Bend the body, mend the senses, and end the mind---that is the process of attaining the status of ‘the children of immortality,’ which the Upanishad have reserved for man. (SSS Vol.9, p. 36)
If you wish to understand your true nature, you have to do three things: Bend the body, mend the senses, end the mind. The first step is to ‘bend the body.’ That means, you should not allow the ego to develop within your body. Cultivate humility and do your duties sincerely. This is what is implied in ‘bend your body.’ (SSS Vol.21, p. 52) You should bend your body with humility, respect, and love when you see elders and your parents. In olden days, in town and country, the entrances to the houses were a bit low. Visitors had to bend their heads to enter the houses. To highlight the significance of the maxim, bend the body, the ancients used to keep the height of the entrances low deliberately. (SSS Vol.32 Part I, p. 182)
‘Mend the senses’ calls for examining how the senses behave, whether they are tending to go
astray, and correcting and restraining them when necessary. (SSS Vol.21, p. 52) Through right vision, right listening, right speech, right thoughts, and right actions you have to control
your senses. That is the end of the mind. (SSS Vol.32 Part I, p. 183)
‘End the mind’ calls for quietening the vagaries of the mind. How is this to be done? It is by turning the mind in a different direction. For example, there is a lock and key. When the key is turned towards the left, the lock gets locked. If the key is turned towards the right the lock is opened. Thus the key performs both functions of locking and unlocking. (SSS Vol.21, p. 52)