Fickleness
During the practice of yoga the fickleness of the mind has an adverse effect on the practice. Only by controlling the mind and providing it a proper direction can it be brought under one’s sway.
Lord Shri Kṛṣṇa has said in Shrimad Bhagvatgītā - ‘Those whose minds are not in control, for them it is very difficult to attain yoga’. By this statement of Lord Shri Kṛṣṇa it is clear the without bringing the mind under one’s control it is impossible to attain the Supreme Being (the final objective of yoga). (Gītā 6/36)
It is in Shrimad Bhagvatgītā that the Lord-of-Yogis, Lord Shri Kṛṣṇa has said while addressing arjuna - ‘There is no doubt that it is extremely difficult to control the fickle mind but by practice and dechtment this can be done’. From there words of the Lord it is clear that it is difficult but not impossible to control one’s mind. And without controlling it, the removal of (mental) sorrows is not possible. (Gītā 3/35)
It is in relation to the mind that Ādi Śankarācharya has said: ‘who conquered the worlds? One who conquered on’es mind’.
Here after such a prolonged discussion about the mind it is necessary to know its form. It is an ineluctable entity that resides between the self an non-self and is all prevasive without being within anything.
One experiences grief and pleasure when senses act upon the mind, but when the sense organs are brought fully under one’s control, then that alone is enough to make the mind transcend grief and happiness and attain the form of sublime bliss [sad (sat) - chid (chitta *) - ānanda = sachidānand].
The mind in itself is non-spirit (jaṛa **) and non-self in essence but salvation as well as bondage to the re-birth cycle is whithin its control. Mind alone is the symbolic representation of the world outside [one] and if the mind ceases to exist for the person. The nature of the mind is such that it becomes active in whatever object it assimilates, and becomes rid of whatever renounces .
All the insessentialities of this illusion-bound world (the seemingly real but actually false nature of experienced reality) are born of rāga (the force of attraction). If there be no attraction whithin on, then no matter how beautiful some thing be the mind will not be inclined towards it. It is the attraction which is the mother of all the caprice of life. If the mind would get to know the real meaning of this it would not then be inclined towards worldly matters, and if, for some special reason, it did feel inclined, it would return to its equanimous state by the force of mental repulsion. This is possible only by practice and detachment as the Lord has said in the Gītā. The great sage Patanjali has also said in the context, i.e. ‘only by practice and detachment does the conscious mind get intercepted’. Herein certain measure to bring the mind under control are being described by which the individual, if he so desires, can bring his mind under his control:
Being regular in one’s routine of life.
Devoting on’e mind to noble deeds.
Scrutinising the wotkings of the mind.
Not giving in to the dictates of the mind.
Pondering over the mind’s activities.
Behaving with friendliness, empathy, pleasantness and indifference.
Detached enjoyment of carnal pleasures.
Studying good books.
Practicing a single (sticking to one path only).
Doing prāṇāyāma.
Concentrating one's vision upon the tip of one’s nose or upon the navel.
Meditating and doing mental worhip (of one’s deity).
Reciting a holy name (of God) silently in tune with the intake and outgo of breath.
Contemplating upon God, or focusing the mind upon supreme one and surrendering oneself completely to his will and mercy.
With the help of some of these measures the practitioner can bring his mind under his sway.
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* Chitta: A atate of mind which is both functional and cognitive at the same time is called chitta. According to some cholars a special kind of desire related to mind is also called chitta. Yet other scholars call the combined power of body and mind as chitta.
** Jaṛa: In the absence of a desired object, or desired place or a desired situation, the mind becomes inactive. This inactive state is called the jaṛa (‘rooted’,’immobile’) state of the mind. The ‘potential energy’ state of every object in creation is its jaṛa (‘rooted in ignorance, immobile’) state. The ‘potential’ embodied in all of creation is the jnāna (the supreme knowledge - the secrets of creation) and the yogi strives to fulfill this inherent potential in himself. The mind is called jaṛa because although it has the potential for true knowledge all along, yet it remains deluded as to the nature of reality, till ways are found to remove its ‘rooted fixation’ upon māyā (the veil of illusion that covers the satya, ’the truth about creation’).