Your Mind Is Your Own Private Space

At the age of sixteen, Lord Rama appeared dejected and depressed. At that time, Sage Vishwamitra came to Ayodhya and asked the Lord why he was dejected with life.

The Lord started denouncing many things considered important in life. After denouncing enjoyments, wealth, longevity, concept of 'I' and 'mine', the mind, citing reasons for the same, in the seventeenth chapter of the Vairagya Prakarana of Yoga Vasishta, the Lord proceeds to denounce desires.

In the consciousness of man, which is a sky, which is like sky, this sky is brightened up only if there is atmajnana, the awareness of who we really are. Only if atmajnana is there, then there is brightness in the sky.

What is meant by sky is the mind space — chidakasha. Mind is a space, you must have experienced this. Your mind is like space — some area like the space that you see around you. The space called mind is also occupied by various objects, sounds. You can see forms of people in your mind. You can hear voices inside your mind. So, mind is also an area or space inside you. This can be bright or dark or smoky like any place.

Your mind can be a beautiful garden. Your mind can be a treacherous ditch. It depends on what all objects and what kind of people are occupying your mind. You have a lot of choice about what you want to keep in your mind. Only if you allow, only what you allow will come into your mind.

This is the mind control of yogis that we talk about. They have so much control over their mind that they decide what all should enter the mind and occupy the mind. Mind, like your home, is your own private space.

Why do you have doors and windows in your house? To protect it, so that unwanted people and things don’t enter your house. You decide whom to allow inside your own house. In the same way, you can also decide what should enter your mind, what should occupy your mind.

The Lord is saying here that this inner space is completely brightened up only if you have atmajnana. When atmajnana is not there, then this space is filled with darkness. This darkness is desire. When this darkness called desire spreads in the inner space, then owls appear there. Owls come out only when it is dark. Owls such as passion, likes, dislikes.

Worries have made my mind dry. Like how clay dries up in the heat of the sun, loses its softness and becomes hard, my mind has also become like that due to worries, concerns.

The demoness called desire is performing a horrific wild dance in the dense forest which is my mind.

वचोरचितनीहारा काञ्चनोपवनोज्ज्वला
नूनं विकासमायाति चिन्ताचणकमञरी

This is a beautiful simile here.

You know chana — the chickpeas. The plants of chickpeas, they blossom when mist is there, when dews are formed. This is a known fact. Here, the worries are being compared to chana plants. They blossom when the dew drops called tears fall on them.

What are these tears — complaints — I don't have this, I don't have that, such lamenting, such crying. Not yours — tears of others. When you listen to these complaints — then worries start within you also.

Someone says, my son is not looking after me — you also start imagining — what about me, what if my son doesn’t take care of me?

Someone says — my health was perfect, all tests always used to be normal, but now this cancer. You start imagining and worrying — what about me, should I get tests done...

Worries start.

When dew drops in the form of these tears fall on the chana plants called worries, they start blossoming.

You might have observed in the fields in the countryside. Near fields, there could be these dhatura plants growing. Dhatura is intoxicating. Its fruits are offered to Lord Shiva during Shivaratri. It is a thorny fruit. Dhatura is also called kanchana in Sanskrit. Kanchana means gold also. Maybe they have a common name because both are intoxicating.

So, here around the field of chana plants there is also dhatura. Dhatura plants with beautiful flowers. The dhatura flowers are enhancing the chana field. The worries become more when you see gold all around you but not in your possessions. When you see prosperous people, wealthy people, your worries become more.

So both — complaints of others, tears of others, and well, affluence of others — they are both making your worries to blossom.

A wave that is formed in the middle of the sea doesn’t just stay there. In the same way, these worries also don’t just stay within the mind. The wave comes and hits the shore. It ends in action.

In the same way, the worries start prompting you to earn, gain wealth, push you towards action.

This desire is in my body like a river in a mountain. And as it flows ahead, it becomes more and more rough. It becomes noisy. The noise of insults, noise of lies.

The desire can make you do anything — insult others, hurt others, tell lies. When desire takes over, you become capable of all these.

The river which is quiet at the beginning, as it travels, it becomes rough. Like the river in which rafting is done, noisy white water river.

I am truly interested in dharma, samadhi, realization of truth. But these desires — they are pushing me elsewhere. Like a small dry grass in a storm, I am being pushed around by desires. They are not allowing me to go where I want to go.

The Lord continues on this topic more. We will see it as we proceed.

• At the age of sixteen, Rama saw through the illusion of worldly life and felt deep disinterest in pleasures, wealth, and the ego's games.

• He observed that the mind, like space (chidakasha), can either be clear and bright with self-knowledge or dark and cluttered with desire.

• Only when one knows the self (atmajnana), the inner space becomes luminous; otherwise, desire fills it with shadows that breed further confusion.

• The mind is a private, protected space — just like a house with doors — and one must guard what thoughts, emotions, and impressions are allowed in.

