But have you ever tried to get your mind to wander? It’s about as easy as getting a cat to stay where you tell it to, or telling a toddler not to cry, or willing the heavy clouds not to rain on your picnic.
– by Kristin on May 5, 2010 (http://www.halfwaytonormal.com/?p=1058)
Kabir – The couplet
?? ????? ?? ?? ??, ??? ???? ??? ?? |
???? ????? ??? ???, ???? ??? ????||
transliterated:
Tan bohit man kag hai, lakh yojan udi jai |
Kabahu dariya agam bahi, kabahi gagan samai||
Translation:
The body is bound (to earth) but the mind can fly, many leagues at once |
Sometimes to distant lands, other times into the sky, unlimited in reach||
My understanding:
Each human being is a wonderful mixture of opposites, of different faces of the same coin, an admixture or reality and fantasy all bound into a single composite existent presentation.
The body is our host, our physical manifestation, and our presentation of the self to the physical world. This is bound by physical laws, and is slave to physical forces like gravity and ambient temperature. The mind, on the other hand is the free bird, untouched by either the pains or the pleasures of the physical flesh.
However, we often confuse one for the other, and therein is our undoing.
Desire makes us blur the distinction between the mind and body, and jealousy and craving make us believe the body can achieve the effortless aimless wandering of the mind.
Peace and satisfaction help center the mind in the body, so that both can be at the same place at the same time – which is the first step on the path to salvation, mukti, moksha, heaven or whatever other name we call our real goal by.
A clear understanding of this dichotomy and the need to center the mind in the body before doing anything else needs to be the first procedure in the attainment of the step to peace and satisfaction.