Rest of mind is as necessary as rest of body, and yet we always keep the former in action.
Hazrat Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan
Related Material by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan
Compiled by Wahiduddin Richard Shelquist – wahiduddin.net
Imagine, after having toiled for the whole day, how much the body stands in need of rest; how much more then must the mind stand in need of rest! The mind works much faster than the body. Naturally the mind is much more tired than the body. And not every person knows how to rest the mind and therefore the mind never has a rest. And then what happens after a while is that the mind becomes feeble. It loses memory, the power of action. It loses reason. The worst effects are mostly brought about by not giving the mind proper repose. If such infirmities as doubt and fear happen to enter the mind, then a person becomes restless, and can never find rest. For at night the mind continues on the track of the same impressions. Simple as it seems to be, very few know the resting of the mind and how wonderful it is in itself. And what power, what inspiration, comes as a reaction from it, and what peace one experiences by it, and how it helps the body and mind! The spirit is renewed once the mind has had its rest.
The first step towards the resting of the mind is the relaxation of the body. If one is able to relax one’s muscular and nervous system at will, then the mind is automatically refreshed. Besides that, one must be able to cast away anxiety, worries, doubts, and fears by the power of will, putting oneself in a restful state. This will be accomplished by the help of proper breathing.
We usually rest our body at will whenever circumstances allow us to; we recline on a couch or in an armchair after coming back from the office or work and at night we rest and go to sleep; but when do we give the mind a rest? Rest for the mind is as necessary as rest for the body, and yet we always keep the mind in action. It is constantly at work even if our body is resting. …
All this shows the great practical need for the mind to be at rest, for the mind to be stilled. Those who make it a principle that work is always an advisable thing are one-sided. Balance lies in perceiving that work and rest are equally necessary for good health, both physical and mental.
The work of the body is sometimes kept under our control, but we do not keep the work of the mind under our control. This is not because we cannot do so; it is because we never think about it.
( from the Sufi Message Series, Volume )
Commentary by Murshid S.A.M. (Sufi Ahmed Murad)
Samuel L. Lewis
This is the besetting sin of life and there is no sin as great as this sin. It is the very source of all sin. And what is sin? It is lack of attention to God. If you study the commandments of Moses and the spiritual commandments of other religions, you will discover that the very central point in all these religions is the worship or love for that Being beyond all limited being. It is only in the sphere of limitation that there is error, that there is deceit, that there is heedlessness, that there is sin.
How then can one escape sin? By rising above this limitation, by ceasing to keep the mind in perpetual motion. When the body overeats, the blood is drawn to the stomach and digestive glands, and the rest of the system is kept poor. This is exploitation. But this is even more the case when the mind is overactive either in retrospection, direct thought, or imagination. Then the blood is drawn to the brain, and the rest of the system is exploited for the apparent benefit of mind. But this is not so and there is no benefit of mind, for you can build a beautiful roof on a house with a poor foundation and that is the most vain and expensive enterprise, for it is totally wasteful. Sooner or later the house will fall and that beautiful roof will only prove vanity.
Now mind is an instrument, an agent, not an actor, and if treated as a servant [ as a devoted servant that is well loved and well cared for — Muiz ] it can become most powerful. For this the practices of meditation and concentration are necessary, and no mind can become so powerful as that one disciplined by spiritual control.