Mind Management 2

Mind Management 2 Recently I received a message on my mobile phone, ‘I am the son of Lord Krishna. I keep visiting Tirumala. Yet, I take drugs. Why do I suffer? Please, help me!’ My terse response was, ‘Meet a psychiatrist, undergo counselling, practice medictation and undergo the Happiness Programme of the Art of Living’. The caller was not satisfied and kept pestering me with a flurry of such messages. This person was positively in a state of misery and fear. Fear is an unpleasant emotion caused by the threat of danger or pain. His crutch and life boat was Lord Krishna. To my mind , it seemed a state of hallucination, perhaps because of medicines and drugs. The mind of the caller was both fragmented and deeply disturbed. He appeared to be in a state of imbalance. No one in his right frame of mind would come up with such outlandish prepositions. He refused to take proper medication, meet a psychiatrist or undertake the Art of Living programme. Here was a challenge staring me in the face. This individual positively required attention and help. The Patanjali Yoga Sutras have identified the following as root causes of miseries in life —Avidya, Asmita, Raga, Dwesha and Abhinivesha. 1) Avidya — This is nothing but lack of knowledge or ignorance. Everything around us keeps changing constantly. It could be our cells, blood, stomach lining, hair, to name a few. Yet, we are oblivious of the change. 2) Asmita — Is our intellect and our self. We get stubbornly stuck to our opinions. Like the caller was fixated with the idea that he was the child of Lord Krishna and stay put at Tirumala. Yet, he was partaking drugs. We are unable to comprehend life beyond a state of our stubbornness and ignorance. Unfortunately, the mind is stuck in our mirror image of stubbornness. We too become The Pictures of Dorian Gray. 3) Raga — Mmeans craving. Normally, craving arises out of certain pleasurable experiences of the past. It has a deep imprint on the mind. Such impressions only aggravate our wants and misery. It is a vicious cycle of pleasure begetting more pleasure and ending up in a cachet of misery. 4) Dwesha — Iis nothing but hatred. Hatred is antithetical to craving. Though it arises out of craving, the premise is an unpleasant experience. This could be because of certain tragic moments in the past or unrealistic expectations which do not materialize. 5) Abhivivesha — This is fear of the unknown. An emotion which affects all of us. Only a saint or an insane person has overcome this barrier. Fear can also help as a protecting cloak when it is in relatively small measure. This helps us to not indulge in chest thumping bravado. Erudite scholars too live with this primordial instinct. The above points have been explained in a succinct and elaborate manner by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar in his commentary on Patanjali Yoga Sutras. The caller proclaiming to be the son of Lord Krishna was in obvious pain and agony. He could experience ecstasy only through scientific help, that is, by consulting a psychiatrist , taking proper medication and undertaking an Art of Living course. That was, of course, my suggestion. However, his escapist response was that the course would be expensive and where could he locate a centreer. This is how a fragmented and an escapist mind reacts. That is primarily looking for excuses and not accepting the reality. I suggested that through the Art of Living website a centerre could be identified and a course undertaken. There are also free courses such as Nav Chetna workshops which he could attend. The caller continued to escape and dodge the inevitable. This is how human mind reacts. It keeps hunting for excuses. Invariably, the cloak of negativity and ignorance shrouds the mind from combating the problem. Exercising all love, caution and care, I asked him to chant ‘Om Namaha Shivaya’ 108 times thrice a day for 108 times, to purge his mind from all negative thoughts and makeing positive affirmations by writing “I am happy, healthy and peaceful’. This task was also to be done thrice daily for 108 times; and the Tapas to be done for 41 days. In case a day is missed for some reason, repeat the process again for 41 days. Such signals to the mind are extremely useful and powerful. The mind then responds to positive thoughts and discards negative feelings and emotions. He has not contacted me so far since then. Presumably, he has embarked on the journey of Tapas and hopefully has found support and a beacon of light in the dark tunnel. His Ishta Devata, Lord Krishna, wielded the Sudarshan Chakra wading through negativity and impurity. Sudarshan Kriya, Pranayama, Yoga and Meditation will certainly swathe through the cobwebs of his troubled mind and increase his Prana, Chi or energy to obliterate the negativity. I am waiting for the 41 days to end so that he can be happy, healthy and peaceful. Jai Guru Dev. Mind an