When a house or a complicated machine is on fire, the first sensible thing to do is to put off the main switch.
When the human machine is on fire - with anger, sorrow, depression or passion, the position is very similar. As surely as a fire damages or destroys a house, an uncontrolled passion, anger, etc., damage or destroy the body and this may spread to other bodies as well. I have noticed how suicide is the extreme end result of any of these fires. One can observe the crippling effects of one of these emotions.
I am learning that there are two things to be done:
1. To be able to detect the earliest signs of these fires (like one smells smoke); to know that poor insulation or short-circuit may be the cause of the fire, or will be the result, adding to further damage. Therefore to know where the main switch is.
2. By observation, I have learnt that almost all my actions are the result of keywords - sit, stand, come at eight, good fellow, fool - words which set in motion a whole complex chain of reactions in my body, from gross to subtle. Some words are capable of starting these fires. Therefore, others must be capable of blocking them. Some other words might be capable of arousing antidotal beneficent reactions.
Therefore, if my whole behaviour is controlled by keywords, and the degree of their effectivity as controllers is proportional to the length of time and other reinforcing factors, and my body seems to be helplessly driven by these words, I must learn one keyword or phrase which can act as a main switch to stop the whole system, and which can effectively and immediately set in motion something like jets of water directed at the fire.
So, since I am living in the midst of fires, I must at once begin to learn this most important thing - a key phrase, a master switch which will act instantaneously. By constant use and with skill I shall try to see that the various parts and functions of my body come under its control. Perhaps this is the proper, operational use of mantra.
When the human machine is on fire - with anger, sorrow, depression or passion, the position is very similar. As surely as a fire damages or destroys a house, an uncontrolled passion, anger, etc., damage or destroy the body and this may spread to other bodies as well. I have noticed how suicide is the extreme end result of any of these fires. One can observe the crippling effects of one of these emotions.
I am learning that there are two things to be done:
1. To be able to detect the earliest signs of these fires (like one smells smoke); to know that poor insulation or short-circuit may be the cause of the fire, or will be the result, adding to further damage. Therefore to know where the main switch is.
2. By observation, I have learnt that almost all my actions are the result of keywords - sit, stand, come at eight, good fellow, fool - words which set in motion a whole complex chain of reactions in my body, from gross to subtle. Some words are capable of starting these fires. Therefore, others must be capable of blocking them. Some other words might be capable of arousing antidotal beneficent reactions.
Therefore, if my whole behaviour is controlled by keywords, and the degree of their effectivity as controllers is proportional to the length of time and other reinforcing factors, and my body seems to be helplessly driven by these words, I must learn one keyword or phrase which can act as a main switch to stop the whole system, and which can effectively and immediately set in motion something like jets of water directed at the fire.
So, since I am living in the midst of fires, I must at once begin to learn this most important thing - a key phrase, a master switch which will act instantaneously. By constant use and with skill I shall try to see that the various parts and functions of my body come under its control. Perhaps this is the proper, operational use of mantra.
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