Thinking about It

We can make spiritual progress only by preparing and training our mind so that its ready to gain the knowledge. There are many techniques to prepare the mind. Swaminiji shares many examples of the same with us. It's important to remember that the techniques are the means to help us prepare the mind for knowledge. People get stuck in the means and forget the rest. Without getting the knowledge, discipline in 100 lifetimes will not get us to moksha.

As a follow up from the previous episode, now that we know that desires can really harm us and that we should get over them, we learn methods to get over our desires. One such method is to delay gratification. An extended version of delayed gratification is tapas. The problem with tapas in isolation is that our mind will try to fulfill the desire in another shape or form. A combination of tapas and attachment to a higher cause is the surest way to get over desires.

Have we ever felt as if we have outgrown certain desires? What do we do about desires we have that are extremely bad for us? Swamini Supriyananda talks about the importance of acknowledging the desires we have and the importance of us letting go of them.

It's not what's outside, but what's inside that counts. Our superficial desires sometimes make us false pretenders to seek glory; without necessarily working towards actually experiencing that glory. Listen to Swamini Supriyananda narrate a transformative tale of a thief to learn more about the path of renunciation.

Swamini Supriyananda narrates a story about seeking happiness from motives of desire and how this will lead to nothing. If we learn to release our cravings in the search for contentment, we will find it. Listen to this tale about an Old Monk's lesson to learn more.

We as humans tend to be dissatisfied with what we have and want things that we don't have. We often chase things we don't need, because we tell ourselves that its the next thing we get will give us happiness. Swamini Surpiyananda very thoughtfully draws up the parallel between our infinite and never-ending quest for materialistic things to the infinite ocean. With this in mind, we learn that the boat that will help us navigate through the ocean is Satsang. We learn the importance of surrounding ourselves with people who can have a good influence on our lives and the significant impact they can create.

Swamini Supriyananda talks about our love-hate relationship with stress. We think we thrive under stress and we are more productive, we also associate our work's importance based on how stressed we are. We say and know that we don't want to be stressed. This verse in Bhaja Govindam teaches is that we are really not in control, nobody is. There is a power far greater looking after each one of us. We stress about things so much even though they aren't in our control. So much is already being taken care of, we need to realize this.

Swamini Supriyananda talks about how time can play tricks on us. Sometimes we think we have plenty of time, so we go about planning to use that time - and before we know it, the time runs out. Other times, we think we have no time, therefore we cannot achieve what we need to get done. We learn how to optimize the time we have in any situation, by using it to find what is timeless.

There are many 'rags to riches' stories you may have heard, but there are countless 'riches to rags' stories that you may have not. Swamini Supriyananda describes how 'pride' is a robber. Pride in temporary and superficial traits only sets us up for disappointment in the future, binding us to what is 'finite'. Learn to see clearer who we really are, (the 'infinite'), by letting go of your pride.

Swamini Supriyananda talks about how we can remove everything that we know to not be true, so that all that remains is the truth and nothing more. The truth also referred to as knowledge, is what removes sufferings and will lead us to enlightenment.