​Don’t identify with the mind – identify the mind

​Congregation Program at Los Angeles, USA

Hare Krishna. I thank all of you for coming today evening. Am I audible behind? Today morning for this programme and I will speak on the topic of Don’t identify with the mind Identify the mind Don’t identify with the mind, identify the mind.
So I’ll speak based on 6.5 in the Bhagavad Gita It states So Krishna says Elevate yourself ātmana ātmānam With the self elevate the self if we take ātmā literally to mean the self that means uddhare ātmana ātmānam nātmānam avasādayet Don’t degrade the self avasādayet ātmai vahi ātmano bandhur The self is the friend of the self ātmai va ripur ātmanahā The self is the enemy of the self So now this verse has the word ātmā six times coming Actually seven times. So it says literal translation would mean Elevate the self with the self don’t degrade the self with the self for the self is the friend of the self and the self is the enemy of the self And at the end of it will wonder what is the self? So the word ātmā like many other words in Sanskrit is multivalent Multivalent means they have many different meanings. So in this context the Prabhupāda explains that ātmā refers to the mind And so the verse becomes elevate yourself with the mind and don’t degrade yourself with it And the mind is the friend of the self and the mind is also the enemy of the self now usually we think of External and internal from the reference point of the body So for example, say you are sitting outside and say if I am feeling tired if I’m feeling irritable If I am feeling concerned worried about something all those thoughts are inside.
So that’s inside So we think of external and internal from the reference point of the body However, if we understand that I am the soul Then I will understand that even the thoughts in my mind even my some of my feelings. They are also external to me They’re not inside me. They are still outside Now consider somebody who has a house and around the house.
They have a lawn and around the corner of that lawn They have a fence Now if they have the main security at the door at the fence then If somebody somehow bypasses that security and comes inside But that person has not yet come inside the house But that person has come inside the premises and if somebody is inside the premises the main security is at the main gate Then that person is already infiltrated and that person is an imbecile, a thief Or some other way dangerous, then that person is already in danger. The people in the house are already in danger. So although That person is outside the house till that person has come inside the premises so like that we could consider the soul is the house and The premises is the soul and the mind and outside the premises is the body So normally when we think something that is outside the premises that’s like outside the body that we understand is external But when something has come inside the premises the threat is already there because they have penetrated the main security So when some thought or some desire comes inside us it has already penetrated our security Why? What do we mean by penetrated our security? So now for example if someone tells us do something Come on, let’s go.
Come let’s go for a movie Let’s go for this party. Let’s go here. Let’s go there.
Now when somebody tells us this we will evaluate what they are saying Do I have the time? Is it important? Will it be enjoyable? There are so many things which we will consider and then we will decide whether I should go there or not But when that same proposal comes inside us Come on, let’s go for a movie Yeah, we identify it as my idea See when something is someone else’s idea I evaluate it, but I think something is my idea Then I think oh, it’s my it’s my idea. So it’s my brainchild. So I must fulfil it So we quite often don’t critically evaluate something which comes inside us But whatever comes inside us is not necessarily our idea or our desire Just like anybody who’s inside the premises of a house that person is not automatically a family member Somebody else might have also penetrated it so whatever is inside everything that is inside me is not me and So then so usually we think of thoughts or desires They come from outside in and that is true We see some objects and then we may see a say now iPhone 7 has come So we see somebody having an iPhone 7 proudly parading around.
I also want to get this So we see that and we get the desire So like that people may be usually think of desires as coming from outside in We see objects and the desires come Dhyayato Mishayantum Saha. Krishna also talks about this that when we see the sense objects we get desires for them however Desires don’t just come from outside in They also come from inside in Inside in means they don’t just come from the external sense objects to us they come from within from the memories of the enjoyment of the sense objects or whatever memories we have they come from there also and When they come from there, we because they are inside us. We tend to identify with them very easily very uncritically and thus we end up doing things which are not important for us and which If the same thing if someone else had suggested Oh, why don’t you purchase this thing? I think do I need it? Do I have the money? Is it really going to be important for me and then we will evaluate all that but when that same thing comes inside Quite often we don’t evaluate that much that is because when the thought of desire has come inside us It has already penetrated our main security So just because something is inside us we start thinking this is mine But it is not mine So in the Bhagavad-gita Krishna talks about what is it that makes us do wrong? Athakena prayukto yam papam charati purusha anicchanapi varshneya baladivaniyo jitaha 3.36 in the Bhagavad-gita Arjuna’s Krishna has told in the previous verses In third chapter, especially from 3.30 to 3.35 that by doing one’s duty one can become elevated and liberated And Arjuna asked yes, I know this but there’s something within me which pulls me away from my duty which makes me do wrong What is that? And Krishna answers that as in 3.36 Kamesha krodhesha rajo guna samudbhava Mahasano mahapapma vidhyena mihavairinam This is kamesha Now kam is often translated as lust and then krodhesha anger So this kamesha krodhesha rajo guna samudbhava this arises from the mode of passion and Mahasano mahapapma.
This is the Mahasana means it devours. It’s a great devourer and Mahapapma it is actually very sinful and vidhyena mihavairinam know this to be your enemy It’s a significant Krishna is there on a battlefield with Arjuna and Krishna is not pointing to Duryodhana or Karna or Bhishma and saying they are your enemies Krishna says Arjuna know this to be your enemy. What is this enemy? This is the selfish desire present in your own heart So as I said kam can be translated as lust but when it is used in that sense, it’s not just male-female attraction The word kama is used here in an inclusive sense to refer to any kind of selfish Unregulated desire like the word kama is used in many different senses in the Bhagavad Gita So here it is used in a generic sense to refer to Any selfish desire then later on in 7th chapter 11th verse Krishna says dharma viruddho bhuteshu kamausmi bharatarshibha Krishna says I am the kama that is not against dharma Here Krishna is not saying kama is bad.
In fact, he’s saying it’s good. He says I am kama So this kama refers not to lust it actually refers to To holistic material desire or material satisfaction dharma artha kama moksha These are the four purusharthas and one of them kama is also important. So To be materially happy.
It is not that to be spiritual we have to be materially unhappy or materially uncomfortable That’s not the principle, but just for pursuing material happiness or material comfort, we shouldn’t give up dharma So Yudhishthira Maharaj is told by Narada Muni That when Narada Muni comes to meet him, Yudhishthira asks, you know, what is my duty as a householder? And he tells him that you know, don’t pursue dharma so much that you neglect artha or kama Don’t pursue artha so much that you neglect dharma and kama and don’t pursue kama so much that you neglect dharma and artha He says householder life means pursue all these three in balance So here Krishna uses the word kama in a positive sense When he says that That I am the kama that is not contrary to dharma So Again, so our point here is that here when Krishna from 3.36 to 3.43 He discusses the nature of kama at that time when he when When he tells where kama is situated So he doesn’t say that kama is situated in the sense objects He says kama is situated in our own senses in 3.40. He says In the senses the mind and the intelligence that’s where kama selfish desire is situated And from there it deludes us Now it is true that when we pursue certain objects the kama within us may increase So we may tend to think that that object is the cause of cause of kama or the source of kama but that is a that is an improper understanding because You know that same object May not trigger any desire in others You know, for example, if somebody has if some small children have not attained puberty Then you know, they may see the same sense object which we are seeing but they don’t experience any desire we experience desires Why is that? Because the external object is actually not the cause of the desire the external object is the trigger of the desire It’s like when I press a trigger a bullet goes out in our gun But the bullet will go out only when there’s a bullet inside the gun So if there were no bullet inside pressing the trigger will not cause anything So like that, yes external sight of certain objects may trigger desires within us But we can’t blame all these objects. I saw those objects. That’s why I got my desire like this.
