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Yoga and Mind Control

The worst thing that can happen to mankind is insanity which will be result due the non-controlling power of mind. Non-control of mind hinders the assimilation of personality. Apart from having a strong sense of will, certain basic disciplines of yoga also help an individual in controlling his mind effectively.

The yoga scriptures insist that in order to control the mind an individual must practice the basic disciplines of yoga namely 'yama' and 'niyama'. Very confusing and uncommon terms, right! Well let make things easier to understand. The characteristics in an individual like truthfulness, non-stealing, non-killing and non-receiving of gifts are called Yamas; whereas the purification of both our external and the internal self, happiness, indignity, study and worship of the Gods and Almighty are the Niyamas. Obviously, one who is not yet the master of his mind will fail to observe some of these percepts. Yet the idea and concept of insisting on these practice of these particular virtues and disciplines helps in keeping the ideal before the practitioner, so that the inner strength may grow through self-effort. Even Patanjali - the great teacher of yoga says -
"Undisturbed calmness of mind is attained by cultivating the following four steps: (a.) Friendliness towards the happy. (b.) Compassion for the unhappy. (c.) Delight in the good. (d.) Indifference to the evil."

Now, the disposition of being happy at the happiness of others create a very soothing mental feeling and climate, in which wrong impulses like jealousy, stealing, hurting anybody cannot thrive. Service done in the proper attitude is purifying. It expands our hearts, and enhances our sense of identity with the whole, and liberates us from the cramping agony of our smallness. This leads to our inner joy. And finally, in the case of indifference to the evil, undoubtedly try and change evil personalities into good and fair one which is a very high and noble task.

Apart from Yoga, Meditation in God is also one of the most effective ways of controlling the mind. Meditation and control goes hand in hand. While meditating the mind must be riveted to something which is not only pure in itself but can also purify our inner feelings and thought through its power. If in any case, during meditation the mind gets diverted, one should immediately try to bring it back and place it on the object of meditation.

As human beings, we are endowed with the facility and super power of imagination. A great deal of our mental troubles and difficulties in controlling our mind arises from our habitual wrong use of this facility. It is a very common practice amongst us to frequently be indulged in day dreaming, wild, meaningless and purposeless speculation of things and incidents. When this becomes a daily habit, it becomes very impossible to control the mind. Thus, we require our imagination to be directed in the right and fair way and drive out the wrong ones.

The purest form of imagination is the thought of God. The more we cling to the thought of God, the less will be our troubles with the mind.

About the Author

Abhishek Lodha is the owner of MysticBoard.com, where he has launched a separate forum named Meditation and mind control. MB Free Subliminal Message - the software which helps in controlling the mind.

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