What is the mind? Where is it located in the body? What does it look like?
We usually think that the mind is inside the body, but it is the other way around. The body is inside the mind. The body is like the wick of a candle and the mind is like the glow all around it.
Have you observed that we know absolutely nothing about the mind? Our own mind drives us crazy. One minute it wants something and the next minute it wants something else.
It is said that our mind can be our best friend or our worst enemy. Here are 9 quotes on the mind by Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar that will help you know more about your mind and befriend it!
#1 “The mind has two abilities – one is to focus, the other is to expand and relax.”
When you put a thread through a needle, the mind is focusing. When you are looking at the empty sky, the mind is expanding. Focus sharpens the mind and relaxation expands the mind. This balance between a focused mind and an expanded consciousness brings perfection. Expanded consciousness is peace and joy. Focused consciousness is love and creativity.
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#2 “The mind is like a mirror, whatever comes in front of it is reflected in it.”
When you’re driving, you can see in the mirror that there is a garbage can behind your car. Just imagine the mirror identifying itself with the garbage can. Or, imagine the mirror identifying with some beautiful scenery. In both cases, what would you say? It’s a silly idea. Because that is not the case. The mirror is neither the garbage can nor the scenery. And that is exactly how it is with our own consciousness.
Our consciousness is like a mirror. Different images come onto it, and they all move away. Knowing this brings inner freedom. When we get attached to any of those images, that is bondage. So, wake up and see – the mind is a mirror.
#3 “Mind can be our greatest enemy or our best friend.”
When the mind is your enemy, it ties you down to your past impressions and experiences, as it does not let you see things with a fresh new eye. This is because everything we perceive is through the mind; even knowledge is perceived through the mind. When the mind is your enemy it makes you judgmental, brings misery, stiffness, and unhappiness.
When the mind is your friend, it brings happiness, freedom, and liberation.
#4 “Just let it be! That is the secret to handle the mind.”
If you try to get rid of the mind, it becomes a monster. If you just let the mind be, it will vanish!
When you are not aware of the tricks and the mumbo-jumbo going on in the mind, then life is misery. This is because life is based on the mind.
‘This is how it should be’ or ‘It should not be like this’ whenever such thoughts come, it means the mind is coming into play . This is where you need to latch onto that non-changing, abstract, invisible energy or power, commonly known as the unchanging Self. When you latch onto your higher Self, you are no longer caught in the grip of the mind.
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#5 "Wherever you go, you carry your own mind!"
Gurudev says if you are peaceful, your surroundings become peaceful; your situation becomes peaceful and people around you become peaceful. You are the center of this universe. Why are you looking for peace anywhere else, with anybody else and with any other set-up? Wherever you go, you carry your own mind, so the same problems and patterns persist. The mind may appear to be calm and quiet for some time in a different place but then it will be the same again there too. Unless you see this, realize it and look into it, nothing will help in the long term.
#6 “When the mind is still, it gets the power to fulfill any thought.”
This is the most intriguing quote on mind by Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.
With this, the mind not only can you fulfill your thoughts, but you also get the power to bless others to fulfill their thoughts. It should be a thought that you believe in. It can’t be something impractical like you going to the moon. Any practical, possible thought you put the intention on, it starts manifesting. The basis is no mind , an empty mind which is devoid of distortions and thoughts.
#7 “Your mind is responsible for your freedom and bondage.”
Your mind is the reason for your bondage, and your mind alone is the reason for liberation. If your mind is happy, doing anything gives you happiness. But if your mind is upset and heavy, then nothing seems to create any interest.
#8 “When we are in the grip of the mind, we make ourselves and others miserable.”
Look back at your mind, not at others and see what drama and pain have been caused by it. When you do that, it is no longer pain, it is entertainment. It is like a multi-channel television, a movie channel that has caused so much comedy, suspense, drama, and misery in your life.
This is the reason why all the great saints and poets always addressed their own mind, ‘Oh, my dear mind, how fascinating you are, why do you get caught up in so many things! Why do you not recognize that which is so magnanimous, and so beautiful?’ Rumi, Kabir, all the great saints, have sung about their own mind.
#9 “Every moment your mind is swinging to either the past or the future.”
Observe your mind. See how much time it spends thinking about the past, teenage years and even childhood. Yet the past is past. It is gone, finished. Why waste so much life in it? It’s the same with worry about tomorrow. When you were in school you were anxious about what to do after graduation. When you started your career you were worried, ‘Will I ever achieve my goals?’ You postpone your happiness until some perfect future date, but it never arrives.
Be in the present. If you are happy now, the past will not torment you. If you live life now, tomorrow will take care of itself.
How to be in the present? Here’s where meditation comes handy! Get started today.
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