Trying to Contain the Wind

 

Last time we learned from Krishna that raja yoga’s use of meditation would lead us to “abiding joy beyond the senses” (6.21).

Sounds great. Let’s get right on it.

I’m sitting here, my back is straight, I’m meditating. Peace flows within me…OM…Did I remember to put wood filler on the buy list to fix that crack in the stairs? It’s right by the air filter. Oh yeah, it’s time for new filters. Wait, meditating, right. Peace flows within me…stillness…OM…OM…And I should get weed killer for the driveway, too…Okay…Peace flows within me…OM…

Sound familiar? If you think it’s just untrained Westerners who don’t learn meditation with (the equivalent of) their ABC’s, or just modern craziness that makes the mind flit about like a bee in a flower patch, think again. Arjuna had the same problem:

O Krishna, the stillness of divine union which you describe is beyond my comprehension. How can the mind, which is so restless, attain lasting peace? Krishna, the mind is restless, turbulent, powerful, violent; trying to control it is like trying to contain the wind.

Chapter 6.33-34

And now Krishna gives the super-secret reveal, the thing we’ve been waiting for, the thing that will tell us how to make the craziness inside our minds stop so that we can be good meditators now and forever more:

It is true that the mind is restless and difficult to control. But it can be conquered, Arjuna, through regular practice and detachment. Those who lack self-control will find it difficult to progress in meditation…

Right. Got that part. Here comes the good stuff!

…but those who are self-controlled, striving earnestly through the right means, will attain the goal.

Chapter 6.35-36

Yep, that’s what he said: just sit down and do it, and keep on doing it even if you don’t think you’re getting very far.

And keep remembering WHY you do it: it isn’t just to clear your head, or relieve stress. You might lower your blood pressure, find calmness in the storms of life, learn to be a better friend/spouse/parent as you learn to respond rather than reacting, and find out more about yourself. Meditation as the main element of raja yoga can help with all of these things, but here’s the thing to remember: none of these is the goal - union with the divine is.

Abiding joy comes to those who still the mind. Freeing themselves from the taint of self-will, with their consciousness unified, they become one with Brahman.

Chapter 6.28

And once that union is accomplished, the Atman, the Self, the divine part of you and me and every being that is always at one with Brahman, the Source of All, recognizes that it is not alone.

They see the Self in every creature and all creation in the Self...Seeing all life as my manifestation, they are never separated from me. They worship me in the hearts of all, and all their actions proceed from me. Wherever they may live, they abide in me.

Chapter 6.29-31

So the one established in the yoga of meditation comes to recognize his or her oneness with every living being. No more loneliness. No more sense of separation from other human beings, or from the divine. Instead, knowledge of the complete enveloping, now and always, in the arms of divine, human, mortal, immortal, eternal, unending Love, and knowledge of enveloping others in it as well.



Quotations taken from The Bhagavad Gita, trans. Eknath Easwaran

Image found at: http://teachmag.com/archives/4681