Sri Sri Ravi Shankar in today's Satsang at Art of Living International Ashram:
The effect of time is both on matter and mind. You keep an apple over time, it starts rottening, right. And when you look at any object you can find out how old it is. So like that time has an impact on matter too. Our body changes with time. Similarly time also has an impact on mind. This seldom people notice. How you feel in the morning is different from how you feel in the afternoon and it is different from how you feel in the evening. And how you feel in the night is much different and how you feel in every morning is more different, isn’t it?
The state of mind and the feeling also changes. Similarly thought pattern also gets affected by time. Winter, summer, spring all affect the mind differently. Ancient people did an in-depth study about it; how the moon affects the mind; how the moon is moving around in different constellations, different degrees of moon has a definite impact on the mind. That’s what they call ‘tara-bal’, ‘chandra-bal’, how it impacts. So moon is in one constellation for two and a half days, then moon moves to the other constellation. So in two and half days there are changes; the moods of the mind, mood swings, everything, it’s favourable or unfavourable vibrations, you feel like that. Then the question comes ‘are we slave of our mind?’ I say ‘No’, why because there is something beyond the mind, that is the ‘intellect’. When intellect is strong, it overcomes the impact of the mind. When intellect is weak, then the emotions overtakes the mind. And what if intellect also gets affected? It does get affected. Then there is something beyond the intellect and that is the ‘self’, that is ‘Shiva Tattva’! Shiva is a master of the time, ‘maha-kaal’, ‘grand-time’. So take refuge in the shiva tattva or the atma tattva or the self, higher self. The impact of time is minimised, both on the mind and on the body. So time impacts the mind, and time has definite measurements.
Time has impact on mind, similarly our company also affects us. What we hear that impacts our mind. The people with whom we are affects us. If we are in good company then it has good impact on us. If we are in bad company then negative feelings like anger, jealousy, etc., affects us. Good company gives a good feeling and in bad company the mind gets muddled up in complaining about the person, talking ill about somebody is negativity. All this is called bad company. Mind gets affected by time and company we keep. Then what is the third thing: food. Food is secondary, food is not that important. If the first two are okay then it can man over the menace of food. Company, Time and Food.
Now you observe your mind, whether any ups and downs are there going on right now. Hence, those who know time are called ‘devagya’. They know about time. All this is as per divine will of time. Rule of time is divine, related to gods, those who know time are called ‘devagya’.
What is above God, is ‘brahma-gyaan’! Brahma gyaani is much above devagya. Brahma gyaani is being centered in ‘self’ or ‘aatma’. What I am is what you are and what is everything else too. This firm experience and faith brings brahma gyaan; then nothing can shake you. Even if it appears that it is shaking but actually it is not, it makes you strong. Brahma gyaan is bigger than all other gyaan. All this satsang is brahma gyaan. ‘Shabd brahma gyaan’, take everything and proceed further together.