Declutter the Mind


                                                                 

Our mind runs us. That’s why we find ourselves stressed out most of the times. We become moody, irritable, angry and depressed. Depression has created a multi-billion industry. Imagine growing rich from other people’s problems and sufferings. That in itself is so depressing, but that’s the fact.

Our mind is full of items that need not be there. That should not be there. There’s a book by Ajahn Brahm called Who Ordered this Truckload of Dung? That’s what we do and keep doing. We continue ordering truckloads of dung and then wonder why we are so messed up and stressed out. The more dung we store, the more difficult it becomes to clean the mind. If we are to really sweep our mind clean, we should determine not to order any further truckloads of dung. Depending upon how much dirt and grime we have collected, it’ll take that much time to make the mind crystal clear.

Our house and workspace also overflow with unwanted things. But most of us at some point or the other, take action to declutter our house and workspace. But how many of us do the same with our mind? We neglect doing that and undesirable items keep piling on. Decluttering is necessary if we wish to be calm, peaceful, happy and contented.

We should run our mind. How do we do that?

We think / visualize Madhubala. That’s one face on which all men and women agree is exceptional. So, when we think / visualize Madhubala, we allow lotus to grow in our mind’s muck. Thus, the mind starts becoming beautiful. And in a beautiful mind, there is no place for anything that is dirty.

Let your mind wander to the hallowed turf of Lord’s and with your inner eye watch Brian Lara and Mohd Azharuddin bat together and play delectable stroke after stroke and as they weave their magic around you, your mind will relax, unwind, and the load that you are carrying will decrease, diminish.

Imagine water, sparkling water everywhere. The pitter patter of the rainfall and the gushing of a babbling stream…and in the background, Beethoven’s symphony or Mozart’s piece playing, or our own Rafi, Lata and Kishore crooning their unbeatable songs - these poetic sounds will wash away all the filth from your mind.

Create in your mind an image that you are attending a mehfil in which poets of past and present and of different countries and culture and language have assembled – there’s Ghalib, Rumi, Shakespeare, Keats, Aurobindo Ghosh and other luminaries, and they are reading lines from their poems – what will happen to your mind? To absorb their weighty words, you’ll have to quickly let go off the useless things that have built a nest in your mind.

Get into an imaginary conversation with the Greek philosophers Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, and scientists Newton and Einstein, and other intellects. Let the small stuff out of your mind. Stop brooding over what ‘small and mean-minded’ people have done to you. Connect with the giants.

But if you want to surpass the ordinary, take a giant leap, go beyond even transformation, then invite ABC to your mind – Ali, Brahma, Christ. When consciousness mingles with super-consciousness then the mind doesn’t get decluttered – it attains nirvana.



-          NZ

19.5.19



       

         


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