Our mind is very restless and whirls around at the rate of hundreds of thoughts per minute. Like a tornado roaring in frenzy, our thoughts whirl around, touching every topic and desire in the universe. We speculate about them in the past, present and future tense. We conjecture about our desires with if, buts and whys. We have imaginary conversations with many people in our mind and wreck vengeance on them. We dash out rousing dialogues and vanquish the enemy. We grind the enemy to dust and we relish the moment when the enemy is totally wiped out.
We wage wars in our mind and win all of them with the most grand flourish. We also seethe with raging anger, pain, fear, attachment and pride. When such thoughts flood and ravage our mind, we are restless and our entire being is filled with negativity. Those who are with us feel our inner rage and they wish to run away from us. There are many who are happy, peaceful and calm. Their inner being is full of such peaceful vibrations that we seek their company to get some of their peace. When we sit in the presence of Great Gurus, Rishis, Avatars and Men of God, in a very short time, their peace fills us and our mind calms down. In their presence, all our pain and negativity is drained away. In the presence of Rishis and Gurus, even natural instincts of animals change and they are calm. Let us see one such incident in the life of a disciple and his Guru:
A Guru and his disciple were walking back to their ashram. They had to cross a dense forest where many wild animals lived. Suddenly they heard a roar behind them. They turned and saw a huge tiger following them. The disciple reacted in the normal manner. He wished to run away at once. But he could not do so as his Guru was with him. So he controlled his natural impulse and waited to see what his Guru would do.
The Guru saw the fear in the eyes of the boy and his trembling limbs. He decided to make this dangerous encounter into an unforgettable and useful lesson. He told the boy: We have many choices. We can stand here paralyzed with fear and let the tiger attack and kills us. We can faint and hope for it to sniff at us and go away. We can run but must be prepared for it to chase us. We can fight it but we must remember that it is stronger than us. We can pray to God to manifest here and save us. We can also influence the tiger through the power of our minds. We can fill our mind and being with love and peace and become one with the Universe and the tiger. In this way, we can fill its mind with peace. What should we do?
The tiger had come nearer now and the disciple was in panic. He urged the guru to do whatever he wished to do and also give him instructions. The Guru turned towards the tiger. He emptied his mind of all thoughts and entered into a state of meditation. He embraced everything in the Universe including the roaring tiger that was coming towards him. In that state of consciousness, the Guru became one with the consciousness of the tiger.
In the meantime, seeing the tiger so near, the disciple was trembling with fear. But the Guru continued with his meditation. In a short time, the tiger slowed down, lowered its tail and went away. The tiger sensed the inner calmness, peace and unity and did not feel any threat to its safety. So it did not attack the men who were in front of it. When the mind is calm and silent, its peace is automatically transmitted to everything and everyone around it.
Let us not do this experiment in front of tigers. But we can allow the SitaRam mantra to vibrate in us at all times and keep our mind and being filled with its holy vibration. Then when we are in a meditative state and we continue doing our work, we speak calmly and think and react calmly to all the happenings around us. Even those who are angry and wish us a bad end will calm down before us. Only in a calm state of mind, we can achieve much and help others achieve their goals too.
