How to discipline the mind and the thoughts. This has been one of the core concerns of Sufi masters in providing guidance and direction to their followers. Sufi saints have used diverse metaphors for the mind and have provided ways in which seekers can inculcate clarity and focus.
In the Sufi tradition, the mind has often been compared to a wild horse that can be tamed through constant watchfulness over nafs, the ego. If the mind does not exercise discipline, thoughts shall run in all directions and shall confound the seeker, pulling him away from divine remembrance. The mind can be controlled through sustained efforts at self-purification and through heart‑centred awareness. Another Sufi metaphor used for the restless mind is that of a bird, which must be guided back to its nest with love and surety of purpose, which symbolizes the heart’s return to the divine presence of the Almighty.
Sufi mystic Hazrat Faridoddin Abu Hamed Mohammad Attar Nishapuri (1145-1221), popularly known as ‘Attar of Nishapur’, wrote in his famous work Manṭiq-uṭ–Ṭayr (The Conference of the Birds), “The way is long, and the mind is weak. Only those who tame their thoughts with love will reach the Beloved.” The book depicts the journey of the soul to divine enlightenment, which is only possible through fanaa (annihilation of the self) and tawhid (unity). The self must engage in ceaseless spiritual pursuit and must evolve to the spiritual level where the seeker does not merely believe in God. Instead, the seeker must realize the deep, all-encompassing truth that there is nothing in existence but God (Wahdat al-Wujud).
The mind can be disciplined by immersing oneself so totally in God that one achieves the inherent realization that everything belongs to God, everything happens through His will, and that nothing is separate from him. The tangles of ‘I, Me and Mine’ are a play of the ego. This false feeling of ownership traps man in the marketplace of the world and does not let his soul undertake the search for union with the Almighty.
The need to free the soul from the material attachments of the world is beautifully illustrated through the old story of a man and his cow. It is said that Hazrat Junaid, a Sufi master, was going through the marketplace of the town with his disciples. It was his practice to use any situation and teach his disciples to draw lessons from it about how the self can be uplifted to achieve union with the Divine Beloved.
Hazrat Junaid and his followers saw a man dragging his cow by a rope. He instructed the man to wait and told his disciples, “Surround this man and the cow. I am going to teach you something.”
Hazrat Junaid was a famous mystic, so the man was also interested in listening to him. Hazrat Junaid told his disciples, “I am going to ask you a question. Who is bound to whom? Is the cow bound to this man or is this man bound to this cow?” The disciples replied, “Hazrat, of course the cow is bound to the man. The man is the master. He is holding the rope, and the cow must follow him wherever he goes. He is the master and the cow is the slave.”
Hazrat Junaid said, “Now see.”’ He took out his scissors and cut the rope – and the cow escaped.
The man ran after the cow. Hazrat Junaid asked his disciples, “Now look what is happening! Now you see who the master between them is. The cow is not interested at all in this man – in fact, she is escaping.”
The man was enraged at the loss of the cow. He angrily asked Hazrat Junaid, “What kind of experiment is this?” But Hazrat Junaid said to his disciples, “Similar is the case with your mind. All the nonsense that you are carrying inside is not interested in you. You are interested in it and you are keeping it together somehow. In fact, you are becoming mad in keeping it together somehow. Primarily, all the garbage in your mind is your creation and you are keeping yourself bound to it. The moment you lose interest in all these thoughts, the moment you understand the futility of them all, they shall start disappearing. With the scissors of awareness and mindfulness, cut the rope of attachment to these thoughts.”
One of the easiest ways to discipline the mind and break the shackles of wandering thoughts is to look upon thoughts as random vehicles passing on a road. These vehicles shall come and go at their own speed. If the seeker watches with mindfulness, he shall realize that he does not have to attach himself to any thought. He does not have to judge it or validate it. It is enough to let the thought gently pass, like a moving vehicle. Hazrat Jalal al-Din Rumi (1207-73), the globally loved Sufi mystic said,
“This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!”
This verse brings to us the learning that one should not try to force or resist thoughts and emotions or be impacted by their movement. Instead, one should stay anchored in dhikr and simply observe the coming and going of thoughts. It is important to let go of the sense of attachment towards thoughts.
Lal Shahbaz Qalandar (1177–1274), the highly revered Sufi saint, philosopher, and poet proclaimed, “I vanished duality from my mind and saw both the worlds as one so I see one, seek one, know one, and proclaim one.” From these words of the spiritual master, one who yearns to be a true seeker can draw the lesson of total devotion in God. God is the only reality. Everything else is ephemeral and does not hold significance. All that is insignificant can be discarded with self-discipline generated by unwavering spiritual pursuit and a focused mind and heart.
Disclaimer
Views expressed above are the author’s own.
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