Tuning the mental radio

Have you ever chosen your mental channel or does the thought needle randomly move and fixes itself on a channel of its choice? Thereafter, the Mind Radio keeps entertaining or frightening you with whatever it dishes out. Masters advise us to control our minds. But can one really control that which doesn’t exist? Can one kill a ghost? The mind is only a thought flow. One can possibly rein it in only by slowly changing the quality and the quantity of thoughts. When pure and divine thoughts constantly keep flooding the mind, it gets purified and focused and gains tremendous power. A saint’s mind has unimaginable power. A Jesus or a Buddha could heal lepers, and achieve miracles by a mere thought.
“Sanidhya” or (closeness to) anything is called “Upasana”. Literally it means “sitting close to” or “being in close company of”. Swami Tejomayananda jokingly says, it could be “Cigarette Upasana”, “Drink Upasana”, or “TV Upasana”. We become what we associate with. It is a law. Company can elevate or ruin us. In Vedantic terminology, it is known as “Keet Bhramara nyaya”. The humming bee doesn’t allow its young one to leave its shelter till it sprouts wings. The bee and its young one continuously watch each other till the baby becomes a bee. By focusing your attention on any object you gradually imbibe its qualities. Therefore, we are advised to select our mental radio station cautiously, as we’ll have to suffer or enjoy the program it is broadcasting and that will determine the quality of our thoughts which comprise our mind. Any symbol of Upasana, Cross, Kaba or an idol only helps the mind to focus, become still and pure. Swami Tejomayananda once advised, “Work in the world with one hand holding onto the Lord with the other, (Upasana) and when your work is finished, hold onto Him with both hands”.
Prarthna Saran, President Chinmaya Mission Delhi. Email: prarthnasaran@gmail.com