Harmony of All Religions

Author(s): Parmahans Maharaj, Veena Rani Howard
Publisher: USA Santmat Society of North America

Page 92

once, but only the specific ones chosen by the mind. In this way the desires of the mind are satiated by the activity of the five sense organs and the physical organs.
In the Katha Upanishad Yama tells Nachiketa:
The master of the senses is the mind.
How can this mind be controlled? For this purpose shama (calmness; control of desires) and dama (control of senses; restraining the organs of perception) are employed. To control the senses, the practice of dama is required; and to control the mind shama is required.24 Until one practices shama and dama, one cannot control the senses or the mind. The senses feed the information to the mind, and then, the mind becomes active. For example: Where our eyes are focused, so there will be our mind. As our eyes act, so the mind follows. When our eyes are not active, for example looking at an object or person, then our mind also stops. When we are reading a book we focus on what is written. But if we fall asleep while reading, then we no longer have a focus for the mind. Thus, when the eyes are open, the mind is active, but when the eyes are closed, we are no longer aware of what we were reading. After some time, when we awaken, our mind becomes active and we can return to reading
again.
83