They say that if you can conquer the mind, you can conquer the world. In other words, we can become masters of the self. So, it is worth taking time each day to see what the state of my mind is. It has been said that the difference between prayer and meditation is that prayer is when I talk to God, and meditation is when God talks to me. But for me to be able to listen to what God is saying, I need to have a silent mind, a quiet mind. Do I allow God to talk to me or is my mind so busy and chattering all the time about this and that, that I do not give God the chance to speak to me?
Silence of the mind is not stopping thinking or suppressing thoughts or making the mind blank. A silent mind is full, not empty – an empty vessel makes the most noise! A silent mind is not judging, commenting, criticising; there are no thoughts of attraction, desires or attachments. The image that comes to mind when I think of silence is a calm lake that has not even one ripple on the surface and yet is deep and powerful. To achieve this state of mind I need to go into the essence of being – just ‘I am’.
I am a being of peace. I, the soul, am silent. My religion is peace. I am the child of the ocean of peace and a resident of the land of peace. This consciousness of being a soul cools the sense organs. When I am in soul consciousness, the mind is calm, and the body is cool.
A silent mind does not need to overthink. Overthinking is a sickness of the mind. A silent mind will know what is the right thing to do, and when it is done there will be no further thinking.
A silent mind will be light, and that silence and light will automatically connect me to God, who is also full of light and power. I can then detach from situations and simply observe in peace and love and all actions that spring from that state of being will be powerful and successful.
I need to practise this return to the essence daily, in fact many times during the day. I need to contemplate and experience this peace and silence for many moments each day. This nourishes my mind, fills it with power, connects me to God.
B.K. Meera is director of the Brahma Kumaris’ services in Malaysia.