1. 1By an ugly twist of fate, so to say, I got sucked up into what you may construe as my irresistible or indefatigable interest in the thing called mind. If only I had not been put through what I did I swear that I’d rather chop my limb off than to walk down this painful pathways of exploring mind. I pray that nobody sit around looking into his/her own mind. It is to a man or woman like a fly to a spider’s web. The less one plays with mind, the happier he/she is. One who’s gained total freedom from mind is on cloud nine. It is gospel.

With me it so happened that the wheel of my devil-may-care childhood hit an outcrop or something (Heaven knows!) and I was catapulted out of the oasis of innocence into the arid desert to fight and grapple with this unruly mind. I had just put my feet on the threshold of the teenage life and the hell came crashing on my head. I guess the force or destiny or anything believed to be in control of lives on planet earth set the stage for it long before I found myself there.

As though my own mind was not enough to bend and twist me into some sort of shape or the type, couple of other impaired/injured minds joined the battle only to sap my energy or perhaps to fuel my appetite to take on it. I haven’t laid down my arms yet. The battle is on. I guess I’m fairly close to winning the battle for good and all. You never know!

So it was this chaotic and traumatic journey that forces me willy-nilly to say a word or two about the thing called mind. And hence, I’m goanna put down few words here to give a window into my hard-way learnings for the selected few who appreciates its delicacy and care about it. I am goanna talk about how I finally managed to ‘rein in’ the ‘unruly’ mind. I wouldn’t say I ‘mended’ or ‘repaired’ or ‘corrected’ it as I am averse to these ‘verbs’ as I find them grossly misleading and out of place. Having said that, the phrase ‘rein-in’ doesn’t exactly represent what it takes to deal with the mind either, for ‘reining-in’ implies exerting physical force which is downright untrue. Nevertheless, I prefer ‘rein-in’ over words like ‘mending’, ‘repairing’, or correcting’ etc.

I call the mind unruly as I don’t see any other power over it to rule it. Man is ruled by mind, hence, by implication, ruled by an unruly thing! We are not prepared to accept this horrifying fact! We prefer to bury head in sand about it that there is something inside our head beyond our control and that can turn itself into a monster anytime and threaten our own existence! The very thought of it make our hair stand on end. Men and women over and over again driven to utter helplessness thanks to the tyranny of unruly mind have done the unthinkable and unimaginable. One can find a plethora of it in the annals of human history. There’s no running away from it.

The whole institutions of learning we have built up this far is aimed at training, influencing, shaping, or conditioning mind, and not ruling it. By training they mean informing, influencing, shaping and conditioning the thing. To put it in simple words, hammering a framework in the head in order to influence or interfere with the cognitive development process so as to bring about desired and controlled set of perception, outlook, behavior and action which results in leading people to observe, receive, understand and respond in a predictable way.

The whole idea, philosophy, thought, approach, theory and method of informing, influencing and shaping of human mind has been less than successful in delivering humans from a living of worries, anxiety, depression, sorrow and despair into a strain-less or stress-free state of flux which is what they are naturally entitled to. Human behaviors, at times, not only baffles us but make it beyond us. It is not an assumption but the reality. Unsolved mysteries are galore associated with human actions and behaviors. And we live in constant dread of a catastrophic consequence of unpredictable and unimaginable human behavior.

I can’t think why it comes over me that if, as some say, human race is nearing extinction, and the forces that bring it about will not be aliens or any cataclysm or the apocalypse. Humans will dig their own grave and it can’t be helped!

So, why are we heading for our own doom? Is this a course that can’t be averted? Can we arrest it and change course? Will we ever be able to deliver the human race from looming threats of human behaviors, actions, and the catastrophic consequences thereof? Isn’t it a problem of mammoth proportion that manifests itself in all walks of human life?

Where is the problem? I put into it nearly 40 years in an effort to pinpoint where the problem is. Every time I went looking for the problem I ended up finding it nowhere! I was able to see it that all that we take and treat as problems issue from our own mind. It is neither up nor down, neither inside nor outside. Does that mean we conclude it that mind breeds problems? No, the mind by itself is not capable of breeding it. Is the problem out there somewhere? No, it is not out there even. It is nowhere. So, where does the fucking problem arise from?

