Look at the mind before you look with the mind

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Thank you very much for your participation. So these are the starting of Krishna’s answer to Arjuna’s question about how one can transcend the modes. So Krishna is telling over here, first he is describing in 22 the characteristics of each of the modes briefly.
So prakasha is the characteristic of the mode of goodness. In 14.11 Krishna has said, So 14.11 he has described that prakasha, illumination of all the senses with the right understanding of how to act, that is the characteristic of the mode of goodness. And then, So pravritti is the characteristic of the mode of passion.
In 14.12 he described that greed and engagement, a fierce passionate engagement according to one’s nature, that is pravritti. That is the characteristic of the mode of passion. And then, Moha is illusion.
So in 14.13 Krishna has described, Moha has been described as the characteristic of the mode of ignorance. So here Krishna is in one one word describing the characteristics of all the three modes. And then he is telling that the person who wants to transcend the modes, what does such a person do? na nivrittani kankshati na dveshti sampravrittani That when any of these characteristics come, when illumination comes, when agitation comes, when delusion comes, the person doesn’t resent their arrival, nor does such a person crave for their departure.
What does the person do? utasina vadasino gunairyona vichangyate The person is situated as if detached and is not disturbed by the modes. Because the person understands, gunavartanti deva yogatishthati na ingate The person understands that these sorts of emotions that are coming in my mind are simply the result of the modes. And they do not affect me.
And therefore na ingate, the person is not disturbed. So essentially in these verses Krishna is urging us to become a detached observer of the world. Not just of the world, but of the mind.
Generally people think of external and internal in terms of what is outside us is external and what is inside us is internal. And in one sense that is true. So the things that are outside me, I am sitting on a chair, all of you are probably at your home, the things that are outside you are external.
And as I am speaking I am having some thoughts, as you are hearing you are having some thoughts. That is internal. But this conception of external or internal is based on a bodily conception of life.
When I think I am the body, then what is outside the body is external to me, and what is inside the body is internal to me. However, when I understand that I am the soul, then even the mind and its thoughts are actually external to me. So normally I would consider my thoughts as internal.
But most of the thoughts that we get are actually coming in the mind. And the mind is different from the soul. I will explain the difference between the mind and the soul a little bit later in more detail.
But in principle right now, the soul is the source of consciousness, the soul is the root of consciousness, R-O-O-T, and the subtle body comprising of the mind is the root of consciousness, R-O-O-T. So the soul is the origin of consciousness, and the subtle body is the medium through which that consciousness is being transmitted. And then through the subtle body the consciousness comes out to the gross body.
And then it comes out. So now I the soul want to speak, and then based on that desire of the soul, certain thoughts form in the mind, and then those thoughts come through the brain, and they activate the vocal chords and sounds come out. So from the point of view of the soul, even the mind and the thoughts in the mind are external to us.
They are not internal to us. Of course from the bodily conception they are internal. So normally we talk about observing the world, but what about observing our own thoughts? If we were our thoughts, it would not be possible for us to observe our thoughts.
But actually speaking we are not our thoughts. We are the observer of the train of thoughts, the train of emotions, that often runs pell-mell in the screen of our consciousness. So here Krishna is telling us to become an observer of our internal thoughts, and not only become an observer, become a detached observer.
So don’t get affected. Krishna says, Observe from a detached perspective. So these two verses, 22 and 23, I have phrased them with this lecture title, Look at the mind before you look with the mind.
What does this exactly mean? Look with the mind means, that the mind is the filter, the mind is the spectacle, through which we look at the world. So if I am wearing red coloured glasses, I will see everything as red coloured. So as I told earlier, for us the mind is the route through which consciousness, consciousness is transmitted to the world.
So look with the mind means, the mind is the route through which we are looking at the world. Just like the spectacles are the route, R-O-U-P, through which I am looking at the wall ahead of me. So look at the mind before you look with the mind, means that we look at the spectacles, with which we are looking at the world.
And observe, what is the colour of these spectacles? If everything in the world appears red to me, is it actually red? Or is it that my spectacles are red tinted? Because of which I am perceiving everything as red. So we human beings have this capacity for self-awareness, for being aware of our own awareness, of being consciousness conscious, of being conscious of the nature of our thoughts. So now this is a fact of human psychology, that has been observed and pondered over by thinkers across the whole gamut of history and geography.
Thinkers all over the world and thinkers throughout the ages have observed that there seem to be two forces within the human being, within the human psyche. So the genre of self-help is a common genre in today’s non-fiction literature. And basically in all self-help literature, there is an assumption that there are two selves.
So to put it in contemporary jargon, that the idea is that there is one self who needs a kick in the back, and there is another self who is capable of giving that kick. That means there is some side of me, some aspect of me, which needs to be reformed. And there is some other aspect of me which can bring about that reform.
So even if we don’t talk about this in spiritual terms or in moral terms, there is this conflict which everybody goes through, even materialistic people. Should I do this or should I do that? There are multiple voices within. Some say I should do this, some say I should do that.
And often this conflict becomes more highlighted when we start practising spiritual life, because now we are trying to live according to some principles. Sometimes some devotees feel that actually I was told that when I chant Hare Krishna and practise Krishna Consciousness, my mind will become more peaceful. But actually when I chant Hare Krishna, my mind troubles me more.
In fact, I sometimes feel that my mind troubles me more than what it was troubling me earlier, before I started chanting. So is it that our mind becomes more troublesome after we start chanting? Not exactly. Actually, after we start practising spiritual life, it is not that the mind goes out of control, but rather we realise how much the mind is in control of us and how little control we have over the mind.
And that is when the conflict starts. For example, if I am in a chariot and I have given free rein to the horses, in the Upanishads there is an analogy of the chariot and the body, in which the chariot is like the body and the passenger in that chariot is the soul. So if I am sitting in a chariot and I have given free rein to the horses, wherever the horses want me to go, I go over there.
Then I really don’t come to know how strong, how rebellious, how fierce those horses are, because I have never opposed their will. So wherever the horses wanted to go, I have gone there. If in the past the mind said, watch this movie.
Okay, let’s watch it. Look at this sports match. Go here, do that.
