In ancient times tools were less and peace was more... today tools are more and peace is less...

- Homage to Amrit - Acharya Vijayaratnasuri

In Sanskrit literature, word experiments are often observed in which the word 'Tar' or 'Tama' is added to different words. Take for example a famous word 'intense'. From this intense word, the expressions 'tivratar' and 'tivratam' can be seen in Sanskrit literature. From the point of view of Sanskrit grammar, both tar and tam are affixes. Comparatively, tar is suffixed to denote 'two more' and tama is suffixed to denote 'highest'. As the word 'intense' means the more intense of the two and the word 'intense' means the most intense.

From the last two articles we have begun to consider the five important things which we can divide by the styles of 'Tar' and 'Tama'. Of course, all five things are the most important for health. But if there is a comparison between the five, then the first things are considered important, the thing that will be presented today is considered more important than the expectation of the first two and the last two things are considered the most important. The thing that is more important today than the first two things i.e. body and relatives is called mind.

Let us consider a couple of reasons why the mind is more important than the first two things. However, since there is no special sense of kinship in this, we will consider between the body and the mind: the first thing is that without the mind, the fruit of sin or virtue done only by the body is not overwhelming, says the Jain scriptures. Compared to that, the fruits of sin or virtue done only by the mind without the body are very overwhelming. In the Jain tradition, beings who have not acquired the power of mind are called anajnjas. No matter how many sins these ignorant beings commit, they will at most go to the first hell as a result. Whereas those who are sentient beings can go to the seventh hell without committing any sins at the level of physical activity, only committing sins at the level of thoughts of the mind. This shows that the mind is more powerful than the body. In the same way, the mind is proved to be more powerful than the body in the field of goodness and virtue. The second reason is that compared to the number of births that we have passed in the state of asanjna meaning without mind, we have achieved very few births with the state of sanjna meaning mind. It is understandable that something that is very scarce is rare. If we keep these two reasons in mind, it becomes clear that the mind is more important than the body. So special care should be taken to preserve it.

And... do you know one of the disadvantages of this mind? If any wrong-bad activity is done by you, the world can know it immediately. Like if a person commits the evil activity of stealing or adultery, someone will catch him today or tomorrow. Hence a shy person refrains from doing wrong activities even for fear of being caught. But in the realm of the mind, the abnormality is that if a person thinks evil thoughts that the mind desires, harbors innumerable evil thoughts like theft and adultery, then the world cannot know it. Because only thoughts are limited to the individual. A thinker has made a very ironic statement in this context that "If even the thoughts of the mind could be photographed, most of the people in this world would not be able to live with their heads held high." Since no one can know the wrong thoughts generated by the mind, the mind is largely unfaithful. - Becomes unbridled. Even with this non-characteristic in mind, it is like focusing specifically on the preservation of the mind.

More important and stronger for the preservation of this mind one should stay away from three things beginning with the letter 'Soo' and be attached to one thing beginning with the letter 'Sh'. Let's look at those four things in brief:

(1) Stress. The first thing to keep the mind away from is stress. Many say that today's age is the age of convenience. Be it train-flight etc. tools of travel or mobile-whatsapp-face book etc. 'communication' tools: these and such tools have greatly increased convenience. Admittedly, the other side of the coin is that with this increase in equipment, one is surrounded by unnecessary rush-unnecessary conversations-unnecessary expectations-unnecessary preoccupations. In sum, his mind is disturbed by 'stress'. It can be said that in the earlier era, tools were less and peace was more, in today's era, tools are more and peace is less. The cause of loss of peace is 'stress' of the mind. If it is to be avoided, two habits should be developed with effort: avoiding excessive expectations and not caring about things that are not necessary for our life. Excessive expectations lead to competitiveness which creates 'stress'. Worrying about unnecessary things also increases labor and creates 'stress'. If the vehicle is also forbidden to be burdened by the body, then why allow the mind to be burdened by the body?

(2) Comparison:- A common human tendency is to compare. If he and his neighbor have a scooter, he will not find his scooter painful. But when the neighbor gets a luxury 'car', his need for a scooter will become a cause of grief. Which factor is responsible for this? Only the tendency to compare. It is to know how this tendency of comparison fills a person with pain and tension, and sometimes also deprives him of courtesy and civility? So read this comic:

A young woman who went to buy a saree at a 'sari center' started asking to see sarees one after another and started 'rejecting' each saree. Her words were again and again, “Show me the most valuable yet gorgeous sarees.” Finally, after showing me the latest and most expensive sarees, the girl's words remained the same, and the shopkeeper asked her with a bit of boredom: “What kind of saree do you want? ?'' The girl said: "I want such a saree that my chest would burn vertically after seeing it - sad and sad." The shopkeeper was stunned by the girl's 'choice'!!

Keep in mind that those who make such comparisons may also have such a 'reaction' that they have to stand up and burn themselves after seeing Jethani's saree!! Thing: This style of sarkha-mani is wrong which hurts the mind. A Sanskrit metaphor to break this habit of comparison states in a slightly different style that in every field those who are superior to you are Chikkaras, while those who are inferior to you are Chikkaras. If you want to break your ego, look to superiors and if you want to break your inferiority, look to inferiors.

(3) Sanklesha:- Sanklesha means excess raga or duality of hatred. The ultimate goal of sadhana is complete liberation from raga-dhesh. But it is possible for excellent seekers. We should at least aim to keep the mind free from excessive anger and hatred. Where there is too much raga, the person develops a 'possessive' feeling towards the object, then when the person or thing becomes alien or destroyed, the ist viyoga arthadyana develops. Similarly, it is very easy to experience a combination of hatred-enmity-enmity in a person who has a lot of hatred towards him. Hey! Often times we reinforce the combination ourselves by kneeling in contempt of the opposite person. I just read a funny sentence that satirizes this tendency, "To remember those who annoy us is to give them room in the house without rent..." Sanklesa Ragajanya or Dweshajanya: One must keep the mind free from it. Let us recall in this context the line of the 'Dasvaikalik' Agama-Grantha that "Sankileskaram thanam, duroo parivajjae" means that one should avoid from a distance such places as those that lead to Sanklesha.

(4) Shubh Alamban:- The first three things are to be considered tyajya for the mind, then this fourth thing is to be considered acceptable for the mind. One should constantly give such auspicious pleasures to the mind that the thoughts of hatred-suffering-jealousy cease and the thoughts of peace-purity-joy-benevolence develop. This will stop the mind from going towards wrong thoughts and it will easily play in good thoughts. That is why it is written in the book 'Adhyatmasara' that 'Mind: Subhalambanan Dadyat.' Meaning, keep giving good wishes to the mind.

One last thing in this context: If sattvic food empowers the body, sattvic thought empowers the mind...