MIND –CONTROL: DIFFICULT BUT POSSIBLE

In this theme, the mind and its control, we are all deeply interested, in a very personal way, for nothing affects us individually more than our own minds. We know something about the subject. All of us try to control our minds. But we should like to know more and do better.

Who can help us in this regard? Only those who have perfectly controlled their own minds. What we may learn from such sources we shall present here as a system of simple disciplines.

                Control of the mind is a very interesting inner game. If you have a sportsman’s attitude. You will thoroughly enjoy it, even while apparently losing. In the playing, this game takes a great deal of skill, alertness, sense of hum our, goodness of heart, sense of strategy, patience and some heroic flair which makes it possible not to get disheartened in the face of a hundred failures.

                Shri Krishna, was explaining in the Gita how the supreme state of Yoga was to be attained. After listening to him Arjuna said to the Lord in understandable despair :

                “ O Krishna, this yoga which you declare to be characterized by perfect evenness of mind, I do not see how it can endure, Because of the restlessness of the mind. The mind, O krishna, is restless, turbulent, powerful and obstinate. To control the mind is as hard, it seems to me, as to control the wind.

                Shri krishna listened to this representative complaint of man and gave a reply important for all men of all times. All Indian thinking and practice on mind-control are largely based on this teaching of Shri Krishna. He said: ‘undoubtedly, O Arjuna, the mind is restless and hard to control. But by practice and dispassion it can be controlled.

                From this conversation we know three basic facts about mind-control:

a.       That it has always been an extremely difficult task even for heroic persons of the stature of Arjuna.

b.      That yet it is possible to control the mind.

c.       That there are well-defined methods for controlling the mind.

In these two words, practice and dispassion, Shri Krishna gave the whole secret of controlling the mind. It is the uniform verdict of all the saints of India down the ages that there is no other way of controlling the mind expect through ‘Practice and Dispassion’. This is also called ‘the yoga of practice’.

        We shall quote here a dialogue between Shri Ramkrishna and a devotee, in which the former emphasizes a fundamental point which everyone needs to remember:

Shri Ramkrishna: ‘Don’t sit idle simply because your spiritual consciousness has been awakened a little. Go forward. Beyond the forest of sandalwood there are other and more valuable things – silver-mines, gold-mines and so on.’

Priya : ‘Sir, our legs are in chains. We cannot go forward.’

Shri Ramkrishna: ‘What if the legs are chained? The important thing is the mind. Bondage is of the mind, and freedom is also of the mind.’

Priya: ‘But the mind is not under my control.’

Shri Ramkrishna: ‘How is that? There is such a thing as the yoga of practice, yoga through practice. Keep up the practice and you will find that your mind will follow in whatever direction you lead it. The mind like a white cloth just returned from the laundry. It will be red if you dip it in red dye and blue if you dip it in blue. It will have whatever color you dip it in.’

        Practice and Dispassion are no doubt the entire secret of controlling the mind. But how do we bring them into our life-stream? That is the question. To do this

a.       We shall have to develop a strong will to control the mind;

b.      We shall have to understand the nature of the mind;

c.       We shall have to learn certain techniques and practice them earnestly and intelligently.

The Problem of Rising – Prices

Problem of risin- prices is the burning problem at present. Prices of all things have been rising very rapidly. They have gone up twenty times.

Causes of rising prices- A developing country. India is a developing country. In a developing country prices are bound to go up.

Hoarding tendency – There is a no actual shortages of anything in the country. But there is shortage of honesty only. The businessmen create artifical shortage of foodgrains. So the prices go up day by day.

Population explosion- Our population  is increasing very rapidly. Now our population is more than 80 crores. Foot grains have not increased in proportion of increase in population.

Deficit financing- The deficit financing in the plans is also responsible for the roaring prices.

Useless plans- Much money is spent on some plans which do not seen to be useful.

Increase in the prices in raw materials -Producers say that there is a rise in the prices of raw materials. So there is an increase in the manufacturing cost.

Defective taxation policy.- Some people say that the taxation policy is defective and needs change to bring the prices down.

Investments- The government is making investments in the industries which will show the benefits after a long time.

No adjustment between demand and supply- There is no proper adjustment between supply and demand.

Fault with officials- Some government officials are corrupt. They are quite indifferent towards the seriousness of the problem.

