Page 21 - Dawn of Reality an Exposition of REALITY AT DAWN of Sri Ramchandraji Maharaj

household life in which possession of things and worldly ties are indispensable is no impediment in the way of renunciation and consequently of realization, only if one is not unduly attached to the objects he is connected with. There are numerous examples of saints having attained the highest degree of perfection leading a household life all through. Renunciation is in fact a condition or an inner state of mind, which brings to our view the transitory and changing character of things and creates a feeling of non- attachment with such objects. His eyes are fixed every moment on Reality, which is unchanging and eternal, and he is free from feeling of attraction and repulsion. This is Vairagya (renunciation) in the true sense of the term. When we have achieved this state of mind we are free from desires. We feel contented with what is available to us. The end of desires means the stopping of the formation of Samskaras. What remains now is only to undergo the effect (Bhog) of the previously formed samskaras (impressions) that are to be worked out during the course of our life. Nature too helps us in the work by creating field for Bhog in order to remove the impressions of our thoughts and actions from the causal body. When those coverings melt away we begin to assume finer forms of existence.
In order to control our thoughts and actions we have to look to the proper working of the mind, which is never at rest even for a moment. I have often heard religious teachers railing at it in bitterest terms, ascribing all bad names to it and proclaiming it to be our worst enemy. The reason is quite plain. They think it to be the cause of all evil within us, and consequently they advise people to crush it and not to follow its biddings. But generally people find it a hard task to restrain the diverse activities of the mind, or to disregard its biddings. Their theoretical advice and lectures in this respect are, therefore, not of much avail to them and almost none of those attending their lectures has ever been able to achieve the object in a practical way. Besides the present circumstances and the environments too contribute much towards the ever- increasing activities of the individual mind. Almost everyone, today, feels his life to be a hard struggle for existence confronting acute problems of poverty, insecurity, distress and rivalry and it is almost impossible to keep himself free from its effects. The result is the constant unrest and disturbance of mind. We breathe in the same thing from the atmosphere and are consequently led away by circumstances and surroundings. Our individual mind has become the weathercock, turning its face at every blast towards the direction in which the wind blows. The real hero in the struggle is one, who braves them courageously and keeps oneself free from their effect.
I, no doubt, agree with those who say that every evil has its origin in the mind and which alone is, therefore, responsible for it, though at the same time I may remind them that it is the very same mind that leads us to virtue and also