In the occidental culture there is no possibility of ‘let it be’ because it is the element which has made the occident progress. By experience the people of the west learned that they have to do the thing themselves.
In olden days they used to say, “God will give rain; if God does not give rain, let it be!” But the men in the occident said, “Even if God does not give rain, I will supply water to my garden. Even if it is hot outside, I will keep my room cool. Even if God makes the whole of Europe cold, freezing, minus two, I will make my room warm.” The man in the occident has fought with nature and he has fought with the ancient religions that said God gives rain, God gives this and God gives that. He says, “No, I give.” Therefore, there is no question of ‘let it be’, at least in the occident. The same should be your approach to yoga.
The mind is very powerful, no doubt. Samskaras and your passions are very powerful, no doubt. It is you who will have to solve this now or later. It is the same mind which is distracted and it is the same mind which wants to develop concentration. There are no two minds. There is one mind and two behaviours. You will have to fix one behaviour. Therefore, the path of meditation is not the path of half measure. Either don’t practise it and spend your evenings in nightclubs and your mornings in bed, or if you practise it, then practise it correctly and completely.
You should not give leniency to this undisciplined mind, because the main purpose of yoga is to educate the mind. After all, if your room is dirty, what do you do? When your clothes are dirty, what do you do? When your toilet is dirty, what do you do? Definitely you clean them. In the same way, if the mind is unruly and undisciplined, it has to be corrected. Of course, you have to be very systematic with your behaviour with the mind, because if you think that the mind will become disciplined by itself, it is impossible.
Have you seen how they train the horse? At what age do they train the horse? The training begins right from the beginning. You cannot train a horse when it is old; and there is no such thing as spontaneity. This you must remember very well. It is a trick of the mind which deceives you by suggesting, ‘I can do it spontaneously.’ You should not listen to the wrong suggestions of your mind.
Every day you must sit for meditation at the same time, as meditation at the same time develops that environment of training. The reflexes of the physical body also will cooperate with you. Sometimes you are very enthusiastic for three hours; sometimes you feel low and say, ‘Okay, tomorrow,’ and sometimes you are afraid, ’Oh God, what will God think about me?’ Meditation is no the responsibility of God. Meditation is the responsibility to yourself. If you are irregular in your meditation, you are doing something to yourself.
Therefore, from the point of view of the occidental culture there is no question of ‘let it be’. When you have harnessed the forces of nature, why should you not harness the forces of the mind? When you have discovered the laws of nature, why should you not you discover the laws of the mind? When you have fought with the wild nature, why should you not fight with the wild mind?
26 July 1984, L’Hermitage, France