Yes, that’s true But you can’t blame anything external For our desires, you know, our desires are our desires and because we have certain weaknesses That’s why we succumb to those external desires So again what Krishna is stating is this enemy is inside us So now When I talked about that don’t identify with the mind identify the mind so identify the mind means that Just like You know, if somebody has come to our premises Has come inside our premises By bypassing the main security then we can look through our window or through a peephole in the door or wherever who is this person? We don’t we don’t we don’t uncritically embrace that person. Okay, who is this? This person looks like a friend or this person. I don’t know.
Hey, this person looks like a dangerous person So like that we evaluate So similarly We need to evaluate Identify our mind’s feelings our mind’s moods Sometimes we know that some people just become irritable You know, we all become it’s not some people we all become irritable at different times So if we find out that just by observing some people, you know, some relatives some friends some family member You know, we see that. Oh We speak something and they snap back at us So when I say oh today he or she is in a bad mood today So now what do we do? We identify that Okay, then if they’re in a bad mood, I have to deal with them properly You know, maybe I have to be a little more careful not speak things which will unnecessarily inflame them so It’s not that because they are in a bad mood. We also go in a bad mood because they snap at us So I also snap back and then things become worse so just as when other people are behaving in particular ways, you know, we We identify that.
You know, it’s almost like a default tendency of the mind to Pass comments about people You know almost as soon as we see any person mind passes a comment Lazy person Irresponsible person Forgetful person Arrogant person Very moody person very short-tempered person. So like that our mind keeps passing comments about others So now of course this passing this tendency to pass comments about others is not very healthy because then we we become biassed uh about certain people and they may have behaved that once twice, but then when we Permanently portray them that way or consider them that way Then we don’t we often are not able to see the other side also We may have a positive side, but that is a different discussion for us The discussion is point is that just as when we see people We pass comments about them. We actually label them.
Okay, this person like this person like that So that labelling tendency of the mind We can apply it on the mind itself Instead of applying it on others we can apply it on the mind now it is said that There is nothing that we give as freely as advice So actually when it comes to telling others when they have some problems how they should deal with these problems, you know, we are often self-appointed experts We give advice quite freely Now what we could do is we could turn this same tendency and apply it to our mind that means okay Today i’m feeling irritated That was why did he why did she speak like that? Why did I do like that? You know So unreasonable I always keep troubling me like this. I’m irritated now So yes now that feeling is there But when when that the mind feels irritated like that and when we identify with that then we also become irritated but instead if we think Say if our spouse or if our child or somebody is some family member had come with similar feeling to us You know, they spoke like that and I have become very angry with it now How would we respond at that time? Tell them cool down, you know Maybe maybe they know something which you don’t know or maybe they thought something about you which was not true You know, they have judged you but you don’t judge them back You try to clarify with them and if you clarify things and cool down so What we could do is that just as if somebody became irritated and came to us the way we would advise them We can advise our mind like that So instead don’t identify with the mind identify the mind It’s like uh, sometimes some people become very sentimental They get worked up about small things they become very emotional so now If some if some relative some friend became emotional, how would we deal with them? The same way we try to deal with our mind. So when the mind starts becoming sentimental about some things, you know, then okay So we could use that same advising tendency towards the mind So This could be like a so this verse can be Elevate yourself with the mind and now don’t degrade yourself with the mind we can envision the application of this verse as a mental exercise Imagine that You know, there are two chairs and two people are sitting and discussing But instead of two people in this discussion, there’s only one person So So in my mind, I imagine that i’m sitting here and this is the company this is the complainer And then after the complainer finishes speaking Then I only shift from that chair and I move to the other chair, which is for the counsellor And then I respond So first I give vent to whatever I want to speak I don’t have to suppress that But I express that Not in public but to myself Give vent to it.
Then after I give vent to it, then I turn sit on the other chair as a counsellor evaluate it Okay, this is what I felt. No, I feel like this. I feel like just give it vent But don’t give it vent in front of others So sometimes the way I do it is I correspond a lot with devotees in different people in different parts of the country or the world india or wherever so I write a lot of emails And as a writer, I often prefer written communication or spoken communication because then I can be more careful or sometimes if I get angry with someone you know, I just Write it out in the mail But after I write the mail I try as much as possible to not send that mail for 24 hours So I just wait and then after that when I written that down because if I don’t write it down, you know, I feel it’s like a Pressure cooker which is which has come to a boiling point now.
It’s wanting to burst within me So I need to express it out So I need to express it but that person doesn’t need to hear it right now Because this is unfiltered when it is unfiltered Then it can often be quite hurting and sometimes some people say I want to know what is in your mind Now actually it is a dangerous desire Because you know if we all came to know what was in each other’s minds No, no relationship could be sustained It is krishna’s arrangement. It is god’s arrangement through nature that we can see only each other’s expressions We can’t see each other’s minds Because the mind is so uncontrolled That the mind can think terribly about anything and anyone Hmm So sometimes the mind can think extremely evil thoughts So some people get They start feeling guilty. How can I get such thoughts? I should not be getting such thoughts at all so and especially as kalyuga is Becoming worse and worse so So So the negative thought that come in the mind can become more and more terrible But bad thoughts don’t make us a bad person It is only bad actions that make us a bad person Bad thoughts will come It’s if we dwell on them if we let them grow Then we will act on them.
But if they just come they can come from any source The mind is very We don’t know what kind of karma we have done in the past. We don’t know what kind of impressions we have got sometimes bad thoughts come up So I was just I’m writing a book on on the mind giving the insights of the bhagavad gita So I was just reading my book by a psychologist and the psychologist said that there are many people who feel guilty For having terrible thoughts And they feel you know, i’m so terrible How can any person think like this? So one of the thoughts is that sometimes mothers They feel when they have a small baby They feel you know, I should hurt this baby Now what mother will feel like this mother is meant to care for the baby And how can how can I what kind of terrible person that I I am that the baby who i’m supposed to care for I feel like hurting the baby And they start feeling terribly guilty about it but actually More than 99.9% of the mothers they will never do such a thing But many mothers get such a thought Now, where does this thought come from? See that doesn’t make a person a bad mother What happens is there is sattva guna, rajoguna, tamoguna. There’s a mode of goodness, there’s a mode of passion, there’s a mode of ignorance so in different modes We get a sense of control and power in different ways So For example, if i’m in the mode of goodness See, we all need a sense of control and power in our lives.
