Controlling the Restless Mind.

Mind and Meditation.
Meditation has four aspects, based on the four yogas. The purpose of meditation is to develop devotion. The prescription is that the more we think of something, the more our interest grows around that object. So first, the thinking part must be present. When we feel something is ours, like a mother with her child, automatically there is a little devotion and love added to our thinking. Similarly, by adding these elements to our meditation, our interest in God and devotion to him will grow. 
Another major objective of meditation is to increase the capacity of one's concentration, and with that concentrated mind, we think of God with greater attention. With a concentrated mind what normally took us one hour to complete can now be finished in fifteen minutes. So the way to develop a concentrated mind is by meditation.
Now, what is meditation? It is withdrawing the mind from the sense world and focusing it on the object. So first we must try to think of something with the help of which many other thoughts will be lessened. When God is the objective, mush of the mind will be withdrawn. Unconsciously it can become withdrawn, but consciously by effort we must also try to practice this. Instead of a hundred things, you may try to think of only one thing and then you may end up thinking only four things. Then try to lessen that. To be able to lessen 100 percent may not be possible; otherwise you would be almost a saint!
God realisation is the highest attainment. How much you attain depends on many factors. In day-to-day life, there are steps to judge how much you have progressed--how much self-control you have; how many of your desires have lessened; how much love for others you have; how much you can control your anger, your selfishness, and attachment. This will decide whether you are really progressing in spiritual life. Just by saying you have realised everything or you have so much devotion that tears flow easily, is not enough. If your character has changed, then you are a spiritual person. 
Mere concentration is not considered spiritual. Why are you meditating? If you want good health, that is all right; but do not claim it is spiritual. If you want to develop your body, undoubtedly you will get results if you concentrate.
In this connection, once I was in a hilly area, where there was malaria. One Swami said, 'If you want good health, give a little part of your mind to your body'. We said, 'We must give our entire mind to God'. He laughed and said, 'Even if you want to give your whole mind to God, ninety percent of the mind is already in the body.You may say that you want God--that's certainly a good idea--but the body says otherwise'. I learnt a lesson.
Yoga has a system, which is also recommended in the scriptures. Improve your health; only then you can think of God better. Certainly Sri. Ramakrishna said, 'Do not do too much yoga and asana, as the mind will then go to the body'. But we must remember that Sri Ramakrishna was teaching aspirants who were on the verge of God-realisation. Their standard was very high; ours is different. It varies from person to person. It is you who must determine how far you want to go in spiritual life. Mere claiming is not enough. The major test of one's spiritual life is transformation of character.
Preparation for Meditation. 
In order to prepare ourselves for a productive meditation, is there anything we should do before we begin?
Three things are normally done to prepare for meditation. First, take a bath, put on clean clothes, and then enter your shrine room, or a corner of your room that you have set aside for meditation. In three months time that area of your dwelling will acquire so much spiritual vibration that you will feel uplifted every time you go there. Anything you do in that room, whether crying or laughing, try to connect it with God. Thus even unconsciously you will receive inspiration in that room when you enter it.
You will feel more holy if you first take a bath. But if you don't want to, then do as you like. However, whatever your standard of cleanliness is, you must feel pure enough to think of God. If you are a great believer in Ganges water, then use it. Some minimum standard of physical cleanliness is necessary. If you don't have time to take a bath, then meditate before bathing.
Preferably, begin your day by remembering and repeating the names of God, or chanting a few names of God. That time in the morning is under your control. In the evening you may have to work late or friends may unexpectedly drop in. The  evening is uncertain. But you must make time to meditate for a minimum of twenty minutes. And if the mind is calm, meditate longer. Of the morning and evening meditations, at least one should be more leisurely, without any pressing time constraints.
