[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

and at other times one is in a mood of joy. There is often
dejection and melancholy. Small unhappy events easily put
out people, though all the while they might have been happy.
Suddenly, also, they may be elated due to some joyful news
conveyed to them. These are waves which arise in the lake of
the mind due to the movement of the wind of desire in
different directions. The mind dances to the tune of the
senses.
55
There have been instances where seekers, for a long
time, appeared to be sense-controlled persons and then
began to indulge in unwanted activity. Sometimes, when no
progress is tangible, one may think that one s efforts have all
gone waste; but then suddenly one may realize also a great
joy. This happened in the case of the Buddha. He lost hopes
even on the day previous to that of his illumination. He had
decided that his end had come. But the bubble burst the next
day, and light dawned. Seekers may go down or go up on the
path winding like a hill-road, with many descents and
ascents. The student of yoga should be vigilant and should
not make decisions or pass judgments by looking at the
moods of the mind day by day. Things may appear all-right
for a time; but there may also be a cyclone of emotions
subsequently, shattering one s hopes and expectations. This
is the guerilla warfare that the desireful senses wage when
one tries to control them or restrict their activity. When we
constantly watch the senses, they show resentment and react
and want to jump upon us. None tolerates restriction on
one s freedom.
Whatever be the condition of desire - sleep, attenuation
or interruption - it is still there, and has not gone. It can gain
strength at a convenient time. We may go on pouring water
over fire with a view to extinguish it, but if a spark is left,
though the large fire is put out, it may create a huge
conflagration again. This happens often in forests, with a
small log of wood smouldering in a corner. The spark that is
left manifests itself in an opportune moment. Though the
desire may be thin, it is not destroyed, and becomes powerful
when suitable circumstances present themselves.
Desire, when it is placed wholly in favourable
circumstances, becomes fully active (udara) and then one
cannot do anything with it, as with the wild forest fire. The
raging flames cannot be put out with a bucketful of water.
The student s little discrimination will get extinguished due
to the might of desire. The whole world is fire, said the
Buddha. Experience is the fire of desire; the eyes are this fire
burning, the ears and the other senses are burning with
56
desire. The mind and the faculties have been caught up in
this fire. The world is a burning pit of live coal, according to
the Buddha. The four conditions mentioned are only a broad
division of the working of desire. But it has many other forms
in which it may lie concealed or act. The mind creates certain
mechanisms within itself for its defence against attack from
yoga. It runs away from the spot where it can be observed
and the student might miss his aim. And it can follow any of
the four techniques mentioned already. It can divert its
activity along another channel altogether. This is one of the
defence-mechanisms of the mind. If the student in a higher
state of mind observes that the lower mind is attached to an
object, there will naturally be vigilance kept over it. But it
employs a shrewd device of giving up that object and deftly
clinging to something else, thus creating an appearance that
the attachment has gone. Loves are shifted from one centre
to another. The student might find himself in a fool s
paradise, if proper caution is not exercised here. He might
think that the affection has been snapped, while it is as hard
as before, only fixed in another centre. The river has taken a
different course and is inundating another village. When a
tiger is being pursued, one does not know on whom it will
pounce.
The mind also can resort to another method, different
from this common technique. If one is persistent in spotting
out the desire wherever it goes, it might stop going to any
outer object, but be internally contemplating on the desired
end. There can be enjoyment of an object within, if all other
avenues are obstructed. One can imagine the objects and
acquire a psychological satisfaction when all other channels
are blocked. If the best is not available, the mind gets
satisfaction in the next best, and if nothing is given, it will [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]