When we think, our thoughts are mostly either irrelevant or wrong. Most people never try to control their thoughts. Frequently, you follow the mind instead of the mind following you. This is like the tail wagging the dog. Mind gets your attention riveted on it. No matter what you do, you will not be able to separate yourself from your mind. Thus, you are connected to your mind through this “attention”. People never seem to realize that following their thoughts helplessly, letting their attention wander hither and thither as dictated by the thoughts, unchecked is a tremendous waste of energy.
“Attention” implies Awareness. You are “aware of” whatever the mind is focused on or whatever passes through the mind or whatever topic to which the mind is connected to at any point in time. There is Awareness in this being “Aware of”. This “aware of” is the “Attention”. You are the “Awareness” - and “Awareness” is the Aatma.
Thus, mind is connected to you through the “Attention”. When the mind roams as it does frequently, your attention also roams along with the mind - because it is attached (focused) on the mind. Thus, one end of this attention is the mind and the other side is you or the Awareness. (Swami Vivekananda).
Awareness all pervading; it pervades the entire space-time dimension; it pervades every nook and cranny of it. Mind roams about all the time randomly - while the Awareness is stationary (it does not move). Where can Awareness move? One will be able to move to a place where one is not already present. Awareness is the Aatma, which is present everywhere and therefore, Awareness does not move. In other words, the locus of the attention is always the Awareness – no matter where it moves.
When some one tells you to control your mind, it is like controlling your shadow. Can you control your shadow? For instance, can you catch the neck of your shadow? No matter how well and how long you try, you will not be able to catch the neck of your shadow. The only way to do that is to catch your own neck! There is no other way to do that. What you can do however is to ignore your mind – that is, ignore the thoughts that arise in the mind. Where do thoughts originate, why do they originate and where will they end?
Thoughts arise in your mind because of the three Gunas of Prakriti (Maayaa). Generally, if you pay attention to them, they end up in actions. If you do not pay attention to them, they will simply disappear without leaving a trace behind. When you ignore the mind in this manner – that is by ignoring the thoughts that it generates – you can control the mind. Mind then will be helpless to take you with it. You refuse to go with it. That is Mind Control.
Breathing is the vehicle of the mind. Breath changes perceptibly with the state of the mind. Anger, peace, hatred, fear, love, greed, sexy feelings, ecstasy, walking, etc are all emotions/actions and each of these emotions/actions, which are connected to the mind, generate their own unique patterns of breathing. Even while dreaming, the rhythm of the breath changes depending of whether the dream is happy, fearful, exotic, meaningless or illogical. (Swami Vivekananda)
It is said that generally, 12 breaths a minute is normal to persons. As the number of breaths per minute decrease, you become calmer and vice versa. Five or less breaths a minute indicates a great state akin to Samadhi. When you change the rhythm of your breath, the state of your mind also changes. You say to the child when it is crying, “Take a deep breath” – in order to calm its mind. Breath, if done properly, gives you equanimity or tranquility. (Swami Vivekananda)
The next thought is about “You encounter more and more subtlety as you penetrate inside your body-mind complex”
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