Question: How does one go about silencing the mind?

Sri Chinmoy: Just as a child cries for a toy, we have to cry to God to silence our mind. If we follow a spiritual path under the guidance of a true spiritual Master, the Master can help the disciple to silence his mind if he sees that the disciple is sincere in his aspiration. Our aspiration is our most powerful inner weapon. We have to become a divine warrior who is always ready to fight against ignorance, a divine warrior who wants to establish the Kingdom of Heaven on earth, beginning with his own nature. As a divine warrior, we will guard the mind’s door with a naked sword. When an undivine thought comes, we will immediately kill it.

Another way is to adopt a totally indifferent attitude toward our thoughts. Right now we have made friends with ignorance, with undivine thoughts. It is very difficult for us to tell them not to visit us any more. These thoughts feel that they have found a safe harbour in us, since we have always made them welcome. When they see that their lifelong friend is neglecting them and not giving them proper attention, first they wonder what is wrong with us. They see that they have done nothing wrong, and they decide that it is our own stupidity that is making us ignore them. After a while they feel that it is beneath their dignity to visit us. Just as we have pride and vanity, ignorance also has pride and vanity. So these thoughts that were once our closest friends refuse to enter into us because we are not paying any attention to them.

Undivine thoughts are like monkeys. The nature of the monkey is to bite us. If we just ignore it, the monkey will bite us a few times and, if there is no reaction, it will go away. But if the monkey bites us, if we strike it vehemently a few times, the monkey also goes away. Both methods are effective. Either we have to have the strength not to pay attention to the bite of the monkey or we have to strike it.