The Mind: Friend or Enemy
Excerpt from The Fire of Freedom
Satsang with Papaji
Edited by David Godman
Papaji: Mind can be the enemy and mind can also be the friend. It is the mind that binds and it is the mind that liberates. When the mind is attached to objects, which are transitory and impermanent, this is the mind that binds. This is the mind that is an enemy. But a mind that does not abide anywhere, on any object, is a mind that is your friend. This is the mind that liberates. It all depends on you, on what kind of company you keep in your mind. Mind can destroy you, but mind can also be of great help. There is a tremendous power in the mind, a power that you can make use of. When the mind is at rest, it gives us peace. But when it is restless, it creates all this samsara, this suffering, this hell. A peaceful mind brings heaven down to earth. It brings peace everywhere. In that state, wherever you walk, that place will be heaven. This is the mind.
Question: It seems to me that there is a choice. The mind can decide whether to create a heaven or a hell. At any given moment that choice is there.
Papaji: Yes, that is your own choice. You have to decide these things for yourself. You can decide, ‘I am bound; I have to suffer,’ and this creates samsara. Alternatively, you can say, ‘I want peace. I want freedom. I want happiness. I want love.’ When you move in this direction, what a beautiful choice you have made! Make it! ‘I want freedom! I want to be free! I want happiness! I want love!’ Do it now, today, or at least some time during your span of life. Have a good mind, a friendly mind.