If everything is going out of control we get panicky But where we get a sense of control where we get a sense of power that varies depending on the mode which we are in So if we are if i’m in the mode of goodness sattva guna Then I get my sense of control and power by making sure that things are going on well by maintaining things Now things go on time things go on everything is happening nicely So if there is order routine Discipline in my life, I feel good But if I am prominently in the mode of passion I feel the same old thing every day i’m doing It’s boring So the same order that is reassuring and stabilising for a person in goodness That becomes monotonous and burdensome for a person in passion Hey every day i’m doing the same thing. I want to do something new man What can I do new? So creation So we get that sense of control and power when we are doing some new things So in the mode of passion makes us want to do some new things and that’s what gives us control and power now in the mode of ignorance We get our sense of control and power by destroying The mode of ignorance is also a destruction And that’s why you know, sometimes some people get angry and they just throw things And they break things because at that time the mode of ignorance has taken control and that’s what gives them the sense of control and power Now I can destroy everything so now These modes they can sometimes express themselves in uh, In physical actions, but quite often the influence of the modes expresses itself in uh thoughts and desires So when the tamoguna influences more at that time the tendency to destroy to hurt That comes in That pops up and that can create any kinds of desires Sometimes we feel like I want to hurt my loved ones I want to beat my loved one beat my people so there was one survey done in a company where Which is known to squeeze their employees So the employees were asked what is their favourite fantasy? So they told you know almost like more than a majority of the employees said our favourite fantasy is You know, we want to get a bust of my boss and box it to pieces You know So that was their pent-up resentment coming out now, it’s not that they’re ever going to go to their office and box that beat their boss So it’s not that we have to take our thoughts very seriously. They come they go It’s when we dwell on them.
They become very serious So it’s when we dwell on them we grow they grow they grow. So this is a so sometimes you may get an extremely dirty thought What kind of person am I getting these thoughts? But then if you understand this thought is not me I would never do such a thing I would never do such a thing. This thought has come and this thought will if I don’t dwell on it, it will go away If I dwell on it too much It will grow just like if you know, sometimes somehow Some intruder might come into our premises Now if I have kept my door locked that intruder cannot come into my house Inside my house and that intruder cannot hurt me So if I just keep watching, okay, this this intruder has come.
What is what is what are they doing? And I keep a watch on them and if they say that they can’t come in eventually they’ll go away So like that sometimes nasty thoughts may come within us. Now sometimes when a thought is very nasty We get disturbed by its presence And to some extent uh that disturbance if it makes us more alert, that is good. But the disturbance burdens us with guilt That is bad We don’t have to become burdened just because some thoughts have come in our mind burdened with guilt because guilt can be disempowering Oh, I am such a fallen person, you know, I get such thoughts What can I do? You know, I’m such a fallen person.
I get such thoughts So I’m fallen. Let me fall down more now See the mind makes it do like that then what happens the thought we let it become an action It’s like oh this person has already come in my premises. Let him come into the house also No, we don’t have to let it come into the house So the thought that is there in the mind Let it be there You can try to drive it out drive it out means we try to fill our minds with positive thoughts Okay, I have to do this.
I have to do that. I have to do that We once we actually one thing is with respect to the mind we cannot empty the mind To drive out undesirable thoughts. We can’t drive them out by emptying the mind We can drive them out by filling the mind So if I fill my mind with constructive activities And the most empowering constructive activity is thinking about Krishna Absorbing ourselves in service to Krishna because Krishna is the supreme light Krishna Surya Sama Maya Hai Andhkar Yaha Krishna Tahar Nahi Maya Radhikar Krishna is like the light like light sunlight and Maya is like darkness.
So where the sun rises the darkness Cannot stay now this this metaphor of sun sun and of light and darkness is familiar metaphor But it is a very significant metaphor because It conveys that Darkness cannot be removed in any other way If I’m in the room and the room is dark I can curse the darkness, you know, no stupid fool. Why are you here? I can punch the darkness I can kick at the darkness. I can rail at the darkness.
The darkness is not going to go away The way to remove the darkness is to find the light switch and turn on the light Similarly when there are dark thoughts inside us if we start cursing ourselves we cursing those thoughts That will not take those thoughts out We need to turn on the light. We need to connect our consciousness. We need to bring Krishna into our consciousness Krishna is the supreme light Aditya Varanam Tamasaha Parasthaad In the Bhagavad Gita in 8.9 Krishna says that that absolute truth is Aditya Varanam, effulgent And Tamasaha Parasthaad beyond all the darkness of ignorance So when we bring Krishna’s presence Into our consciousness by chanting his names by reciting verses by praying to him by beholding his deities by studying the scriptures By trying to do some seva for him then when the mind gets filled with Krishna then the darkness goes out So when we say Identify the mind don’t identify with the mind That means when certain desires come in now now there are some desires say for example This is the circle of the things which I do And then beyond this this is circle of things which I may do sometimes So for example, say if I decide that Okay, I will I don’t I want to lose weight so I won’t take sweets So this is my circle of normal diet, but outside that circle of normal diet.
Does it add? Okay, sometimes I may take some sweet that are not fatty, you know, I may take natural fruits. I may take dates That’s another circle. That’s acceptable outside that we may have another circle Which is okay.
Once in a while. I may take I may take sugar sweets also Now this is also it’s okay. There might be another circle outside it where you know We are just you know, instead of taking sweets the sweets take us Instead of sweets being a part of the meal we take the sweet like a meal only Now that is unhealthy Now beyond that there could be a circle where I may get the desire to eat meat Now if i’m a serious spiritual seeker, I this desire isn’t tolerant So what happens we all have a certain certain circle of acceptable behaviour or acceptable desires acceptable thoughts And outside that there are various degrees of various kinds of thoughts which are at various degrees of acceptability or unacceptability So when something is very unacceptable Its presence jolters And at that time we don’t act on it We usually get alarmed we get concerned so for dealing with something which is very unacceptable I said that understand that this is just an intruder And if the bad actions bad thoughts doesn’t doesn’t make us a bad person And we fill our consciousness with krishna and we drive out those thoughts from them We empty the mind of we drive those thoughts.
You can’t empty them. We drive those thoughts out by filling the mind with krishna but when some desires are Just at the borders of acceptability They are not unacceptable, but they are not essential Uh, I have to eat but I don’t have to eat very opulent food. I don’t have to eat very fatty food So when something is at the at the border of acceptability At that time we don’t so easily identify that this is not me When something is very far at the periphery of accept As the very position of unacceptability.
This is not now. How is this thought coming? But when some other thought comes in we tend to think oh, this is mine. This is me And then we tend to act on it easily So now it is not that uh The mind is always bad the mind can also be a friend And sometimes the mind can also give us ideas which can be good Sometimes we call them as hunches Now I got a hunch that I should do this or I got an intuition like this.
So hunches intuitions gut feelings They can all be good. So sometimes what comes inside us can also be a friend But the important thing is we need to evaluate We need to evaluate And this is where Our spiritual practises come into picture when we study the bhagavad gita It is not just that we are interested in some conversation that happened between two people 5000 years ago The bhagavad gita is a conversation that happened 5000 years ago. But actually it is a the essential conversation is timeless Now arjuna at the start of the gita does not ask krishna.