If we are just doing what the mind is telling us, then we don’t feel any conflict because more or less we have surrendered to the mind. But when we start practising devotional service, then we want to live according to the principles that are given in the scriptures. And when we want to live according to those principles, frequently those principles conflict with the infatuations of the mind.
So the mind wants to eat anything and everything at any time and every time. And the scriptures say, no, we should regulate our diet. And then that creates a conflict.
So a horse which is extremely strong, if I am just riding on that horse and going wherever the horse takes me, I don’t realise necessarily how fierce the horse is. But when I try to take hold of the reins and bring the horse under control, then I realise how terribly strong the horse is. So similarly, when we try to bring the mind under control and make it act according to the values that we have understood to be in our long-term interest, the values that are given in the scriptures, then when the mind opposes, then we realise how strong the mind is.
So it is not that the mind has become more troublesome after we started practising devotional service. Or it is not that devotional service made the mind more troublesome. It is rather that when we start refusing the dictatorship of the mind, then we start seeing the true colours of the mind.
And that’s when we understand how imperial, how dictatorial, how draconian the mind can be. And that’s why we feel there is a conflict. However, if we keep practising devotional service, just like a stubborn horse can by diligent training be brought under control, the mind can also be brought under control.
However, very critical for bringing the mind under control is to recognise that we are not our mind. And that is what Krishna is urging us in these verses of the Bhagavad Gita. He is telling Arjuna, observe the emotions in the mind and understand that those emotions are produced by the three modes of material nature, which essentially act on the mind.
So, by being an observer of the mind, we recognise the mind is different from us. Look at the mind before you look with the mind. That means, when I, for example, if I am walking along the road or I am driving in a car and I see some billboard which advertises some product.
Now, I don’t really need that product, but I get allured by it. And then immediately a conflict starts within me. I want to buy it.
No, I shouldn’t spend my money. I don’t want to buy it. No, I want to buy it.
So now, to the extent we identify with the desire that has come, to that extent it will be difficult for us to say no. But to the extent we realise that this is a foreign desire, this is the voice of someone other than me, who is pretending to be, not just in my interest, who is pretending to be me. To that extent, that observation will make me detached.
Let me give another example to illustrate this point. Suppose we are driving a car and there is a person sitting next to us in the car and that person is constantly distracting us. Look at that.
Look on the left. There is such a beautiful tree over there. Look at that on the right.
You can see there is such a nice looking billboard over there. Look at that. Like that the person is constantly distracting us towards the left, towards the right.
Now if the driver of the vehicle listens to the passenger sitting on the side and starts looking here and there, then it’s quite likely that the vehicle will meet with an accident. Even if the vehicle doesn’t meet with an accident, it will at least slow down the progress. So, the mind affects us in two ways.
It either leads us to disaster or it leads us to deceleration. Disaster means like the car meeting in an accident, so like that we have some fall. We fall from our moral standards, from our spiritual standards, because we give in to the mind’s seductions.
The other is we get decelerated. We get slowed down because the mind is constantly distracting us and we have to keep neglecting its distracting chatter. So, in this way you see that in our spiritual life, much of our energy goes because of the mind’s continuous distracting chatter.
Even if it doesn’t cause us disaster in terms of a gross fall, but still it causes us deceleration. It slows us down because so much of our energy goes in trying to neglect the mind and focus on where we are going. And this becomes especially evident when we are chanting.
So, chanting actually gives us a very good forum for recognising how the mind acts. So, we want to chant and yet we find that we are not able to chant. So, what does this indicate? This indicates that there is some force within us which doesn’t want us to chant and that force is opposing us.
So, like earlier I was telling, when we try to control the horse, then we understand how rebelliously strong the horse is. So, chanting is the time when we can see how rebelliously strong the mind is and then we can try to control the mind. So, rather than becoming discouraged when we find that we are not able to concentrate during chanting, we can see the distraction that we encounter during chanting as a step forward in our self-realisation.
How is it a step forward in our self-realisation? As I said, most people think that the self is internal and the world is external. But Bhagavad Gita explains that the self is internal to what we consider normally to be internal. The self is not just mental, the self is spiritual.
So, recognising that we are not our body is the first step in self-realisation. Recognising that we are not the mind is a significant further step in our self-realisation. And even if we are not able to concentrate on Krishna’s holy name while chanting, but if we are just trying, if we are trying to be conscious, then we can clearly see how we are different from our mind.
And that understanding that I am different from my mind is also a significant step forward in our self-realisation. Because then we understand that I am internal to what is normally considered to be internal. I am not my mind.
I am the soul. So, that way, chanting can help us in moving forward in our journey towards self-realisation even when we are not able to concentrate. But if we identify with the mind and the mind says, what is this repeating the same sound again and again? It’s so boring.
Don’t you have anything better to do in life? Anyway, nothing is happening. You are told that you will become happy by chanting. Where is the happiness? You are just struggling.
Just give it up. Even if you don’t want to put the bead bag down and give it up, don’t pay so much attention. So, when the mind is saying, don’t pay so much attention, essentially what it is saying is, pay attention to me.
So, generally, it is very difficult for us to chant alone. So, what all of you do at Everyday Chant, come together to chant is very helpful because we are never alone. Of course, at a spiritual level, we are always with the Supersoul.
In that sense, we are never alone. But we do not always experience the presence of the Supersoul. But what we do experience quite frequently is the presence of the mind.
So, whenever we are alone, essentially what it means here is that we are alone with our mind. And the mind makes a complete fool out of us, quite frequently. So, that’s why if we are chanting with others, then the presence of others, to some extent, acts as a deterrent for us from acting on the impulses of the mind.
So, if the mind says, just throw away the beads, just put aside the bead bag and take a nap, just put aside the bead bag and turn on the cell phone and maybe search some sites or whatever, the mind says so many things. Then when we are in the presence of others, that acts as a deterrent. So, that forces us to think, okay, what am I doing? Why am I doing this? And that way, we can move forward in distancing ourselves from our mind.
So, many of you may have heard about ventriloquism. Ventriloquism, loqui is voice, ventri is distance. Ventriloquism means throwing the voice over a distance.
So, ventriloquists are people who are expert in projecting their voice. And often, ventriloquists are present in circuses and other such places. Circus performances in which they have some dummy, some statue or some something non-living.
