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The first and foremost means is the right understanding of the mind-to comprehend it, to know it and to be acquainted with it. It is the first step on the journey to mental peace. Until our knowledge of the mind is perfect, all our attempts to attain peace and joy are condemned to failure. Because he who does not understand the mind, would seek peace in outward things. All pleasure emanating from material objects ultimately gives way to dissatisfaction. To remove that dissatisfaction, the mind turns to some other object and the cycle goes on. The irresistible longing for peace almost turns a man into an imbecile.
Man suffers the consequences of his mental approach, but knows little about his mind. And how will he who does not know his mind, ever come to know its movement, its restlessness and the extreme unrest flowing from it? And he who does not know the disturbance within, will not be able to find a remedy for it. In view of this, the man who aspires after mental peace must consider what the mind is. What is the essence of restlessness? Why does it exist? And what is disquiet and why it is there? And is it possible to eradicate it? Primarily, an enquiry into these problems is the most direct way to the attainment of mental peace.
Q. In the context of mental peace, you posed certain questions which must be first resolved. Will you kindly explain it a little more? What, in your opinion, is meant by the mind? What is the cause of its restlessness?
Ans.
The mind is a stratum of consciousness. It is the originator of memory, imagination and thought. All these three are forms of restlessness. The mind is never stable. All its activity is fickle. Inconstancy is the essence of its being. That is why it has been said: the meditation
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