Should I fight or should I not fight? His question is Oh krishna tell me what is dharma? What i’m confused about my duty. So, please tell me what is my duty So the essential message of the gita if it had been simply should arjuna fight or not fight krishna would have told in One word fight and the gita would have been over But arjuna does not ask a simple contextual question. Should I fight or not fight? It takes the context to ask a universal question What is my dharma? Or what is dharma in general? And then krishna gives a universal answer And that’s why that’s what makes the gita very relevant So now the gita tells us what is dharma and gita tells us also that there is the mind within us Which drags us away from the path of dharma? So if we study scripture regularly, we become aware of the dynamics inside us.
What is happening? Oh, this thought is coming. This is actually the mind speaking. I don’t have to listen to it This is just like If we see that person is in a bad mood, then we we modify our behaviour accordingly so that okay this person is in a bad mood I have to Be a little on a as a ginger feet be a little more careful while dealing with them So similarly sometimes we may wake up in the morning and for no reason the mind feels irritable So at that time, what do we do? It’s not that, you know, we also become irritable rather Okay, today the mind is in an irritable mood.
I’ll have to deal with it properly So like that when we identify with it then we can deal with it properly so identifying the mind means that We don’t accept as ours whatever thoughts desires emotions moods that we find ourselves So this actually krishna talks about it in the 14th chapter of the bhagavad-gita when he talks about three moods of material nature and then Arjuna after hearing about the analysis of three moods from verses 1 to 20 the 21st verse he asked three questions and the first question is He asked that Linga We use the word in hindi or other indian vernacular languages to refer to gender Linga So but linga means symptom just like when a baby is born Then the linga we look is it a boy or a girl? So that so linga generally means symptom. So if arjuna is asking What are the symptoms? of Of the moods I hope nothing is damaged. Okay, so like this disturbance has happened in our mind for no reason Sadly something happens so What are the characteristics of three moods That what is Okay.
Now first question is how can I know that what are the characteristics? What are the symptoms of a person who has transcended the moods? He’s asking because Arjuna Krishna has already described the symptoms of the moods But now he’s asking the symptoms of person who has transcended the moods and then he says How does such a person behave? And how can one transcend the moods So now The the acharya has explained that the first question refers to the inner feelings The second question refers to the external actions Okay, how how does a how does a person who has transcended the moods see the inner happenings within And how does such a person behave? So now in answering this question krishna replies So it says that krishna says krishna has talked about the three modes of material nature earlier and 14.11 12 13 He has described the predominant characteristic of each mode So he says prakasha refers to goodness illumination. The things are clear in goodness The desire for action I have to do this I have to do that that is the mode of passion And moha delusion not knowing what to do It’s confusion that is a mode of ignorance the three modes can be described in one way says Some people make things happen Some people watch things happen And some people wonder what happened So those who make things happen are in goodness Okay, this is my plan. This is how i’ll implement this has changed.
I’ll make it things happen like this But people in passion they want to do a lot of things But they do one thing and it leads to certain complications. They do another thing and leads to certain complications What is happening what is happening what is happening some people watch things happen And people in ignorance, you know, they have neither vision nor action. What’s going on? I don’t know So they are like a stupor Some people wonder what happened.
So krishna says moha. So prakasha pravrtti and moha These are the characteristics of goodness passion and ignorance and what krishna says over here is in 14.12 Prakasham cha pravrttim cha moham eva cha pandava na dveshti sam pravrttani na nivrttani kamsah So he says when this passion or delusion Or illumination when it comes Don’t welcome it And don’t resent it just observe it. It has come Just be detached understanding that you are a soul and understand that because of the mode this is happening Guna Understanding that this is the modes acting And stay situated firmly That means sometimes I may start feeling angry So rather than thinking I am feeling angry.
I can see okay anger is rising in my mind now This is the influence of the lower modes of passion and ignorance And then I respond appropriately But when I say that now if I say I should not feel angry only And that doesn’t work if something is wrong something has gone wrong something is not according to my plan Anger is a natural human response. So I can’t wish away the anger. I can’t suppress the anger But I don’t have to act on that anger.
So anger has come anger is rising within if I just can observe like that Then rather than saying I should not become angry, which is we are trying basically in denial of our emotions and A second is I become angry. That means I surrender to my emotions See both are undesirable denying our emotions and surrendering to our emotions. Both are undesirable Yesterday I gave a class about channelling our emotions the path of yoga So I talked about you know, there is we normally think of either expressing emotions or repressing emotions But we need to go beyond these both to what does anyone remember? Yeah processing emotions So we need to process our emotion.
Okay, this anger has come inside me. What is the reason for it? Let me analyse it and let me decide how to act accordingly so krishna says that So when he’s talking about a person who has transcended the modes Even for a person who has transcended the modes krishna is saying that sometimes prakasha pravrti and moha may come even for them But they become observers. They don’t act on that.
That means they don’t identify with it. They identify Okay, this this particular emotion has come inside me. Let me see how I can deal with it So that way when we act then although emotions may come within us We will not we will not become slaves of those emotions.
We won’t be controlled by those emotions I’ll conclude with one last point that sometimes if If we find out that there are certain kinds of emotions That come too often within us see all of us When I said these intruders are coming in So the like that certain desires pop up in our consciousness now Yes desires do pop up, but it is not that the mind comes up with entirely new desires all the time It’s quite often. There are certain specific Problem areas for us. You know, maybe some of us become too worried about things Some of us may become too angry about things some of us may be too pessimistic whatever Whatever situation comes up, you know, this will go wrong that will go wrong that will go wrong.
So we are pessimistic So if we find out that there are certain patterns Of thought which habitually occur within our mind Okay, so then we can make a plan for dealing with them So, for example if I worry too much If I tendency to worry now I write an article on the gita every day on gita daily website So I just I have written one article in the next few days. I’ll publish it this worry Is the interest that we pay on loans that we have not yet taken What does that mean That means quite often, you know, there is one problem And that problem needs to be dealt with but when we worry we don’t just worry about that problem We think from this problem. This will go wrong.
This will go wrong. This will go wrong. How can I deal? I can’t deal with it and I become overwhelmed So, yes, there is a problem but the problem is right now here but my mind is imagining has taken this problem somewhere else And I get burdened by that So that’s how that’s a loan that is not we have not even taken that but we are paying interest for it We are getting burdened by it So worry is the interest that we pay for loans that we have not yet taken So now if we have a habitual tendency to worry Then we also have certain areas About which we may worry What if I lose my job? Or you know, what if What if my children grow up and become disobedient or what if my What if my spouse leaves me or whatever we can have all kinds of things If we find out there are certain kinds of fears that regularly trouble us then we can plan to deal with it What is planning to deal with it means what I talked about earlier about, you know Envisioning two people sitting on a chair the complainer and the counsellor Now that we can do but we can do it in a more organised way.
That means We can write down our fears Now let the mind have its vent Okay, I fear this may go wrong what this may happen. This may happen. This may happen This may happen if I lose my job Then I won’t be able to pay my mortgage.
