How your mind can be more friend and less enemy?

 To propel your mind in the right direction to know the real purpose of life and how to lead a meaningful life without causing any umbrage either to God or any other human beings is an uphill task and painstaking proposition. Why? The reason is that mind is your best friend as well as the enemy. If you are able to control your friend rather than being controlled, it is laudable and you are able to strike a deal to reach the success ladder upwardly with ease and peace. Our mind is always restless and behaves like a chirping bird that flies here and there. If you are in a dilemma to subjugate your mind, then it will fritter mostly on trivial issues with an output of negativities. So, you need to engage it properly, but not with fiddle-faddle. If mind is guided in a systematic manner, the outcome in terms of thoughts will be positive.  Another important aspect of   the mind is that it’s thought process is not directly proportional to academic qualifications. You may not be academically brilliant as you might have not got a chance for sufficient education, but still, you can develop your power of mind by various methods. As per yogic principles and analysis, thereby, our mind’s behavior is classified into five different types. 

 

First one is Kshipta type, where the mind is disgruntled, fragmented and wavering most of the time. Here, our mind is distracted and search many things at a time without any effective conclusion. Our mind is completely restricted.  In the Mudha state, our mind is always dolorous and not able to remember anything even for a short period of time. The third type is Vikshipta, where the mind is gathering only one input and thinking in one direction; at one time, it is steady and some other time, it is volatile. When you focus on a new practice of anything, your mind will be mostly in this state.  Fourth one is Ekagrata, where mind is steady and induces you to concentrate on any one aspect at a time and that too very thoroughly. The last state is known as Niruddha and here, mind is completely controlled.

 

You are not able to concentrate when the mind becomes tense. When a beginner is trying to practice something new, different thoughts erupt and make him unassertive from the unaccustomed new aspect and force him to get rid of the new practice. He will be then interested to come out from the impasse. In this type of incongruous happenings, you have to be adamant enough to put your focus steadfastly on a single thing. At the same time, your mind will force you to a berserk situation; you have to put it back again and again in line of your thoughts and efforts. Your mind will provoke you to think in a hundred different directions. But you must be rigid; otherwise there will be no progress. It is very essential to feel and observe the mind analytically. You should avoid rambling and take adequate actions to stop confused thoughts and calm the emotions. The purpose of concentration is the stilling of mental waves. You must ensure that the mind should not hover around anxieties, worries and fears. Our mind is mostly tuned to get attracted to wishful ideas. So, you must concentrate on a particular thing, which is very appealing to you. To increase your control of mind, in the beginning, concentrate on gross objects, say by looking to the stars during night or observe a soothing and pleasant object for a defined period of time. You may try this practice to increase your concentration. If you want to remain in the Ekagrata state for a long time, practice the posture by closing your eyes and then; concentrate on the space between the eyebrows, the heart or any spiritual entity, the centre of energy, which is one of the effective tools and systems to sedate your mind.  If you can manipulate your mind to your advantage to think of a single point or a thing, it is beneficial to you.  But don’t wrestle and struggle to exert your mind much. The more you struggle to calm your mind transcending the natural course of actions, the more it will be distracted and you will be frustrated. You may then leave the practice to focus on a new subject, at least for the time being. Some people who are not mentally strong may leave the practice forever. 

                                                                     

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There will be physical discomfort and discordant due to overuse of emotions and thoughts. In course of time, when you understand the real techniques, how to control mind, the same becomes cool, pure and strong and you will be full of joy. If you take a count of all the pleasures, which you may think, nothing is comparable to the bliss derived from meditation, which stems from the power of the mind.  Be always patience, cheerfulness and amicable.  You will be able to subjugate your mind and success is bound to come.  If you resort to serious introspection, it is possible to identify the various disturbing factors, which is diminishing your power of concentration. You have to eliminate them with your Ekagrata.  

 

The powerful mind is the precursor of tremendous concentration power.  With this power, you can focus on any subject for a long time. When you concentrate, perhaps all your senses may not be that activated as you are attached to the pleasure of your body and the allurement encircling you. The crux of the method to subjugate your mind is to fix the same on the absolute. When you reach this stage, you become serene, balance, hearty and amenable. Once you become experienced, you get immense joy and spiritual oblation. The power of concentration opens the inner lid of love and it leads to meditation, which is the sole key to your perpetual spiritual progress and  than your mind will become your loyal friend cum servant.