When we attempt to perform Simran (remembering God), our minds wander and we have more thoughts than usual. This article discusses what we can do to improve our focus while performing Simran. It also considers whether we should be ashamed of ourselves for having a wandering mind.
Learn to control your mind. Gurbani says Man Jeetay Jag jeet (conquer your mind and you conquer the world). The mind is always wandering and is often somewhere else hence you do not give your best to the present. You are either in the past or in the future. You are always thinking of something else. When you are in the office you think about home. When you are at home you think about the office. When you are working you are thinking about your vacation. When you are on vacation you are thinking about what is going on at work. When you were in school you were thinking about college. When you were in college you were thinking about getting a job. When you were young you wanted to grow quickly. When you are old you want to stay young. The mind is out of control. You spend most of your energy on irrelevant thoughts. Your mind is always busy in thoughts of kaam (lust), krodh (anger), lobh (greed), moh (attachment) and ahankar (ego).
You do not have time for God and doing the right thing at the right time. A scattered and misplaced mind is a weak and confused mind. Keep the mind in the present. An aware mind completely in the present is a sharp mind. You have more energy by keeping God in mind instead of the usual energy depleting junk thoughts. You need not restrict this only to meditation. If you keep your mind on God (be in Naam) during your daily activities you will find that you are more focused and have more energy since your energy is not being wasted on useless thoughts. If you find it difficult to keep your mind on God then start with keeping it in the present movement. Do everything with love, respect and complete awareness but without any judgment. If you are driving, enjoy the drive. See how others are driving. If you are eating, concentrate on your eating. Observe how your mind, hands, jaws, tongues etc interact while eating. By keeping your mind in the present you will keep it from wandering.
Recognize that your mind is wandering and make an effort to stop it. The worst case scenario is when you start following a thought and you're like "That's a fantastic idea. Let's go with that ". The thoughts will arrive. Don't berate yourself if your mind wanders. Ignore it and return to Simran (remembering Waheguru).
If your mind wanders while doing Simran in your mouth, make it louder so your ears can hear it. If you're feeling sleepy, get up and go for a walk. Do your Path (Gurbani recital) standing up. Don't put yourself up against a brick wall. Try to sit up as straight as possible. Even if you still feel sleepy, get up. The goal of the game is to defeat the mind. If your mind wanders, ignore it and return to Simran.
The game is to recognise and stop your mind from wandering. Avoid thinking that I'm a terrible person because my mind wanders. We are not designed to be perfect. If you're Amritdhari (initiated Sikh), it doesn't mean that you’re instantly a Mahapurkh (great being) that is reaching Sachkhand (realm of truth) (realm of truth). Taking Amrit indicates that you have recently been admitted to the school. The school has a lot of training to do, so get started, and Guru Ji is here to help.
Recognize your mind is wandering and try to stop it. Do not follow your thoughts and bring your mind back to doing Simran (remembering Waheguru). Do Simran out loud, so that your ears can hear it. Don’t lean against a wall. Stand up and walk around if you’re sleepy. Wandering mind and you bringing it back to doing Simran is all a part of the game.
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