If I don’t pay my mortgage, then I’ll be on the streets Oh, if I’m the street, then what will people think of me? Now Actually, I’m sitting in an air-conditioned house right now, and I’m worried what will happen if I’m on the streets That’s a long way away So but such fears come up then just write them down and we write them down and then afterwards So that is like the mind speaking let it speak And then afterwards when we calm down we use our intelligence And using our intelligence. Okay, if I lose my job, what can I do? Yeah, you know I have I’m qualified I can find some other job Or I can work freelance I can become a consultant or you know, we write down practically what are the things that we can do So even within our worries uh Worry is of course a whole different topic I can go and go into that but within our worries we have to differentiate between possibilities and probabilities Yeah possible everything is possible that if I’m if I can sometimes when you’re driving a car we may my it’s possible Oh, I may hit a road accident and I may die Well, that’s a possibility But that’s not a probability. It’s not likely to happen Now if I start worrying about possibilities I won’t be able to do anything what to speak of driving a car on the road But I can be sitting here right now in the roof making That’s also a possibility So we can’t just waste our life worrying about possibilities.
So first thing is we differentiate between possibility and probability Now what is what anything can happen, but what is likely to happen? Okay, my boss is displeased with me and because of that what may happen? Maybe I may not get a raise Or I may get some negative note on my record or I may be fired. This is possibility But it’s not that just because I’m going to be fired tomorrow. I’m going to be on the streets That is this is a probability this may not be a possibility.
So this is the probability but that I’ll go on the street That’s not a probability that may take a long time to happen and there are many things I can do So like that when we rationally evaluate our fears Then we can first of all dismiss those fears which are too unrealistic And then we can focus on what practical steps can I take and what practical steps am I taking right now? So what happens when we are worried see in any situation in life There are certain things in our control and certain things are not in our control so when Anxiety comes when we focus on the things that are not in our control And that same anxiety can be transformed into intensity see Intensity comes when we focus on the things that are in our control So in that sense just like a coin has heads and tails. So similarly Anxiety and intensity are the two sides of the same coin So for example, if I fear that I will lose my job Then that that anxiety may focus. I may lose my job.
I lose my job. I may lose my job That anxiety will paralyse me. It will disempower me.
That will scare me That will make me not able to do anything But I shift that anxiety or shift my focus from what is not in my control to what is in my control Okay, what is in my control? This is my control how I perform at my job right now So let me focus and put in the best performance at my job If I do that Then that same thing which would have caused me anxiety now brings intensity because i’m focussing on that which is in my control That’s how when we feel worried about some things we can evaluate. Okay, what are the things that I can do? And what are the things that I am doing and we start doing those more things. We will become calmer So like that I just give that as an example what we could do whichever are the Whichever are the negative thoughts undesirable kinds of thoughts desire that come within us and they trouble us we can write our ways Evaluate them and write the ways in which they are simply possibilities or probabilities and write how we can deal with them And then next time when the mind starts going in that direction We don’t have to reinvent the wheel again think how to deal with it.
Just go back and read that Okay And of course when we are practising bhakti, we understand that at my let us so at my core. I am indestructible No matter what problems come I have a soul and I’m going to be affected and krishna is there krishna will take care of me So when we address the fears of the mind at that time we can use the wisdom of the bhagavad gita We can use the knowledge the devotion the faith that we have acquired by our spiritual practises To counter the fears or the counter the negativities of the mind and in that way we can curb the mind’s Distracting power and the more we focus the more we can move forward in our life. And actually this is where Our process of chanting can be very helpful for us What happens sometimes you may chant and I feel I chant so I chant a Krishna, but I can’t concentrate on What is the use of a chanting? but If instead of getting discouraged we at least try to chant But chanting is the time When we can very directly become aware That I am different from my mind Because I want to chant and there is something inside me which is not letting me do it So, you know, it is if we are philosophical, it is easy to understand.
I am not the body. The body is dead matter I am conscious me. I cannot be the body But identifying that I am not the mind is not so easy So, but if we try to chant attentively, even if we don’t succeed in chanting attentively Just the effort to chant will make us aware.
Hey, this is the mind it is different from me So that way that awareness will help us so Lack of self-awareness Awareness of lack of self-awareness is also self-awareness That means hey, I am not focused to become To become aware that I am distracted that is also one level of awareness Sometimes I’m so distracted that I don’t even realise I’m distracted But I’m distracted and I’m at least aware that I’m distracted that means there’s some distracting force within me and I have to deal with it So when we become aware of the mind’s presence Then chanting even if we can’t concentrate during chanting if the if the process of chanting just makes us aware Okay, there is this mind inside me and it goes off and I bring it back. It goes off. I bring it back that exercise helps us Sometimes we think of chanting as a Um as a one zero digital logic either I’m concentrating or I’m not concentrating But chanting is not like that.
We can envision chanting as an inner body building exercise No, it’s not that when if I’m going doing some weight lifting, it’s not that on the first day. I’m going to lift a 50 kg weight No, but whatever weight I lift to whatever extent I lift That is improving that is that is exercising me and that is strengthening my muscles So You say you’re chanting and the mind is going off Even if the mind doesn’t come back to krishna Every time I try to get the mind back to krishna. That is like i’m lifting a weight And every time I lift a weight my muscles are becoming stronger.
Similarly Every time we try to bring the mind back When it goes off our inner muscles are becoming stronger The effect may not come And sometimes what happens? You know, we may go to uh, somebody wants to play a trick with us, you know, we regularly go and lift say 15 kg weight And somebody has put in that 15 kg weight Uh on the level is 15 kg, but they put 25 kg over there Hey yesterday I was lifting so easily. What happened today? I’m not able to lift it So like that sometimes one day our chanting may go very good And the next day what is happening? I can’t concentrate on me Today the mind has become like a 25 kg weight and the distraction is more So relatively speaking when I have to lift 25 kg i’m able to lift very little But even the little that i’m able to lift that is exercising And that is actually strengthening my inner muscles. So some days the mind may go wild But we don’t have to become discouraged just strive and by that striving We will be able to We will become more aware of the mind.
We’ll develop more our inner muscles to bring the mind back on track And that capacity to become aware of the mind and to bring it back on track that will help us throughout our entire life Ultimately focussing on krishna will take us back to krishna. That’s life’s ultimate goal. But intermediately even while we are in this world The effort needed to focus on krishna That will help us to become more aware of the mind and become more capable Of refocusing the mind throughout our day and throughout our life And that’s how we can become more effective more productive and more successful In whatever we do in our life both materially and spiritually So i’ll summarise I talked on the topic of don’t Identify does anyone remember the topic? Don’t identify yeah, don’t identify with the mind identify the mind so I talked about how this verse can talk about atma, but in this context atma refers to the mind And we usually refer to things as external or internal based on a body’s perspective but What is inside us what is in our mind is also external to us as source just as What is the example I gave for this change understanding of external internal? Yeah the house and the fence So just as somebody who has come inside as a premises doesn’t mean that they are a family member So similarly all the thoughts that have come inside us.
They are not Our thoughts they might have popped up from somewhere and we need to evaluate them so for such evaluation We need to be we need to be aware we need to be alert and Usually when somebody else tells us to do something we critically evaluate should I do it or not? But when that same idea comes from inside quite often uncritically accept So the tendency that we have to label others We can use it to label our own mind today. My mind is a bad mood today. I’m I’m thinking too much negative so like that we can leave that labelling tendency can use it to Label the mind and that way If somebody’s a bad mood, we adopt ourselves accordingly.
