The Best Technique for Us to Control Our Minds

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To strengthen the powers of our soul, the most important exercise is to control our mind. Psychologists did a very interesting test. I mean they evaluated something. They studied the behavior of people who didn’t want to do a particular action. Which people are successful in not doing a particular action, even though they like to do it?
They put a few sweets in front of some students, placed a camera, and left the room. They told them, “If you don’t eat these, we’ll reward you when we return.” It was a good reward too. They wanted the reward. On the other hand, the sweet was flashing and saying, “You have to eat me!”
They studied who was successful in not eating it, and who wasn’t successful. They saw that the people who constantly looked at the sweets and said, “No, I shouldn’t eat it,” ate it in the end. Who didn’t eat it? Those who didn’t look at the sweet. They looked somewhere else. This means they controlled their inclinations by controlling their minds.
They did this test on hundreds of cases. They saw that the people who didn’t think about the subject could control themselves. Wherever the mind goes, the heart will follow. You can’t control your heart. But, you can control your mind. When you control your mind, you’ll control your behavior too.
Some factors exist in the culture and lifestyle of our society, which work against controlling our minds. Leisure time has increased in city life. The means for entertainment. They entertain! Its meaning is obvious. Entertainment! It means making a person’s mind busy. The means for entertainment have increased. There weren’t so many entertainments in the past. There are thousands of games in his mobile. There is entertaining news in it. Different types of new applications and software come up. “Shall I show you something interesting?”
“Shame on you. You want to ruin my mind?! You want to gradually take away my ability to control what I pay attention to.” “No, it’s very interesting!” “I know that darned thing is interesting.” “It’s not religiously forbidden!” “Fine, but my mind will wander.” One magnet pulls from this side, and another from the other side. I don’t want to look at something interesting at all.
My mobile is holding reins and is pulling me to this side and that side. If you behave with an animal like this, it’ll get upset. It’ll say, “What is it? I’m walking. You keep pulling me that way?” Let go of the reins and let him go! What’s the matter with someone else controlling my mind?!
Aha! If that is the Lord of the Universe, that is good. If you give the reins to God and recite the Qur’an, you’ll see what He does with you! He’ll attract your attention to this topic. He takes to the Hereafter, to that topic, to this topic, then to that topic. He holds a person’s chin and says, “Look at this. Look at that.” Think what will happen!
A person will become a real person after a while! Look at it this way. You know that the Qur’an is not easily divided into different topics. There is a beautiful variety in it! A special music! It takes a person to the peak of Heaven and to the bottom of Hell. It takes us to see the bad people and the good people.
Let’s be entertained with the Qur’an. Let the Qur’an attract our attention to this and that. The techniques for us to control our minds using our religious teachings are very interesting.
Prayer is repetitive, repetitive, repetitive, and repetitive! Why? O God, you could have put some variety in it. For example, recite Fatiha on Saturdays and the chapter Nas on Sundays. Put a variety in the number of repetitions of the prostration and bowing. Two bowings and one prostration this time. Now two cycles. Later three cycles. Three cycles on Tuesdays. Four cycles on Wednesdays. Give variety. Good taste is a good thing. We start praying and when we come to ourselves, we see it’s finished. We have memorized it!
He says, “Poor person. I have put this for you to control your mind. I don’t want other factors to attract you attention. Pay attention to something with the power of your own mind.
Controlling our minds is based on our internal behavior. Its result is spiritual power. If a person controls his mind and gains spiritual power, he will become knowledgeable. He will become creative in action. He will experience special enjoyments.
[From the series of speeches under the topic of, “Controlling One’s Mind on the Path to Getting Closer to God,” Session No. 1]

I want to enjoy more.

