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developed, we turn the mind inward to God and open to our own omnipresent loving divinity. By refining our discrimination we can transcend the “mad monkey mind.”
3. Practice Sense Control. Given our natural instinct to look to the outer world for gratification, controlling the senses is a fundamental first step in taming the mind, allowing it to focus inwardly on God. Swami instructs us to place a ceiling on desires, which includes a restrained and balanced use of food, energy, time, money, and knowledge. Sense control leads to refined discrimination, higher states of mind, and a deeper understanding about the meaning of life. For ultimate peace, the mind must turn to and immerse itself in God.
4. Develop a Relationship with Sai. Loving God, devotion, is an inner experience that leads us to the wellspring of our own all-embracing love. Sai Baba says that most of us need a teacher because loving a human is easier than loving formless God. The relationship with an embodiment of love profoundly heightens our devotional experience, providing a stepping stone to loving relationships with each other and the formless God. I use the name “Sai” in the heading to emphasize the importance of having a personal relationship with a divine being. Through Sai, I experience expanded love and a vision of God in all forms and in my own heart. Thus he serves as a stepping stone to the transcendental and universal that is beyond form. In place of Sai, you may use any name of God that is most acceptable to you.
Swami tells us that there are nine steps of devotion that will bring us closer to God. These steps are the ways we can turn the mind/key to the right, to God. They include repeating His name, listening to stories about Him, singing to Him, prostrating before Him in humility, offering everything to Him, taking Him as a friend, worshiping His feet (practiced mostly in the East)2, offering service to Him, and surrendering to Him.
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