Control The Mind & Its Thoughts!

1 year ago By Yogi Anoop

How To Control The Mind & Its Thoughts! 

Just like the womb and the coming of a child, Or like the lungs and breathing, or the stomach and food, The mind and its thoughts also need a place to settle, A place where objects of its nature are absorbed.

The lungs are a place where oxygen is filled with each breath, Similarly, the stomach is a place where food and water are stored. And just like that, there must be a place for all the subtle thoughts That come into the mind to settle and reside.

That place is called the "Chitt" by the sages, The place where all the thoughts come to rest and stay.

     In the science of yoga, Indian sages spoke about the control of fluctuations in the mind. The root meaning of "nirodha" is to stop, to control, and to regulate. For example, there is a term "garbha-nirodha," which means the prevention of actions related to pregnancy. Contraceptive medicines are given to women who do not want to become pregnant.

The essential meaning of their teaching is to use certain yogic and intellectual practices so that a person cannot hold on to mental fluctuations in the form of thoughts. They said that one should prevent the fluctuations from entering the mind. By stopping the fluctuations in the mind, the restless mind will become calm. The agitation that arises in it will also be calmed down. According to them, the mind is not inherently flawed; they talked about stopping the fluctuations, which makes it clear that the fluctuations are the problem.

Neither the pitcher nor the water is to blame. The culprit is the one who is filling the pitcher with water. There is no knowledge in either the mind or the thoughts that they are meeting each other, just as there is no knowledge of any kind in the pitcher or water, that there is another living being who is pouring water into it.

I always say that both the mind and the thoughts are lifeless, it is only the living being who feels alive. It is the same mind that keeps gathering infinite thoughts. It becomes a habit to keep collecting them.

The wise understood that if they want to solve a problem, they have to stop gathering thoughts in the mind. They realized that if the flow of thoughts in the mind is obstructed permanently, then complete peace will prevail. This is known as complete liberation.

In order to attain this, the yogis of knowledge have provided the means of knowledge which is the ultimate way, and then after that, through their respective means, all yogis of devotion, raja yoga, and others have attempted to reach that state of knowledge through their practices.

The question is whether to control the mind or the thoughts. In my own spiritual experience, it depends on the development of each seeker's personality. If they are very logical, then it is best for them to take the help of knowledge, but if they are below that level, then they should strive to rise through the means of raja yoga, bhakti yoga, and hatha yoga.

The meaning of controlling the mind here is to train the mind in such a way that it develops a habit of not grasping onto thoughts. Calm the mechanism of the brain so that it doesn't accept thoughts. The habit of the mind has become to keep engaging in thoughts. The constant nature of gathering thoughts causes discomfort and disease to the mind and body. Raj Yoga suggests that if the habit of grasping onto thoughts is ended, then the problem of continuous engagement with thoughts can be resolved. They won't be able to come inside because the mind has become powerful enough to not grasp onto those thoughts.

Note that when the mind is calm, the senses and brain become deeply calm, and they don't accept thoughts for some time. Just like when someone wakes up from deep sleep, they don't feel like doing anything for a few hours because their senses and brain have become very calm.

Similarly, through the practice of Karma Yoga, the mechanisms of the brain reach a deep state of calmness, which causes them to refuse to accept thoughts.

The knowledgeable yogi does not accept it, he says that this process brings foolishness because it is not knowledge-based. He says, "Do not control the mind, understand the thoughts, because all those thoughts are going into the mind by your own command, somewhere or the other."

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