By Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar | Posted: February 18, 2020
What happens when you take your mind away from the little desires and thoughts that disturb you? Where there’s no wind blowing, the flame of the candle is stationary. In the same way, your mind remains stationary, focused. Your mind becomes like a laser beam.
The bliss of the self
With the power of yoga, many abilities will dawn in you. You will become more powerful. Even to enjoy the best, you need to have merit or ability, and yoga gives you that ability. In that state, the yogi is in bliss. He enjoys everything he’s doing. He loves the state he’s in; he’s intoxicated, enjoying the bliss of the self. Joy is the nature of our spirit.
Whenever we feel happy, in those moments consciously or unconsciously, we get in touch with our spirit. For a fraction of a moment, we get in touch with the spirit, but then we think it is because of objects that we were happy.
A fraction of a second
When you first hear music from a flute, there is a thrill that rises in you, or when you see beautiful scenery and you say “Wow!” In that moment of “Wow!”, for a fraction of a second your mind becomes blank, you don’t feel your body, you don’t feel where you are, what you are.
That moment, whether it is from food, or sight, sound, touch, smell – in that moment you are getting in touch with the Self. So things are beautiful, enjoyable, pleasant, but forgetting that inner state, if we hold on just to the object, in a few minutes, it no longer gives us that much pleasure or joy. While you think, “This object is giving me pleasure,” a little while later the same thing turns out to be painful.
A little effort
Then, we continue as a habit, without getting that initial “Wow, great!” But the yogi experiences “Wow, great!” every moment, because he is in touch with the source of joy deep within. Nothing comes without a price. You need to make a little effort and the effort is: moderation, balance and restraint from other small desires to attain something big.
This piece was previously posted on Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s Wisdom Blog.
