The Art Of Detoxifying The Mind
How can we detoxify it? It is an art. It is called – ‘Moving from Mind to Consciousness’ – and to do this, we need Spiritual practices. One who wants to go on a Spiritual Path and detoxify life, realizes a simple truth that the mind doesn't exist. It is nothing but a bundle of thoughts and as long as in thought, we're caught, thoughts will pour like rain, only to push us down the drain and make us suffer, again and again.
So, what does the mind do? It creates fear, worry, stress, anxiety, regret, shame and guilt. The mind is a monster. It is a monkey, jumping from a ‘yesterday’ that is gone to a ‘tomorrow’ that is not yet born. And because of this constant jumping of the mind, we end up living a toxic life. In fact, why do we need an art of detoxifying the mind? We need it because we know that the mind itself is toxic. What is the mind? The mind is made up of M-I-N-D thoughts – Miseries, Ignorance, Negativity and Desires. And if you want to eliminate the mind, you must stop these toxic thoughts. The mind is more dangerous than the deadly weapon – AK-47. The mind-weapon is called MK-50 because the mind shoots about 50 thoughts per minute at us, most of which are toxic and negative thoughts. These thoughts go up to 50,000 thoughts in a day. Such is the toxicity and fatality of this weapon.
So how can we detoxify this mind? If we want to detoxify the mind, there is only one way to kill the mind – ‘We must still the mind!’ We have to consciously, with effort, slow down the thoughts. And as we slow down our thoughts, through meditation, silence or contemplation, we will evolve on the path of Spirituality.
What happens when you detoxify the mind? In a state of ‘no mind’, Thoughtlessness or Mindfulness, there is Awareness in Consciousness. In this state of Awareness, our intellect is activated. Our intellect shines in Consciousness and helps us discriminate our thoughts – good or bad, right or wrong, etc. Our intellect blocks the mind and locks the mind from creating any more toxic thoughts. It is like a dam that is built to stop a gushing river. The mind is nothing more than a gushing river and when we build this dam of intellect in a state of Consciousness, and lock it with the intellect, only then the toxic mind is put to rest. But we must also remember that our mind is like a Phoenix. It can rise from its own ashes. If we are not careful and we slip off from the state of Consciousness, the mind will come back gushing and bombard us with its toxic thoughts.
Spirituality is needed to still the mind and to kill our mind. We need Spiritual practices like meditation, praying, chanting, silence or contemplation. These Spiritual practices not only enable us to observe our mind, still our mind, slow down our Mental Thought Rate and reach the state of Consciousness but help us to remain in that state too. Only then, will we experience a state of Eternal Bliss, also known as SatChitAnanda. SatChitAnanda is Truth Consciousness that creates Ananda or Eternal Bliss.
Therefore, if we want to develop the art of detoxifying the mind, we must first realize that the mind is something that we cannot find because it is a bundle of thoughts. When we, with effort, cut down our thoughts, we will get mental clarity. We must remember that toxic thoughts will attack and when such a thought comes, we must consciously – ‘Stop it, Crop it, Chop it and Drop it.’ We must do this, again and again, till such time that the mind is disabled. Silence and keeping the body still for meditation is the simplest of all Spiritual Practices for then, you watch the mind and its thoughts. You become a witness and an observer. And as you become a witness and an observer, the mind becomes conscious. The bundle of toxic thoughts then ceases to attack us, the toxic effect of the mind is reduced and we will find peace.
Ultimately, remember this – ‘Where there is a piece of mind, there will be no peace of mind. Where there is the mind, there is no peace and where there is peace, there's no mind.’ Hence, we must all learn to still the mine and kill the mind. It is a simple method. You will find peace and will also evolve in the path of spirituality.
