Are you struggling to still your restless mind?
Do you find it impossible to stop your inner chatters?
If this is what you find a challenge, the insight from the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali will bring you the right understanding and solution to go beyond the mind.
In the second Yoga Sutra, it states that ‘Yogaha chitta vritti nirodhaha’, meaning ‘Withdrawal from mental patterns is Yoga’. This is the essence of Yoga as captured by Patanjali – a great sage who compiled the Yoga sutras in a systematic and scientific way more than 5,000 years ago.
In order for you to appreciate this truth and connect with the higher consciousness, you need to come into the present moment – NOW and come into the space of pure listening in order to catch the subtle dimension of the MIND which was revealed by my master, Paramahamsa Nithyananda (fondly known as Swamiji). He opened up this profound understanding of the subtle mind in me!
First of all, he said that mind is not an object or a thing as we are taught by society, it is an action. Mind is not a thing to struggle with, suppress or destroy, mind is an action. Just like you are walking as an action, if you don’t feel like walking, you just sit down. When you don’t feel like talking anymore, you just shut your mouth and be in silence. In the same way, mind is an action, if you don’t want it to think anymore, you can stop it. That’s all.
However, you will say ‘No, I have already tried this in many ways, it doesn’t work for me!’ The truth is thinking is a simple yet subtle action, you are doing it, nobody else inside you is doing it. You are the only one who is responsible for the mind to go on in action.
Second, if you feel that the thinking comes back again after sometime, be very clear, it comes back because you want it to come back. At any moment, if you really don’t want it, you can just stop it. Whenever the mind comes back, it is simply because you want it to come back. You have the complete freedom to switch it off and start it again but the problem is you forget that it is YOU who have started it again due to your unawareness of this subtle truth. If you have this basic clarity that you are the one starting the mind, at least you will not feel powerless in front of your mind because you respect your decision. Just understand – “When I want the mind, I am starting it. When I don’t want it, I am relaxing from it.”
The essence of Yoga is only this one sutra – yogaha chitta vritti nirodhaha, Yoga is cessation of mind. Yoga is withdrawal from mental patterns. Mind is not a thing, it is an action which is entirely in your hands. This sutra has to be approached with openness and devotion of the space it is delivered. You will have the same click as I had if you can just bring a cognitive shift in the understanding. Just knowing this simple truth makes me feel powerful to handle my mind intelligently and effortlessly.
Third, you don’t need the mind to be alive. We always think that mind is bigger than the brain. Swamiji’s guru – Yogi Yogananda Puri once revealed that the mind is just one action of the brain. See, when you are asleep or in silence, your brain continues to operate your daily life, your brain is able to keep your body functioning perfectly. So understand, the mind is just one part of your brain – this is the shift you need to have. If you have the courage to switch off your mind as and when it is not required, the mind becomes your slave as it is under your full control. If not, you are a slave to your mind!
Lastly, Swamiji shared that “Living your life without what you call as mind is living enlightenment.” Living independent of the mind is what he called as living enlightenment. To live with the freedom of the mind, you need to take the responsibility completely on your shoulders. The moment you feel you are responsible for your thinking, you know very clearly that you can stop it. Only when you don’t want to take responsibility, you resort to postponing life or blaming life. We need to take responsibility for our subtle action – which is the mind, and knowing when to stop the mind so that we can get back to the natural space of completion and vibrant silence.
In short, Yoga means being able to play with your mind or completely relax from it. Namaste 😀
- Source – 108 truths of the Yoga of Enlightenment by Paramahamsa Nithyananda.