Bangalore, India
The mind and all its paraphernalia are like the branches. And all the different types of rhythms in life, all the different emotions, etc., are like the leaves. They don’t stay permanently, they wither away.
So, if you are focusing on the leaves, and you forget to water the roots, then the tree will not remain.
So, it says, ‘Asvattham enam su-virudha-mulam asanga-sastrena drdhena chittva’
(Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 15, Verse 3).
Notice that you are not these different emotions, these different aspects of life. Feel the distance from all these branches and retrieve back. That is what it is saying.
Otherwise we get so immersed in the outer, that we forget the main root.
You need to prune the tree otherwise it goes here and there. So prune all that, and know that your origin is somewhere up.
Adi Shankaracharya has said this beautifully, ‘Suramandirtarumoolanivaasah sayyaa bhootalamajinam vaasah sarvaparigraha bhogatyaagah kasya sukham na karoti viraagah’
He is saying, ‘My original place is in heaven, I have come here just for few days; just to have fun. Today I have just come for the purpose of relaxing, but this is not my original place, it is somewhere else.’
The thought itself – My home is somewhere else, I have just come to visit, creates a distance inside you.
This world is a transit lounge.
You know, in airports and railway stations there are lounges, and in a lounge what do you do?
You keep your luggage and start eating. You use the bathroom and everything, but you don’t open your suitcase and hang your clothes all over the place. You don’t do that in a transit lounge. You keep your things packed.
So this world is just a transit lounge. Don’t mistake it to be your home.
The intelligent people don’t elaborate on anything too much. They only give little clues as essence.
It is said, ‘Alpaksharam asandigdham sara-vat visvato-mukham.’
Alpaksharam means, just a few words.
Sutras are like that; it has the essence and is multi-dimensional. It has many dimensions. And that is how intelligent people communicate, with just a few words.
Only the less intelligent will give long explanations for nothing.
Some of the books that you read, they go on for pages after pages after pages. I tell you, all that they need to write is one line. That is it!
All the ancient Rishis, that is what they did.
‘Heyam dukham anagatam’; that is it, finished!
‘Tada drastuh svarupe vasthanam’; finished!
There is nothing higher or nothing lower; this ladder disappears.
Just imagine you are in space, in the universe. Where is up and where is down? Where is east and west? There is nothing. There is no higher or lower.
If your adrenal gland starts working very fast, then you feel fear and nervousness. All those emotions rise up.
So different hormones or different glands produce different emotions. It is neither this or that, it is everything together.
My son has been diagnosed with bipolar for five years. He is my only son and I have been suffering every moment of his pain. I was a very happy woman before this but now I am on 150mg of anti-depressants.
Now, I want you to assure me there will be no sicknesses like manic depression or any other sicknesses that are incurable.
Sometimes a little depression comes and a person is given heavy doses of medicines and then it becomes worse. I have seen this happening.
Small simple depression turns into manic depression and then they put them on Lithium. The whole medical fraternity is so confused about this issue. That is why mental health is so important.
All of you here, you should put your children and your friend’s children into the Art Excel, YES and YES+ programs. Somehow make them do pranayama and meditation.
Do you know how this happens? First there is a little stress in the mind, and then that starts building up and building up and then it becomes so big that it snaps all the important connections in the brain. That is how the whole thing starts.
We need to attend to this at a very early stage. Prevention is better that cure. And to prevent this you need to keep your children happy and teach them how to handle their negative emotions and the negativity in them. This is very important.
This is what Lord Krishna says, ‘Among the tree, I am Ashvattha’, (Peepal or Bodhi tree).
The Bodhi tree is so significant because all 24 hours a day, it gives out only oxygen. So it is very good to have this tree in front of your home.
There are people who say that it is not very good to have a Tamarind tree in front of the house. I don’t know what vibration it has, but this is what is said.
Now if there is a Tamarind tree in front of your home, I would say, don’t cut it down, just plant something else around it.