Similarly with the mind in a particular mood. We adopt ourselves according We adapt ourselves accordingly to deal with it and then Just as now we have this tendency to give advice to others So we can use that tendency to give advice to the mind So we can envision an exercise where the mind is like the complainer and then we become the counsellor So let the mind speak and then we speak by the way and in that way rather than identifying with the mind We can actually rectify the mind help ourselves come on the right track And then I discussed about how the This identifying the mind Becomes easy when the mind gives comes up with very a very reprehensible kind of thoughts so So I discussed that suppose something that desire to hurt someone helpless So that’s a very reprehensible thought but how does it come? Bad thoughts don’t make us bad people. It is bad actions that do So those thoughts are just there are three modes of material nature and in different modes We get a sense of control and power by different things.
So in goodness, how do we get a sense of control and power? By orderliness, orderliness, routine, predictability in passion By new things I want to do something new that’s when I feel i’m doing something in my life and ignorance Not just do nothing something more Break things down. So the tendency to hurt someone sometimes the tendency to hurt a loud one You would never do that. But in the mode of ignorance has come up then that kind of desire may sometimes come up with this So just as when the desires are very far away from our acceptable behaviour We identify this is not me Where does this come from? Why am I thinking like this? So that way we shouldn’t feel guilty But we can distance them and the way to distance them is not by trying to drive them out but trying to Fill our mind with Krishna.
What is the example I gave of filling? Yeah darkness cannot be driven out by any way except by turning on the light Similarly, we cannot empty the mind of thoughts. We have to fill the mind with constructive activities With with the presence of Krishna and then the dark force will go away So what is at the very borders of utter border what are the level of unacceptability we immediately identify it But what is that the periphery of acceptability? We don’t identify it as something outsider or something which is not me But when you become more self-aware you start okay. I’m feeling like eating this but do I really need it? And we can evaluate that so for so for evaluating such things When we can when something is just at the periphery of acceptability, we need to become more self-aware And for that I discussed about how we can identify What are the default patterns in that I went to the analysis of the modes and how the wise people They become observers of their consciousness And prakasha pravrtti moha, whatever comes in they observe.
Okay. This has come this is going I won’t identify it with it I’ll respond to it appropriately So we don’t have to We don’t have to deny the presence of emotions, but at the same time we don’t have to surrender to the emotions We have to appropriately respond don’t express don’t repress but process Yeah, it’s just like I mentioned that if you feel angry with someone You know write it down, but don’t send it to them Then afterwards calm down evaluate and then tone it down and then decide whether to send it or not So like that if we find that we have our mind has specific kinds of negative Negative patterns of thinking that it has then we can plan to deal with it So if it tends to worry too much, I give an example. So worry is Like the interest that we pay on Loans that we are not yet taken also so like that when there’s worry Okay, we are fearful about something just evaluate it write it down After you write it down this this is then we first evaluate is this a it’s merely a possibility or a probability If it’s probable then we take note down what I am doing what I can do and then the same thing that causes anxiety can also bring intensity how By changing the focus from when we think about that which is not in my control it causes anxiety but when I think of What is in my control then that brings intensity.
This is my control. Let me do it well So that way we can Deal with anxiety and and when we practise bhakti then we get the higher element of faith in krishna We invoke krishna’s presence so we can use the wisdom of the bhagavad-gita to address the negative thought patterns of the mind and the practical process of chanting is Is not just ultimately it’s meant to focus on krishna and become absorbed in krishna But intermediately we can see it as an inner muscle building exercise in a bodybuilding exercise So even if i’m not able to focus just the effort to focus Will increase my capacity to tackle the mind so that way The even the struggle even if it is not successful that is still helpful. So Awareness of lack of self-awareness is also self-awareness So by that so if we can become more and more resourceful in responding to the mind during chanting Then that resourcefulness will become a part of me and i’ll become resourceful responding to the mind’s distractions Throughout the rest of the day also and then we can become more productive and effective in whatever we do in life Thank you very much Are there any questions or comments? Yes To understand that sometimes this atmanam is This translated as mind deliver the mind with the mind and the idea of self is not possible So, how can we understand that it’s the self that? Seeing the mind not the mind one good side of the mind seeing the bad side.
Okay So can this 6.5 in the bhagavad gita be translated in the both the atma can be translated simply as the mind So elevate the mind with the mind and only create the mind with the mind See first of all when we go into the inner territory uh The nomenclature doesn’t matter It is the nature that matters So, you know sometime one day once one devotee asked me, you know, why do you always talk about controlling the mind? Why don’t we talk about controlling the intelligence? The intelligence can also go wrong, isn’t it? So yes it can but broadly speaking we we we analyse these There is a positive side inside us. There is negative side inside us. So the negative side we call as the mind And the positive or rather the not just a negative side the short-term impulsive side that is inside that is the mind That is what we call as the mind and the long-term thoughtful side.
That is what we call as the intelligence so now this line is see any Any system of nomenclature any system of classification Always has its limitations limitations. This is a standard problem in tax of tax in taxonomy taxonomy is the system of classification So for example, you know, I decide okay. This is this is america and this is mexico On the map the bordering seems to be very neat But if we go actually in the territory, is this mexico? Is this america? There can be so many disputed territory also sometimes So what happens like that once we get into technical analysis? What is the mind and what is the intelligence that is not? It is not so necessarily clear because as I said sometimes the mind can also give us good ideas Immediately some idea comes up.
It’s a hunch or it’s a gut feeling. It is good And sometimes the intelligence can also rationalise a bad idea It’s a bad idea come up with the mind, but then I use my intelligence to try to prove how it is, right? How to do it in such a way that no, I don’t get into trouble because of doing it whatever so rather than looking at the technicalities too much we focus on the point that there is a side within me that that That that promises me to do good things. There’s a side within me that promises me to do bad things And I am the chooser among the two Hmm so it’s like that suppose sometimes, you know, uh two friends tell us Come here.
Come let’s go for this. Let’s go for this event and some other friend Tells us let’s go for this event And we have to choose between the two both are both our friends We have to choose so like that we can consider the mind and intelligence as two inner voices within us The mind tells us to do one thing this intelligence tells us to do another and we have to choose So when we choose how do on what basis do we choose that depends on whom we identified? So if I if the mind is speaking louder and if I listen to it, see what happens whichever voice I listen to that starts speaking louder So, you know two people are trying to persuade us and then we start that we start paying more attention to one person that person Gets encouraged also, you know, oh They’re listening to me. Probably I’m winning them over and they also start speaking more enthusiastically So like that when we hear the mind more attentively, it also starts becoming more aggressive in its pitching in its marketing When we start hearing the intelligence intelligence also comes up becomes clearer, you know, this is not so this is not so advisable don’t do this So like that we are the choosers So broadly speaking in that sense, there are three forces within us There’s I the chooser And there’s a mind which is the proposer of the short term And there’s the intelligence which is the proposer of the long term or we could change that the mind is the proposer of the Of the bad the mind is the proposer of the good but the names are not important It is the because that as I said the guidelines can be fuzzy mind can also come up with good ideas So basically I understand that there are three forces within us There’s I the chooser.
