It often begins with cultivating a calm, unclouded mind

Aeons ago a neophyte Zen student was an apprentice at a temple of knowledge. Regrettably, his mind was not robust enough and kept vacillating; so much so his mind and soul were not satisfied with “mere” breathing practices and meditation techniques imparted at the monastery. Petals of knowledge revealed  In a state of haughtiness, the Zen student arrived at another temple of knowledge where he remarked, rather dramatically that, “The human mind, Sakya Muni Buddha and other sentient beings, in reality do not exist.”

The pontiff of the monastery was silently listening to the outburst but uttered nothing for a while.

And then abruptly and quite unexpectedly he whacked the tutee with his prized bamboo pipe which angered the student. The Zen Master compassionately inquired of the tutee that if nothing existed, from where did his bout of anger and arrogance emerge? The mentee was momentarily nonplussed and then fell at the feet of the Zen Master, begging for forgiveness.

A hollow and empty mind

The percipient Master agreed to admit the whippersnapper but with a few stipulations. It was incumbent upon the greenhorn to remember the cardinal principle of trying to keep the mind hollow and empty. Lord Krishna’s fluteThere is an interesting parable about Lord Krishna and his flute. It is believed that he used to visit a garden and whisper, “I love you” to all the flora and fauna. In unison, the flora and fauna reciprocated their unalloyed and unadulterated affection towards Lord Krishna.It so transpired that one day, an animated Lord Krishna approached a bamboo tree in the garden. The Lord broke the cataclysmic news that he would have to snuff out the life of the bamboo plant.The entire garden was aghast as the news spread; several plants and trees were however secretly joyous that they were spared of the torture.The bamboo mulled upon the news for a while and then languidly responded, “Lord, you and I have no choice.

At the altar of the Master of the Universe, I am willing to sacrifice my life.” Hearing this, Lord Krishna beamed. With surgical precision, he struck the bamboo plant. Soon the bamboo was fashioned into a flute for Lord Krishna himself.The flora and fauna, all the gopis and gopikas were now covetous of the bamboo, that in its new avatar it would always be inseparable, constantly in the hands of Lord Krishna.

The exultant bamboo flute was to become a triumphant possession of Lord Krishna. “What was so noteworthy about you, that you were the chosen one?” was an incessant refrain faced by the flute. “Nothing but my singular capitulation to will of the Master; willing to be an instrument of the Lord,” was the refrain of the flute.The classical epic Mahabharata is populated with numerous valorous characters. But the ace archer Arjuna stands out prominently. Why is that so? 

Arjuna is the Sakha, the Nara through whom Narayana revealed the divine celestial song – The Bhagavad Gita. It was Arjuna’s unflinching devotion to the Lord that made the character so robust and aerobicized. He faithfully carried out all the commandments of the Lord.Only inner strength and a mature mind transfigure an individual to establish contact with the source of our inner energy. This is possible through the process of authentic surrender. Breathing techniques like Sudarshan Kriya help to make the mind hollow and empty.  “A mature mind is one who understands the impossibility of knowing the ultimate, and with this understanding there is a new dimension, the dimension of the being,” said the philosopher, Osho.

(The writer is the CEO of Chhattisgarh East Railway Ltd. and Chhattisgarh East West Railway Ltd. He is a faculty of the Art of Living; views are personal)