To keep the mind clean and clear is the most difficult thing because the mind is like a kind of sensitive film. It constantly picks things up. Every time you open any of your ports—the eyes, ears, nose, or mouth—you see, hear, smell, or taste something and you want it. All those ports are camera lenses. The mind is coated with a sensitivity like the sensitivity of camera film. Those who are sensitive will catch everything. So, if you want a calm mind, brush away your sensitivity, and if you cannot do that, expose it to the light. Then it becomes useless film. It won’t attract any image.
But that is where the analogy stops. It’s at that point when the mind is calm, clear, and balanced that the it becomes a true mirror. It reflects everything. That is the essence of Yoga as sage Patanjali tell us in the sutra, “Chitta vritti nirodha.” That means, Yoga is the control of the modifications or thought waves in the mind. That’s why the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali are known as psychology par excellence.
Someone said that psychology is an offshoot of philosophy; that it comes from philosophy. Then what is philosophy? Philo is a Greek word that means love of knowledge. That means you should have developed the love of gaining knowledge. Then what is knowledge? Anything that has no ledge, is knowledge! There is no ledge, no limit. Know the Knower, see the Seer. The ancient scriptures say, Hear the hearer, see the Seer. That means, know the person who wants to know everything. When you say, I’m hungry, ask yourself, Who is hungry? When you say, I am angry, who is angry? When you say, I want it, ask, Who wants it? When you say, I did it, ask, who is that I, I, I? That “I” is the source of everything. That “I” must be experienced. Mere understanding is not enough. One has to experience it, and live in that experience. Then, there is nothing to be worried about. That’s the ultimate goal.