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What is your purpose in practicing religion? We can mention other reasons for our religiosity. They are right too. But it's not suitable to word it like that. It’s not nice or pleasant to say it like that. [We can count them,] “One, two, three, four.” Usually the reasons mentioned are not accurate. It’s more accurate to say, “I want to enjoy more.”
Why do you want to enjoy more in this world and in the Hereafter? Because God has created me to enjoy, not to suffer. God is kind. He has allowed me to experience pleasures and has created me in a way that I pursue enjoyments. He doesn’t say, “Don’t touch it! I want to bother you.” Is God like this?! One doesn’t understand God if he thinks he hasn’t been created to enjoy.
Have you seen how some fathers are a little grudging? God forbid, I don’t want to insult fathers. Or some employers or bosses. For example, a father sees his child is playing. As soon as he sees his child playing, he says, “Shouldn’t you be studying now?!” [The child says,] “You can’t tolerate me playing? You have to remind me now?!” Some people think the same way about God. They think God likes to see us suffering!
What is your purpose in practicing religion? Don’t say, “So I won’t go to Hell.” Don’t say, “I’m forced to.” Only a part of this is true! Don’t say, “This is God’s right.” What will happen next after you carry out God’s right? Will you enjoy it? [You’ll say,] “No, I’m not after enjoying.” You force me to say something! I have to tell you, “Kiddo! You’re not at that level! You’ll go astray with one small pleasure. And now you’re talking about carrying out God’s right?!”
Human beings have been created to enjoy. “Why do you practice religion?” To enjoy. “Is practicing religion the way for us to enjoy?” Yes! Now the second part of the discussion starts. Yes, no one else knows how to show the way. [One might say,] “No, God is showing us how to stay away from sins.” God is not that boring! God has created me to enjoy. Is it rational for Him to not let me enjoy? [He won’t say,] “I’ve created you to enjoy, but don’t touch anything! Go away!” This is a misconception about God! Such a God is not kind.
We say, “In the name of God, the Beneficent, the Merciful.” God Who is kind has created me to enjoy. We can’t deny this. Wouldn’t this be unkind for Him to tell me to move away [from pleasures]?
What is your purpose in practicing religion? We can mention other reasons for our religiosity. They are right too. But it's not accurate to word it like that. It’s more accurate to say, “I want to enjoy more.”

Compare these two.

This is the way we’ve been created.

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Human beings don’t seek to achieve anything unless they have an inner knowledge of it. People don’t start with learning and experiencing. People start every action and their life with a kind of restlessness. What does being restless mean? They understand something is within themselves and they look for it. There is some obscure asset, but we don’t know exactly what it is and we don’t know why we’re restless. So we try to find it. It’s the same when people are choosing a goal. They constantly think, “What goal is better for me?” An inner knowledge helps them in choosing their goal. When you reach this goal, you say, “You are what eases my restless heart.”

More than trying to choose our goal, we must try to find our goal within ourselves. We ourselves must discover what our goal is, not what our goal should be. We have an inner knowledge within us for choosing our goal. God hasn’t created us without a goal. So choosing a goal is not in our hands. Our goal in life has been chosen for us from before. “O human beings, surely you must strive (to attain) to your Lord, a hard striving until you meet Him.” [Qur’an 84:6] You will eventually meet God, but you will suffer on this path. This won’t be easy. It’s complicated and difficult. [God says,] “I’ve created you in this way. So go wherever you want.”

This is the only suitable goal for a person. Not being suitable doesn’t mean being valueless. It means it’s impossible. [So we’re not saying,] “Try not to choose any other goals!” No, you aren’t able to choose another goal. Other things can’t be your goal. They won’t set you on fire. This is our nature. “The nature made by God in which He has made men.” [Qur’an 30:30] We have been created in a way that this is what we want.


How did the Commander of the Faithful, Ali (as), choose his goal? One is surprised at this. What was the Imam’s feeling about his goal - getting close to God? Imam Husayn (as) said, “Whenever I saw my father, the Commander of the Faithful (as), he was crying.” O Imam, what is this goal doing to you? We know in general that this goal is probably God and getting close to Him. We don’t have Imam Ali’s (as) wisdom. We can’t imagine, “O Imam, you constantly cried for this? You cried for it every night. What had this goal done to you?! Tell me a little so that it may affect me some too. Why am I so unfeeling?!”

In the story narrated by Nauf, he said the same thing. He saw Imam Ali (as) was restless as he was moving away. He asked the Imam, “Where are you going?” See what Imam said. “I’m going toward my longings.” O Imam, may I be sacrificed for you. What are your longings? Nauf asked the Imam, “What are your longings?” He knew the answer in general but wanted to know more.

