ARANI SERIES
Spark 7
MIND OVER BATTER
Walking by the beach in Besant Nagar, Chennai, my eyes fell on the name board of a cake shop: Mind over Batter! What an attractive name, I’m sure a large number of citizens of the great city get drawn to this shop to buy bread, cakes and other bakery products. The result however could be the reverse of the name: the batter in this shop wins the game over the minds of the Madrasis! If we imagine a conflict between delicious snacks and our mind, the eatables ofen have a ‘cake walk’ to victory. Why this shop’s case, most of us are slaves to material comforts. It is a case of “mind under matter!”
Objects of desire are, in a sense, more powerful than our sense organs – observes Kathopanishad (1.3.10). More importantly, the mantra continues to say: Our mind is superior to the sense objects. Spiritually evolved people are able to position their mind in its rightful place; theirs is a case of mind over matter. Ignorance is the primary cause of our spiritual deterioration leading to disintegration of the personality. This the ushers in a host of evils like lack of inner peace and disturbed relationships.
Lord Yama speaks of a hierarchy of seven factors, beginning with sense organs, followed in quick succession by sense objects, mind, intellect, total mind and the unmanifest principle (avyakta). The seventh and the last is the Pure Self (purusha), and the sacred text emphatically declares that the Pure Self is the highest. Nothing surpasses it. (mantras 10 and 11 of 1.3).
Putting aside mechanical behavior, the cause of our slavery to the material world of money and power, we need to rise in our self-awareness. It is all about laying claim to our own inner divinity. The statement of The Bible strikes an interesting parallel: The kingdom of God is within you. (Luke 17:20, 21) The wisdom of the Upanishads asks to merge our lower identity in our own higher nature, and this process culminates in Self-realization.
This upward movement should begin with our being ‘more caring and understanding’ towards people whom we meet daily. Charity begins at home, goes the old saying. We need to work on ourselves, and overcome those barriers that prevent us from relating to our family members, colleagues and social contacts. Everywhere the challenge is to break old habits and look at new situations with fresh eyes.
The next mantra in the dialogue between the young boy Nachiketa and Lord Yama has the divine teacher spell it precisely: The Self, though present in everybody, is hard to see. We can surely see this divine nature of our own, when we are endowed with a sharp intellect, which is also subtle (1.3.12). We need to have an ‘eye’ for looking within. We need to quietly observe the play of our own egoism. Everyone can do it, when guided properly and trained rightly. Then we come upon the realization. We can; we must.
Swami Chidananda