There’s something which proposes some Undesirable things and something which proposes desirable things. So I have to act according to that which is desirable So from that perspective to say that elevate the mind with the mind if it is if this verse is translated like that atma is referring to both atmas referring to the mind then there is one in the In english there are different in grammar there are different cases there is the accusative case there’s the instrumental case Basically, we are going to technicality then there is something There is the subject there is the object and there is the mode of action There is action which the subject does on the object So say I lift this glass So I and the subject The glass is the object on which I am doing the action and lifting is the action So like that now if you see in this verse So what it is saying is that By the atma lift the atma So there is one atma, which is the instrumental case and then another atma, which is the object of action And this verse is being told to a subject you You elevate the self with the self So what does it mean? That means that Um We are going to do actions, but we can also be the observers of our action For example, i’m sitting right now and I can sit am I sitting straight? Am I sitting twisted? Is this going to cause me problems to my back? I can evaluate that So I am the doer of the action, but i’m also the observer of the doer And then if I say I have to sitting with twisted, you know, this will cause problems. Let me straighten myself So this is the corrective action that i’m doing.
So what this verse is telling is that Basically it is telling us to become internally active And telling us that you know with the capacity for observation with the tool for observation You know change yourself internally by which you can become elevated or non-degraded So we can refer to it as the mind but the important thing is not to get hung up on the nomenclature The important thing is to understand the principle That there there are multiple forces within us and we are the choosers of which force to empower Which force to take control of us? Or which force to guide us and we should make wise choices So talking about the three things So there is Uh, there is I the self who am the chooser and there is a side of me which will degrade me There is a side of me which will uplift me. So I the chooser should choose the side which uplifts me not the side Which degrades me So that way I can translate this verse also, you know Elevate the self with the mind with the intelligence and don’t degrade the self with the mind So one atma can be translated as intelligence also. So let’s not get too caught in the nomenclature.
Just understand the principle There is a degrading force within us There is an uplifting force within us and with the chooser the chooser should choose the uplifting force and not the degrading force Okay Okay So does the state of self-realisation means being the observer? Yes it being the observer Not just the observer yesterday. I’d quoted the verse where it said that Yathro paramate chittam niruddham yogaseva yathra chaiva atmanatmanam pashyanatma yushyati So it is not the self-realised soul is not just the observer of the mind and the intelligence Self-realised soul is also the observer of oneself self-realised soul is also the observer of krishna So it’s observer definitely of the subtle material subtle material realm, but it’s the observer of spiritual reality also Thank you. Yes Somebody had a question.
Yeah Can you talk a little bit about the conflict between the mind and the heart? So how do we address the conflict between the mind and the heart or what does the bhagavad-gita say about this? see now The heart is a Is actually a It can be a little confusing term So first of all when I talk about the heart you have broken my heart I’m not talking about my biological heart. It is not that it is broken into pieces Definitely not. So what it means is That we are referring to the seat of emotions.
Usually we talk about the heart we talk about the seat of emotions Now we draw it the heart in a particular shape which resembles the biological heart but that’s that’s just a representation basically the heart is the seat of emotions and Now where are emotions situated? Ultimately the seat of emotions is the soul So when scriptures say, you know, we should we should Chant with our whole heart That means you should invest all the consciousness of the soul all the emotion of the soul All our inner resources in the pursuit of chanting. So in that sense the heart is equivalent to the soul So The The now of course when we say conflict between the mind and so from the bhagavad-gita’s perspective heart is for all purposes equivalent to the soul But when we use the conflict between the mind and the heart now there is a there is a There can be a confusion here because the heart is also the source of emotions And the mind is also said to be run by emotions among the in the inner body In the in the subtle realm there are different Parts of us which serve different functions just like my hand is used for holding My eyes are used for seeing So similarly the mind is used for feeling And intelligence is used for analysing So then in that sense we could say that if are the feelings related with the mind or the feelings related with the heart So usually when you talk about a conflict between the mind and the heart we have to understand what we are referring to What what do we mean by the mind? What do we mean by the heart? But basically we can say there is a conflict between us conflict within us so The mind can refer to our short-term feelings the heart can refer to our long-term feelings Sometimes I may feel like doing something strongly There is a very deep-rooted call within the heart But then there is if somebody wants to say go in a particular career or choose a particular path in their lives So in my heart I say for example, if i’m practising if i’m thinking of taking a bhakti seriously My heart i’m convinced that I want to do this But the mind is apprehensive what will my friends think of it? What will my relatives feel? So both are feelings There’s a deeper feeling stronger feeling which is coming from the heart and there is maybe a noisier feeling we could say It is more at the surface, but it is also noisier a noisier feeling which is coming from the mind And I have to choose between the two so then at that time if if We don’t act impulsively Then we will be able to not get carried away by the mind’s feeling but we will actually go down to the heart and act accordingly Now in another way is that the mind sometimes in General terminology not in the gita’s terminology In general terminology the mind also you refers to our rational faculty Because say einstein was the greatest mind of the 20th century Here when we use that word we are talking about the mind as a rational faculty So if there is a conflict between the mind and the heart That means in this case you’re referring to the conflict between the rational side and the emotional side Then we have to actually our life requires balance of both If we become too rational Then we become uh desensitised to others But on the other hand if we become too emotional then we often act in short-sighted ways so So there needs to be a balance of both and sometimes when there is this kind of conflict between the rational and the emotional side Then it is good to consult someone whom we trust And then we can present both sides of the story and help them They may not take the decision for us because ultimately we have to take the decision But we can get some input from them Now in this case, they may tell us, okay, you’re thinking you’re thinking in a too detached way Think from that person’s perspective also the rational side is becoming too much bring it down a little bit Or here, you know, you’re becoming too sentimental. So like that we can get some guidance from others.
So broadly speaking the The rational and the emotional side both need to be integrated so our emotions need to be Guided by our thoughts Because thoughts I mean by our reasoning Our emotion needs to be guided and regulated by reason But reason also needs to be animated by emotion Reason also needs to be animated by emotion. If a doctor is treating a patient The doctor has to have reason. Okay.
Now, this is the this is the problem. I have to do this surgery But the doctor also needs to have some emotion doctor should not treat the person just as a body Or just as a machine which has some concern some sensitivity to the patient’s pain So like that in all activities we need a balance of both. Does it address your question? Thank you Okay So for controlling the mind the Gita recommends abdhyaas and vairagya practise and renunciation So what does this mean in practical terms? We can compare the mind to a horse Now if somebody is living in a traditional farm, they have a big farm That they need a horse.
It’s so big and suppose they don’t have any vehicles. It’s a traditional farm Then they need the horse Without that they will not be able to move around but suppose that horse is unruly Then there is a there is when a new horse is brought To make the horse rideable the process is called breaking the horse Breaking doesn’t mean physically breaking its bones, but just means breaking its obstinacy breaking its reluctance to be ridden and while doing that There are specialised trainers who do that break the horse It’s not that a new owner of a horse can just break the horse themselves There are trainers who break the horse and then they hand it over to the owner So like that the mind is essential for us See the soul is spiritual the world around us is material and the mind is the essential interface between the soul and the Body and the world between spirit and gross matter the mind is the essential interface So we can’t just reject the mind We need the mind but Just as the horse can be dangerous If it’s not broken, it’s not trained similarly the mind can be dangerous So when I have to train the horse when I have to say break the horse make it rideable So there is abhyasa and vairagya. We can understand from that perspective one is that Okay, the horse may be unruly.
