Sharing Sanjivani (Sanjivani - Life Saving Herb)

Chapter 34 How to control our senses and remain steady?

(34) How to control our senses and remain steady?

Lord Krishna says that just as tortoise hides all his six organs- four legs, one tail and one head and walks, a Sthitapragna person should keep his attention away from all the material illusive attachment. He should have control over his five senses and the sixth one is mind. If he could not have control over five senses and one mind he could never be a Sthitapragna person. Even his relation to materialist things may be only emotionally and not physically, and then also he could not be a Sthitapragna person. He Lord Krishna insists on detachments to worldly things not only in physical terms but also in mental and emotional terms. No man can concentrate on God if he has a little attachment to the things which he could enjoy through his sense.

Five senses includes seeing, touching, listening and enjoying physical things and mind is the instrument which desires for the things is emerged and when we accomplish one desire or wish of mind the next moment, mind is going to demand another thing. Hence Lord Krishna insists on keeping mind also aloof from all the worldly subjects.

When we have control over our senses we can have experience of meditation. We can concentrate and be steady in the eternal Almighty‘s authority. This experience of feeling ‘God’s grace and presence, unification with our own self through meditation is not the result of doing any action or it is not the reward of abandoning any worldly pleasure. This experience is natural .It cannot be felt by doing any rituals because it is not depended on anything. When we close our eyes in the day time we cannot see Sun. But the moment we open our eyes we can see the existence of Sun. Because the Sun already existed when we have closed our eyes. There is no relation of cause and effect in our scientific terms. The Sun does not arise in the sky with our opening of eyes. The Sun was there before we close the eyes, it was there when we closed our eyes and it is there when we reopen our eyes.

In the same way when we can have control over our senses we can have experience of presence of Almighty. Because we can concentrate our mind from worldly things now turns to God. This experience is automatic and natural. It is not the subject of our feelings through organs or our senses. When we enjoy food, watch beautiful sights, listen melodious music, touch smooth and silky baby cheeks the experience of pleasure we get is through our senses. As soon as the music stops, we cannot enjoy listening its melody or as soon as the beautiful sight, the touch of a flower or a baby cheeks, the dish having delicious food is taken away from our senses, the curtain falls and the pleasure ends. But when we have control over our senses and we live like tortoise in the world or as said before like the king ‘Janak’ we could have the eternal experience of existence of God ,feels his presence and enjoy ecstasy because we can concentrate on GOD.

 This detachment to worldly pleasure of the five senses is not sufficient because when we try to control our senses we force our mind and organs. But the interest in those worldly things remains the same. For example when we observe fast on a particular day of the week and do not eat our regular food and control our eating. A delicious smell of food served to someone tempted our senses and we have watered our mouth with the strong instincts of temptation because the interest in the tasty delicious food is not rejected forever by the senses or mind it is just controlled by forceful efforts. Hence if our interests remain steadily in the forbidden things which we enjoy through our senses how could we be a Sthitapragna person permanently? Because to be steady or be a Sthitapragna person is a permanent state of mind it’s not a temporarily forced and controlled instincts, desires, wishes or any of five senses for a certain period of time.

We observed fast or stop eating food in two ways. Either we abandon food because we observe fast or we abandon eating because we are sick. The second way is to stay aloof from all the worldly things and concentrate all the senses and mind sitting in solitude peacefully. When a sick  person, a patient abandon food he avoid eating food because he is not able to digest it but it never meant that he has no interest in good ,delicious , tasty food instead of not eating that food he would be constantly thinking about getting well and fulfill his desires related to any senses. He has controlled his senses of eating food or physical pleasures of any kind because he is sick. When we are not getting things as we desire or when we want to get something we observe fast or follow BRAHMACHARYA as a method of pleasing God but our interest still remains the same in the enjoyment through senses and this is not an identity of a Sthitapragna person.

Actually speaking, the person who is Sthitapragna’ has no interest inwardly in anything that could be enjoyed through senses. He has abandoned everything but when a person tries to control his senses only he could control his senses, organs but not mind and interest in those things. Hence it is essential that

The interest in the worldly material things should be abandon. When a person’s intellect, his mind and his thoughts becomes as if he were an ascetic, he could enjoy the existence of Almighty. The rule is by controlling senses no one can be Sthitapragna but by being Sthitapragna he can have control over his senses permanently. When every pleasure is a temporary one and nothing could give us eternal peace or heavenly pleasure why we are blindly rush after mortal things. Shouldn’t we try to get eternal peace and immortal pleasure under the holy shrine of God?

Let’s learn how to convince our mind to take ‘U’ turn from worldly pleasures to permanent pleasure and peace of mind….