Watch the mind

Watch the mind 

One way of practicing Meditation is to watch the mind.

Here is a useful method prescribed by Ramana Maharshi. To a devotee He says, “Watch the mind. You must stand aloof from it. You are not the mind. And the Self will remain ever.“

When a desire is fulfilled, the mind becomes quiet, and so there is happiness. But the mind becomes restless again and desires something else. And so the chase goes on, without end. Since we figured out that happiness comes, not from the objects, but by being quiet and peaceful, why not abide in that state directly? So say the Sages who have succeeded in accomplishing this.

For this, first we must convince ourselves that it is the mind that causes us to lose our happiness. Because the mind wanders, there is agitation or break in our peacefulness, and that causes restlessness and unhappiness. Then, we have to train the mind not to wander about and look for happiness outside ourselves. To achieve this, one of the methods of meditation is to watch the mind without getting involved in any thought.

In the beginning, the mind or thoughts will slip away and wander as usual. That’s okay. As soon as we reaiize that it has wandered, then and there we should bring it back to just being a witness to the thoughts.

We must sit down regularly, in a quiet place, in a comfortable position in comfortable clothing, either on a chair or on the floor. We should close our eyes and look at the mind with the mind. Early morning or first thing in the morning is preferable, because the mind is still not totally engrossed in worldly affairs. But any time is okay, and it is each one’s convenience and preference.

Success will come gradually by more and more practice. It is like practicing anything else. The more we practice and more often we practice, the more we will get better at it. In this effort, “Practice makes Perfect” is literally true!