Note; this is an excerpt from a reply to a kindred inquirer, catching up on summer life.
Kate:
It has been so fortunate that I came to visit Ram a few months back. Spending time with my teacher has just been so cool… To witness firsthand a truly free being is incredible and I have so much to work with for my sadhana. The teachings continue to blow me away and steadily I’m chipping away at the ‘old habits of the mind’. I read a really beautiful satsang today by Swami Chinmayananda, he’s my Guru’s Guru…so my spiritual Grandfather you could say, here it is my dear friend;
‘How Can We Keep The Mind in a State of Tranquility?
Make it your habit to keep the mind in this attitude of inner tranquility. The outer world will always be full of contention, sorrow, birth and death – everything changing at every moment. It is made that way. It should be so. Known factors clash, unknown factors appear.
This is the nature of the world. But in your inner poise you have control. You can keep that control. With unnecessary mental worries you only create probelms outside and become more incompetent to face them. To move away from that inner tranquility is to sink to the animal level where there is no dignity for the human being. Because of its old habits the mind will go on, remembering past worries and anticipating problems for the future.
Refuse to come down from the peak of inner joy. Play with the outer problems. In the spiritless struggle of life, the one who has this poise always wins. Be ever watchful whether you are slipping from that peak of joy. Learn to rediscover this joyous mood while moving about and while talking to others. Even when failures from all sides grin at you, be ever drunk in your own joy.
For Self-development each one must independently strive, in and by himself. Externals such as Guru, temple, church, mosque, the great scriptures, study, penance, rituals, rules of conduct and so on, are all useful, but the essential factor is our own individual anxiety to improve our sincerity in self application for bringing about our own inner transformation. External assets may help in a transfusion of ideas, but transformation is the final state. This can only be achieved by the individual himself.’
