When
Sri Krishna adviced Arjuna to control his mind and fix it in Him, he asked a
very pertinent question. “This Yoga which has been taught by thee, o slayer of
Madhu, as characterized by evenness, I do not see (the possibility of) its
lasting endurance, owning to restlessness (of the mind). Verily, the mind, O Krishna, is
restless, turbulent, strong and unyielding. I regard it quite hard to achieve
its control, as that of wind.”1
Agreeing
with this, Sri Krishna, said,: “Without doubt, O mighty-armed, the mind is
restless, and difficult to control; but through practice and renunciation, O
son of Kunti, it may be governed.”2
Sri
Krishna has not explained in detail the meaning of practice, abhyas, and renunciation, vairagya or how to practice them; he has
taken it for granted that these common values are well known to Arjuna and
others. But Patanjali has given some more details about them. In his Yoga
Sutras, after describing the five types of thought waves, chitta-vrittis,
Patanjali says: Abhayavairagyabhyam tannirodhah:,
“By practice and renunciation they are to be controlled.”3
In
his commentary on this sutra, the commentator, Sage Vyasa, says that the
mind-river flows in two directions: one, towards evil through the path of the
senses, and the other towards wellbeing through the path of discrimination. The
flow towards evil and sin is stopped with the help of discrimination and
renunciation and it is made to flow towards wellbeing and good with the help of
practice.
Before
going into the detailed study of these two mighty weapons of the spiritual
struggle, practice and renunciation, let us try to answer a small but important
question: “Can the control of the thought waves not be achieved with the help
of just one of these means? Are both these essential?” This is all the more
important to know because we often find people engaged in the practice of
meditation without practicing renunciation.
The simple and straightforward answer to this question is: “Yes! Both
are essential.” Practice of concentration without renunciation is dangerous and
mere renunciation without the practice of concentration of mind on the ideal
may lead to dryness and purposeless-ness. Without renunciation, practice is
blind; without practice, mere renunciation is lame. Renunciation shows the way
while practice gives the energy to proceed toward the spiritual goal.
There
could be three possible consequences of trying, without renunciaion, to
forcefully control an extrovert mind, used to sense enjoyment. One may simply
fail altogether. Secondly, trying to control an impure mind full of desires
forcibly might lead to serious mental derangement. The desires remain
suppressed in the subconscious mind and thus cause various mental complexes.
The spiritual aspirant might then give up spiritual practice altogether out of
frustration. Someone might even commit suicide. And finally, if one does succeed with all his
pride, sense attractions and desires, then these evil tendencies might increase
in strength. Demons like Ravana, Banasura, Hiranyakashipu were, in a way, great
yogis with highly concentrated minds. Hence Swami Yatiswarananda used to tell
those devotees who would complain of not being able to control their minds that
it was good that they failed to get good meditation. For, if they had good
concentration, it would prove harmful to
them and others.
Pure
vairagya, renunciation, is a negative virtue. Without love of God and sincere search
for truth, it might make an aspirant escapist, self-centred, abnormal and
imbalanced. His life might become dry and his unnatural indifference to the
world may make his life a burden even to himself. Hence both abhyasa and vairagya must be practiced together.
Abhyasa or Practice:
Once,
Sri Ramakrishna went to see a circus. Among the feats that impressed him very
much was the sight of a lady standing on one leg on the back of a horse running
in the circus ring with full speed. There were large iron rings at intervals
and when the horse passed below them the lady jumped through them and alighted
again on the back of the horse when it had crossed passed the ring. In doing so
she never lost her balance or fell down. After seeing this feat, whenever anyone
asked Sri Ramakrishna how to fix the mind in God or how to attain liberation
while living in the world, he would give the illustration of this lady in the circus
and would emphasize the amount of practice she must have done to attain the
capacity to remain standing with one leg on a running horse. Likewise, one must
learn to fix one’s mind on God by prolonged dedicated practice.
Patanjali
has defined Abhyasa or practice as:
The effort to keep the mind controlled and steady. “Tatrasthitou yatno abhyasah.”4 That
means, to remain still in a place and keep the mind steady on one object and
allow only one type of thought waves to flow. So abhyasa is to keep thinking
only of one’s Chosen ideal with the help of dharana
and dhyana, concentration and
meditation, We have simplified its meaning to understand its essence, but the
fact is that the practice of all the limbs of yoga: Yamas, niyamas, asana, pranayama,
etc., is included under it. In the Gita, Sri Krishna has very succinctly stated
its essence: Whenever and for whatever reason the restless mind wanders away, curbing
it from that, it must be brought under the subjugation of the self.5
Conditions
for success in Practice:
By
constant practice, habits are formed and character is nothing but a collection
of good habits. As habits become strong and deep, they take the form of samskaras or subconscious impressions
which govern the mind from deep within. The impressions created by the practice
of control of thought waves are called Nirodha-Samskaras
or impressions of control. These in turn act as further subconscious impulses
to control the thought waves. Thus a noble cycle of control-impressions-control,
is formed in a serious yogi.
