Don’t poke your nose!

People use the term ‘do not poke your nose in this matter’ quite commonly. How did this come about? What does this mean? The source of origin for breath force and mind is the same. One can bring the mind under control through dhyana or vichara. Those who are unable to do this try to control the mind through the control of breath. This is also another means for controlling the mind. Bhagavan Ramana Maharishi, while speaking on controlling the mind through breath control says, ‘a bird confined to a cage tries to fly out. It rises up flapping its wings but on hitting the roof the bird falls down. It tries this repeatedly and returns to the cage floor.’ Similarly, for one who controls the breath, the mind rises but goes back to the place of origin soon after; Just as a caged bird flies up and falls back, if the breath is controlled the mind returns to its place of origin. Some try to control the mind through dhyana or vichara. Yogis control the breath and thus control the mind. Thus, it is possible to control the mind through the control of the breath. The mind and breath move together.For example, let us say that we receive a telegram. Receiving a telegram always brings in negative thought. But once we open it and read through the contents and find that it only announces the arrival of a relative or a friend we heave a sigh of relief! We say, ‘oh, i am able to breathe freely now!’ All along, from the time of the receipt of the telegram till we learnt its contents, our mind was fixed in it and hence the breath controlled. On learning what it contains the mind leaves the matter and the breath begins to flow freely. The mind and breath move together So, the expression ‘do not poke your nose in this matter’ only means ‘do not fix your mind in this matter.’ Some even use the term ‘I shall cut off your nose’ [ if you poke it in this matter]. This also means that he shall not allow the other person to fix his mind [interfere] in the matter. Breath and mind move closely. And, we breathe through the nose. Thus the term ‘do not poke your nose’ has come about.[An excerpt from Sri Sri Swamiji in His discourse on ‘Aksharamanamalai’ of Sri Bhagavan Ramana Maharishi]