For
the most part of our life we cannot avoid being exposed to what goes on around
us. But, is it necessary, and also possible, to know everything about all that
we come across? Certainly not; but, more often than not, we are tempted to
know, at least, something about everything that we have come across, just to
become a little more about what we happen to encounter, rather unwillingly. The
information so received without a receptive mind, is also casually processed by
our mind, thereby creating a half-knowledge, which generally turns out to be
very dangerous to use. Such half knowledge blurs our vision and clouds our mind.
We all are aware that the mind cannot record what we see or
hear if it is occupied elsewhere. If we are able to notice something that we do
not intend to notice, it clearly means that our mind had been, at least, partly
preoccupied with the objects we claim to be not interested in. Being much
occupied with day-to-day problems most of us are not able to train our minds.
Leave aside the need of spiritual elevation, even the clarity of thought
required for a better physical life is found lacking due to confusions
prevailing in the untrained mind.
What we are generally not taught is to overlook what is not
relevant. Although many claim that being focused is nothing but practicing the
‘art of overlooking’, but what they actually refer to is ‘the art of blocking
the unwanted’. The art of blocking does not block the awareness of the
unwanted; the unwanted often surfaces on most occasions when we are vulnerable
to failures. The ‘art of overlooking’ means, having no relation with the unwanted.
This calls for being completely with what is worth being attached to, and being
totally detached to what is unwanted.
Continued practice to reject all thoughts that do not enhance
the quality of life can help us learn the art of overlooking the irrelevant.
The problem is that we become too casual about what we see and hear, and permit
the external influence to influence us without our knowing it. We must learn to
be stricter with ourselves.
PROMOD KUMAR SHARMA
[The writer of this blog is also the author of “Mahatma A
Scientist of the Intuitively Obvious” and “In Search of Our Wonderful Words”.]
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