If you have observed carefully, these 5 things can eliminate the causes for your mental unrest. Basically, they try to eliminate the causes for negative thoughts.
Patanjali spells out five more ‘do’s as part of his second step namely Niyama. These are meant to develop a positive mental outlook. Let me take up four of them in this episode.
You probably have experienced, when you take a bath in the morning you feel fresh and calm. Your mind as well as your body feel relaxed. That is the reason why a bath is recommended before a Yoga practice.
Bath involves only cleansing the body. But how about cleansing the mind as well? I mean nurturing positive thoughts all the time. That will make you calmer and provide a mental state that is more conducive to Yoga practice.
Patanjali calls it Shauca. Shauca is about keeping clean both bodily as well as mentally.
Have you ever observed what causes most mental unrests? It is dissatisfaction. Dissatisfaction about your job, dissatisfaction about the wealth you have, dissatisfaction about your achievements, dissatisfaction about your spouse, children and so on.
But the fact is - nothing on earth can ever fully satisfy you. More you get, more you desire. The right way is to be content with what you have.
Does it mean that you should never strive for better? No, it does not mean that. You can try to improve your conditions, but try not to get perturbed if you don’t succeed in your efforts.
Be happy with what you already have rather than grieve over what you could not have. Be hopeful that someday things would be better. And for the moment, be content with what you have and think positive about the future.
That is Santhosha, the next ‘do’ in Patanjali’s second step namely Niyama. Santhosha is about being content with what you have.
Many a times, no matter how much effort you put in, you tend to fail. Failure puts you off and makes you miserable. Not everything is under your control and there are multiple forces acting together. The result of your actions is the combined effect of these forces in addition to your efforts.
So, don’t be totally put off when failure stare at you, when miseries bog you down. Develop the mental stamina to rise above all failures.
In Bhagavad Geetha, Krishna advises that one should look at success and failure with the same equipoise. So also, praises or criticisms by people around you.
He further adds that one should act without getting overly perturbed by success or failure. Being balanced is what Yoga is all about.
That is Patanjali’s third ‘do’ in Niyama. He calls it Tapah. Tapah is all about remaining unperturbed by whatever happens in your life.
Probably you remember your childhood days when you used to read lots of ghost stories. Many of us who did that, would develop a fear of ghosts and vampires. Whether such ghosts exist or not, even after we grow up the fear of ghosts haunts us for quite some time. That is the effect left behind by what we read.
So, reading books that instill positive things on our mind is always advisable. Most religious literature have a core that does that job. I have read and to some extent studied, most world religious scriptures. I have found the same positive thoughts in all of them be it Bible, Quran, Buddhist Tipitakas, or the Hindu Bhagavad Geetha.
You don’t need to change your religious affinity to practice Yoga. If you are a Christian, you will find enough motivating things and positive thoughts in the Bible, in the wonderful words of Jesus Christ. If you are a Muslim, Quran can invigorate you. A Buddhist can find solace in the words of Buddha recorded in the Tipitakas. Gita can calm the mind of a devout Hindu. So, read what is natural to you.
Even if you don’t want to associate with any religion, you can still develop right mental condition by reading the life stories of great people, people who have led an impeccable life working for the humanity, who set out great values.
That inculcates a positive mental setup and minimizes negativity. That soothes and calms the mind.
Patanjali calls such reading as Swadhyaya. That is the fourth ‘do’ in Patanjali’s Niyama.
In summary, Shauca – physical and mental purity, Santosha – being content with what you have, Tapah – not getting perturbed by failures and vagaries in life, Swadhyaya – reading right things, can calm your mind to a large extent and boost positivity.
Yes, I left out the fifth ‘do’ in Patanjali’s Niyama. We will discuss that in detail in the next episode.
A series revolving around Mind – Science of Mind, Philosophy of Mind, Notions of reality, Mind modulation, Domains beyond Mind, and so on. © Dr. King 2019
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