• A controlled mind reflects clarity and peace, but a careless mind becomes noisy, restless, and overrun with uninvited impulses.

• Worries dry up the mind’s natural softness, making it rigid, anxious, and reactive — like clay baked too long in the sun.

• Desires dance wildly in the forest of the mind, turning it into a chaotic battleground instead of a peaceful retreat.

• Listening to others' complaints and seeing others' wealth often triggers a cascade of personal worries and feelings of lack.

• These emotional disturbances don’t stay internal — like ocean waves, they crash onto the shore of action, pushing one into compulsive behaviour.

• Desires, once seeded, grow like wild rivers — they begin small but soon become loud, uncontrollable, and reckless, capable of leading to unethical choices.

• Even someone focused on higher goals like dharma and truth can get swept off-track by these unchecked desires, like dry grass in a storm.

What does it mean that the mind is like space?
It means the mind is vast, open, and capable of being filled with anything — thoughts, emotions, voices, images. Just like physical space can be lit or dark depending on conditions, the mind can shine with clarity or be clouded by confusion depending on what enters it.

Can I really control what enters my mind like a room?
Yes, with awareness and discipline. Just like you don’t let strangers into your home, you can learn to block harmful thoughts and let in only what supports your peace and growth. It takes time but is entirely possible.

Isn’t that an overstatement? My thoughts just come and go on their own.
They seem spontaneous, but they follow patterns you’ve allowed over time. The more attention and emotion you give a thought, the more likely it returns. Awareness breaks that loop and gives you real choice.

Why is self-knowledge compared to light in the sky of the mind?
Because knowing who you really are removes confusion. It’s like switching on a light in a dark room — suddenly, you can see things for what they are, and you’re not blindly reacting anymore.

What happens when this light is missing?
The mind gets filled with restlessness, fear, longing, and ego-based emotions. These are like fog and darkness — you stumble around not knowing what’s real and what’s just illusion.

But isn't desire natural? Why call it darkness?
Desire itself isn’t evil — but when it controls you, it blinds you. It stops you from seeing clearly, just like walking in pitch darkness causes you to trip, even over things you already own.

How do others’ complaints affect our mind?
Hearing others suffer often triggers your own fears. Their sorrow becomes a mirror — you start imagining the same things could happen to you, and that imagined pain begins to take root.

How do emotions spread just by listening?
Humans are deeply empathetic. When someone shares their tears or trauma, it activates similar memories or fears in you. If you’re not mindful, it starts reshaping your mood and thoughts silently.

Isn’t that being over-sensitive? Shouldn’t I care about people?
Caring is not the same as internalizing. You can help someone without soaking up their pain. Detachment lets you stay grounded while offering real support — otherwise, you end up drowning with them.

How does seeing rich people increase inner suffering?
It activates comparison. When you see others with gold or comfort and feel lack in your own life, desire arises. This desire doesn’t just stop at longing — it grows into dissatisfaction.

What does that have to do with worry?
The more you compare, the more anxious you become about your own life. These worries then start driving your thoughts, making you restless and reactive.

But aren’t such comparisons natural?
Yes, but natural doesn’t mean healthy. Comparing is easy — but peace comes from contentment, not competition. Left unchecked, these thoughts can spiral into resentment and even self-harm.

What happens when worries are allowed to grow unchecked?
They multiply. Just like plants blossom with dew, your worries blossom when emotional triggers — like fear or tears — keep falling on them.

Can worries really push you into action?
Yes, especially the wrong kind. Worry can make you obsessively chase money, approval, or power, not from joy, but from insecurity and fear.

But isn’t taking action good? Why stop it?
Action driven by fear is rarely wise. It often leads to rushed decisions, regret, and more problems. Action rooted in calm clarity is far more effective and lasting.

How does desire evolve like a river?
It starts quietly, like a spring in the mountains — but as it flows through life, it gains speed, force, and volume. Eventually, it becomes noisy, turbulent, and destructive.

What do you mean by desire becoming noisy?
The mind fills with complaints, lies, manipulation — all to justify the craving. Desire shouts louder the more you ignore it, hijacking your focus and peace.

Isn’t that exaggeration?
Not really. Think of any obsession — wealth, fame, love — and how it drives people to cheat, harm, or even destroy. It starts small but snowballs fast. History and daily news prove it.

Why does someone aiming for truth get pushed off course?
Because desire is forceful. Even if your goal is noble, unexamined cravings can sneak in and pull you away. Like a dry leaf in a storm, you lose direction.

Isn’t that just a sign of weak will?
No — it’s a sign of untrained mind. Even strong people fall if they don’t prepare for inner storms. Strength comes not from willpower alone but from deep clarity and discipline.

So what’s the way out?
Start by noticing what’s pulling you. Question every push and pull inside. The more aware you are, the less you get dragged — and the easier it is to stay anchored to truth.

Ramaswamy Sastry and Vighnesh Ghanapaathi