Patanjali
has laid down three conditions for getting established in the practice of self
control: “Sa tu
deerghakaala-nairantarya-satkaaraa-sevito dhridha-bhoomih”, it
must be done for a long time; without break; and with dedication.6 Once
having attained stability or perfection in practice with these three
conditions, the yogi does not get unsettled even unknowingly.
It
is quite understandable that one has to practice a task, be it meditation,
singing, dancing or even playing cricket for a long time to be an expert, to get established. Here Patanjali has not
mentioned any specific time, but it is generally understood that unless
practice is done for at least 12 years, one cannot get established in it. It is
significant in this context to note that Rama was banished for 14 years and the
Pandavas were asked to live in the forest for 12 years. The idea was that if
they did so, they would no more remain in essence princes and would become for
all practical purposes forest dwellers. (Incidentally, it may be mentioned here
that according to human physiology, the whole of the human body, including even
the bones, undergoes complete change in 12 years). Likewise, if one practices
such values like truth, non-violence, non-stealing etc. in thought, word and
deed for 12 years, he attains perfection in it, and gets the specific merit
associated with that particular virtue.
Yet,
Patanjali has, in this aphorism, not mentioned any specific time, for the
simple reason that the time can be shortened with intense practice or may get
prolonged by dullness. If we are lazy, we may take ages to control the mind.
Control of mind is like controlling the flowing wind, as Arjuna had complained
to Sri Krishna or, worse still, like emptying the ocean drop by drop, with the
tip of a straw as stated in the Madukya-Karika:
“The mind can be brought under control only by an unrelenting effort like that
which is required to empty an ocean drop by drop with the help of a blade of a
Kush grass with a heart which becomes neither depressed nor tired.”7
Swami
Vivekananda used to tell the story of two yogis whom Sage Narada once met. One had been meditating until the white ants had built
a huge mound round his body. The other yogi was jumping around singing and
dancing, Both of them requested Narada to find out from the Lord, when they would
be liberated. Accordingly, while returning from heaven, Narada told the first
yogi that he would attain freedom in four more births. At this the man began to
weep and wail, and said, "I have meditated until an ant-hill has grown
around me, and I have four more births yet!” To the dancing yogi, Narada said
that he would have to take birth as many times as the number of leaves on the
tamarind tree that stood nearby. The man began to dance for joy, and said,
"I shall have freedom after such a short time!" A divine voice rang
out, "My child, you will have
freedom this minute." That was the reward for his perseverance. He was
ready to work through all those births; nothing discouraged him.8 Such thoughts as ‘I have not attained
anything’ or ‘How far have I progressed’ etc. are hindrances in the path.
The second condition of Abhyasa according to Patanjali is that it should be done without
any break. Even worldly success cannot be attained by doing something intermittently;
then what to talk of Yoga and the control of thought waves. Every break in effort is in a way a failure.
An average mind has a natural tendency to flow downwards towards the world like
a river. Even to keep it steady at a higher level needs effort for a long time
till it has attained some progress. Hence every break in practice is a loss.
Secondly, finding that no results are seen after some days of practice, if one
were to change one’s method of practice often, then also there will be no gain.
So much of effort will go in vain. By repeatedly changing the place of digging,
one cannot dig a well dee enough to get
water.
The third condition for success in practice is what is
called satkaara. This
means a feeling of deep dedication for the practice. According to the
commentator Vyas it includes such values like faith, knowledge, austerity, and
continence. Faith in the instructions of the Guru and the scriptures give the
aspirant the tenacity to hold on to it under all odds. This also includes faith
in one’s ability to achieve the goal. The aspirant must also have full
knowledge about the path, the technique, and the goal. Austerity essentially
involves self-control and giving up sense enjoyments. And continence provides
concentrated energy.
These then, are the conditions laid
down by Patanjali. Let us practice according to them. As Swami Vivekananda
says, “If we perfect the means, the end will take care of itself.”9
References:
1.Bhagavad
Gita, 6.33,34
2. Ibid, 6.35.
3. Yoga Sutras I:12
4. Ibid, I:13
5. Bhagavad Gita, 6.26.
6.Yoga Sutras, I:14
7, Mandukya Karika, 4:34.
8. The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, I:194
9.Ibid, II.18
