Let us look at two things that define our spiritual quotient: the way in which we are interacting with the world and the kind of image we are projecting outside and the way our tendencies are limiting us.
How does all this matter? It matters because everything in the cosmos is inter-connected. We know that the atmosphere surrounds our body. So the air inside us and the air outside us are the same. When the air outside is polluted it damages our health inside. The entire Creation is interwoven into the fabric of dharma. Even the sun, moon, stars and planets move in their orbits according to their dharma.
When we base our lives on dharma, we are liberated and establish peace and happiness. Then the panchabhootas—fire, earth, air, water and ether—don’t fluctuate. Our mind doesn’t oscillate, our health is stable and life is exhilarating. If we look at a burning matchstick, we see a blue flame surrounded by an orange one.
Likewise, our soul is enveloped by our consciousness, which in turn is enclosed by the mind.
We should dissolve the mind through sadhana and sharangati and establish ourselves in the consciousness to savour the sweetness of the soul. When we chant the mantra of Sri Lalitha Sahasranama—Om Chidagniyei Namaha—108 times every day, it breaks our mind made of limiting thoughts into pieces. Then we experience a state of inner silence. When sages go into meditation to purify themselves, they too dissolve into inner silence. Today, it is not ‘positive thinking’ that we need. What we really need is a state of ‘no thinking’. The more we think, the more we sink. A mind filled with thoughts is like a dense forest. Once we enter this forest, we keep going round and round in circles.
Our lives are guided by our destiny. Once our destiny is written by the Trimurtis, it is out of their hands too. Only our creativity can change our fate and destiny depending on our sharangati. The ‘Chidagni’ mantra is the fire of eternal knowledge that purifies our mind. It controls our thoughts by giving it direction. It diminishes our arrogance and allows us to take hold of the thread of our thought and controls it and thereby enhances our spiritual quotient.
It polishes our etiquette, and culture to redefine the way we interact with the external world by linking it to the eternal flame of knowledge. At the same time, it also uproots all our limiting tendencies and enhances our capabilities to touch infinite boundaries called wisdom.
ashram-india@shrinimishamba.org