Book Review

Seven Lessons in Conscious Living
Roy Eugene Davis

Copies can be had from Motilal Banarsidass, 120, Royapettah High Road, Mylapore, Chennai 600 004. Rs.195

"The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven," points out the poet. The mind is indeed astonishingly powerful, but we hug the illusion that we possess the mind. The truth is the reverse.

It is the mind that possesses us. Our thoughts and feelings, words and deeds are upsurges from the sub-conscious and un-conscious regions of the mind. Can the truant mind be brought under control?

To Arjuna’s question the Lord replied, yes, it can be done through steady practice and strict dispassion. This very brief dictum is scientifically analyzed and elaborated in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, wherein Yoga itself is defined as restraining the vibrations of the mind.

C S Ramakrishnan

© "The Hindu" (dated August 2, 2005). Website: www.thehindu.com.

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