According to Swami Sivananda, lethargy is an impediment to sadhana. We all go through it. Even I have gone through it. Not today, not this week, not this month, yet it happens to everyone. Realizing that I was succumbing to the original nature of my mind, made me more aware that I should not succumb to the original nature, I should keep on striving.
The only antidote to lethargy is to keep on trying. Intention and moods of the mind do not match. The moods of the mind change fast. The intention is there, yet it is your mood which decides if you want to go there, or if you do not want to go there. If the intention is there and it is your drive, then that mood becomes an obstacle. So, that obstacle has to be removed.
You cannot remove lethargy through meditation. You cannot remove lethargy through mantra japa. The only way to remove lethargy is to be active. Every day you are trying to observe and rectify the moods of the mind, so that it becomes your friend and not an obstacle. Whenever people have to confront their mind, they fight with it. Fighting with the mind is not necessary, for many times it is the mind which will overpower your efforts. Everything is controlled by the mind: likes, dislikes, awareness, lethargy, anger, frustration, affection, compassion. Everything is controlled by the mind. Mind brings that experience forward at different times.
Sometimes, a positive experience can take you further. Sometimes, no experience can shut the door.
Sometimes, a negative experience can take you a few steps back. However, everything is being regulated by the mind. In the obstacles to sadhana, the first block that people have, is lethargy according to Swami Sivananda. Lethargy comes in because you have to do the same thing over and over again. You get caught in that over-and-over-again circle, rather than being an observer of your effort. When you get caught in that vicious circle, you separate from the effort that you are making. So, as the saying goes, ‘Keep on trucking!’
25 February 2024, Ganga Darshan, Munger