Remdy. The rising prices should be checked at once. The government should take drastic steps against hoarding and black- marketing. Production should be increased. Distribution of national wealth should be made fair and effective. The government must take over the trade of important food grains such as wheat, rice and sugar. The circulation of black money must be controlled at all costs. The check on growing population should be brought under contro;. Deficit budgets should be discouraged. Sense of partriotism must be created by our leaders who should be far above corruption. Public should Co-operate with the government. Our slogan must be “Down with Prices”.

If these suggested steps are taken the prices will surely go down. Of what use are plans if the life of the common people is full of misery? Our government must realise this truth and check the ever rising prices.

THE PROBLEM OF INDISCIPLINE AMONG STUDENTS

Now –a-days the problem of indiscipline among students has grown very serious. Everybody complains of the growing indiscipline among the students who are our future hopes. The question arises why there is indiscipline among students? Some main causes that are responsible for the indiscipline among student are:

Old system of education: Our old system of education results in unrest among the students. They have to pass through age-old system of examinations.

Political causes: Students were encouraged by our leaders before 1947 to take part in freedom struggle. The leaders and students made use of all fair and foul methods. The students grew in the habit of using them against their teachers and the elders. Now we are independent but still political parties use students for their selfish ends.

The conditions of schools and colleges: The schools and colleges are over-crowded. The teachers are low-paid. They are ill-fed and ill-clad. They run after tuitions. Students go to the safest way to tuitions to pass the examination. The students do not read and the teachers do not teach. When there is no work indiscipline comes in.

Backward educational system: Our present educational system is not fruitful. After the education there students do not get suitable jobs. There is a rush in classes. So there is no personal link between teachers and students. Students fail to learn many useful and important things from their teachers.

Social environments: Indiscipline among students is a part of indiscipline in the society. The students see that their leaders behave in an indiscipline way. Hence they do whatever they see. The home atmosphere does not suit to our students. They see the anti-social activities of their father.

Government’s responsibility: Every year books and courses are changed. Experiments are made at the cost of students, career. Sometimes the students have to appear in both meetings during the examination days. He has to learn the most difficult subjects in a day when they take up examination in both the meetings. They use unfair means. When they are checked, they revolt.  

Certain Suggestions. 1. Reforms in the colleges and schools. The students or teachers should not be allowed to take part in politics. Political parties should be not use the students for their selfish ends. Only first rate persons must be appointed as teachers. Salary of teachers must be increased. The classes must not be over- crowded. There must be a good choice of taking up different courses.

2. To keep students away from dirty life. The students should be taken away from the dirty life of cities. Schools and colleges must be far away from busy cities. Let us follow the example of Gurukuls and Rishikuls.

3. Collective efforts. Collective efforts have to be made by government, teachers and guardians. The government should take interest in the education. The teachers should think themselves as trustees. The guardians should give some time to look after their wards. 

Life is not a bed of roses

Aggressiveness is a natural instinct with men, animals and plants. In a forest vegetative growth tries to occupy every inch of place, animals’ kingdom and birds ransack forest to find eatables. Mankind behaves likewise in its own social sphere. In America and similar countries where land is virgin, competition is less and luxurious goods are in plenty. This will, however, not continue for a long period.

                Struggle for existence ultimately makes everyone tough. People should, therefore, train themselves to be hardy. There is no place in this world for a person who cannot face difficult life and cannot stand all kinds of trials, troubles and tribulations. Whether one is a sportsman, a businessman or an artist, toughness of life does not spare anyone. Comfortable life does not make a complete man. Man in the habit of leading a luxurious life may happen to be hard in other directions. Weakness of character results when a person moves in a society. This weakness can be overcome during the academic career.

                Love of calmness and peace do not indicate a soft life. Only a tough man can meditate and defy the norms of social life. This is an achievement and cannot be regarded as cowardice for idleness. Civilization requires competitive spirit to be channelized for noble purposes. Animal use of power reigns supreme where culture has no value. Cunningness, cruelty and war, which results in tremendous waste of all kinds of resources, constitute some or the other form of brutality. War can be overcome by strength and not weakness. The latter is an invitation to war. Brutality is the result of self-interest and indiscipline. Unless these can be overcome, culture cannot hold charge of brutality, people should dissociate with such of the activities as are responsible for the exploitation of labor. Cultural forces in this way can affect the economic sphere.