And there is a ventriloquist who stands at some distance away, maybe invisible to the audience. The doll, the dummy, the puppet is brought on the stage and then suddenly it appears as if that puppet is speaking. So, some sound is coming and it appears as if the puppet is speaking.
Actually, the puppet is insensitive, the puppet is unconscious, it can’t speak. But the ventriloquist is so expert that that illusion is created that when the ventriloquist is speaking, it appears as if the voice is projected and the puppet is speaking. So, the mind is an expert ventriloquist.
The mind projects its voice in such a way that we tend to think that it is not the mind’s voice. However, the difference between a ventriloquism show and the mind’s show is that in the ventriloquism show, we are the spectators, whereas in the mind’s show, we are the puppets. That means the mind projects its voice in such a way that we think that it is my voice.
We think that this is my desire. So, once we identify with that desire, then resisting that desire becomes very difficult because we take ownership of that desire and then if somebody else opposes that desire, we feel that that person is opposing me. So, for example, we may decide that okay, I am going to watch TV.
Now, watching TV itself may not be bad, but many times these people get addicted and they spend hours and hours and hours watching the TV and if they have some urgent work to do, and the end of that TV watching is free, then what did I do? Why did I do that? So, the very fact that why did I do that? Then the question arises, did I do that? So, what was it that made me do that? Now, TV watching is one thing. Something much more common for us is anger. We get angry and we speak and do such things that if somebody gave us a recording of what we spoke or somebody gave us a video recording of what we did when we were angry, we would feel ashamed of ourselves.
Sometimes we may not even be able to recognise that that was me speaking. So, what is it that makes us act in such ways? So, such experiences, when we look back afterwards and say, how did you do that? Such experiences are the times when we can recognise that actually at that time the mind as an expert ventriloquist projected its voice on me and made me identify with that voice so much that I took ownership and then I acted. And afterwards, when the ventriloquism got over, then I realised, what did I do? I didn’t want to feel that, I didn’t want to do that.
Why did I do that? So, how does the mind actually put its ventriloquistic spell on us? We can look at Bhagavad Gita 2.62 and 63 to understand this. So, these verses are, I have given English words for describing each of these emotions that are being talked about in these verses. And whatever I am talking about today, there are articles about this on my website and those can act as brief reference notes.
Maybe I will give it to the conference coordinators afterwards. So, the two articles, look at the mind before you look with the mind. And there is an article on the mind expert ventriloquist.
These are all going to be a part of my book in the later. So, with respect to 2.62 and 63, Krishna says, dhyayato vishayan pumsah sangas te shruta jayate sangat sanjayate kamah kamat krodho vijayate krodhat bhavati sammoha sammohat smrti vibhramah smrti bhramasad buddhi nasho buddhi nasha tarasyate So, Krishna says, dhyayato vishayan pumsah dhyayato means contemplate. So, everything begins with contemplation.
Then, vishayan pumsah, we look at some attractive objects. And what happens when we look at that attractive object? sangas te shruta jayate There is attraction. So, contemplation leads to attraction.
So, attraction is the stage when the mind is still speaking in the second person. That means the mind is different from us and the mind is speaking to us. So, there is attraction.
First, there is contemplation. The mind says, look at that. That is the stage of contemplation.
The mind points out something in the world to us and tells us, look at that. And then after that, that’s nice, isn’t it? That’s the stage of sanga. That’s the stage of attraction.
And after that, sanga, sanjayate, kamaha. So, from attraction comes infatuation. So, kamaha is the stage when the desire becomes so strong that we feel, I can’t resist it.
Or rather, it becomes very attractive. So, even at this stage, the mind is still speaking in the second person to us. The ventral locus is showing the voice to us.
That’s great, isn’t it? We must have it. So, the mind is still referring to us as you. You must have it, infatuation.
So, there is contemplation, there is attraction, there is infatuation. And then, kama, krodho, tijayate. Then, when this infatuation is resisted, at that time, there is infusion.
There is actually anger that comes up. So, why do we become infuriated? Because we feel at this stage that we have taken ownership of the desire. So, this krodho means that we have become we feel that yes, this is great, I want to enjoy it and who will stop me from enjoying it? Whether it is internal or whether it is external, whoever is stopping me, that person, we start seeing as a inimical person, as an enemy and we want to oppose that person.
We feel angered at that person. So, this is the stage when the mind makes us accept ownership of its emotions. So, when we accept ownership, you can call it infuriation, you can call it irritation.
So, who is going to stop me? Who is there? So, what has happened over here? The key thing is we have accepted ownership of the desire that the mind has projected on us. That means the ventriloquism show has become successful and rather than thinking of okay, this is somebody else’s desire, somebody else who is telling me to do this, rather we are thinking I want to do this. So, going back to the car driver and passenger analogy, the passenger is saying, look at that left turn, there seems to be a very nice hotel over there, why don’t you go and eat over there? And then at this stage we want to turn around and then somebody else says, don’t turn around, who is there stopping me? So, what has happened? We have accepted ownership of the mind’s proposal and from this stage onwards, resisting, checking becomes difficult.
So, then, when somebody tries to give us good advice, that good advice can come from outside or that good advice can come from inside also from our memory, but that, it becomes very difficult to hear that. So, when there is krodha, krodha bhavati sammoham, then there is delusion, we become confused, should I do this, should I not do this? I started off on the vehicle to go to one particular place, but now I become confused, should I go there or should I go here to this hotel? So, we become, deluded means we become indecisive and now normally, when we are indecisive, how do we decide? We decide based on our memory. So, we see that, in the past I did this, this happened, in the past I did that, that happened and there are my friends, there are others who have told me about this situation, what results will come out.
So, when we are undecided, our memory becomes our reference for decision making, but at this stage, the mind is such a forceful ventriloquist, it is such an insistent ventriloquist that we just hear its voice and our memory becomes blanked out, we just can’t refer to the memory. tamoha smuti vidramaha then there is, so from delusion comes oblivion, oblivion means forgetfulness. So, now the acharya has explained that this delusion refers, sorry, this oblivion, this forgetfulness refers to forgetfulness of sruti scriptures and the scriptures are in two categories, sruti and sruti.
