyes and focus the mind in meditation.

So here, our attitude is key.

If we think to ourselves, ‘This is too tough, too many thoughts, this meditation won’t work’, then it appears difficult to us and we would likely stop putting in our efforts.

But if we think, ‘All I need to do is continue with the technique, it’s easy’, then it becomes easy. Like a tennis player when facing a strong opponent will enjoy the challenge of the game, the mind focused simply on the shot at hand.

The mind, because it is so used to thinking and making judgements constantly will resist becoming quiet. But if we can keep going, keep going, gently bringing the mind back, then that effort will be stored like a deposit account. The more we practice, the more the skill of meditating comes and the thoughts will subside. Our mind comes under our control.

Question:

In meditation do you think there is a balance between being hard on yourself but gentle on yourself at the same time?

Babaji:

I wouldn’t recommend you to be hard on yourself. Gentle but firm. Firm means determined, not to give up. But for that you don’t have to bang your head. Do not give up, like say no with a smile-type of thing. So like that you can continue. ‘No..no…’ – be there. Be gentle but don’t give up. And apply the technique. To apply the technique you just have to be gentle. You don’t have to be forcing. Simply understand the technique that we are teaching, like ‘just watch inbetween eyebrows’. And once you think it is a game you are playing you start enjoying and you don’t want to give up. Thus automatically you become dedicated, disciplined and patience also comes. ‘I’m not going to give up, I need this’- when you understand. So adopt all these techniques and words that we keep advising and just be gentle and firm, no need to be hard.

‘Swamiji used to say that if you are suffering or having troubles – look at yourself; find where the fault is in yourself that this suffering is occurring. He would repeat the old saying, “Those who can find their own faults are the greatest.” He would thus emphasize that if you have a problem in your life, you need to examine yourself and find what is your own mistake that is causing this to happen. If you then can’t change the situation, then develop the graciousness to accept it. If you can change it, then you should have the courage to change it. This is in all people; this will make you a great healer. You will be able to heal yourself. To do this, simply sit and concentrate the mind – and it will go introverted.’

~Babaji

When the mind becomes weak we suffer. It is out of our control: it cannot stop thinking, it loses its confidence, it becomes confused and cannot progress, it becomes depressed.

If our mind is like this, somehow we need to regain that potency and strength of the mind. The strength to think in a positive way, to not be so affected by outside events that may be out of our control, and to keep our peace at all times.

For this, meditation has been prescribed since ancient times as that blanket remedy to heal up all the agonies of the mind. Slowly, slowly we can build up the strength of our mind with a daily practice. Then we would discover the mind is becoming more and more quiet. Instead of being a noisy fish market, it can be tranquil, composed and calm like the ocean.

As we start on this path of practising meditation, there may be good days and bad days. Sometimes it may be hard and it would feel we are battling our thoughts. But no matter if it doesn’t come like instant coffee, immediate at the touch of a button. However long it takes, we have to be patient with ourselves. It’s our own mind after all, and what greater achievement is there for the mind than gaining true peace and contentment.

Adjust and manage.
Not everything in life will be straightforward and as we expect.
We will need to navigate our way around the obstacles and barriers that come up.
This ability to adjust and manage is key to keeping the peace of our mind intact and to staying positive.
If we can adjust and manage we can deal with the tricky parts of life skillfully and with peace in mind.
As we meditate and our mind becomes composed and under our control, this ability comes to us more.

As Babaji says, ‘Greed and need are totally different. You work for the need, but if you become greedy. A simple example I have given, you want to eat one cup of ice cream, you eat- that is the need. If you cannot stop yourself and go on eating ten, twenty, thirty.. In the beginning, you think that the same icecream is giving you so much of happiness and enjoyment, the same ice cream is going to put you into trouble and unhappiness. So that’s what is the need and greed.’

Through meditation as our mind becomes settled and under our control, we will be able to understand what our needs are and not go into a greed. Going into a greed can be disastrous- as we look in the world, the planet has ample resources to fulfil the needs of everyone, but not their greed. If we start wanting more and more, never being satisfied and ignoring other’s basic needs also, then conflicts and problems arise.

‘For every person, a desire is there, ‘We want our life like this, this standard, this comfort, we want to achieve this’, like that we keep planning. With every planning, we do have an expectation also. ‘The thing must happen like this’. But the mind doesn’t simply stop with this planning and effort. It also jumps into worries, ‘What if it happens like this, what if it does not happen like this, what will happen?’ And so we catch hold of our head.

So when we practise this meditation also we slowly learn the result is not in our hands. We can put in an effort by focusing in the present, but when the result comes we have to simply accept, otherwise there never is a peace. So this is what is Yoga. In your life go on doing whatever you desire, that is no problem. Nobody has prohibited. Simply if it happens, accept, if it doesn’t happen, ok, think there might be better in the Divine store for me.’

~Babaji

When the mind is able to become totally silent through long-time practice of meditation, we become its master and discover also the truth of our existence. Such a one who has achieved this will be able to guide and inspire others towards that. As Babaji says,

‘Listening to a Yogi’s speech would be totally different from other teachers of spirituality because a Yogi speaks from experience and is very practical. Even if a Yogi is silent, He is conveying the message of Truth that is achieved when the mind becomes totally silent. If a Yogi speaks, it is not from the scriptures alone but mainly by the direct experience of the Truth.’

The application of wisdom when we interact with people and situations in our daily lives is very important – when to talk, speak up, when to act and when to keep quiet. As Babaji mentions in the video, ‘Often people operate depending on their temperament and habits. They don’t think before uttering a word also’.

Too often we jump into a reaction due to our mental habits and regret doing so afterwards.

So this wisdom can come when the mind becomes quiet with a regular meditation practice. ‘When mind becomes quiet it becomes under your control also. When the mind is under our control we are able to apply wisdom properly, use our brains in a proper way, think in the right direction and act upon accordingly.’

#meditate