The mind is restless by its very nature. It needs an object to focus. Ordinarily the desire and the ego self give it objects to stay busy. But they end up making the mind more and more restless. The mind has to learn to focus on the subject rather than external sensory objects. By subject is meant on an Idea or Quality or the Self or the highest of all, the Divine Himself. By idea is meant a single thought that is meaningful such as a mantra or something like, ‘God is in all’ or a quality such as Love, Beauty, Peace, or a line from Savitri. But this succeeds only if the desire self and the ego is weakened. This requires the practice of nishkama karma and equanimity. Also the mind must be taught to concentrate upon any work one does such as sweeping, sketching, cooking, drawing, playing.
The simplest of course is to do Naam Japa and call Peace, Peace, Shanti.
Affectionately,
Alok Da
