4. Still the Mind, Don't let it walk!
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Ramana Maharishi, an enlightened master who lived in 20^th century in India, used simple but unusual ways to bring awareness to his disciples.
When disciples visited him, he used to tell his followers go round the hill and the hillock on which he lived.
People used to ask: ‘Sir, why are you asking us to go around the hill? Why can't we sit and meditate?’
He says: ‘if you sit your mind will wander. At least if you walk, your mind will be still.’ He says beautifully: ‘when you sit for meditation, you can be sure your mind will be walking. Its Better if you walk. You will see the mind stills. Mind will sit.’ We might think that it doesn’t apply for us. We are wrong. We no longer feel or become aware of whatever we do.
For example, do you know what you ate today morning. No, not the name of the food you ate. We are talking about what details was recorded when you ate. We cannot recall how we felt when we ate it. Nothing is recorded. Nothing is enjoyed. Our mind is just like a wave. When we are living through our mind, we are living on another plane. When we brush our teeth we are already planning what to do at work. When we eat our breakfast we are already at the workplace. In the mind when we are at working we are already back at home. When we are back at home our mind has already planned for tomorrow's office work. This is simply a vicious circle. It is a never-ending vicious circle. We live in one way but our mind is working in the other way. Our mind and body are not working in coordination with each other. Our body and the mind do not fit into each other. Neither our body nor our mind lives where we physically live. We live in one place physically but our mind lives in another place, even another plane. If we are here, in this position, the only truth we can be sure of is that we are actually not here. We should experience everything we do consciously. Be aware of every act. If we brush our teeth, we should recall the cold water touching our mouth. We should remember the taste of the toothpaste in our mouth and the pressure of toothbrush upon our gums. We should recall how it felt after brushing. Let us be alive, aware and vibrant every moment.