Understanding Restlessness

I blog by the psudonym A Restless Mind With A Sensitive Heart, and lovingly (or otherwise!) called RESTLESS in the blogosphere.  Restlessness inside me is something which I cannot explain,  I wrote  about it in this post.

Recently, I just happened to see this article "Are You Restless?" by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar in the Times of India Newspaper's Speaking Tree spiritual magazine and thought of reproducing it here in my blog.  As the title suggests, there are various types of restlessness and there are ways to get rid of them. Read on....

"The first type of restlessness is due to the place you are in. When you move away from the place, street or house, you immediately feel better. Chanting, singing, children playing and laughing can change this atmospheric restlessness. When you chant and sing, the vibration in the place changes.

The second type of restlessness is in the body. Eating vata or the wrong food or food that tends to aggravate; eating at odd times, not exercising, and overworking can all cause a physical restlessness. The remedy for this is exercise, moderation in work habits and going on a vegetable or juice diet for one or two days.

The third type of restlessness is mental restlessness. It is caused by ambition, disturbing thoughts, likes or dislikes. Knowledge alone can cure this restlessness.  Seeing life from a broader perspective, knowledge about the self and the impermanence of everything.  If you achieve everything, so what? After your achievement, you will die.  Knowledge of your death or life, confidence in the Self, confidence in the divine, can all help in calming the mind and reduce restlessness.

Then fourth is emotional restlessness.  Any amount of knowledge does not help here.  Only kriya or action for purification, helps.  All that emotional restlessness vanishes.  Also the presence of the guru, a wise person, or a saint will help to calm your emotional restlessness.

The fifth type of restlessness is rare.  It is the restlessness of the soul.  When everything feels empty and meaningless, know you are very fortunate.  That longing and restlessness is the restlessness of the soul. Do not try to get rid of it.  Embrace it! Welcome it! Usually to get rid of it, people do all sorts of things - they change places, jobs or partners;  they do this, they do that.  It seems to help for some time, but it does not last.

Restlessness of the soul alone can bring authentic prayer in you.  It brings siddhi or perfection and miracles in life.  It is so precious to get that innermost longing for the Divine.  Satsang, the sharing of experiences and thoughts in the presence of the enlightened one, soothes the restless soul."

I hope you'll also find these words useful, as I did.

RESTLESS

PS: You may like to read this too.