Day 7
The mind can never go where you are. A wave can never go to the depth of the ocean. By the time the waves go to the depth, it ceases to be a wave. So the mind can never come to you. The mind can never be you. That is why never mind! You are never the mind. It's superficial.
The moment that mind starts coming towards you, it is not a mind. That's why it's said, "Never Mind." You are accepted there, never the mind. Your mind can never go there. You know you have had this experience often.
The mind keeps on asking questions, "Why, why, why, why?" You feel that something is bothering you is your mind's stuff. At that moment there is alertness, and an awareness dawns. And then there is a relief in the mind. And the more you feel that your questions are just "mind's stuff", more and more you are aware and then, the questions just vanish. This is Abhyasa, this is practice.
In the next sutra, Patanjali says,
"The effort to be still and steady comes with practice. At some time you may realize that it is the moment. And then it vanishes. You feel that the moment had come and you lost it. You say, "Now," and then "Now" is lost.
It may not be right to say you have lost it but, in some sense, you feel you are not in the "Now." But, this effort is not just linear - this effort to be steadily established in the "Now" because of it. The "Now" is not linear. The "Now" is very deep and vast. The "Now", the present moment, is not just a point; not just a dot. It is infinity.
It is "Now" in all dimensions and from all sides. Practice gives stability in that moment - that is the purpose of practice. And how can that be arranged? How can that be achieved? Anything of value in life take some time to culture. To master an art - cooking, playing a guitar, sitar, or a flute - takes some time.
You cannot learn to play the flute in a day. It is not possible. To learn to play an instrument takes quite a while, and to master it even more. A coach is needed to teach how to play football. If you want to be a sportsman, you need a coach and you need practice. You need a coach in a gymnasium. You cannot make your body muscular overnight.
It takes quite a long time. The body has its own requirement of time for its growth. Similarly, the mind takes even longer for its growth. It takes some time to memorize something. In the same way, any practice takes some time. It need not be too long but sufficiently long and without interruption.
We usually learn something for a time and then stop. We will start again after some time. If we feel like doing it , we do, and don't do it if we do not want to; when we feel a little lazy. Then, the connection is broken, and what we want doesn't happen. Constant practice without a gap is essential.
If you go to the gymnasium for a couple of days and stop and then go again after some time, you will not achieve anything. You may practice on the piano for two days and lay off for two days and nothing is gained. Lack of consistency prevents you from learning any art.
Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji
PATANJALI YOGA SUTRAS
