As the mind, so the man. The mind alone is the cause for a man’s bondage and his liberation too. These thoughts echo in many of the Upanishads and texts of yoga that we may come across. If there is one single achievement that any practice of yoga, meditation, being free of violence towards others, fasting, being silent, standing in different yogic postures, studying the Upanishads, chanting of devotional and spiritual verses can lead to, it is to quieten the state of the mind.
This habit of constant practice is called abhyasa. The Yoga Sutra says that the mind is disturbed by five thoughts only. Even though they may be thousands of thoughts, if they are analysed and dropped duly in the five different slots, the thoughts will easily fit into any of those classifications. They are pramana or a thought that is brought out through direct perception through the five senses or through our feelings. But this form of understanding is not a guaranteed reality because our sense organs can be faulty and hence the knowledge understood by the data gathered to the faulty senses may not be complete.
The other form of knowing is through guess work—with very heavy clouds, there is rain, with dense smoke around, a fire may be burning there etc. Books of knowledge and masters, who have experienced deep mystical truths speaking about it, are also a reliable source of knowledge. Pramana may be a right thought, but yet it is a thought.
The other four are wrong thoughts that divert the mind from reality, imaginary thoughts, a sleepy state where the mind has no energy to hold on to any thought and conscious memories of the past and sub-conscious dreams where an experience that has got trapped into the mind is not let to go and hence it makes its own projections that confuse and confound us further.
These five thoughts have to be realised and transcended. How is that possible? One is by constantly studying the thought using scientific methodology given by the rishis and the other is to withdraw from any attractive fancy that the mind may be clinging on too.
Study of thought is not like the study of any other subject. It is live consciousness. So it should be practiced for a long period of time, daily, with love and respect. When there is love and respect for something, it really comes to stay with us in our life and the thought guides us too.
So if we take up the sadhana of Hatha Yoga for quietening the mind, it is possible when we throw our heart and soul into the practice, do it without expecting any results personally and also remembering deep within that we are not the sole doer of the action. A million things are involved in just a simple act of writing our signature. So to take credit even for doing some action shabbily, when actually the whole universe should be given that position is plain ignorance of reality. To get rid of ignorance is a tall order for many. However, it is easy to practise with just five thoughts and work on them constantly to transcend them and experience a tranquil state of mind.
Brahmacharini Sharanya Chaitanya
(www.sharanyachaitanya.blogspot.in)