Vipul Agarwal, Delhi, 19 September 2023
I read the following from the works of J. Krishnamurti:
“I will tell you something. You know what space is. There is space in this room. The distance between here and your hostel, between the bridge and your home, between this bank of the river and the other- all that is space. Now, is there also space in your mind? Or is it so crowded that there is no space in it at all? If your mind has space, then in that space there is silence-and from that silence everything else comes, for then you can listen, you can pay attention without resistance. That is why it is very important to have space in the mind. If the mind is not overcrowded, not ceaselessly occupied, then it can listen to that dog barking, to the sound of a train crossing the distant bridge, and also be fully aware of what is being said by a person talking here. Then the mind is a living thing, it is not dead.”
Do we have that space in our minds? That is the moot question in the spiritual journey. Generally, the mind is occupied with the thoughts to become somebody. While young, we want to become an engineer, doctor, or an IAS. As we grow up as an adult, we want to marry someone. After marriage, we want to have kids and become fathers or mothers. We also want to become rich or famous. Few of us idealize figures like Mahatma Gandhi or Bhagat Singh and want to become like them. In sum and substance, the mind is always occupied with the thoughts of becoming somebody or the other.
There are moments when the mind is not occupied with thoughts of becoming. In those moments, do we allow the mind to have that “space”? Generally no. We fill it with one or the other thing. Sometimes, we fill it with music and the old songs make us recall the past memories. Sometimes, we pick up the mobile and start calling friends and family members to chit-chat which is by and large sharing of information and opinions. Sometimes we just scroll the mobile screen aimlessly. Sometimes, we just sit on the couch and keep scanning the TV channels.
Do we ever allow “space” to the mind that allows us to connect to the present moment? Probably never or at best very rarely. Even if there is no active action at hand, the thoughts always keep the mind full, leaving no space to connect to the present. That “space” is the key to wisdom. The best of the inventions happen not with an occupied mind, but when that “space” is available. The “occupied” mind will always be narrow and filled with what we have learned or seen so far. Only a mind with “space” can see something beyond.
Unfortunately, we have crammed the minds of our kids with so much workload that there is no “space”. Even if school leaves some “space”, that is filled by social media and the mobile screen. Already there was no space left and whatever remained was filled by the OTT. What to speak of kids, grown-up adults also live the same way. We do not see the stars in the sky for months. We do not feel the sunshine for days. The mind is always occupied with one or the other thing.
If we want to enjoy the richness of life, we need to urgently inculcate that “space” in the mind. In fact, it does not require any effort. It just requires NO effort for some time!