If during meditation the mind is very restless, stop and to japam. Repeat the mantra a minimum of 108 times, otherwise vagaries of the mind will arise. You must perform meditation or japam whether your mind wants to or not. Japam is easier than dhyana. If, after a half hour, the mind is still restless, read a holy book. The mind should not be forced too much, but you can cajole it. If you are regular in meditation, the mind will concentrate quickly. Just as when you eat at a particular time every day, so also when you sit for meditation at a particular time everyday, your body and mind will cooperate. Your children and friends will learn not to call at that time, because they will know you meditate at that time.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
C.S. Chakravarthy
H. No. 12-13-365, St. No. 2,
Flat. No. D-33, Ushodaya Apartments,
Tarnaka, Secunderabad- 500017
Andhra Pradesh, India.
E-mail: chakku1968@gmail.com
Cell. No. 09985732397
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------.  

Azad Hind Fauj.

The inaugration of the Provisional Government of Azad Hind was a personal triumph for Subhash Chandra Bose and represented the high water-mark of a colourful  career. Subhash Chandra Bose represented a new force in Asia and when some disagreed with his approaches, none questioned his credentials, his motives and his right to speak for the people of India. He was a leader of the front rank who had twice headed the Indian National Congress and whose popularity with the younger generation matched only that of Jawaharlal Nehru.
In August 1943, while attending the Burmese Independence Day celebrations, he had declared just as the Peacock emblem now flies over the Government house in Rangoon, so will the tri-colour soon fly over the Red Fort at Delhi. Bose drafted the historic proclamation on the dawn of October 20 at a single sitting, a matterly performance which it was said required not a single alteration. It recounted the manner in which the British had established power in India and recalled the martial exploits of the great figures of the Revolt of 1857 namely Rani Lakshmi Bai of Jhansi, Tantia Tope, Kanwar Singh and Nana Saheb. It described the growth of Indian Nationalism and called upon all Indians to give their allegiance to the new government which guaranteed religious liberty as well as equal opportunity to its citizens. The proclamation ended on a stirring note-- "In the name of God, in the name of bygone generations, who have welded the Indian people into one nation, and in the name of the dead Heroes who have bequeathed to us a tradition of heroism and self-sacrfice, we call upon the Indian people to rally round our banner and strike at India's freedom".
On 15th August, 1945, after the Japanese surrender was announced, Bose decided to leave for an unknown destination. He issued a special order of the day to the Army and a special message to Indians in East Asia both of which ended on a prophetic note: "There is no power on earth that can keep India enslaved. India shall be free and before long - JAI HIND"--words which were to come true in exactly two years.
"I feel that I shall die very soon I have fought for India's freedom till the last Tell my countrymen, India will be free before long. Long Live Free India".Those were the last words of Subhash Chandra Bose before he succumbed to the injuries between 8 P.M. and 9 P.M. at a military hospital at Taihoku (Formosa) after his plan caught fire and crashed to the ground on 18th August at 2 P.M.
The saga of Indian National Army, is the final saga of the Indian Revolution. The history of the saga of Indian Revolution will never be complete without a detailed account of the life and work of Netaji himself, who proclaimed to the world, the establishment of a Provincial Azad Hind Government on a foreign soil. His exploits for the cause of India deserve to be written in letters of gold. And so, here goes the final chapter of the saga of Indian Revolution. The frustration following the short-lived August rising was soon relieved by a promising turn of events abroad. All eyes were turned upon Netaji, the rising Sun of the Indian Revolutionary Movement. Netaji's mysterious  disappearance in 1941 had raised great expectations. His journey to Germany was in itself a breath-taking feat of endurance, courage and chivalry. None could have even dreamt of undertaking a venture with so many hazards. But Netaji was a revolutionary to his finger-tips, and he had imbibed fully the revolutionary traditions of Bengal. In Germany, early in January 1942, he raised the first battalion of Free India Region. That was the only beginning of a great and audacious venture. The Azad Hind Fauj formed on 5th July, 1943 at Singapore was to be the shield and the sword of our national unity. It was our first national army to take field against the defenders of the Empire. It had a flag, a song,  slogan and a cause that wiped out, as if by magic, all the narrow caste and communal distinctions which dog us at every step even to this day. The men and women who rallied round Netaji's banner had but one overwhelming desire, namely the freedom of their home-land. In the words of Pandit Nehru, "INA made history in Malaya and Burma and elsewhere but also in people's mind all over India, and that fact will endure"