                When cheap goods are purchased from a market, brutality holds its upper hand over civilized culture. This can be avoided only by refusing to buy the goods produced by the exploitation of labor. This requires great vigilance, which is often lacking in people. To obviate the possibility of brutality taking an upper hand in society, forces of civilized should be encouraged. Luxurious life can result in neglect of masses and habitual use of power. Constitutions do not hold out any hope in this respect. The desired effects can be achieved only by the cultivation of cultural values. Luxurious life in the States, as elsewhere, should not neglect the strong traits of character. 

ON WRITING THE THOUGHT OF A POEM

                The difficulty of a critical study of English literature, and for that matter of any living literature, is that it is constantly growing. In this process of growth, new dimensions are covered as the society grows and becomes more complicated. The Renaissance, the Industrial Revolution, the scientific and technological researches and in this nuclear age the landing of man on the moon, have affected the approach of thinking of every man  and specially the poets and writers who are more sensitive than the common man. Literature is the mirror of the society in which it is produced and as such the student of literature must also be a student of society – its social, economic and political problems – otherwise it would be too difficult to understand any poet or writer. This is true not for the complex social structure of the day but it was true in all ages and in all countries.

                The study of classical literature like the greek or sanskrit is a bit easier because one can have a detached and impersonal critical study of the writings of a particular age and country. This is not so for English literature because we have not only to cover from Yeats  and Eliot to Beowulf but have to study even American Poets who have written in a different step-up with quite a different back-ground and purpose, if we are allowed to say that all literature is or should be purposeful. Despite the fact that shakespeare had no political views and his like Milton and Dyden, we find him “deeply interested in the nature of kingship and authority, in statecraft and in men’s relation’s with each other in the sphere of public life….”.

                “It takes two to understand a word, “goes the saying and it is very true for us while studying the English literature. The use of ‘winter’, ‘spring’ and ‘summer’ in English poems may not give as a proper idea because in indian conditions we may not like to condemn winter or appreciate summer as the two seasons bring quite different feelings for us. While the flowers bloom at noon in England, they die out here at that time and one can easily jeer at a poet who writes about the blessings of noon. Sun-shine may be blessing for an Englishman but for most part of the year it is a curse for us. Thus, one has to be constantly at guard that he is studying the literature of a country which has different climatic and geographical conditions.

                Again , we have to be alert all the time about the meaning of terms like culture, love, progress and politics. They may mean something to the poet writing in England but may appear to be quit another to us sitting in India having quit  a different culture and hence different views and values regarding love, progress and politics. Thus, to be a student of English literature, one has to be a student of British ways of life and must have a knowledge of their interests and values of life not only of today but of the Victorian and Elizabethan days as well. He must also appreciate the change in interest and values with the changing times.

POEM2

Life is a Shylock; always it demands

The fullest ussrer’s interested for each pleasure.

Gifts are not freely scattered by its hand;

We make returns for every borrowed treasure.

Each talent, each acheivement, and each gain

Necessitates some penalty to pay.

Delight imposes lessitude and pain,

As certainly as darkness follows day.

All you bestow on causes or on men,

Of love or hate, of malice or devotion,

Somehow, sometime, shall be returned again-

There is no wasted toil, no laost emotion.

The motto of the world is give and take

It gives to favours- out of sheer goodwill,

But unless speedy recompense you make,

You’ll find yourself presented with its bill.

When rapture comes to thrill the heart of you,

Take it with tempered gratitude, remember,

Some later time the interest will fall due

No year bring June that does not bring, December.

The poet has presented the karma theory in very homely and interesting manner, but with a tinge of bitterness. He compares life of the world to Shylock, the exacting Jew of the Merchant of Venice, who charges exorbitant interest for any loan offered. The sum and substance of these lines is that there are no gains without pains. In the form of labour or hardship  we have to pay the price for every gift or pleasure that is bestowed upon us. As a matter of fact, the hardship and the pangs of pain that we experience outweigh the pleasures we receive. And then the irrevocable law of nature is that pain must follow pleasure as surely as day is followed by night. The poet then lays emphasis on the theory of cause and effect. Any action that we perform or any emotion that we harbour has sooner or later its repercussions, as we speak into a well the same echo shall reach our ears. The very structure of the universe is based on the formula of give and take. Pleasure and pain alternate.

The poet is a staunch believer in the doctrine of cause and effect. As we sow, so shall we reap. He exhorts us to take the stoic view on life- not to be overjoyed at opportunity of pleasure not to be found a hidden tings of Hardian philosophy in this utterance because like jude the obscure he would not like to smile at the bloom of flowers because he knew that it is so short-lived.