Traffic jams are a fact of life in most cities. Almost everyone who has lived in a city or visited one has experienced being stuck in the middle of vehicles inching along at a snail’s pace.
How do we feel in a traffic jam? We are powerless to get out of it or move as fast as we would like to. The helplessness causes impatience, irritation, frustration or despair, espe-cially if we are going to an important meeting or to catch a train or a flight.
A common reaction to such a situation is to blame others. We may blame the government for not building wider roads, dismiss the traffic police as incompetent for letting the jam occur or even wonder why the other motorists do not use public transport. We may also rue having taken that route or chosen that hour to travel. The result of all this is upheaval in the mind.
Something similar happens when we experience a traffic jam in our minds. Such a jam occurs when we think too much and have little control over our thoughts. The thoughts come fast and the mind is swept along in their flow, seemingly incapable of stopping the thoughts or changing their direction. When this ordeal ends, much time and mental ener-gy have been lost and we feel exhausted.
A traffic jam in the mind occurs when we have waste or negative thoughts. One example of this is worrying about the future. We start creating all sorts of negative scenarios we might possibly face, and get stressed by merely thinking about them. When the mind is mired in such thoughts, we feel as if one is actually experiencing those negative situations even though they are just a figment of the imagination.
Even in the face of a difficult situation in real life, if one gets overwhelmed by it, one may get drawn into a whirlpool of negative thinking that will rob one of the ability to dis-cern correctly, think rationally, and arrive at the right judgment. One would be left con-fused, weak, angry or despondent.
What is needed at such times is the ability to see things as they are, decide on the best course of action, and take the necessary steps calmly, without being upset or upsetting others. Faced properly, no situation can really cause distress. It is when we get on the track of negative thinking that we are carried away by our thoughts and make matters worse. Positive thoughts, by their very nature, are slow, few in number, and empowering.
To avoid creating a traffic jam of thoughts, we need to learn the art of positive thinking, which will steer us away from the mental track that leads to negativity.
Rajyoga meditation teaches us to create healthy thoughts and channel our mental energies in the right direction. The basis of Rajyoga is remembering that we are spiritual beings or souls, not bodies. All souls are children of the Supreme Soul, who is supremely peaceful, loving, benevolent, and almighty. As His children, we have a claim on His powers and virtues. When we remember Him with the awareness of who we are and our relationship with Him, we are able to connect with Him mentally. Through this mental link flow His love, peace, purity, and power, cleansing and empowering the soul. Regular practice of Rajyoga makes the soul capable of facing anything undauntedly, without creating a traf-fic jam in the mind.
B.K. Mruthyunjaya is Executive Secretary of the Brahma Kumaris.
