and is not merely the goal of only one child. This is what the mind has to understand.
But it will not understand.
The objects in this world are, unfortunately, constituted in such a way that they can
attract only a particular vritti at a particular time; they cannot attract all the vrittis.
Hence, we are not accustomed to the conception of any object which can attract all
the vrittis. Such a thing has not been seen in this world, and now we are saying that
such a thing is possible. Is there anything which can draw the attention of the entire
force of our mind at one stroke? We have not seen such a thing, and so we do not
believe it when we are told that in yoga such a thing is possible. One thing that is
important here is to make the mind awaken itself to this enlightenment that the
object of meditation is not the satisfaction of one vritti merely, like the objects of the
senses. It is the total aspiration of the whole structure of the mind getting fulfilled.
“The whole family will be happy,” we must tell the mind, “not merely one vritti.”
The desires of the mind generally cannot get fulfilled, on account of an infinite
craving that is behind the vrittis of the mind. It is not a finite desire that we have got;
our desires are infinite. The reason is that we are in some way connected, rightly or
wrongly, with something behind us that is endless. We are not completely cut off
from the forces of nature, though it looks as if we are outside them. There is a
pressure exerted by the vast reservoir of the entire nature, due to which it is not
possible for any vritti to be satisfied entirely.
Therefore it is that no desire can be really satisfied, because the intention of a desire
is not merely the contact of it with an object; it is a satisfaction that it seeks, not
contact with objects. That satisfaction cannot come as long as the asker for the
satisfaction is an infinite background. The infinite is asking for infinite joy through
the little tunnel, or the pipe, which is the mind that connects the individual with the
objects. The whole ocean cannot pass through a pipe; it is not possible. But yet this is
what is expected. We are trying the impossible; therefore, we can never be happy in
this world. The impossibility of fulfilment of desire arises on account of an infinite
urge that is at the background of a finite desire. This is a contradiction. A finite desire
cannot comprehend or contain within itself the energy of an infinite asking, so we are
kept in suspense at all moments of time. At any given moment of time we are
forcefully driven to the object for the achievement of a satisfaction which is really not
in the hands of any vritti of the mind. This difficulty is there at the base of even the
effort at concentration and meditation.
This difficulty has to be solved first, by proper viveka and vairagya—a clear
understanding of the difficulty in which we have been placed, the nature of the
difficulty or the reason behind it, and the way out of it. How do we know that
meditation is the remedy for all these problems? Why is it that we take to yoga? It is
because we have got great sufferings in life. The whole of life is nothing but an
endless medley of confusion, chaos and pain. We want to get out of this. That is why
we take to yoga. But how do we know that yoga is the remedy for it? How is yoga
going to rectify all these difficulties? Unless this is understood properly, the mind
cannot be taken to the point of concentration. We cannot simply hear someone
saying that yoga is the way, and then proceed. The mind has to be convinced that this
is the remedy, and that this is the remedy because this is our problem. When we
know the nature of the disease, we can also know the nature of the medicine. If we do
not know the disease itself, how can we know the medicine? How can we know that