Now, let’s take a look at it with a clean and uncluttered head. In order for a problem to come to our knowledge, we need presence of a thought in our mind.  We need a thought to connect us with the problem or to establish a channel of communication between us and the problem or else what other ways have we to ever be aware of a problem! Whether or not a problem exists, the knower is none other part of us but mind. We tend to experience several other states like feelings and emotions and so on. To me, they are transient, insignificant and don’t directly bear on the problem under question. I say so, because feelings too, need a thought in mind to become a problem and so does the emotion which is nothing but a feeling converted into a negative energy called emotion by an instrument of thought.

Now, let us assume an imaginary state wherein the mind is somehow made immune to thoughts, in such a state of existence can we still have some ways to connect ourselves with a problem? No thought, no problem! And if there indeed is no other way to be aware of a problem, can we imagine what a peaceful and blissful state would that be? People in the past took aid of drugs to escape problems and reach this state only to end up slipping into far worse state.

There is little doubt about it that it is the thought that gives all the hell from anxiety, depression, stress, despair, and sorrow down to delusion, narcissism, megalomania and all that. Now the question before us, is it possible at all for anyone to entirely free oneself from the occurrence of thoughts? You take it from me that it is perfectly possible. Not like shooting a fish in the barrel, though.

The reason why thoughts are by far stronger than we can ever imagine is that it has roots running too deep into our faith systems and twining around culture, beliefs, religion, traditions, values, and so on. Hence, it is not possible to wish away thoughts in the snap of a finger. One may pick off a leaf or two of the tree whose roots are so deep and feel peace in mind but since roots are strong and deep they keep bringing forth leaves and stems.

Wonder if anyone on earth has ever mustered mighty inner power to such an extent to uproot himself at one fell swoop and go free from everything shackling him this far and live completely thoughtless!

 

There have been charlatans and fraudsters who claim to cleanse one’s mind from toxic thoughts and put the mind in eternal peace and tranquility, no dearth of traders out there in the market selling peace and happiness of mind. They claim to own surefire mantra, methods and techniques, ranging from meditation to yoga, mindfulness, religion, spirituality and so on. Where there is market, there are traders.  Quite natural! Everyone from successful to failures, from hopefuls to despairs, from celebrity to sick long for it.

To me, the recurring question is, can I really help anyone in achieving peace, tranquility, and happiness? If the answer is yes, how can I possibly do that? No matter what I say or show invariably entails a purpose. To me, a purpose is nothing if not an idea. Now, this idea of mine is to fight off other ideas ruling the other person’s mind. No matter which side wins, the idea still occupies the mind. The idea is not defeated. Can a mind with an idea ruling it ever be in peace and happiness. Peace and happiness can only take place in mind when it gets immune to an idea. With a new idea in mind, isn’t it like letting go of one branch of a tree because it can no longer hold your weight and gripping onto the other? This is exactly what the traders on yoga, meditation are doing, extending a new branch to hold on to.

So, what path to walk on? If anyone show you the path, this very path tends to become an insurmountable hurdle in your pursuit of peace and happiness. You are running all the way down to this point. The need is to abruptly halt here and now and no question! Can you do that? You can’t find peace, fun, and comfort in stopping because you have never ever stopped this far. It is altogether a new thing, unknown phenomenon, unpredictable state, like ending up nowhere and hence fill you with dread or render you restless, suffocating, and fearful. This is what they call ‘Let Go’ of everything.

To me, it is nearly impossible, I don’t deny the possibility of it, though. The way to arrive at it calls for an exercise that requires disciplining oneself and on the strength of the discipline resisting pull of thoughts without holding onto anything. On one side there is the thought that gets down to all the tricks to transport you into a world of fantasy in mind, on the other side you are all alone in a vacuum with nothing to hold on to. You got to stay put in this vacuum as though totally submitting yourself to it. It is indeed difficult. You can’t do all at once. You can do it by and by, steadily and persistently. Peace and happiness is to befall you right there. It will take time because the roots of thoughts are down and deep. Once you begin to enjoy the state you are in and free mind from thoughts, peace and happiness grow there. You can harvest as much as you like. All you need is to observe and enlarge the discipline until you succeed in ‘reining-in’ the mind. Eventually,  it becomes your habit.