The topic by itself is a paradox! The mind at any given point of the day for most of us is inherently chaotic. Hence, the activity is not progressing in any particular direction, in essence its directionless. Like floatsam, or a  piece of driftwood…its picked up and thrown back, picked up and thrown back and the process continues repeatedly.

The ultimate result being that the driftwood is bent out of shape. The truth my dear friends is, that piece of driftwood is essentially us.  If we do not choose to exercise control over our life, that is what will happen to us.

Alternately,  what one has to do is pick a log off the beach, fix a mast and a sail and take off wherever u need to go. Hence, the process of contemplation in itself is a process of not stilling the mind but making the mind active in a productive manner, in a focused manner. Hence the term contemplation is not referring to introspection or retrospection. Although both of these are very common tools that are utilised. But they don’t define what contemplation is all about. The contemplation here is more of a self discipline process. Of bringing the mind and its entire array of strength into the direction that u choose.  The trick is to recognize that.

Unfortunately because of our exposure, to western philosophy we believe, the mind is out of our reach. That it is sacrosanct in a theosophical sense. An uncontrolled mind, a mind that cannot focus, a mind that is in essence in the reins of any force that flows through your life is your greatest obstacle and hindrance. It is in fact your enemy. It will resist you just as any body part would after you, having ignored it over a period of time, suddenly decided to exercise. If you pick up weights today, your muscles will resist. You body will spend the next 24 hours screaming in pain.

The mind is similar. It is going to rebel, scream and buck, as you try to use it and stretch it to its limit. The unfortunate thing is that you can be immensely intelligent and reasonably successful. Hence you could actually fool your self into thinking that u have your mind under control simply because you are able to get it to do what u want it to do under a specific parameter. The simple act of silence being done continuously everyday is harder for most people than climbing Mount Everest.  It’s a challenge that people who have supposedly attained spiritual elevation will find almost impossible to surpass. And for those of us who are in the midst of society per se it can be indeed our waterloo.

But not attempting it is worse. For, it leaves us at the mercy of the vagaries of nature. And our final recourse will be to resort to astrology, the stars the sun the moon or any other sign of inference out there to try and make sense of our lives. The answer is not in reading tarot cards. The answer lies within.  In the words of the eminent, beloved Mother Teresa- God’s Voice is clearest in Silence.

For those of you who choose not to believe in the lord, the voice of reason, conscience, and the voice of truth is clearer in silence.  It is in fact the greatest agony for most of us to be in silence for any length of time By silence here I am referring to a conscious silence, as opposed to an unconscious silence. Not when you are sleeping or watching a movie. Conscious silence is where one recognizes that you have nothing to do. Sitting outside the principal’s office waiting to be called in can be agonizing. It seems like every minute is drawn out painstakingly.  We find it so difficult to control the mind. We get restless and irritated and frustrated. We get annoyed that we are made to wait. We feel that somehow we are at the mercy of the waiting process.  Again the reality is if you are in control, then time is yours.  If you are not in control, you will always be seeking time, chasing time, trying to find time. Any definition you can choose.