What is Your Natural State of Mind?

Spirituality and Spiritual Life

by Jayaram V

Your Natural State of Mind - Audio

Now, what is your natural state of mind?

Have you ever tried to observe it?

Have you ever tried to think about it?

Have you ever tried to pay attention to your own natural states?

We are usually conditioned to believe that life is tough and life is full of suffering.

We are conditioned to believe in our existential suffering as natural and unavoidable.

We therefore think that life is largely a struggle and suffering is an inherent and integral aspect of life.

This is true.

But what is not true is that our natural state of mind is not feeling anxious or disturbed.

Please listen carefully.

I am speaking about our natural state of mind.

At times we are disturbed. At times we are anxious, angry, fearful, happy, worried, depressed or frustrated.

These are reactions.

They are not our natural states.

Our natural state is to be peaceful.

Our peace is disturbed when we react to external situations, when we are drawn out into the world seeking and striving, when we are threatened by circumstances.

Then we are disturbed. We are disturbed when we interpret our experiences negatively for one reason or the other.

Otherwise, when none of these are happening we are at peace. We are happy.

We feel good.

We feel blessed.

When the world does not oppress us, when it does not overwhelm us we are peaceful.

When we do not have problems, we are peaceful.

When we do not have critics and enemies, we are peaceful.

When no one is disturbing us, we are peaceful.

Think about it.

When everything is going on smoothly, we enjoy life.

Think again.

When are you the most peaceful?

It is when you are asleep.

That sleep is your natural state and that state is utterly and totally peaceful.

Your peace remains undisturbed when you are in control, when you have good habits, when you live a disciplined life, when you meet your challenges, when you are balanced.

Not all can achieve this because they lose sight of their natural states. In the course of their lives, they become other than what they are inherently.

They become different.

They become imbalanced.

Therefore, they suffer.

That is why they do not find peace.

They cannot even sleep peacefully.

This is the truth.

Now, what is yoga?

Yoga is not meant to make you a new person.

It aims to return you to your natural state, which is peace and equanimity.

That is your natural state, and to that state Yoga aims to return you.

Yoga does not promise to remove your problems and sorrows. That is not what yoga does.

No one can remove your problems and sorrows, just as no one can remove your happiness and joy.

No one can neutralize your past karmas and the suffering or happiness that comes out of it.

What yoga does is it teaches you how to deal with it, what you can do about it and how you can remain peaceful, even when you are having problems and difficulties.

Yoga teaches acceptance, submission, surrender, opening up, transparency, truthfulness, appreciation, sameness, detachment, balance, restraint, and harmony.

These are the natural states, which we forget in the course of our lives and enter into those unhappy modes.

Yoga aims to bring you back into your natural modes, by helping you to remove the impurities that keep from experiencing them.

This is the truth.

You are essentially a peaceful person.

And you can learn to become a peaceful person, even when there are problems, challenges and difficulties.

You can do it by cultivating detachment, by suspending judgment, by embracing life unconditionally and learning to take things in your stride.

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