Wake up, what does that mean?

Balanced, loving and disciplined, we want to be. But it's not easy. Before you know it, you're eating another bag of chips or gossiping about a friend. Why do we do that, against our better judgement? According to the Hindu scripture Ratha Kalpana, we can compare ourselves to a chariot pulled by horses. The trick is to become a good charioteer.

According to the Ratha Kalpana, the passenger in this chariot symbolizes our soul, which is on its way to enlightenment. The chariot itself represents our body. The horses that drive the chariot represent our five senses, which stimulate our body to act and move.

The reins with which the horses - the senses - are controlled refer to our mind and its thoughts. And the charioteer, who is literally in control, is our consciousness or intellect. 

Only when we are “well awake” are we able to steer our lives in the right direction. Then the charioteer listens to the passenger's instructions, keeps the reins sufficiently tight and knows exactly where to steer the carriage.

Unfortunately, things often turn out differently in practice. Those who do not use common sense, whose senses are unruly, and whose minds are unbridled, will find their lives drifting into chaos and confusion. The most extreme example is drug or alcohol addicts. The charioteer has completely lost his grip on the reins.

The right balance

Between those two extremes of utter licentiousness and perfect self-control lies a great twilight zone, where most of our lives take place. Sometimes we loosen the reins too much: we spend the entire evening zapping or going to bed too late. And sometimes we keep the reins too tight: we strain ourselves at work without taking a break or push our bodies.

The trick is to find the right balance, keeping the reins neither too tight nor too loose. The charioteer needs knowledge and insight into the character of the horses. The horse is a noble animal. That you are not treated by brute force, but by attention and care in combination with a certain strictness.' The charioteer is actually our personality, 'the power of the I'. The personality must have the willpower and the skill to control the horses and direct them in the right direction.

All parts – chariot, horses, reins and charioteer – are important. Only if they work well together will the car move in the right direction.  

In the Ratha Kalpana the senses are compared to five horses. Horses are sensitive to attention. Your senses also need attention to function optimally. If your attention is scattered or you are too much in your head, you will miss half of the beauty that the world has to offer. Mindfulness is a good method to sharpen your senses. Take a few moments every day to be fully present and to take in the world with a fresh and unbiased view. You can practice this when you are on your bike, have to walk a bit or are eating.

Try to switch off your thoughts and worries for a while – just like your PC, smartphone or background music – and switch completely to your senses. Look, listen, feel, smell and/or taste with full attention. If you are distracted by a thought, notice it and return to the colorful environment around you.

The reins with which the horses are kept in check represent our mind and its thoughts. When our charioteer – our 'I' – pulls the reins, the mind needs to listen so that the senses can be controlled. Unfortunately, the mind often prefers to be the boss itself. Through concentration we can regain control. The following exercise will help with this.

Sit upright in a chair and concentrate on a candle flame. When thoughts knock on your door – and that happens all the time – you don't go along with them, but let them float by as if they were clouds. If you have a thought, return your attention to the flame. Over time (and a lot of practice), the flow of thoughts becomes less and less, and your focus becomes stronger.

Source: Hidde Tangerman – “Balance yourself with the Ratha Kalpana”