Meditate to be a winner
H H Maa Purnananda
Founder Chairperson
Sree Guru Swami Chinmayananda Sewa Nidhi ®
It is human tendency to take up challenges, fight for right and struggle to survive. Obviously, you put effort not to lose but to win! And, the very thought of the result disturbs the equilibrium of mind. Worries based on past experiences and anxieties of unknown future hover over the head, deluding even a confident, enterprising individual. Therefore, much before you can stand as a winner in your chosen activity, you need to win over your mind.
Various techniques to master the mind are often discussed in scriptures. It is logical to say that the ruler has to be more powerful in every way than the ruled; else the ruled will revolt and ultimately himself will become the ruler. Similarly, you need to find ‘the ruler’ of your mind in you to ‘rule’ over your mind. Otherwise, you will be the loser.
Having understood the weakness of mind due to its volatile emotional tendency, Saints have advised to learn the techniques of handling the mind with a steady intellect. Or else, being even weaker than your weak mind, succumb to your mind and call for self-destruction.
Here, one such practice of meditation is being explained briefly that guides to find ‘the ruler’ in you. Pure Self is invoked by the meditator as Lord Shiva or Sree Shankara, the Auspicious Atman. The intellect is invoked as His Consort Goddess Parvati or Devi Girija. The meditator must remember that this aphorism symbolises that the intellect is that introverted discriminative decisive faculty, which is pure, due to its constant association with the inner Self. With this symbolic understanding of the Sacred Ideals, the meditator focuses his attention on Lord Shiva and gradually learns the art of unshakable inner concentration. Thus introverting his attention, he soon excels in becoming a careful observer of his mind, which is an incessant ‘flow of thoughts’. He realises that never can a ‘flow’ be stable! He understands that instability of mind is natural to the mind and not to worry about it. Next, the meditator stops getting carried away with mind’s flow and practises contemplation, which is to uplift the mind’s lower tendencies and transform them into the higher thoughts by way of intellection. To enhance the purity of intellect, it is advisable to be regular in studying the scriptures and pick up guidance for pure thought-flow.
Lesser the lower extroverted emotional thoughts, quieter will be the mind and pure, sharp will be the intellect. Gradually, the intellect will completely take over the mind which will beautifully culminate into virtuous wisdom. This wisdom reflects Pure Self and reveals Absolute Truth to the meditator in depths of Spiritual Heart. This is the union of Lord Shiva and Devi Parvati; the process is called practice of ‘meditation’. Join us to celebrate Maha Shivaratri at SISS; meditate on the ‘Lord of Meditation’ and touch the inmost pure core of your True Existence; win over your own lower tendencies, your mind, your ignorance and be ‘the winner’!