Learn to influence the factors that influence you

 

Whenever you consider a symbol, place, time, person, or act as sacred, your attention is undivided and whole. Then, why does an act, when performed repeatedly, lose its sacredness? 

When things are the same, you tend to slip into unawareness and inertia. This happens, when your memory overpowers your consciousness, and you lose your sensitivity. For e.g., people living in Varanasi do not feel that it is a sacred place. 

We can preserve that feeling of sacredness in our acts through sadhana, and by living in the present moment. There is pleasure in rest and there is pleasure in activity. The pleasure in activity is momentary and causes fatigue. The pleasure in rest is magnanimous and energizing. So, to the one, who has tasted the pleasure in rest or samadhi, the pleasure in activity is insignificant. In order to have deep rest, one must be active. The proper balance of both is essential. 

Let us examine the five factors that influence the mind:

• Place (or space)
• Time
• Food 
• Past impressions 
• Associations and Actions

Place - Every place one is in, has a different impact on the mind. Even in your house, you can see that you feel different in different rooms. A place, where there has been singing, chanting and meditation, has a different influence on the mind. 

Time - Time is also a factor. Different times of the day and year have different influences on the mind. 

Food - The different types of food that you take, influence you for some days. 

Past impressions or karma - Past impressions, or karma, have a different impact on the mind. Awareness, alertness, knowledge and meditation, all help erase past impressions. 

Associations and Actions: The people and events, you are associated with, influence your mind. In certain company, your mind behaves in one way, and with others, in a different way.

Though these five factors influence one’s life and mind, know that the Self is much more powerful. As you grow in knowledge, you will influence them all.

Five secrets of creation

 

One, who is not amazed by the magnificence of this creation, his or her eyes have not opened yet! Tell me, what is not a mystery in this creation? 

Birth is a mystery. Death is a mystery. Life is certainly a greater mystery! Being completely immersed in the mystery of life, and in this creation, is “samadhi”. Your knowing, or believing, doesn’t really matter! This creation is an unfathomable secret! 

A wise person makes no effort to conceal a secret, but he does not make an effort to reveal a secret either!  For e.g., you do not talk about menstruation, death, etc., to a five-year-old, but as the five-year-old grows older, these things are not hidden from him or her, anymore. They become known as a matter of course.

There are five secrets, which are sacred, and these are guarded by the subtle beings and angels of this creation.

The first is “janama rahasya”, meaning, the secret of birth. Birth is a secret. How a soul takes a body, the criteria for selecting the place of birth, the time of birth, the type of body, parents, etc., are all secrets. 

The second is “marana rahasya”, meaning, the secret of death. Death is a highly guarded secret. Death remains a mystery. The process of separation of spirit from matter, and its journey from then on, are a secret.

The third is “raaj rahasya”, meaning, the royal secret or the secret of ruling. The principles of governance, or the principles of maintaining orderliness in creation, are a secret. 

Fourth is “prakriti rahasya”, meaning the secret of nature. Nature is a mystery, and as the mystery deepens, the more you know about nature. The more a scientist knows, the more he feels that there is much more to know. Science, though appearing to resolve the mystery in creation, has really deepened it. The knowledge of particles, wave functions, black holes, the vacuum state, etc., have only deepened the mystery.

Fifth is “mantra rahasya”, meaning the secret of mantras. The mantras and their effects, influences, methods and modes of working, are all a mystery. Mantras are impulses, or rhythms of consciousness, which is a mystery, itself! 

Usually, in the West, a secret is shameful and dishonest, but in the East, it is honoured and regarded as sacred. The mysteries of creation only deepen. Getting steeped in mystery is devotion. They are the two sides of the same coin. If neither science nor spirituality can create wonder and devotion in you, then you are in deep slumber.