Walking on the banks of the Ganga, I suddenly heard the sound of a child crying, yelling and protesting. Looking in the direction of the noise I saw a child in great agony, and then an expensive toy being thrown with a petulant harshness to the ground. The hapless well-to-do parents had bought a toy to please their son, but the child wanted another. At a little distance from there, were heard joyful yells, loud laughter and the thrilled voices of children chasing each other in sheer excitement. They were poor children who were kicking about some stones ,which were their toys and chasing each other in great excitement and fun. What a contrast.
The mind places a value on everything. What is a rare diamond to a kid? He places more value on a colourful toy. Neither a diamond nor a stone by the wayside contains the power to thrill you or make you cry. The enemy is within. The mind carries on its shoulders the dead weight of past experiences and evaluations, and based on those likes and dislikes it plays its tricks on you. One spends one’s whole life dancing to the tunes of these two. “Every fool spends his whole life in running after different combinations of food, clothes and women”, and these combinations keep demanding your attention and energies, and changing into “don’t want” soon. Even if one is cautioned by a Sadguru as to the distracting capacity and the energy impoverishment of thought power, one only knows how to use the Mind to control the mind. Ramana Maharshi calls this “the thief turned policeman”. Thus the waker’s Mind successfully pretends to be the self and continues to cheat us. For, what is our “experience” in meditation? A convincing pretence by the ego that “I am meditating”.
Prarthna Saran, President Chinmaya Mission Delhi. Email: prarthnasaran@gmail.com