Sometimes the rider climbs on it And the horse just rears off and becomes very violent the rider the trainer may fall off Again, they get up Again they get up and again they do it this has to be done again and again and again So basically the determination of the rider has to be bigger Has to be longer than the obstinacy of the horse That’s only when the person becomes trained the horse becomes trained. That’s so that is abhyasa The mind goes off bring it back again mind goes off bring it up again The mind throws us off I was doing the same how did I end up over here? Sometimes we are reading one article and then we go and read one article Oh, you know India Pakistan we fight a war. Let me read the news So I start reading the news and then this person looks interesting.
This also looks interesting. This also looks interesting And then you wanted to read five minutes and two hours ago. How did I get over here? So it’s like we got distracted But as soon as you become aware then come back Come back.
So like that the mind may throw us off but we bring it back So then that is abhyasa Now, what is vairagya? Vairagya has two aspects to it in this context of the horse first is that the horse rider the horse trainer Cannot be attached to the idea that in one training. I’ll make the horse my master. I’ll become the master of the horse The horse will be unruly and the owner needs to be detached It didn’t work out.
I’ll try again. It didn’t work out. I’ll try again so Detachment means a detachment from the idea of instant success So we need to be we cannot be perfectionists When we are dealing with the mind the mind will go off you bring it back.
It will go off and bring it back so detachment means At one level detachment from the concept from the expectation of immediate success Say when we start when means life starts because too many problems, you know, we went ahead to get depressed The solution to depression is that we don’t depress ourselves. We depress our expectations of ourselves Often our depression comes and we have too big expectations and they don’t work out But if you depress our expectation you will not feel so bad. So there’s a detachment From our own expectation of immediate success that is also required when you deal with the mind It will take time for it to come under control.
But another more practical another sense in which the word detachment means also that We don’t identify with the mind I say come on watch that No, it’s not so important. I’ll not watch it So when the horse starts going off in another direction The rider needs to be detached from identifying with us. Oh my horse wants to go there.
Let me also go there No, i’ll bring it back So detachment means that we don’t as I said don’t the whole talk of today don’t identify with the mind Identify the mind so don’t identify my mind is detachment So we are detached from the mind’s ideas of what is important or what is enjoyable or what needs to be thought about Be detached. No, okay, you think the mind things like that, but I don’t think it’s very important I’ll not put my attention on it. So detachment can apply both ways so Not being attached to our own idea of expectation of major success and not being attached to whatever The mind thinks of as important and with both of these Centred in abhyasa repeatedly bringing the mind back on to Begin bringing the mind back on whatever is important for us by that.
We will be able to become constructively focused Okay, good question So, how do we measure our progress on the path of say controlling the mind? So, yeah first is that We should look more for change of values than change of desires Desire is something that can just pop up in anyone You know, we may think you know, I’ve been chanting Hare Krishna for 10 years now and still the same desires keep coming Am I making any progress at all or not? But probably 10 years ago You know when that desire had come I would have welcomed it You know people often, you know when they they go out and look for Things by which they become more passionate. They become more lusty. They become more greedy People want to search for stimulations for that And we might also have been like that in the past with respect to certain objects But now when those desires are coming, why is this coming? So Our desires may feel they are not changed, but our value has changed Earlier I was welcoming that desire.
Now, I’m objecting to that desire So change of values is a far more reliable indicator of progress than change of desires So desires will keep coming But if our values are changing the same, I’m not going to welcome this. I’m objecting. I’m trying to get this out So the change of value is a far more reliable parameter of evidence.
If we Worry too much about change of desires, we will discourage ourselves Because in the routine course of life, you know, we’ll also get anxiety. We’ll also get desires. We’ll also get various things We’ll think this is making no difference but Again, don’t identify with the mind.
Identify the mind. It’s not what is present in the mind that that defines who we are It is what we focus on that defines who we are The same desires may still keep coming within us But if I am not welcoming them if I’m not dwelling on them and I’m not letting them grow Then that itself is a change in me Another point is that actually many desires do disappear Some of us say might have been eating meat earlier, but once you start practising bhakti Literally bhakti at least with respect to food we get a higher taste Many devotees may fall back to some of their old habits, but very few devotees fall back to meat eating Because prasadam is really higher taste Not just really it is immediately actually gets a higher taste So we might have been eating meat earlier, but now if you see somebody eating meat, you don’t feel attracted The desire itself has gone That means in some cases the desire is present, but we don’t welcome the desire in some cases the desire itself goes away And in some cases the desire comes And then it shakes us But if we keep practising bhakti, you know, the shaking that will happen that will be far lesser. Were you there yesterday? Yesterday’s class? No.
So I was talking about how our desires come as spikes Now say whether it is lust or it is anger or it is greed It is not that that desire is constantly tormenting us It sometimes comes as a big spike and that time we just are unable to resist it But afterwards it’s not there after some time. It’ll come back again so When we start practising bhakti these spikes which come They become less frequent and they become more tolerable In the same desire spike comes, but earlier, you know, I used to feel like I used to feel like blasting someone every day Now also I feel that but maybe I feel like that once a week or once a month And earlier I would feel like that. I would immediately act on it.
But now I can resist it. I can stop it So it becomes the spikes will still come but they’ll become less frequent and more tolerable and that’s how We can see that we are progressing so this is all in terms of our Of checking our progress by seeing how our anarthas are present or not present Another more positive way of looking at our progress is how much are we attracted towards Krishna? So if you’re eager to hear about Krishna, we are eager to chant Krishna’s name if our eagerness to serve Krishna is increasing Then that is itself a reliable sign of spiritual advancement. We’re eager to do that We’re eager to connect ourselves with Krishna.
That means Krishna we want to make him our default thought As soon as I have some time immediately, I start chanting Krishna’s name, reading some book or hearing some talk Immediately I start doing that then I’m filling my mind with Krishna. That means I’m becoming attracted towards Krishna So the first part I talk about anarthas is the vairagya happening how the vairagya is happening with respect to undesirable And the attachment to Krishna is the abhyas happening. How much is my practise producing the result? Krishna also talks about the same abhyas.
He uses the word later in 12.9 And there he says He says by abhyas what will happen your desire for me will increase more and more. So initially I chant as a discipline But if I keep chanting my desire to focus on Krishna, my desire to connect with Krishna will increase So if that attraction to Krishna is increasing then that is also indicator of our spiritual advancement. So the absence of the desires we had in the past the The Unwelcoming attitude towards the desires when they come And the lessened frequency and the increased Tolerance towards the desires.
All these are signs of progress in spiritual life and also the increased attachment to Krishna Increased eagerness to connect with Krishna. That is also a sign of progress in our life. Okay.
Thank you very much Thank you Krishna. I just wanted to thank Puru for coming and giving a wonderful talk. It was nice to have you here and to talk again.
I just wanted to say that Puru has been practising Krishna Consciousness for the last 20 years. He has been there for 5 years. He also has a website called the school for scientists Where you can ask questions.
There are more than 3000 happy answers. You can go back and see all the answers. Whichever one you have, you can use that.
It’s really nice. Then there is another website called the Gita Baby. They give a nice article every day.
There are more than 1600 happy answers on that website. He writes also. He has written 18 books.