So, the Upanishads, the Vedas, they are considered to be sruti and sruti are the puranas and the itihasas. So, in general, the puranas and itihasas are more accessible to us because the great sages have heard the sruti, they have internalised it and they present it in a way that is understandable and applicable for us. So, when we forget sruti, when we forget the words of guru, sadhu, shastra, then we go into oblivion.
After that, sruti, Upanishad, buddhinasho, buddhinasho, then there is stupefaction, we become sort of stupid, we lose our intelligence. So, our memory is the basis of our intelligence. When the memory is lost, the intelligence is lost.
Just like a computer, if the memory gets wiped out, the computer cannot function. Although at other times, if the memory is there, the computer can do many functions that are superior to what human beings are doing. If I say the calculating programme of a computer gets diluted, then the computer cannot even do 2 plus 2. Whereas if the calculating programme is there, then it can multiply 10 digit numbers, something which most human beings cannot even conceive doing.
So, this example is that, is to illustrate the point that intelligence is based largely on memory. So, what holds true for a computer also holds true for computers in many ways. So, when our memory is lost, utibhramashad buddhinasho, there is stupefaction.
And when there is stupefaction, then that means now we have no memory, no intelligence, and then we just succumb to the mind. And then buddhinashad pranashyati, pranashyati, we fall down. There is destruction.
There is destruction of our moral standards, destruction of our proper course of action, and there can be destruction of a person’s life also. So, if the person makes serious wrong choices. So, basically, at this stage, things become disastrous.
So, this is how when we identify with the mind, then the mind carries us away. So, how do we deal with this? Actually, to be able to protect ourselves from the mind, we need to be able to catch the mind before it projects its voice on us. That means, when the mind starts saying, why did you do that? Hey, that’s not I speaking, that’s the mind speaking, and the mind doesn’t have my best interest in mind.
So, the scriptures often refer to the mind as our enemy. The Bhagavad Gita explains, in 6.5 and 6.6, that the mind, which is disciplined and controlled, is our friend. Whereas, the mind which is undisciplined and uncontrolled is the enemy.
6.5 is one of the most paradoxical verses in the Bhagavad Gita. Of course, there are many, 9.4, 9.5 is there, 13.13, 14 is there, especially 13 chapters, 13.13 to 19 are filled with paradoxical verses. Paradox means, there are two statements which seem to be contradictory, but a paradox is not a contradiction.
A contradiction means two statements which say something opposite. Whereas, a paradox is where two statements seem to be in contradiction at the surface, but they are actually a very arresting way, a very attractive way, a very provocative way to present a deeper truth that reconciles the two apparently contradictory statements. That means, there is a surface contradiction that draws attention to a deeper reconciliation.
So, for example, the least corrected papers are the most correct. So, this is a paradox. So, what does that mean? If the examiner is checking the paper, and some paper is least corrected, that means there are very few red marks in it, then actually that means that the paper is most correct.
The student has written most of it correct, that’s why the teacher doesn’t have to correct it. So, at first hearing, the least corrected papers are the most correct. Now, how can the least correct be the most correct? It seems to be contradictory, but it is a paradox, and a paradox is an arresting way, a provocative way to draw attention, to force attention towards a deeper reconciliation.
So, there is a paradox in 6.5 in the Bhagavad Gita, where Krishna says, uddhare dātmana ātmānam nātmānam avasādahet ātmaiva yātmanau bandhurātmaiva ripurātmanahā So, here, he uses the word ātmā almost eight times in the Bhagavad, in this verse. So, he says, uddhare dātmana ātmānam Elevate the self with the self. nātmānam avasādahet Don’t let the self become degraded.
ātmaiva yātmanau bandhur The self is the friend of the self. ātmaiva ripurātmanahā The self is the enemy of the self. So, now, what does this mean? That elevate the self with the self, don’t degrade the self with the self.
The self is the friend of the self and the self is the enemy of the self. We will think, what is the self? It can be quite bewildering when you think of it this way. So, in Sanskrit, words are multivalent.
Multivalent means, often words have many meanings. And it’s not just in Sanskrit, it happens in English also. Many words are there which have different meanings, sometimes contradictory meanings.
So, for example, the word wicked normally means cruel. But nowadays, the way the word wicked is being used, it often is you say, it’s something good. Good in the sense of being enjoyable.
The word audacious. Audacious earlier used to mean an excessively self-promoting. It had a negative connotation.
But now, the word audacious often has a positive connotation in terms of being courageous. So, words can have multiple meanings. Sometimes the meanings can be opposite also.
The word epithet normally means praise. But sometimes the word epithet also means criticism. So, we cannot understand scripture just by learning a dictionary, or knowing Sanskrit words.
Actually, we need to understand scripture by associating with those who are living according to the scripture. So, there are many scholars who study the Sanskrit, who study English, and they translate the scriptures and often the translations that they give are radically different from the understandings that the acharyas have given. And then, these scholars often point out faults in the translations that the acharyas have given.
So, now, it is important to understand that language alone is not enough to understand scriptures. So, suppose, there is a book of medicine in, say, Germany, which contains cures for many diseases that are incurable by normal allopathic medicine. And then, some person studies English, becomes a scholar in English, studies German, and becomes a German.
And then, that person translates the book. And there is another person who is a German doctor, and that person has, based on that book, treated and cured many patients. And then, that person learns, that German doctor, learns English, and translates that book into English.
Now, from the linguistic point of view, that German doctor’s English may not be as good as the English scholars. And for that matter, that German doctor’s German may also not be of extremely high scholarly standards. But, when somebody wants to take medicines and try to be cured by taking the directions from that German medicine book, which book would be more reliable? Is it the philologist’s book, the language scholar’s book, or the doctor’s book? Obviously, the doctor’s book.
Because, just as it’s easy for us to understand that because I know English, that doesn’t mean that I have the capacity, the right, or the knowledge of everything that is written in English. There can be books in quantum physics, there can be books on rocket science, there can be books on philosophy, which I cannot claim to have understood just because I know English. Similarly, just because somebody knows Sanskrit, doesn’t mean that they can know everything that is written in Sanskrit.
Scriptures are a specialised subject, and the acharyas are like the doctors, who have treated thousands of people based on scriptures, and have cured them. Cured them of what? Cured people of their mental conditioning, cured people of the misidentification with the mind, and they have enabled them to become virtuous, become devoted, become pure hearted. And when the acharyas translate books into scriptures like Bhagavad Gita from Sanskrit to English, they are people who are living the Gita, and they have a greater insight of the Gita than anyone else.