Besides Netaji's versatile leadership, mention should also be made of Rashbehari Bose's role in organising during the war a movement in the Far-East for the liberation of India. He had escaped to Japan after the failure of the Insurrection in North India in 1915 and he remained, to quote General Shah Nawaz Khan, "the same great revolutionary throughout his life". Soon after the outbreak of hotilities in Far-East, Rashbehari Bose and others founded the Indian Independence League. The first INA forme dunder the leadership of General Mohan Singh in September 1942 was sponsored by Rashbehari Bose and the Indian Independence League. Rashbehari handed over charge of the Indian Independence Movement to Netaji on 4th July, 1943. The first INA could not last long nor could it make any progress, because of General Mohan Singh's growing suspicion's about Japanese intentions. He was put under arrest by the Japanese on 20th December, 1942 and the first INA ceased to exist. But the slogan of 'Quit India' had in the meantime reached the Indian brethren in the Far-East. Netaji, the living embodiment of revolution, was issuing stirring appeals from Berlin to choose between freedom and slavery. Three months before the Quit India call, Netaji has announced: "In May, 1942 has begun our last war of independence. The speed and ease with which the Japanese drove the British out of Malaya and Burma broke the legend of the British power. Netaji's call felt on receptive ears. The enemy exploited every means to spread the slander that Netaji was an agent of the Axis powers! But from the very first day of his arrival in Berlin upto the day of his departure from Singapore in 1945, his every word and every deed eloquently disproved it. He was an uncompromising enemy of British imperialism, and was never to be the agent or tool of any foreign power. From Berlin, he declared: "I am no apologist of the tripatite powers! On 19th July 1943, he declared at a mass rally in Singapore: "According to my plan, it is not even necessary to bother about the attitude of the Asian powers". When the Japanese army chief of staff proposed to Netaji that the INA should be left behind in Singapore as the Japanese would do all the fighting, Netaji's curt reply was "Any liberation of India secured through Japanese sacrifice is to me worse than slavery". He raised and organised a patriotic National Army. He sent his trusted men to act as emissaries in India and contact the revolutionaries for linking up the two wings of the liberation movement. Many of these brave men reached India undertaking great risks and many of them when caught were given savage sentences by the British. Netaji's nephews were held and horribly treated in the Lahore fort. Netaji inspired bound-less faith in the heart of every Indian rich and poor. Twenty crores of rupees were spent on the amount of voluntary gifts to the Azad Hind Government. Describing Netaji's hold over the entire Indian people in the Far-East, General Shah Nawaz Khan writes, "I should never forget a scene that I witnessed at one of the meetingsa addressed by Netaji at Singapore. After Netaji has finished his speech, he made an appeal for funds. Thousands of peopel came forward to donate. They formed a queue in front of Netaji, each one coming up on his turn, handing over his donation to Netaji and left. Most of the people who formed the queue were donating large amounts. All of a sudden I saw a very poor labourer-woman going up the stage to hand her donation. She was in tathers and had even no clothes to cover her head. With abated breath all of us watched her. She took three rupee notes and offered them to Netaji and said "Please accept these. This is all I possess". Netaji still hesitated. Then large drops of tears rolled down his cheeks. He extended his hand and accepted the money from her. To him three rupees were of greater value than lakhs contributed by a rich man out of his million!
The Azad Hind Fauj was formed on 5th July 1943. Nearly three lakhs of soldiers  were recruited into the army and were given complete military training. The first provisional government of free India was formed on 21st October of the same year. This government was not a puppet government and neither were the fighters of INA.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
C.S. Chakravarthy
H. No. 12-13-365, St. No. 2,
Flat. No. D-33, Ushodaya Apartments,
Tarnaka, Secunderabad-500017
Andhr Pradesh, India.
E-mail: chakku1968@gmail.com
Cell. No. 09985732397
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------. .  .