The Mind - An Owner's Manual: Sitting Down

In the 17th century, Blaise Pascal, the French philosopher and scientist, wrote: "All of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone." 

One of my goals for 2021 is the ability to sit down in a room and examine myself, for (continuing the European philosopher theme) as the Greek philosopher Socrates said, "The unexamined life is not worth living".

As I set down, the mind is still whirling - absorbed in the past or thinking about the future. It takes a few deep breaths to bring a sense of control and awareness of an inner existence apart from the cacophony seeking my attention outside. It's tough - a few minutes later I realize that I'm back to mind-wandering.

I still feel wrapped in the many roles I don -  father, husband, son, brother, neighbor, worker, citizen. It takes time to shed these one by one, feeling lighter as they all drop off. As Shankara says, in the NirvanaShatkam: ...Nor was I ever born, nor had I parents, friends, and relations ;  I have neither Guru, nor disciple

The mind still wanders dragged by the polarized events of the day - replaying the happy ones regretting the unhappy ones - unwilling or unable to drop them.

Anchoring the mind to the breath stops the wandering.  Inhale, exhale, pause….inhale,    exhale,    pause…….......…i n h a l e,       e x h a l e,      p a u s e….

At some point, you don't even know when, the chain breaks and the mind is off wandering. 

This is an ancient problem - in the 4th century BCE, Arjuna tells his cousin and advisor, Krishna, "Verily, the mind is fickle, turbulent, powerful and unyielding. To control it, I think, is as difficult as controlling the wind itself." Krishna's acknowledges it - "Yes, Arjuna, the mind is restless, no doubt, and hard to subdue", but he also offers a solution - "But it can be brought under control by constant practice, and by the exercise of dispassion"

One of the visitors to Ramana Maharishi's ashram in Thiruvannamalai recalls in the book Face to Face with Sri Ramana Maharshi: Once while meditating in the presence of Bhagavan, my mind persisted in wandering. I couldn’t control it. So I gave up meditation and opened my eyes. Bhagavan at once sat up on his couch and said, “Oh! You abandon it thinking it is the swabhava (nature) of the mind to wander. Whatever we practice becomes the swabhava. If control is practised persistently that will become the swabhava."

On some days it's easy - all that remains is the witness and the breath and on some days it's a perfect storm of memories, plans, thoughts and emotions.

So - no matter how much it wanders, bringing it back and starting again - constant practice -   is like building muscle memory for the mind.