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Wavering Moods of Mind

There is no person in this world who, at some given point of time, has no mood at all. It has been found that the negative moods not only cause uneasiness or peacelessness to the person but they also affect his health and disturb the atmosphere around him. For they set into action some such vibrations that cause disturbances. So, there is need of knowing the art which enables one to keep happy always and in positive moods.

The art of yoga enables one to achieve this object. But how? It has to be noted that the method of practice of Raja Yoga is based on positive thoughts which give noble sentiments and a happy mood, for the saying goes: "As you think, so shall you become." If, for instance, a man thinks that he is weak, his lack of confidence in himself makes him tremble in the face of a difficult situation. So, this gives the clue to that method one should adopt in order to have the right type of moods, namely that one has to change the thoughts from negative to positive ones. This is exactly what a Raja yogi does. His positive thoughts are the thoughts connected with one or the other positive virtues of God or, positive goodness of the world, or the hopes about the future. This can be illustrated by the following example.

Suppose a person feels nervous in some situations because he thinks that he is unequal to his difficulties and has no one to help him, or sympathise with him, or co-operate with him. Now, this feeling fritters away his thought-power all the more and distracts his attention away from the problem so that, even before he has given a good fight to the problem, he has surrendered his arms completely and thus denied to himself even a trial or a chance. The way a person who practices meditation responds is different. He has the firm faith that God is his infallible companion and his unfailing helpmate, and since God is Almighty and invincible, he believes that even the remote question of his getting defeated does not arise. Now, this faith works like many horsepowers of energy. He is able to push his cause and put his maximum strength, with all the will power and concentration at his command. It has been found that in many cases, he succeeds. This does not mean there are no failures, but his faith in God's companionhood gives him the inner strength to withstand that harm and without any feeling of unhappiness. With the practice of meditation, one will be able to make positive thoughts. Because of these thoughts, he feels joyous, relaxed, introvert and acts with equanimity, confidence and tranquility and does not lose his humour.

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