Question: Scriptures and
wise men speak of the inner self as good and beautiful and in every way
perfect, and of the body as mere reflection, more of a shadow of the real me.
Not the truth. On the other hand they help the
person with his welfare too. If the body is so unimportant, why be so concerned
with its welfare?
Answer: Body and Self both exist and in-between these two, exists the Mind. It is this mind where Self gets reflected. Mind is like a mirror. God dwells in the Self, it is this mirror “Mind” where we get to see him. But our mind carries lot of imperfections. Because of the imperfections of the mind, restlessness, lack of insight, we take ourselves to be the body, not the Self. And because of other imperfections like greed, jealousy, hatred, etc, our mind remains covered with dusts which never let us see the refection of that Supreme Being. To realize the Self and see God all that is needed is to purify the mind. When the mind merges in the Self, the body presents no problem. It remains what it is, an instrument of action. The ultimate value of the body is that it serves to discover the cosmic body, which is the universe in its entirety. Hence caring of the body is also important.
Answer: Body and Self both exist and in-between these two, exists the Mind. It is this mind where Self gets reflected. Mind is like a mirror. God dwells in the Self, it is this mirror “Mind” where we get to see him. But our mind carries lot of imperfections. Because of the imperfections of the mind, restlessness, lack of insight, we take ourselves to be the body, not the Self. And because of other imperfections like greed, jealousy, hatred, etc, our mind remains covered with dusts which never let us see the refection of that Supreme Being. To realize the Self and see God all that is needed is to purify the mind. When the mind merges in the Self, the body presents no problem. It remains what it is, an instrument of action. The ultimate value of the body is that it serves to discover the cosmic body, which is the universe in its entirety. Hence caring of the body is also important.
Question: How to purify the mind? Our thoughts, actions, everything is
controlled by mind. And if this mind is covered with dust, how can it in turn
purify itself. Isn’t that ironical? When floor gets dirty, we use a cloth to
sweep and clean. But if the cloth is dirty, we know it won’t clean the floor
properly.
Answer: Yes it is the mind which is behind all our actions. Mind unless
pure would result in the vices we show. Yet it is this mind itself which needs
to get into action to purify itself. And for that what is needed is “Satsang”.
Spending time with people with good thoughts, spending time reading scriptures,
listening to good music, they all add to Satsang. Satsang acts as the clean
clothe to wipe out the dust that is deposited in our mind. Try practicing it
and you’ll find with time it becomes a habit if you are honest. You’ll start
thinking of God even while doing your daily chores. Thinking of God will become
a habit, a part of life and you won’t need to put in labour to do so. That is
when cleansing of mind happens and you get to see the Self, see God.