That’s why as devotees, if our goal is just to get an intellectual understanding of the Gita, then this scholarly book can give us some understanding. But if our goal is to see the Gita as a book of self-transformation, of inner empowerment, of pure devotion to Krishna, then we need to read the Gita that is given by the acharyas. So Shila Prabhupada, now I have discussed all this because I was explaining six points in the Bhagavad Gita.
So Shila Prabhupada explains in this six point five that actually the word Atma, one Atma refers to the soul and the other Atma refers to the mind. So then with this understanding the words become one should elevate oneself with the mind and not degrade oneself. The mind is the friend of oneself and the mind is also the enemy of oneself.
And this is not an imposition by Shila Prabhupada to say that Atma is the mind because Krishna himself makes it clear in six point six where he uses the word Manah specifically. Bandura Atma Atmanah Atmanah Atmanah Atmanah Atmanah Atmanah Atmanah Atmanah Atmanah Atmanah Atmanah Atmanah Atmanah Atmanah Atmanah Atmanah Atmanah For one who has controlled the mind he uses the word Manah specifically here means that for that person the mind is the friend and for one who has failed to control the mind the mind is the enemy. So that means here Krishna is telling us the mind is our enemy but it can be our friend also.
If we learn to control it just like the horse. If the horse goes off its own direction that horse is our enemy. But if the horse If the horse is going in the direction in which we want to go, then the horses are afraid.
The horse can take us much faster than what we would go by foot. Similarly, when we are in the material world, we have to interact with matter and the mind is the route through which we will interact with matter. So, we cannot just get rid of the mind in terms of just throwing it away.
We have to live with the mind and that’s why we have to purify the mind. And the process of bhakti purifies it. But before we can purify the mind, we have to recognise that the mind needs purification.
And we have to recognise that the mind is different from you. So, there can be different analogies used to talk about the mind and how the mind creates a trouble for us. So, the analogy of an enemy is jolting, but it is also revealing because we do see that sometimes we act in ways that cause our own downfall.
So, the mind does act as our enemy. However, because we have to live with the mind, the scriptures often use the example of the child to talk about the mind. So, the mind is like the child and we have to act like the parent.
Now, a child is by nature mischievous and for a mother or for a father, generally the mother takes care of the child. So, for the mother to expect that the child will be very peaceful and very nice and do everything properly, that is an unrealistic expectation. The child will be mischievous.
The child may pick something up and try to put it in the mouth. If there is a knife, the child may try to play with the knife. So, what does the mother do? The mother has to be vigilant and diligent.
So, vigilance and diligence are the keys to control the mind. Vigilance means watchfulness. That is the title of the book.
Look at the mind before you look with the mind. Look at the mind before you look with the mind. That means we are vigilant.
Okay, suddenly I am feeling this. I am feeling lusty, I am feeling greedy, I am feeling lazy. Where is this feeling coming from? So, when we are vigilant, then before the mind’s ventriloquism can trap us, we can catch it.
And we can, then what do we have to do? Meditate it. That is the mind speaking. I am not going to listen to it.
Udāsīne vadāsīno, udaiyōna vichāyate. Krishna says in 14.22 and 23 that don’t become this because we understand this is actually the external persuasion coming from the mind. And then the second part is diligence.
Diligence means that we have to be ready to do it again and again. The growing up of the child is gradual. No matter how much the mother wants, she can’t accelerate the growing up of the child.
The child is restless and mischievous in the infancy and the early childhood. And the mother can’t say, you are so troublesome. Just quickly, within one year you will grow five years old.
That won’t happen. So similarly, the mind to change itself, the mind to grow up will take its own time. So we have to be diligent.
That means whenever the mind goes away to wrong things, we bring it back. We bring it back to Krishna. And by this process of vigilance and diligence, we can learn to, over a period of time, change the nature of the mind.
Change the nature of the mind. So, what is changing the nature of the mind? This is the concluding point I should speak. Then we can have question and answer.
When we are devotionally reflective, then over a period of time, we will become devotionally reflexive. Reflective means we think before we act. Reflexively means we instinctively act.
For example, if I am sitting on this chair and suddenly I find that the backrest of the chair is hot, then immediately I will move ahead. That’s a reflex action. I don’t need to think about it because that’s ingrained in my body.
Survival and self-protection is ingrained and that reflex action happens. So, now, for us, we are not devotionally reflexive right now. We are sensually reflexive.
That means as soon as a sense object comes in front of us, then immediately our attention gets attracted and riveted towards that. So, we may wonder, I don’t want to get into these things. Why does the mind go here like this? And I want to think about Krishna.
Why doesn’t the mind go towards Krishna? Actually, the mind will go. But as I said, the mind is like a child which has to grow up. And while it is growing up, we have to be, as a mother, vigilant and diligent.
So, we have to be initially reflexive. Reflexive means reflection. That we observe, we reflect.
Whenever thoughts come in the mind, thoughts come in our consciousness, is this really what I want to do? Or is this the mind speaking? And check it. So, when we are chanting, we have decided, okay, these one and a half, two hours, I am going to focus on the holiness. Suddenly, I start thinking, this is boring, this is irritating.
So many things to do. Is this really my voice? No, this is the voice of the mind. Let me not listen to it.
So, now, how do we neglect the mind? By focussing on Krishna. By focussing on something constructive. The more we have something constructive to focus on, the less the mind gets leeway to drag us away.
So, like going back to the car example, when the person sitting nearby, next to the driver, starts making gestures and exclamations, and tries to distract the driver. When the driver starts paying attention, then that person will get more impetus to distract more. But if the person pays no attention, when the driver pays no attention, then over a period of time, that person will become silent.
It is of no use. Similarly, when the mind starts distracting, why don’t you try that? Why don’t you do that? Then, once we start lending a ear to the mind, then what happens is, we start identifying with the mind. But if there is nothing doing, nothing doing, then what happens is, the mind over a period of time becomes silent.
So, as devotees, it is good for us to have a schedule that keeps us adequately busy. Because if we knew blanks in our schedule, then the mind fills in the blanks. And the mind fills in those blanks with undesirable activities.