Do you know how the Imam responded? What innocence! What glory! He said, “The One Who should know my longings, knows.” He didn’t answer. He wanted to talk to God Himself. Imam, so you have a longing, but you can rest now. God knows you. You love Him. And He loves you. So why do you want to go and cry?! You’re friends with God! One cannot understand this. The fact that we can’t understand Imam Ali (as) shows that we haven’t yet found this goal and it hasn’t set us on fire yet.

We should be calm, like a still water in which the bottom of the pond can be seen. O goal, pull us to you and captivate us. Introduce yourself to me.

So choosing a goal is not in our hands. Our goal in life has been chosen for us from before. “O human beings, surely you must strive (to attain) to your Lord, a hard striving until you meet Him.” [Qur’an 84:6] You will eventually meet God. We have been created in a way that this is what we want. [So we’re not saying,] “Try not to choose any other goals!” No, you aren’t able to choose another goal.
Other things can’t be your goal. They won’t set you on fire.

Be like chivalrous people!

Have you heard they say that a certain ruffian, Teyyeb for example, repented in a moment and became one of the good people? I studied these kinds of people, who were very bad and then suddenly became good. They have a common point. A person drinks alcohol, is a ruffian and does all kinds of bad things. He repents in a moment, and his repentance is accepted. Why?
Everyone has experienced something in his or her life. They had power over someone, but they didn’t use their power and didn’t harm the person. They said, “Go kiddo! I won’t harm you.” They are chivalrous. Such a person is not afraid of anyone. He’s chivalrous and sometimes has forgiven big things.
Since he himself is chivalrous, he thinks, “God is chivalrous too. He is powerful, but I asked Him not to beat me and He won’t. He said He’ll forgive; so He has!” He says this so firmly and gets up! God says, “I’m with the good thoughts of My servant.” He says, “God! Forgive me. You can beat me. But don’t.” Then he says, “God has forgiven me.” “How do you know?! I doubt whether God has forgiven me. I torture myself when worshiping!” He replies, “Don’t torture yourself. God is not worse than I am. Me, a chivalrous-ruffian, when I say I won’t beat someone, I won’t! He has said He won’t beat us. So He won’t!”
I’m afraid when you leave here, you won’t count on God acting chivalrously. When you want to leave here, don’t doubt if God has forgiven you. Say, “God has forgiven me! He told me to come on the 23rd of the month of Ramadan, and I came! What did I have to do?! He has forgiven me! I came! What did I have to do?! God says, ‘I’ll convert your sins into rewards.’ (Qur’an 25:70) So, I’m one of the ‘Friends of God’ now!” Then, if I ask, “So why are you still crying?” say, “Because I’m indebted to Him till the end of my life.” Say, “God has forgiven me!” God says, “I’m with the good thoughts of My servant.” Don’t doubt if God has forgiven you, or not.
[From the series of speeches under the topic of, “How should we believe in God’s Kindness?”]



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The Differences between People

