Mind governs Body

Mind governs Body: ‘The Art of Mind Control’ is an ancient meditative technique used by most spiritual and religious schools today — ISCKON, Buddhists and even the Shivananda school of yoga. After all, today’s fast- paced corporate lifestyle, competitive childhood and pressure to perform in various phases of one’s life pushes one to the brink of insanity; so much so that it becomes quite necessary to give the mind some relaxation.  Yet, meditation undergoes different changes in different schools. So, why is it necessary as a process?  Mind over matter or matter over mind? That has been an old and much-repeated philosophical question. Nevertheless, thinkers have always given more importance to the mind and the fact that mind feeds the body. Well, partially true as don’t we see, almost every day in our lives, being driven by our subjective notions of love, relationships and life in general. A single thought or a fresh Perspective on a topic could easily change your mind  from what you held as a highly-guarded belief or an opinion. For example, it is thought that working women are financially emancipated But do we truly agree with this statement? Once at home, even a wife is governed more by the husband’s style of expenditure necessitated by the family needs. How would you call a working woman emancipated then?  Sage Valmilki, as is well- known, was a deadly dacoit before he had a mind—change and got down to penning the Ramayana. Angulimaal, the dreaded assassin, was also transformed to perform better deeds instead of murders after his encounter with Gautam Buddha. Why is it that Gautam Buddha himself decided to relinquish all material pleasures in order to walk off to the jungles in search for Enlightenment? The body decides to follow a course of action based on the thought pattern of the mind. Well then, won't you say that body does live in the mind; and a healthy body resides only in a healthy mind.