The very nature of the mind is restlessness. It cannot stay in one place for long or hold one thought for long. For every thought which appears, there are comments, judgement and associations. Thinking is a continuous activity. The mind jumps from one thought to another and gives us no rest from morning till night. Like clouds in the sky or waves in the ocean, the thoughts appear and disappear and it is a ceaseless activity. All the thoughts that pass through our mind do not affect us. We get affected when our ego is hit. Then the mind whirls and creates a tornado of restlessness within us. Our mind spins endless thoughts, judgement, adjustments and a variety of probable scenarios: How dare he insult me; What does she think of herself? Where I am not respected, I will not go; If he speaks thus I will reply so, etc., etc.
We have an inbuilt filter in our mind which chooses the types of thoughts or subjects to brood upon. We are not born with this filter but we acquire it over the years with the kind of books we read and the company we keep and the subjects that we are interested in. That is why some people are obsessed with football or cricket or fashions and others could not care less about such things. This filter is built day by day by our actions, suggestions, teachings and influence of others. We can ultimately choose our own filter. So let us learn to build our filter wisely and strengthen it daily. Here is a little story which tells us of the restless mind of a young monk:
Once, there was a young monk who stayed in a village monastery. He was gifted two robes by someone. He decided that he would offer one of the robes to his uncle who was also a monk in the same monastery as he respected and loved his uncle. When he presented the robe to his uncle, the uncle refused to accept it as he already had a robe and did not require one more. The young monk’s ego was hurt and he took it as a personal insult. Anger raged in him and he wanted to quit the monastery rather than live with arrogant people like his uncle who were a disgrace to monkhood. He planned to quit right away but could not. Just at that moment, his uncle asked him to fan him as it was very hot. The young monk obeyed and fanned his uncle out of sense of duty and habit and not out of respect or deference.
As the young monk fanned his uncle, his mind was restless and wandered about. He planned on what to do after he left the monastery. First he would go and sell the extra robes. Then with that money he would buy a she-goat. The she-goat would give him many more goats. He would sell all of them and have enough money to get himself a pretty bride. After some time his wife would get pregnant and give birth to a healthy son. Then he would take his wife and son to the monastery and show off to his uncle. He would drive the cart carrying the child. His wife would not like it and argue with him. He would insist on his own way and she would pull the child off his lap. The child would slip and fall down and be run over by one of the wheels of the cart. He would be so upset that he would yell at his wife and beat her soundly. At this point in his day dreaming, he was so excited that he accidentally hit his uncle on the head with the fan.
The old monk was advanced spiritually and could read his nephew’s mind. He scolded him: You have every right to beat your wife but why do you need to beat this old monk? The young monk was stunned at his uncle’s ability to read his mind. He felt very ashamed and wanted to run away. But instead, his loving uncle took him to see Buddha. When Buddha came to know of what happened he spoke to the young monk gently: It is the nature of the mind to wander about restlessly and think of things which have not taken place as yet. It is best to live in the present and concentrate on right living now. Over come your ego and self importance. Work hard and be diligent. Free yourself from greed, hatred and delusion.
Our mind has the ability to wander about far and wide. It is very restless and leaps to past and future. When we overcome these things, we will be free from the bond of temptation. Let us build a filter of SitaRam and the teachings of the Guru. When our mind is preoccupied with Divinity, then it is possible to overcome the restless mind and live in peace.
