How to get over restlessness

When I first moved back to India after my graduation, I ran into a couple of people who would carry around a mantra bead and chant as they were going about their daily life. 

My thoughts were: This cannot be freedom? If one is constantly carrying around beads and reciting mantras then he isn't really free. If religion excuses you from this world to be free, and instead, you do such chanting, it can't be freedom.

I didn't see many more people who chanted as such until a few days ago. After talking to them, I felt enlightened. There were a couple of reasons he mentioned for his constant chanting. (He is in his mid-20s and quite like any other fresh grad we would know). These are his words, to the best of my memory:

"My mind was constantly running around in circles, thinking of a thousand things I want to do with my life. I couldn't get anything accomplished, because I wanted to do so much and I was quite overwhelmed at all times. There was a point when I just gave up doing anything at all. Then I went to a temple where I sat to simply recite some mantras that I had grown up with, and I felt that my mind was quite focused on only these mantras. It was sort of meditative and it made me do what was needed to be done - as in the things I wanted to do - and whenever I wasn't doing anything, I keep chanting these mantras. 

Of course I was quite interested to know more, so I prodded with a few more questions on his philosophy

"Well, obviously the free mind is an illusion if you are constantly worried about all the things you want to do. and obviously there is an endless list of things to do. So if Im not free while Im doing what i want to do, then i'd much rather not be free and not worry about how I'm not doing them at all? You could think about doing a hundred things, or you could simply just do them as they come to your mind without thinking about them all the time

I asked him if he had tried to keep a task list/To-do list. That's the most "normal" thing we all do:

"Yes. And things kept piling on. Then I made categories. Then I prioritized within the categories. I tried to keep up, but it doesn't work. This works for me.

What about what people think?

Of course, I know I look like a lunatic walking around the streets talking to myself and moving the beads in a circular motion. I don't mind it. It makes me feel free. I'd rather have a restful mind than an image of abnormality

Amazing stuff, I thought. I have experienced such restless episodes myself, but Im quite sure I'm not going to take up meditating 24/7.


After talking to him, and thinking about how I could use his experience, I think finding a balance in meditating is very important: Only meditate when I'm feeling restless. Of course a major push will be needed to take the mind from a state of restlessness to only agreeing to meditate. But otherwise, one may not be able to overcome restlessness at all.

Finally, Meditating is not only chanting. It can be anything so long as your mind is fixed upon one goal - whatever it may be - 

• a word
• your breath
• a thought
• an object (even the floor), or
• as is most popular in the west: taking a thoughtful and meditative walk

Any thoughts? You can add them in the comments below.