So therefore, if we keep ourselves busy in our devotional activities, in our professional activities, in our domestic activities, responsibilities, we keep ourselves constructively engaged, we give less room for the mind. And when we chant properly, when we study the scriptures properly, then this enables us with the inner equipment, we could say, to combat the mind. And then, whenever the mind starts distracting us, now by hearing all this, it is not that suddenly we will become masters of the mind.
Now, I am speaking all this, but my mind fools me also. Not just once, dozens of times. Not just occasionally, dozens of times practically every day.
But the more we practise trying to deal with the mind, then the sooner we are able to catch the mind when it starts misleading us. So, the mind may stray away, but let it not stray away. Sorry, the mind may stray away, but let it not stay away.
So, the mind will stray away. The child will tend to do something because of his restlessness. The mother sees and brings the child back on track.
So, like that, the more we become introspective, the more we will catch the mind earlier and will be able to get the mind on track. And that way, we can become more and more steady in our devotional service. So, earlier I had said that the mind causes disaster or it causes deceleration.
But if we become more and more self-aware, that means we become aware of how the mind is acting, then we can prevent disaster and we can minimise the deceleration. And the more we focus on our devotional activities, the more our consciousness focusses on Krishna, the deeper is our connection with Krishna. And through that connection, we experience higher happiness.
We experience spiritual happiness. And that’s how we become more and more happy. And then that happiness enables us to become more and more free from the trouble that the mind is creating for us.
Till ultimately, what happens is the mind itself realises. Just like when the child grows up, the child understands what the mother is telling me is in my good interest. And I will do it.
So, like that, the mind is right now thinking that material things, sensual things are what is going to make me happy. And why I am being obstructed in doing these things. But if we keep practising Krishna consciousness, and over a period of time, the mind will see, actually this makes me happy.
This is good. And then the mind at that time will become devotionally reflexive. That means, as a reflex action, the mind will go towards Krishna.
Right now, as a reflex action, the mind goes towards sense objects. But as we keep practising Krishna consciousness, with vigilance and diligence, then the mind will reflexively go towards Krishna. And then, from that time onwards, bhakti will become, As Krishna says in 9.2 in Bhagavad Gita, that it will become joyfully performed.
And it will go on, for all of eternity. We will be relishing, loving and serving Krishna in this life, as well as when we return back to Krishna in the spiritual world. So I will summarise.
I started by talking about, how Bhagavad Gita redefines our understanding of external and internal. Most people think that the mental is the internal, because they think I am the body, and my thoughts are inside me. But the Bhagavad Gita explains that we are the soul, and therefore, even the mental is external to us.
Because for the soul, the mind is external. So, the Bhagavad Gita urges us to become, a detached observer of our thoughts. And then, how do we do that? For that, we discuss various examples, of the horse being uncontrolled, or the person distracting a driver.
And basically, the central example of this was, of this class of the ventriloquist. So we discussed about how, the mind makes us identify with its voice, take ownership of its voice, based on 2.62 and 2.63 from the Bhagavad Gita. And to avoid taking ownership of the mind’s self-defeating ideas, we need to catch it, before it gets its act on us.
And for that, we have to intellectually remember, that the mind is our enemy, and that will guard us, that will make us always stay on guard. But the mind is not an enemy that can be killed or exiled. The mind has to be with us.
So for that purpose, we can use the example of a child. And the mother has to deal with the child with, vigilance and diligence. So, we observe, we evaluate, and then we correct, we bring it back on track.
Just like a mother would do with a child. And over a period of time, the mind will grow up. The mind will transform itself, and then instead of being instinctively, reflexive towards material things, it will become reflexive towards spirituality, towards Krishna.
So thank you very much. Are there any questions? Hare Krishna? Hare Krishna? Yes. Hare Krishna, can you hear me? Yes, I can hear you.
Yes, Prabhupadaji, very nice. Thank you for the lecture. Prabhupadaji, I wanted to ask this one question.
Like, you know, we also talk about doing our sadhana, and especially doing our sadhana in the early morning hours. So getting up early morning, like, you know, though there’s a desire, when you go to sleep, you say, okay, tomorrow morning I’ll get up. We put on the alarm and everything.
But then in the morning, sleeping forces us to, at least for me, it happens that somebody is pushing me to move my hand and shut down the alarm. Especially I see that later on, when I get up, I’m like, why did I do this? Why did I not get up? So, that time, the mode of ignorance is so strong that though the desire was there, the action was not, I mean, I could not put that into action. So how can you explain that, based on this, like, you know, to observe the mind and not through the mind? How do we do that? Yes.
So, the question is that often in the morning, we want to practise spiritual life by waking up and doing sadhana. But still, the mind makes us, almost forces us to go back to sleep and doesn’t allow us to wake up, to switch off the alarm. So, yes, this is a struggle which all of us go through.
And first and foremost is that we have to recognise that our body has some physical limitations. If we try to fight at the same time with the body and the mind, we make life much more difficult for ourselves. That means, if my body needs six hours rest, and if I’m going to sleep for four hours, and I decide I’ll wake up, then we are not only fighting against the mind’s voice, but we are also fighting against the body’s needs.
And that double battle is almost impossible to win. Maybe once in a while it may be possible, especially if you are inspired to do something early in the morning. But in general, it will be difficult.
So, if we want to wake up in the morning, it is important that we reorient our schedule in such a way that we get adequate rest at night, at least on a regular basis. Occasionally, of course, it may become late. But in general, in our spiritual life, we have to select the battles that we want to fight.
We can’t fight all the battles at the same time. So, we need to give the body adequate rest. If we are going to sleep late, then either we need to plan that we take rest in the daytime, or generally that is not possible.
Then we try to reschedule ourselves so that we sleep early and wake up early, or then we wake up a little late. But first is that we have to give adequate rest to the body. And the second point is that it is helpful if we can equip our intelligence at that time, maybe just before sleeping, or just after waking up.
How do we equip our intelligence? That means that we write down something about why is it important for me to wake up. Jiva Goswami, in the Sandarbhas, describes that, for a pure devotee, for an advanced devotee, preeti keeps one on the spiritual platform. The pure devotee has so much attraction to Krishna that because of the attraction to Krishna, the pure devotee feels, let me wake up and chant.
