Mind Management 3

 

 

 

 

 

Mind Management 3

Recently I received a message on my cell," 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  medication and undergo the Happiness Programme of the The Art Of Living".

But the caller was unsatisfied 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 my face. The 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 linings, hair to name some. But we are oblivious of the change. The only permanent thing in life is impermanence said Buddha.

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 " Pictures of Dorian Gray".

3) Raga- This is nothing but craving. Normally craving arises out of certain pleasurable experiences of the past . It has deep imprint on the mind. But such impressions only aggravates our wants and misery. It is a vicious cycle of pleasure begetting more pleasure  and ending up in a cachet of misery.

4) Dwesha- Is nothing but hatred . Hatred is antithetical to craving. Though it arises out of craving , the premise is an unpleasant experience. Some kind of an oxymoron like situation. This could be because of certain tragic moments in the past  or unrealistic expectations which do not materialise.

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 instict.

The above points have been explained in a succinct and elaborate manner by HH 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, 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 centre . This is how a 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 centre could be identified and a course undertaken . Further there are free courses like 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, alternatives . 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 to purge his mind from all negative thoughts and making positive affirmations by writing" I AM HAPPY, HEALTHY AND PEACEFUL". This task also to be done thrice daily 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. 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 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.