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| You are where your mind is ! |
Our experience of happiness and distress in life is all a
product of our mind. Harboring positive
thoughts, such as love, sacrifice, admiration, kindness, generosity, etc, makes
us happy. Holding negative thoughts,
such as hatred, fear, anxiety, resentment, jealousy, etc, makes us
miserable. Thus, our experience of
happiness and distress is not dependent upon our external situation, but upon
the state of the mind. Even while living
in hellish circumstances, a trained mind can make us experience heavenly bliss. On the other hand, even while living amidst
heavenly luxuries, an uncontrolled mind can make us experience hellish
miseries. Hence effectively, we are where our mind is.
The Puranas relate a story in this regard. There were two brothers, Tavrit and
Suvrit. They were walking from their
house to the temple, which was two hours away, to attend a discourse on the
Shreemad Bhagavatam. On the way, they got
caught in a rainstorm. They ran for
shelter to the nearest building. Entering
it, they realized that it was a sinful place, where people engaged in vulgar
dancing and drinking.
The elder brother, Tavrit, was outraged. “How awful!” he said, “Let us get out of this
place and reach the temple.”
His younger brother, Suvrit, tried to pacify him. “It is raining heavily outside. What is the harm in remaining here until the
rain ceases? They are not forcing us to
join them in their sinful activities.”
Tavrit was adamant and walked out of the building in a huff. He got drenched in the rain for one-and-a-half
hours, but reached the temple. There he
sat and heard Pundit ji’s discourse on the Shreemad Bhagavatam. However, in his mind, he began thinking,
“This is so boring. I made a mistake by coming
here. My brother must be really enjoying
himself with the wine, song and dance.”
Suvrit, on the other hand, was repenting. “This place is so vulgar,” he thought. “I made a mistake by remaining here. I too should have braved the rain, like
Tavrit, and I would have gotten to hear the holy message of the Shreemad
Bhagavatam instead of having to watch this”
When the rain finally subsided, both got out and began
walking in each other’s direction. As
soon as they met, lightning fell on them and they died. The Puranas say that Yamdoots, or the
servants of Yamraj, the God of death, came to take Tavrit, and Vishnudoots, or
the servants of Lord Vishnu came to take Suvrit.
“You seem to have gotten the wrong name,” said Tavrit. “I was sitting in the temple. It was my brother who was at the Inn.”
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| An uncontrolled mind can make us experience hellish miseries. |
“We have made no mistake,” replied the Vishnudoots. You were
physically at the temple but mentally at the Inn, while Suvrit was physically
at the Inn but mentally he was at the temple.” Thus, God gives us the fruits in accordance to
where we keep our mind.
Hence, the Panchadashi states:
Mana eva manushyanaam karanam bandha mokshayoha
“Liberation and bondage in maya is decided by the condition
of the mind.” If it is attached to the
world, it results in bondage, and the soul continues to rotate in the cycle of
life and death. But if the mind is
attached to God, it results in liberation from the material realm.
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