But, Jiva Goswami also says that at the sadhana stage, it is our buddhi that keeps us on the spiritual platform. So, I wrote an article on my Gita daily column called Determination comes by Deliberation and Devotion. Deliberation means contemplation with our intellect.
So writing down our own understanding of why is it important for me to wake up in the morning. And, it is nice that at least initially when we are doing this habit, we read this once before we go to sleep. So, I have written an article Why is morning the best time for spiritual activities? So, because we are, three reasons, because we are uncluttered physically, we are fresh mentally, and we are receptive spiritually.
We are uncluttered physically means that because the rest of the people are not woken up in the morning, so generally, they are not going to come to disturb us. We don’t get SMS, we don’t get phone calls, not coming to meet us. So, our life is uncluttered at that time physically.
And, the morning is the time when if we have adequate rest, then we are fresh mentally. And then also, because that is the time of Brahma Murata, we are receptive spiritually. There are auspicious vibrations there in the atmosphere.
So, these are points which I just phrased over here, but most of us know these points. However, as I said, what the mind does is, spruti brahmashad buddhi na asho. It wipes out our memory and thereby destroys our intelligence.
So, that’s why we have to keep an external source of intelligence ready for us. So, writing it down on some paper, why is it important for me to wake up in the morning, or reading it out and making that into a recording, and hearing the recording before we go to sleep, hearing it a few times, that is very helpful. When we wake up, at that time when we are battling, if we have that recording ready, we hear it once.
As Sri Nisargadatta Prabhupada described to Vishnujana Maharaj, he had a bus party, and every morning, when he would wake up very early, when he would go to wake up the other devotees, he would say, wake up and shine for Krishna. So, wake up and shine for Krishna. This is a new day, a new opportunity to serve Krishna, to do wonderful things in his service.
So, this gives you the perspective that waking up is not a burden, it is an opportunity. So, giving ourselves this kind of devotionally stimulating affirmations is quite empowering. So, we discover that at a physical level, we give ourselves adequate rest.
At an intellectual level, we stimulate ourselves with affirmations. And, at a spiritual level, at a devotional level, we pray to Krishna. So, before sleeping, we can pray to Krishna, my dear Lord, please I want to wake up.
And, please help me to overcome this conditioning, overcome this desire in the morning. And if we do pray to Krishna, he will help us. It may take some time for the conditioning to go away, but we will be able to overcome it.
Generally, by taking measures at the physical, intellectual and the devotional level, we will be able to combat the mind, lethargy in the early morning hours. Does it answer your question? Yes, Prabhuji. Thank you, thank you very much.
Hare Krishna, Prabhuji, Dhanwar Pranam, Shila Pravapass Ki Jai, Vinay Maharaj Ki Jai, Very nice, very wonderful class, Prabhuji. And it’s so heavy, it’s hard to digest, Prabhuji, your lectures. Can you, can you little bit explain what is the difference between the mind and ego, and who is more successful? Yes, the question is, what is the difference between the mind and the ego? So, the mind, intelligence and false ego, are the three constituents of the subtle body.
Now, the subtle body itself is subtle. So, to understand the concept of subtle body itself is not easy, and to understand further the breakdown, the components of the subtle body is even more difficult. But we can try with some examples.
there is, in the 4th stanza of Srimad Bhagavatam, from chapters 25 to 29, there is an analogy, or the allegory, of Puranjana. And that allegory has been explained by a Srinisla Prabhupada disciple, one of the prominent scientists, devotees of our moment, the Karmaprabhu, in a scientific paper that he presents, The City of the Nine Gates. And he uses that to draw the analogy of a virtual reality.
So, in the virtual reality, or we could take a simple example of a movie. So, a person is watching in a movie theatre, a movie, then, in the movie theatre, there is a screen, where the images are being played out. Or, more appropriately, as all of you will be familiar with video games, which are one level of virtual reality.
So, in a video game, there is there is an image projected on the multimedia screen. And generally, the person playing the video game identifies with a character in that video game. And then either it’s a police trying to catch a thief, or a player trying to win a match, or whatever, within the video game.
So, the screen on which the images from the game, from the virtual reality, are integrated and displayed, that screen is the mind. And the character with whom we identify, that means the hero of the movie, that means the protagonist of the video game, the character with whom we identify is the intelligence. So, we discussed how the intelligence is the decision maker.
That means, when we decide to do something in the virtual reality, what happens? It is that character who acts. Okay, the person is playing the role of a policeman, is trying to catch the thieves, and the thieves shoot bullets. And then the the policeman moves on the left, because we move the cursor accordingly.
So, what is happening? The policeman dodges the bullet. So, we identify with a character in the movie theatre. That character is the intelligence.
And the… Now, the person who is playing the video game or watching the movie, that person can actually stop at any moment. The person can just turn left, right, and just press the power switch and decide, I don’t want to play this anymore. So, we can’t do like this.
At least not immediately. Why? Because, imagine that in the same virtual reality game, video game that is there, there is a sort of trapping which goes from the head of the person playing the video game to the computer screen. And that trapping is like a pipeline which goes.
And the person is not allowed to see anything else. So, what happens is, although that person has a life separate from the video game, as long as that bond is there, that pipe-like trapping is there, which covers the face of the person and forces the vision of the person to go through that pipe onto the screen and nowhere else. So, when this happens, the person, although the person can’t see anything else, so that trapping which revects the person’s attention to the computer screen is the false ego.
So, the false ego is the bond that creates the misidentification between spirit and matter. So, I’ll repeat this, that the multimedia screen on which all the images are integrated and brought together, that is the mind. So, in the Bhagavad Gita, in 15.8 and 9, Krishna talks about this.
So, in 15.9, he says, So, he says that the inputs from the various senses come together and are integrated in the mind. So, the mind is the integration centre for the inputs from all the senses. That’s like the multimedia screen of the computer.
And then, the character with whom we identify, that is the intelligence. And the bond that revects us to the multimedia screen, that is the false ego. So, now, which is deeper from our perspective, it is very difficult for us to understand which, this is the false ego’s voice, this is the mind’s voice.
And the scriptures don’t necessarily go into this kind of hair-slipping analysis. Essentially, what we understand is that we are an illusion. And we have to get out of the illusion.
