Preparing The Mind for Sadhana

When a student prepares to study mathematics or economics there is no need to prepare the mind in any special way. One has to merely have the aptitude, which may be examined by a psychologist. However, Vedanta demands a special preparation of the mind for spiritual sadhana. A study of mathematics or economics needs sharpness of mind but does not need purity of mind. But the main demand in spiritual pursuit is the purity of mind. Sadhana is the process of achieving this purity of mind and engaging oneself in the spiritual way of life with the objective of attaining liberation.

Liberation is only when we know our own nature as not different from the Supreme Reality, Brahman. It is said to be of the nature of unsurpassed bliss. All human happiness is infinitesimal compared to that, it is said. Hence, liberation is considered the highest human goal.

We may feel offended when we are told about the need to purify our minds. To understand the need for purity of mind we must know the nature of the goal. The object of pursuit is the Supreme Reality, also called Brahman. This Brahman is not a person but it is of the nature of infinitely existing consciousness, and absolute bliss, as we noted in some earlier articles. And because Brahman manifests as the whole creation, nothing in creation can be different from Brahman. Upanishads repeatedly say that jiva is not different from Brahman but jiva has forgotten his infinite and eternal nature and identifies with the limited body-mind complex and seeks happiness from worldly objects. All human happiness is alloyed with misery, and unalloyed bliss is only by realizing Brahman. On realization, the mind stops functioning at the limited level and thus breaks away from the cycle of birth and death, which is the cause of misery.

Thus, we see that the same mind which is the only tool to attain Brahman is also the obstacle in attaining It. When the mind is oriented towards the worldly pleasures, pursuits, or ego needs, it is the obstacle. When the mind realizes that it has to stop all external pursuits and engages itself in knowing its own nature and the nature of the Supreme Reality, it becomes the tool to know Brahman. This realization is the first great step in sadhana.

Why does the mind act truant? It is because it is a product of the five elements (panca-bhutas). These five elements have three constituents, known as gunas – sattva, rajas and tamas. These gunas influence the behaviour of all living beings. The physical body too is a product of the five elements, which also means the three gunas. The body-mind complex seeks fulfilment and happiness from the same external world with which it is made. The gunas give rise to our gentle or aggressive or offensive behaviour. All beings, called jivas, are driven by these three gunas and seek worldly happiness and achievements which are followed by misery.

All our worldly interactions leave some latent impressions on the mind, known as vasanas. These vasanas influence our further behaviour. Actions produce vasanas and vasanas produce further actions. These vasanas can get reinforced or modified over a period in one’s own lifetime. What about the vasanas of previous births? They too would have been modified over so many births. All these constitute the mind. We must empty our mind by getting rid of the vasanas. This involves great effort and inner transformation. The entire focus of Vedanta is to explain to us the different ways of cleaning our mind. In fact, the Gita is a compendium of such strategies – karma yoga, meditation, bhakti and so on to clean our mind.

It does not mean that scriptures expect all of us to renounce and become monks. They expect that we should have the higher goal at the back of our mind while performing our worldly actions. Our actions should not be obstacles in the process of realizing our nature and engaging on the path of sadhana.

(The writer is a former

DGP, Andhra Pradesh)