10. Stilling the mind
This week Sri Chinmoy offers advice on how to deal with the minds constant and often troublesome thoughts — a problem that besets most if not all seekers in their quest for enlightenment. Taming the 'monkey-mind', as Sri Chinmoy calls it, requires a combination of adamantine determination, resilience and calm patience. Sri Chinmoy's words:
The mind is like a monkey. If you are attacked by a monkey, which constantly bites and pinches you, you have to threaten the monkey. Then, each time it comes, if you strike it vehemently, eventually the monkey will feel that it is hopeless to try to bother you. You must always remain as vigilant as possible. When an undivine thought enters into your mind, immediately you will chase it away. If you are constantly vigilant, eventually these thoughts will give up and no longer come to disturb you.
The most important thing is practice. Today your mind acts like a monkey. It is knocking all the time at your heart's door and disturbing the poise of the heart. But as many times as the mind comes to you, just chase it away or deliberately place your conscious awareness on something else. If you allow it to distract you, it will only gain strength. You have to know that in this world everybody has pride, vanity and self-esteem. So if you keep your heart's door closed each time the mind comes, if you pay no attention to the mind, then after some time the mind will find it beneath its dignity to bother you.
Question: Why is it that I am constantly bothered by thoughts?
Sri Chinmoy: The reason that you are constantly bothered by thoughts is because you are trying to meditate inside your mind. The very nature of the mind is to welcome thoughts — good thoughts, bad thoughts, divine thoughts, undivine thoughts. If you want to control the mind with your human will, then it will be like asking a monkey or a fly not to bother you. The very nature of a monkey is to bite and pinch; the very nature of a fly is to bother people.
The mind needs a superior power to keep it quiet. This superior power is the power of the soul. You have to bring to the fore the light of the soul from inside your heart. You are the possessor of two rooms: the heart-room and the mind-room. Right now the mind-room is obscure, unlit and impure; it is unwilling to open to the light. But the heart-room is always open to the light, for that is where the soul abides. Instead of concentrating on the mind proper, if you can concentrate and meditate on the reality that is inside the heart, then this reality will come forward. Then, when you are well-established in the heart, when you are surcharged with the soul's light, at that time you can enter into the mind-room to illumine the mind.
(Source: Meditation: Man-Perfection In God-Satisfaction)
To tame my monkey-mind,
What I need
Is the longest length of patience.
– Sri Chinmoy
~ ~ ~
An impatience-monkey-mind
Shall remain always afraid of
My silence-tranquillity-heart.
– Sri Chinmoy