So, how does the person come out of that virtual reality show? The first thing is that we enter into a movie theatre, we start turning on a video game because we want to enjoy So, Krishna describes this in 13.22 So, he says that the soul the soul becomes situated in material nature. So, the person starts playing the video game. Why? Bhoomte is enjoy.
The desire to enjoy material nature. So, the desire to enjoy the video game causes the person to rivet one’s attention on that video game screen. And then, the future starts.
Then one meets good and evil in various stations. So, to the extent we can decrease the desire to enjoy, to that extent, we will be able to pull ourselves away from the video game. So, similarly, when we decrease the desire to enjoy, what will happen is the bond of the false ego will decrease.
So, when the soul wants to enjoy, then the false ego binds the soul to matter. So, now, what creates the desire to enjoy? In many ways, it is also the alluring imagery that is there on the screen. The game looks so attractive, the person wants to play it.
So, in that sense, the mind and the false ego both contribute to creating the enjoying mentality but ultimately to the choice of the soul. So, Bhakti Yoga offers us an alternative reality. The reality of devotional service to Krishna and that enables us to turn away from this illusion and turn towards Krishna.
So, yes, the false ego is deeper than the mind because the false ego is closer to the soul than the mind is and the false ego is tougher to overcome because the video game can change but as long as the person’s eyes are fixed on the multimedia screen, then one video game comes in and another video game comes in. The mind’s inclinations may change but the person has false ego and the person will still stay in a different kind of illusion. The person may move from passion to ignorance or from ignorance to passion.
It’s like changing the game that a person is playing but still the person remains in the grip of the false ego. So, by the process of Bhakti, we break free from the captivity of both the mind and the false ego. Does it answer your question? So, Prabhuji, means desire and false ego again, is it almost same or because you are saying it’s strange right now.
So, the question is, are desire and false ego the same? No. Desire is the faculty of the soul. So, the desire is the something that comes from the soul but that power of desiring can be affected by the circumstances in which it is presented.
Just like, as I said, the false ego is not the source of desire. You remember earlier I said the whole subtle body is the root of consciousness. R O U T. The soul is the R O O T, root of consciousness.
So, the power of desiring comes from the soul. But which desire we take up, which desire we choose, that is often decided by the array of desires that are presented to us. And the false ego, the mind, they both present as desires that are material, that are often detrimental to our own well-being.
the desire origin, the power of desiring, the faculty of desiring originates from the soul. But which desire we choose, that depends on the array of desires that are presented before us. So, if all the array of desires that are presented to us are sensual, material, then we will naturally choose material desires.
But when we are presented spiritual desires, then we get the option of choosing spiritual desires. But even when we get the option of choosing spiritual desires, still the mind and the false ego will prompt us to choose material desires. That’s why we need the understanding and the encouragement from Guru Sadhu Shastra to turn away from the mind and intelligence and to choose the desires that are in our best interest.
So, it’s like a multiple choice paper in which ultimately the student has to make the choice. But various options are presented. And in general, these options are presented by the mind and the intelligence.
If we become spiritually minded, then we get a spiritual option which was not there earlier. But ultimately the choosing has to be done by us. In 2.70, Krishna uses the word Natukamakami.
That he says, do not become a desirer of desire. Nakamakami. That means desires will come.
Here Krishna uses the word desires to refer to the proposals of the mind and the ego. So, the mind and the ego will keep proposing. But Krishna says, Nakamakami.
Do not accept the proposals. That means, the options are presented, but the student refuses to select the wrong option. So, that means the desire, the power of desiring comes from the soul itself.
But, the kind of choices for desiring before us, they are presented by the false ego and the mind, normally speaking, for materialistic people. And an additional option is presented to us when we come in contact with Krishna through Guru Sadhusastra. Is it clearer now? Yes, Swamiji.
This is so good. Any other questions? Or should we finish here? A question of Prabhu. I have one question.
Prabhu, wonderful class. I really learnt a lot. Prabhu, can you explain how free will comes into picture with the example that you just explained? Which example? The video game example that you just gave.
Okay, okay. Yeah. So, the question is, how does free will come into the picture when how do we act freely when we are having the video game? Well, the example may seem to become a little more technical here.
But, essentially, in the virtual reality, there are multiple games that a person can play. So, the different games that can be played, essentially they are the games that are provided by three modes of material nature. Goodness, passion and ignorance.
And Krishna describes in 14.10 in the Bhagavad Gita that there is a conflict going on among the modes. Rajas-tamasya vidhuya sattvam bhavati bharata rajasattvam tamasyaiva tamasattvam tamasattvam rajasattvam that sometimes goodness triumphs over passion and ignorance. Sometimes passion conquers over goodness and ignorance and sometimes ignorance conquers over goodness and passion.
So, the modes are subtle psychological forces that shape the interaction between matter and consciousness. So, they simulate our thinking, feeling and acting in particular ways. But they are like three different channels.
Or you could say three different sects of channels. For example, on television we may have sports channels, we may have say religious channels and then there may be idol channels where there is obscene content. So, now within these channels, within these three categories of channels also, there are further channels.
So, like that, the three modes are three primary categories of desire. And then within that there are further categories. So, the soul, just as the soul can choose, just as a person playing a video game can choose which game to play, a person watching a TV can choose which channel to watch, similarly the soul can desire, can choose what kind of mental enjoyment the soul wants.
So, when Krishna descends to the material world, at that time Krishna offers us the opportunity to practise devotional service. And by the opportunity to practise devotional service, He gives us the option of turning to an entirely different kind of reality. So, when we chant the holy names, when we take darshan of the deities, although we seem to be acting with the same material senses with which we are acting otherwise, but here we are interacting with spiritual reality.
And that’s why we become purified by this. This kind of activity. So, our free will is that we can choose which activities to do.
So, by using our free will properly, on a consistent basis, then our tendencies change. And the more our tendencies become spiritually minded, then the lesser is the struggle in our free will. So, our free will becomes in a sense more free to make the right choices.
So, we always have our free will. But sometimes the free will, because of past conditioning, doesn’t remain so free. Like an addict always has free will to stop drinking.
But because of repeated indulgence, now that free will is very very less accessible. But by making right choices, free will will become more and more accessible. So, like that, by making right choices, that means either devotional activities or at least activities in goodness, activities that are conducive for devotion.