Essays Archives

Tuesday 9 July 2002, Mumbai. In the evening mandir assembly, after a programme of devotional songs presented by the children, teenagers and ouths, Swamishri blessed the gathering. We present a translation of his blessings.

You just sang 'Darad mitãyã mere dilkã...' We have all come to cure ourselves of disease. We are afflicted by disease accumulated over many births. Diseases of the body come and go, but nobody is cured of the disease of the mind. The mind makes us go in circles. It has a grave disease. Whether one has hundreds of thousands of rupees or millions of rupees, still the mind is pained that someone else has a crore and I don't. Even if we need only a small house we are pained to see others with a bigger flat or bungalow.
Thus, the misery of the mind will never end. No matter how much one gets, one always feels that it is not enough. Everyone remains miserable in the miseries of the mind.
'Man eva manushyãnãm kãranam bandhmokshayoho.' If we engage the mind in the nine forms of devotion to God, then the disease of the mind is cured. Then desires for ego, praise, fame, money and other worldly desires are destroyed. Engross the mind in spiritual discourses, singing, worship and service. The mind is subtle, so how can it be engaged in service? Believe in your mind that God is nirdosh - free of all faults - that is, pure and divine. And believe God is the all-doer. With these sentiments towards God, the sins of the mind are destroyed and it becomes cleansed and pure. Other than this, there is no cure.
When the mind becomes idle, it prompts, 'Let us go to the cinema...' But when it comes to going for the darshan of God, it says, 'Forget it for now, its time to watch TV...' In this way the mind cheats us.
The mind itself is the biggest of diseases. To cure it, then, as Maharaj has said, 'Gnan-dhyãn ki goli re dini, ranch na rog rahãya re...' The disease of the mind is cured by devotion to God and obeying His commands. Yogiji Maharaj has instructed us (children, teenagers and youths), 'To do the best in studies and pass with first class. To do puja, engage in discourses and sing devotional songs. To attend the weekly bal and kishore assemblies. Not to eat out. Not to go to the cinema.' The mind likes all this, but does not like devotion to God, and so it is drawn towards it all. But if we engage our mind in God, then it will not be attracted to the other side.
Only those who conquer their mind are considered brave. The desire for worldly objects has to be overcome. To win over the mind, one needs discourses, spiritual songs and worship. If we have truly understood the knowledge of atma and Paramatma then the mind will go nowhere else. Our mind will stay focused on God. The quartet of dharma, gnan, vairagya and bhakti are pills. If we go to the vaidya (ayurvedic doctor), he will give us medicinal powders. If we take them, we are cleansed and our illness is cured. Similarly, if we take this medicine in the form of God, in the form of discourses, then the diseases of both mind and body are cured.
Also, the vaidya gives treatment based on the assessment of our pulse. Then he tells us to observe certain dietary restrictions. He tells us not to eat salt..., similarly, not to eat pizza, not to eat out are all dietary restrictions. Likewise, agna, upasana, dharma, niyams are all dietary restrictions. If we follow these sincerely, all diseases of the mind and body are cured and one truly becomes desireless.
'Vaidya milã Vrajrãj...' That is, we have been blessed with vaidyas such as the supreme God, Bhagwan Purushottam Narayan Sahajanand Swami and Yogiji Maharaj. They have given us this path. They have shown us the way for the salvation of the atma and given us the true medicine. Let us take it daily to be cured of all our diseases and be happy in every respect.


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