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T
hose who aspire to the state of self-discipline should seek the Self in
inner solitude through meditation, controlling body and mind, free from
expectations and attachment to material possessions.
Select a clean spot, neither too high nor too low, and seat yourself firm-
ly on a cloth, a deerskin, and kusha grass. Then, once seated, strive to
still your thoughts. Make your mind one-pointed in meditation, and your
heart will be purified. Hold your body, head, and neck firmly in a
straight line, and keep your eyes from wandering. With all fears dissolv-
ed in the peace of the Self and all desires dedicated to God, controlling
the mind and fixing it on Me, sit in meditation with Me as your only goal.
With senses and mind constantly controlled through meditation, united with
the Self within, an aspirant attains Nirvana, the state of abiding joy and
peace in Me.
Arjuna, those who eat too much or eat too little, who sleep too much or
sleep too little, will not succeed in meditation. But those who are temp-
erate in eating and sleeping, work and recreation, will come to the end of
sorrow through meditation. Through constant effort they learn to withdraw
the mind from selfish cravings and absorb it in the Self. Thus they at-
tain the state of union.
When meditation is mastered, the mind is unwavering like the flame of a
lamp in a windless place. In the still mind, in the depths of meditation,
the eternal Self reveals itself. Beholding the Self by means of the Self,
an aspirant knows the joy and peace of complete fulfilment. Having at-
tained that abiding joy beyond the senses, revealed in the stilled mind,
he never swerves from the central truth. He desires nothing else, and
cannot be shaken by the heaviest burden of sorrow.
The practice of meditation frees one from all affliction. This is the
path of yoga. Follow it with determination and sustained enthusiasm. Re-
nouncing wholeheartedly all selfish desires and expectations, use your
will to control the senses. Little by little, through patience and
repeated effort, the mind will become stilled in the Self.
Wherever the mind wanders, restless and diffuse in its search for satis-
faction without, lead it within; train it to rest in the Self. Abiding
joy comes to those who still the mind. Freeing themselves from the taint
of self-will, with their consciousness unified, they become one with God.
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