Imam Sadiq (‘a) said, “If you realize the differences between people, you won’t blame anyone.”
Our preaching is usually mixed with blaming. Let’s not preach in such a way that anyone will be blamed and become disappointed. A sinful person should always be kept hopeful. We shouldn’t say, “You’re wretched, but there is hope that God will make you prosper!” It is possible that one may not be wretched although he or she sins.
Imam Sadiq (‘a) counted up to several hundred types of differences between people. If we understand these differences, we won’t blame anyone. One might say, “If we don’t blame people, how can we guide them?!”
People said, “O Prophet of God, that young person who prays behind you ogles women too.” The Prophet replied, “His prayer will fix him.” The Prophet didn’t deny his deed being bad. If that young person heard this, he would become very hopeful. It is very, very interesting. This was really, really interesting.
A person was sitting next to some women and chatting with them. He himself narrated the story like this, “I saw some women sitting close to a tent. I put on some good clothes to go and chat with them. I came and sat next to them to misuse this opportunity!” The Prophet of God (s) was passing by. He asked, “Do you need something there?” He wanted the man to say yes. The man replied, “Yes! I’ve lost my camel’s rope. I am searching for it.” The Prophet (s) said, “Come to me when you have found it.”
The man narrated, “I escaped from among them. Later the Prophet (s) saw me and asked, ‘Did you find your camel’s rope?’ I said, ‘I searched for it, but it wasn’t there.’ I didn’t go near the Prophet anymore so that he wouldn’t ask me why my camel’s rope was there! One time I went into the Mosque to pray and the Prophet (s) wasn’t there. Then, he came. Oh no! The rope and I! I lengthened my prayer. I lengthened it for the Prophet (s) to go and to leave me alone. He had asked me several times, ‘What happened to your camel’s rope?’
The Prophet of God (s) stood there and said, ‘No matter how long your prayer takes, I’m waiting here!’ I finished praying. The Prophet (s) said, ‘What happened to your camel’s rope?’ I replied, ‘There wasn’t any rope. Forgive me. I was wrong and I understood this myself.’ The Prophet said, ‘Don’t sit among the women like that and adhere to the boundaries.’”
This is really wonderful. Now transform this into a way of talking. A tradition says, “A person is hidden behind his tongue.” When you talk, people should say, “He is a kind person.” This is very exact! How should a person talk for people to say that he is kind? Or, how does he talk, saying the same thing, and people say that he is arrogant?
Our preaching is usually mixed with blaming. Let’s not preach in such a way that anyone will be blamed and become disappointed.

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No one should be left alone!

What is sinning?

Why do some people feel proud of themselves when they sin? They very easily say, “I don’t believe in your religion!” Or they say, “I’m not that religious!” Or, “I don’t want to be that religious!” What kind of talking is this? Sinning has nothing to do with religion. Poor person, whether you are religious or not, if you cut your fingers with a cleaver, this doesn’t have anything to do with your religion and beliefs! When you cut your fingers, it will hurt and you’ll be injured!
For example, when a person is not wearing Hijab or if a person becomes drunk, these people think that they have made God upset. They don’t think they have really done something wrong or hurt themselves. These people say, “I made a mistake! It’s not a big deal! You are bothering me about it so much, becoming upset, and won’t stop. Just stop it!”
Many think that sinning means trampling religion, doing acts in conflict with beliefs, and behaving like an unbeliever. This is not the first meaning of sinning! What is sinning? Is it only something that has made God upset?! Or is it something terrible, and a person should become surprised, “God, why have You become upset? I have hurt myself!”
For example, a person is thirsty, and since he is not paying attention, he drinks a glass of poisoned water. Others will say, “No! Why did you drink that?! This acid was for cleaning that certain place.” “Really?!” How can such a person go to a doctor? First of all, he will feel bad. I imagine this person will become pale, a little similar to Imam Ali (‘a) when he was asking for God’s forgiveness. The Imam paled when talking to God, “I have oppressed myself.” (Kumayl Supplication) “Doctor, I have ruined myself. I drank such a poison!”
We should understand the meaning of sinning. Firstly, sinning means a person has hurt himself. I think we have introduced religion in the wrong way from the foundation. Saying, “Religion is a program based on beliefs and faith”, is not an accurate presentation. From the base and beginning, religion is a program based on what benefits human beings! That which benefits him in this world and the Hereafter.
God gets upset about things that are harmful for me. God gets happy about the things I should do in my own favour. A tradition says, “If God hadn’t prohibited the forbidden deeds, a wise person should have avoided them himself anyway.” Such a person would say, “This is harmful for me. Why should I do such a thing?”
Like the story where God said, “O My Prophet, I thank Ja’far. Go ask him why.” It was due to some good characteristics that he had even before becoming Muslim. Ja’far explained, “One is that I never drank alcohol. I thought, ‘Why should I drink something, which ruins my mind.’ I never committed adultery. I never worshiped an idol. Because, I saw that these are wrong deeds.” That was why God said, “I like Hazrat Ja’far.” Why? Because, he didn’t do deeds, which would harm him. Good job. This is the meaning of sinning.
[From the series of speeches under the topic of, “What is sinning? How should we repent?”]

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Be Optimistic About Allah
AliReza Panahian