A PIECE OF MIND
Posted by bmhegde on 1
“Know thou this-that men Are as the time is………”
Shakespeare.
I shall give you a piece of my mind to help you get some peace of mind. All writings on esoteric matters like meditation, God and philosophy are shrouded in mystery and couched in unintelligible sesquipedalia verba. Nowadays they come packaged for sale, not to speak of their high cost in tune with the present trend in the market. They remind me of the popular junk food.I hope these methods are not as dangerous to health as are the junk food packets!
The need for peace of mind started with the onset of the monetary economy,culminating in the new epidemic of suicides and divorces in the west. The plastic card economy would only enhance this need. Once a student reminded me that my efforts to make man tranquil would have to, per force, fail, since this universe is a combination of the opposites- good with the bad, yin with yang, positive with the negative, happiness with sorrow, elation and depression, etc. Even at the micro level, he said, the atom remains intact because of the protons, neutrons, and other quantum particles with opposite charges.
While I agreed with him, my submission was that the balance between the good and the bad- the bad arising out of oppression, suppression, and denial- has reached a flash point. If that were to happen to the atom the latter would have exploded by now. Before the macro world explodes we have to hasten to act. Otherwise, the saying of the poet “when the last tree is cut, when the last river is poisoned, and the last fish eaten, mankind would realize, for the first time, that money can not be the substitute for food and water,” would come true. Mankind then would have to follow the path shown by the mighty dinosaurs.
I have tried every one of the methods of meditation to get tranquility. While each one of them results in lower breathing and heart rates, I am not sure if there would be long term tranquility. I could draw a parallel from modern medicine. While blood pressure, sugar, and cholesterol lowering drugs get us better laboratory reports, almost all of them fail to translate into better health in the long run.The reason is not far to seek. Lowering the physical parameters alone will not translate into holistic health and longevity.
Be that as it may, let us look at common day to day human activities that bring permanent pleasure and lasting tranquility. Our scriptures have shown the path and the great science of Ayurveda has reiterated the same time and again for centuries. “Aaapthopasevi bhavet aarogyam”-treating everyone around you like your near and dear ones would give you positive health for certain, is the basis of Ayurvedic art of healthy living. I have been trying this experiment on myself for decades now with very good results. If I had a day when I did not get an opportunity to show some kindness to someone, do a good turn to others, give a smile to the needy, or wipe a tear from another’s eye, I get tired easily. On the other hand even when I was dead tired, if I got an opportunity to be of some use to another, my tiredness would vanish. Similarly, if I had inadvertently harmed someone, my body signals that all is not well by way of backache, pain in the neck, heartburn, sleeplessness, tension headaches, migraine etc.
Over the years I have learnt to analyze my body responses to my thoughts. Even when I think ill of others my breathing and heart rates hasten. When I help another I feel very tranquil and have peace within. Anger, hatred, jealousy, hostility, frustration, and other similar negative thoughts bring on discomfort immediately. This needs one to fine tune oneself to receive body signals. My post-meditation feeling is not comparable with the immense happiness that I get from sharing and caring that make me tranquil round the clock. I have come to realize that spirituality and meditation are nothing but sharing and caring. The joy of sharing is enormous when one cares for those that hate you. This is not easy, though. It requires lots of practice and understanding. If one could fill “the unforgiving minute with sixty seconds of distance run,” one could be really, really happy.
That said, I must hasten to add that the above simple message can not be packaged into a ready made recipe for all. No two individuals are alike, not even the uni-ovular twins. Each one will have to tailor this to his/her convenience. Perseverance pays dividends in the long run. Total health requires a holistic approach. I am not infallible. I, however, feel that I have described meditation in a more tangible fashion for the common man to understand. There are no easy short cuts in life. One has to work hard to get good results, but the results are better if one does not get too possessive about the outcome.
“Joy, temperance, and repose
Slam the door on the doctor’s nose.”
H.W.Longfellow.