Atma chittam: This Shiv sutra conveys something very important

Day, night, clouds and colors all appear in the sky and later disappear. Similarly, the mind imagines many things, which disappear just as they came.

Just as the light fades away in the evening, anger also fades away. It is the same with envy. There is a limit to everything. When one thought arises, another falls away. Where does it go? All is in our mind. That mind is the Self. Clouds may cover the sky, but the purity of the sky remains untouched. Whatever may be the state of the mind, the Self is pure. There is no such thing as a bad self. As anger is a quality of the Divine, it is also a quality of the Self! That is why it is said, “Atma chittam” – the mind itself is the Self. The mind is part of the Divine.

When we say, “Do your sadhana,” it means sadhana needs to be done daily. This is because there are millions of cells in our brain. Some work today, and others work tomorrow just like workers take shifts in a factory. The factory is running continually, but the workers have shifts – they come, work and leave. Similarly, in our brain, neurons work in shifts. There are millions of neurons in your brain. For them to gain knowledge, all the neurons need to be trained. Why do we have to do sadhana regularly? It is because some neurons are trained today, others will get trained tomorrow and others will be trained the day after tomorrow. Through this process, one day you will reach perfection, siddhi. Do you understand?  This will happen only if japa chanting or meditation is done regularly. That is why this is emphasized to do sadhana every day. If you skip a day, then those cells that are on duty that day will not be trained. They will have to wait for their next turn, and until then, they sit there untrained. That is why our daily practice is necessary. “Atma chittam” – everything is of the very nature of the Self. This is a very valuable sutra, and when we understand it, it leads to discrimination and knowledge.