The darkness of the mind

Akbar said to his Minister, "Birbal, for a long time I have been thinking of one question. I am sure you will be able to answer it. We see everything clearly in the sunlight, but is there anything that cannot be seen even with the help of sunlight?"

"Yes, your Majesty, there is something that cannot be seen in the sunlight. Even the sunlight fails to illumine it."

"What is it, Birbal?"

"Your Majesty, it is the darkness of the mind."

Commentary

Birbal's answer is absolutely correct. The only question that Birbal might not have been in a position to answer is whether there is anything that can show us the ignorance of the mind and illumine it. Even if he had been able to answer this question, he still would not have been able to actually illumine the darkness of anybody's mind.

How do we illumine the mind? We illumine the dark, unlit, obscure, impure mind by bringing to the fore our inner sun. The outer sun can show us only earthly objects, but the inner sun can show us what the mind is, how it operates and what it contains. We bring the inner sun to the fore by digging deep within. When we dig very deep into the ground we reach water. Similarly, when we dig very deep into ourselves, we reach our inner sun.

There is not only one inner sun, but many. How many we bring to the fore depends on how we dig and how deep we dig. If we dig deep within most soulfully, in the way the Supreme wants us to dig, then we discover many inner suns, and we can easily bring them to the fore.

Yet, when we have brought our inner suns to the fore, our role is not over. First we illumine our own inner and outer existence, and then we try to illumine the world around us: our friends, our relatives, our dear ones. Finally we try to illumine the entire world. But first we have to dig deep within in order to get in touch with our own inner suns.

From:Sri Chinmoy,The Moghul Emperors, Agni Press, 2001
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