There are so many things to read these days. Much comes to us to contemplate upon through our mobile devices, internet and the social media. There is no dearth of gyan as it is being freely doled out on a daily basis starting at 6 am in the morning, even earlier and going on until late in
the night.
Listening to too much advice can be an information overload that we cannot handle. So, how to manage that and use it to keep the mind at peace? How do we handle this? Write down the interesting and contemplative data. “The person who loves you is not the person who sees you every day, but the person who looks for you every day,” a quote on video scroll will proclaim.
Sometimes talking to your best friend is the only therapy you need. There are quotes and quotes that we are bombarded with these days—anything from self-realisation, meditation, relaxation and positive thinking. People let out their stress by forwarding these quotes and messages. Don’t get stressed out. Be the wise man who built his house with stones and bricks hurled at him.
If you feel a quote is really worth the time, write it down in your notepad. Expand it into a bigger card or sheet of paper and pin it up somewhere you can see. Breathe that quote alone throughout the day. Analyse that quote you like so much as you walk, as you sip tea, as you bathe. When you are in conversation with someone, let that quote guide you to a deeper understanding.
When all your work is done, you can take up a really sublime quote in any language you like —doesn’t matter English, vernacular or Sanskrit. Take a deep breath.
Inhale and as you exhale, let the breath come out with the quote. For instance, if the statement for meditation you have taken up is Aham Brahmasmi—I am that supreme truth—let it not be just a passing statement that you read. Let the quote bother your thoughts so much singularly that you are almost unable to do anything else when it is on your mind.
Sit down quietly with that thought. Breathe into it. Analyse it. Study it. Meditate upon it and breathe it out. At the end of such agitation, the mind becomes so peaceful and quiet. The witness of the initially sanguine state of mind which later became so agitated with a single thought and settled down in peace and quietude at the end of the contemplation is you. You are the witness of that thought. Next time you see a quote you like, don’t simply let it go by. Sit with it. Drink its essence and then let it go.
Brahmacharini Sharanya Chaitanya
(www.sharanyachaitanya. blogspot.in)