Exercising the mind and body

HI FOLKS !


Its a nice day today.

The 14th of January.

Today the Sun enters Aries and starts a new cycle all over again.

Its the change of season in most of India.

Beginning of the end of winter.

Just think -

What if the Sun was lazy ?

Bored of routine ?

Or just wanted a break ?

He sure deserves one !

Hmmmmnnnnnnn !

Lets take up Mandar's questions today.

They quite fit in.

He's mentioned lack of consistency in meditating and exercising.

Thats the Mind and the Body, and it's always Mind over Matter, so let's take Meditation first !

What exactly does one do when one meditates ?


One says to oneself 'I have to do this now, then this, and then the next step'.

Then one does it as best as one can.


But WHO is this who is actually saying, and who is the one actually obeying?


It is WE who give the command and the mind which follows.


These two entities are different.

We are NOT our mind.

Our mind is , intelligent, egotistical, manipulative and swings us like a rag doll.

It works - or rules us, actually and makes us do things which we many times are uncomfortable with or even regret later.

We do not know how to control it because we identify with it so closely.

We feel we are one and the same.

When we learn to meditate, thats the first thing we learn - in Vipassana meditation, by experiencing it, that there are two players here, and one of them is very clever and stubborn !

It is WE who tell it to go here or stay there, and it has to obey.

It does not like this at all, this subjugation, so it will create every possible kind of obstacle.

Bloating our ego to make us feel we dont need to meditate at all is the first and a brilliant trick.

We say ---Aaahh!

I dont really need to meditate, you know, it's actually my wife/husband/boss who would benifit if they practised.

And then we give a long enthusiastic lecture on the tremendous benifits of meditating.

But we would have actually, quietly discontinued at the earliest opportunity long ago.


It is also because we have now learnt the technique and 'Can get back to it whenever needed'.

So we stop meditating every day.

And pile up the stress and strain and anger at the traffic or worries over money quite freely, because we KNOW what to do.

Point is, mere knowing does not help at all.

It is effective only if it is practised.

So the only way to get out of the roller-coaster mediocrity imposed by the mind is to be stern with it and despite lethargy, distaste, 'no-time', 'once a wk/month/as- and- when- is- enough' excuses, take a deep breath and start. Everyday. Regularly.


Immedeately after getting up in the morning, after brushing and washing your face with cold water is a good time.

The next is as soon as one comes back from office/college/school.

Of course any other time which suits you is fine too.

Dont let new excuses creep in !

Now the Body and exercising it.

For most part, it is the mind which hates being exercised.

Both physically and mentally.

It has to obey orders so here too it creates obstacles which sound and feel very legitimate.

Mandar has mentioned past life effects too.

Its true in some cases.

I am making new discoveries and they are surprising but fit in very well with our overall growth.


1. If one has had one or more lifetimes when one has used physical strength or the body for survival and/or progress, one can be uncaring towards it in this lifetime.

For example, if one has been a warrier and killed, fought, been a prostitute or used the body for advancement, then the thought, in SOME cases, may follow to this lifetime that 'I dont want to be strong/beautiful/.'

The last or the most dominant thought at the time of death usually follows and if negative, it becomes the habit-pattern that one has to break.

But being strong, the will-power needed has to be stronger too and this is where - go back to the earlier paras on mind-control !

2. This is not always the case. Mostly it is the mind which wants a free rule over us. So forget about foreign energies, our own are powerful enough to make us miserable !



3. It may be that one consciously or unconsciously feels that as Spiritual Development is important, the body can or has to be ignored.

This is again the mind's brilliant reasoning to make one feel very spiritual when one is not exercising !

Each one of us may have one or more of these or other reasons to avoid good health.

We have to check out the reasons and get rid of them.

BEST OF LUCK to all of you !

Just get on with both Physical Exercise and Meditation.

both the mind and body will become and stay healthy.

These were very basic but brilliant questions and THANK YOU for them, Mandar !

So long for now-