Like the deep ocean, this is a silent world so far as the senses are concerned. To the inner ear, however, it is another story. All too soon you become aware of the noise and conflict these desires raise in the mind.
If private urges could be explained in terms of noise, a craving for fries might rate 50 decibels, the level of ordinary conversation; for a pint of beer or a glass of wine maybe 60: and a raucous, insistent desire like sex would be as deafening as a rock concert.
We have innumerable urges like this, which make the mind as busy as a noisy airport: urges arriving, urges taking off, long flights, short flights, such chaos and discord that it’s impossible to find some place quiet.
This is why we need to need to meditate for the mind to go deeper beyond these constant urges and grow still. If we can sustain unbroken concentration at a certain depth the mind gives up and grows still. “You go ahead boss” it says; “I’ll just sit here and rest. I’m tired with all this concentration”. This does not mean the mind is asleep but is in a more alert and wakeful than on the surface when the mind is busy chattering away.
Stillness in the mind enables us to see clearly and through this clarity we can understand the real self that is free from ego and conditioning. In this place we then have the power to change any negative patterns of conditioning or pre-conceptions that don’t serve us anymore so we achieve a life free of suffering.
Yoga and Meditation work best when practiced together as these practices when used alongside each other free the inner and outer body and mind. Meditation is often not an easy feat or an easy activity to put into our busy schedules but often the hardest things in life bring the greatest bliss.
Reference used: Yoga International Summer 2012. – Beneath Still Waters by Eknath Easwaran.