Have you noticed what keeps happening in the mind every moment? The mind keeps wondering what is going to happen next. Knowledge is being aware of this phenomenon of the mind; of what is happening right now in the mind. All other information and education can be acquired by reading books. You can open a book on any subject, be it birth, death or dietary habits; there are volumes of books available on countless topics. But awareness of our own mind cannot be learnt by reading a book.
What does our mind do? It vacillates between the past and the future. Every moment, it is either angry about the past or anxious about the future. There is another tendency of the mind – clinging to the negative. If ten positive instances or events are followed by one negative event, we cling to that one negative thing. We simply forget all the ten positives.
To bring about a change in these two tendencies of the mind is the greatest help you can render to yourself. Becoming aware of these two tendencies in the mind will make you very natural, very simple. These are very precious values and will enable you to blossom from within. We are actually born with this innocence in us; but as we become more and more mature and intelligent, we tend to lose this innocence and end up becoming stiff. Drop the stiffness, and then see how much more rewarding, more enjoyable, more interesting life becomes. This is knowledge. And this is also worship.
As a child, you had no problems; you fought one day and made up the next day. But as you grow, you get tangled, entangled. You get into a mess. The whole society gets into a mess. Then you need the comb of knowledge. When you have an effective comb, it helps keeps your hair tangle-free and orderly. The same thing happens in society. Without knowledge and wisdom, we get entangled with each other; our minds are filled with hatred, aversions and cravings. Look into anybody’s mind; there is feverishness about somebody, a craving for the future or an aversion for the past. With the comb of wisdom and knowledge, we can promote order in society.
We have to study our own mind, our own Self. We spent so much time learning all things for living but very little about our life itself. The first thing we did when we came to the world was to take a deep breath in and the last thing we will be doing in the world is breathing out. In between the first inhalation and the last exhalation is what we call life. We never attended to our breath. Breath is the connection between the body and mind and through it you can really bring the mind to the present moment.
Service or seva is another tool to attend to the mind. When you make service your sole purpose of life, it eliminates fear, brings focus in your mind, purposefulness in action, and long-term joy.
If everybody in the society lives in the present moment and if we are able to accept people as they are, there will be no problems, no strife. We have to have wisdom and knowledge; we have to have awareness. It is very essential.
