GET HOLD OF THE MIND

GET HOLD OF THE MIND. THE MIND IS LIKE A LAKE,AND EVERY STONE THAT DROPS IN  IT RAISES WAVES.

(SOURCE-Words of Inspiration,Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture)

What came first- The chicken or the Egg? I still have to find a convincing answer to this question. But this question though not very relevant to the self, pushes me to think this- Does the Mind shape decisions or Decisions shape the Mind? This is a very relevant question because it pushes the frontiers of the Self. The Self that is in constant search on answers and reasons.

When we were kids, our minds, as flexible as they can be were oblivious to everything around us. No sense of hotness or coldness of an object, stupid enough to believe the pranks of the elderly which they found cute and had a laugh over, no sense of time -infact, an afternoon nap would make you believe that you woke up the next day, always in search of a hand to hold and a lap to cuddle. Its the most rudimentary form of living matter you can imagine.But with each passing moment, each passing day, there was one thing that was changing and changing fast. The Mind. It was struck in the most gentle manner yet the most convincing one and started the process of  formation of the Self. The Self which would in years to come to live a life on its own principles , form opinions based on it and take decisions according to it. However, this forms a very small and temporary phase of the Self. Since, you have to let go off the hand and the lap that was once your home. You start taking control of things on your own and you yourself strike the mind  with the blows you consider worthy. They may or may not be is another aspect. But that again  is a lesson. It is imperative to realise that the mind with its immense might is inherently latent. Each an every happening impacts it, but in a temporary manner. It is only after sustained efforts or impacts the mind starts behaving to our liking. It is in this respect its the Lake. The lake of universalism. The lake that is all encompassing. The lake that is receptive to everything. You may keep piling up loads and loads of polythene bags into a lake but its only after a time that you see it degrade. The harm is beyond our sight, yet it happens. It is in this regard that we start choosing what stone we throw in it. What we feed to the lake, manifests itself ultimately. The time duration is just a test of our Patience which is altogether a different aspect.

It is noteworthy to observe that since every thought , every incident does form a ripple in the mind; its the Mind again which can depending on its past and the environment it has been nurtured decide upon the amplitude of the ripples. In other words, we are the masters of our own reactions. Its upto the Mind to decide which ripple would be the strongest. And its within this nature of ripples that the personality of a person is decided. The most powerful ripples are those of Ideas and the junk of them are reacting about what others keep doing which has no relevance in the broader scheme of things. Its a very interesting case here- we do not choose the stone that is thrown, nor are we the ones always throwing the stones but  WE ARE THE ONES WHO CHOOSE THE RIPPLES.

Its the strength of the Mind that amplifies these ripples to WAVES. And the waves are both constructive and destructive- modern science has seen both the facets of it.

FEAR NOT

THOU ART OMNIPOTENT-GO,GO TO THE MOUTH OF THE CANNON,FEAR NOT (IV. 110) 
Source: Words of Inspiration,Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture

FEAR- this 4 letter word has so many different meanings just like the other 4 letter word-LOVE for every different person. But what is the reason for this fear and its multi faceted nature? What is it in fear that drives people in different ways with different reactions? And is fear good or bad? These are some questions which are omnipresent in each and every soul. When should we stop fearing and if we should, who should we fear?

Fear is a natural reflex of the mind, the heart to a situation that is out of the mundane slot of our lives, that is, what I have come to infer. Just the other day my brother was afraid of missing his early morning flight and ended up not sleeping entire night. This fear is so irrelevant from the more relevant fears of people like not being able to feed their family, or the fear of insolvency; but its fear after all. Isn't it? The fearful behave in the same manner. That is what is common. At least their broad nature of  behaviour is the same , the constant feeling of suffocation, the constant urge to break free, the never ending desire to run away , the non stop bickering "Why am I facing this?" ,the  sunken feeling of low self esteem and the feeling of not being worth a dime; all of this is the fruit of fear. A rather sour fruit with a pungent smell. The smell here is the the blanket of pessimism that such a person carries wherever he/she goes. And then people desert him. The person sinks deeper. Fear engulfs . Fear deepens.Fear wins.
What is it we fear? We all have got a fixed duration to achieve , to love, to make, to break and to live.Yet, we fear; we fear something as inevitable as death to fear missing deadlines. Constant fear undermines the pessimism driven nature so deeply etched in our brains. What harm would it do to be in a state of optimism? Howsoever stupid it might seem.Howsoever , without a reason it might be.My personal experience tells me we run a risk of procrastinating, but its a far more manageable task than dealing with the cancer of fear. Fear leads to diseases of the mind. It destroys the belief , the hope and the rope we all cling onto. The feeling that the road ahead is ending into a dead end. The fear that the road has no branches. The fear that we were not worthy of doing what we were meant to. And its so funny, that its all a sham. A lie. Maybe the biggest scam , the biggest trick that even the mightiest of thugs outside can't pull off.I had already mentioned  in this article that something that makes you doubt yourself, your abilities makes you sick. It makes you weak and that cannot be true. The belief that you are potent at multiple levels, that there is hardly a task you cannot do, hardly a goal you cannot achieve and that if there exists a hurdle, its not a sign to exit but a sign that there are many more mazes hiding and you need to make your way through them. They are checks that let you ride smoothly, let you feel the roller coaster in your life. They are checks that make your body pump adrenaline, to make you, to test you. And on a roller coaster ride you don't jump off, you remain seated, you cling on hard, YOU DON'T LET GO.
The day , the time one realises the multitude of tasks one can perform, the goals one can achieve using the resources at his/her disposal, that day is the day to rejoice . And the day to let go off the FEAR that you have clung onto for so long.
Quoting John Lubbock "A day of worry is more exhausting than a week of work".
BELIEVE. AND FEAR NOT