FOREWORD
Which is the Weak Link?
Although there are several defilements (corruptions or evils) of mind, at least five distinct defilements have been generally recognized. Just as the demon Ravana had ten heads, the mind also has ten horrifying faces. Among those, the five major ones of mind are - lust, anger, greed, attachment and ego. These form the main chain of bondage. The mind exists because of these defilements. It can also be said that because these defilements exist, the mind exists or because the contrast mind1 exists, these five defilements exist.
1 Contrast mind signifies the mind that compares and judges everything. It is distinct from the simple or instinctive mind.
Mind is unsteady and constantly fluctuating in which continuous changes are taking place. If in the morning, the mind is filled with jealousy, it is anger in the afternoon, greed in the evening and confusion in the night. Every moment it is changing. Sometimes it is sad and sometimes happy. One moment it is filled with trust and the next moment it is full of distrust and suspicion. For a moment it is very sincere and the next moment it is filled with deceit. What is showing compassion one moment changes to anger the next moment. The one that was ready to die for someone, jumps up at the next moment to kill the same person. The mind, which is wavering in this manner every minute, does not deserve to be trusted. Unfortunately, we have become one with this ever changing mind, we have become attached to it. We have identified ourselves with our mind. We have developed faith and reverence towards this erratic and fickle mind.
In reality, mind is an illusion. This means it does not exist, but only appears to exist. It is necessary to understand how this mind gets created. There is no existence of mind, but it seems to exist. It is just like a straight wooden stick which when put in water looks bent, while it is actually not bent. It is also like a rope which looks like a snake in the dark, while actually it is not. It is only because of darkness that a rope looks like a snake. Similarly, it is only because of ignorance that the mind seems to exist, but it actually does not. To know the mind, it is necessary to see it under the light of wisdom.
Mind gets created due to identification with it. The
moment we say, I am the body or I am the mind, the mind gets formed. As soon as we get associated with the mind, we become the mind and say – I am the mind. When we get associated to wealth, we say - I am wealthy. When associated to position, we say – I am the Prime Minister. When associated to religion, we say – I am Hindu, Muslim, Christian, etc. You become that to which you add an ‘I’.
For example, let us take the case when during a marriage ceremony a bride garlands the bridegroom. Just a moment prior to garlanding, no one from the other side was a relative nor was there any attachment to anyone. But the moment the garlanding is done, at once many relations get established like mother-in-law, father-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, etc. Then with this long line of relatives starts the game of attachment. In the same way, when you say, ‘I am the mind’, i.e. when you garland the mind, all the relatives of mind become your relatives. This also is a long list - anger, lust, hatred, envy, competition, irritation, confusion, sadness, happiness, sorrow, friendliness, enmity, restlessness, success or failure - and you become correlated to all these relatives.
Desires, longings, wants or lust - these are the biggest weapons of the mind. Mind derives its life from them. It is these that sustain the mind. The main job of mind is to keep the desires and wants alive. The mind keeps arousing desires constantly and the desires keep arising all the time. When the desires do not get fulfilled, you get angry. When the desires get fulfilled, it leads to greed. With greed, you begin to acquire objects, and then you start getting attached or obsessed with those objects. When you have accumulated a sizeable amount, you start getting egoistic. In this manner, the chain of bondage is connected together by different links. But remember, any chain is as strong as the weakest link. If the link of attachment (Moh) is made weak, the shackle can be broken here. The opposite of attachment is detachment, indifference, unconcern or apathy. The moment you become indifferent, how can the chain of bondage remain intact? This book intends to work precisely on this weak link. You have to remain detached in this world just like the spider which lives in a web, but doesn’t get caught in it. Break this weak link by getting rid of attachment and attain freedom.