Have Contentment
The mind is ease-loving, easy-going and happy-go-lucky. You must check this nature. The desire for ease and comfort is ingrained in the mind. Aspirants should be very cautious and careful. Do not try to fulfill your desires. This is one way of controlling the mind.
You must not take back those things which you have once renounced. Whenever you give up an object, the desire for that particular object becomes keen and strong for a few days. It agitates your mind. Keep quiet. Stand firm. It gets thinned out and dies eventually. Whenever the mind hisses to get back the objects that are rejected, raise the rod of Viveka (power of discrimination). It will lower down its hood. It will keep quiet.
You must not give indulgence or leniency to the mind. If you increase your wants even by one article, the articles will begin to swell in number. Luxuries will come one by one. If you allow it to take one luxury today, it wants two tomorrow. Luxuries will increase daily. It will become like an over-fondled child. Spare the rod and spoil the child; this also applies to the mind. It is worse than the child. You will have to punish it by fasting for every serious mistake it does. Keep the organs in their proper places. Do not allow them to move an inch. Raise the rod of Viveka whenever an organ hisses to raise its head. By this practice you will get a concentrated mind. Those who, without longing for objects, avoid them can be termed the subjugated of their minds.
Those who are not content with anything that comes in their way are of weak minds only. Santosha (contentment in the mind) is a very great virtue. “Santoshat paramam labham - by contentment, you will have great gain.” It is one of the four sentinels of the vast domain of Liberation. If you have this virtue, it will lead to the attainment of association with the wise, inquiry of Self and peace.
When you do not want to store things for tomorrow, It is the mental state of a true renounced person. A renounced person has no thought of tomorrow; whereas a householder has, on the opposite. We must be as free as a lark which has no thoughts of tomorrow.
Take Everything as it Comes
Take everything as it comes, instead of complaining. By this means, one seizes every opportunity. One develops easily, gains a great deal of mental strength and evenness of mind.
Irritability vanishes. Power of endurance and patience will develop. If you have to live amidst noise, do not complain of it, but profit by it. One may make use of outer disturbances for the practice of concentration. You must develop the power to work undisturbed by whatsoever may happen nearby. The power comes with practice and it is then useful in a variety of ways. To learn to work under different conditions means progress and a great deal of mental control.
Reference
Mind – Its Mysteries and Control by Sri Swami Sivananda
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