TEACHINGS OF SRI SARADA DEVI

CHAPTER-III; CONTROL OF THE MIND; PART-III

Sri Sarada Devi

17. "All is in the mind — purity, as also impurity, is in the mind."

18. "There is evil in your mind. That is why you can't find peace."

19. "It is a complex always to be suspecting impurities. The more you emphasize your obsession, the more obsessed you become. It is true of all things."

20. "He who has a pure mind sees everything pure."

"On moonlit nights I would look at the moon and pray, 'May my mind be pure as the rays of the moon!' or 'O Lord, there are stains even on the moon, but let my mind be absolutely stainless.'

22. "When I was at Vrindavan, I used to visit Vankubihari (Krishna in a bent pose) and prayed to him, 'Your form is bent, but Your mind is straight — kindly straighten the windings of my mind.'"

23. "Do the Master's work, and along with that practise spiritual disciplines too. Work helps one to keep off idle thoughts. Ifone is without work, such thoughts rush into one's mind."

24. "How can one's mind be healthy if one doesn't work? No one can spend all twenty-four hours in thought and medi tation. So one must engage oneself in work; it keeps the mind cheerful

25. Alluding to X___, Mother said, "Just see how impure her mind has become through idleness."

26. Disciple: "Some say that one achieves nothing through work. One can succeed in spiritual life only through Japa and meditation."

Mother: "How have they known as to what will give success and what will not? Does one achieve everything by practising Japa and meditation for a few days? Nothing whatever is achieved unless Mahamaya clears the path. Didn't you notice the other day that a person's brain became deranged because he forced himself to excessive prayer and meditation? If one's head becomes deranged, one's life becomes useless. The intelligence of a man is very precarious. It is like the thread of a screw. If one thread is loosened, then he goes crazy. Or he becomes entangled in the trap of Mahamaya and thinks himself to be very intelligent. He feels that he is quite all right. But if the screw is tightened in a different direction, one follows the right path and enjoys peace and happiness. One should always recollect God and pray to Him for right understanding. How many are there who can meditate and practise Japa all the time? At first they earnestly practise these disciplines, but their brains become heated in the long run by sitting constantly on their prayer rugs. They become very vain. They also suffer from mental worries by reflecting on different things. It is much better to work than to allow the mind to roam at large. For when the mind gets a free scope to wander, it creates much confusion. My Naren thought of these things and wisely founded institutions where people would do disinterested work." 

SOURCE: saradadevi.info