​What factors determine the mental pitch we get?

Answer Podcast

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
So, depend, last question, no? So, depending on what factors do we get a pitch? Yes, it’s a good question. Our pitch is determined by many things. We could classify them into five broad categories.
First is our past karma. By our past karma, our mind, our body is shaped in a particular way. Sometimes even, there are, there are twins.
They are genetically similar. Sometimes there are what is called monozygotic twins. That means they have the same sperm and the same egg and are united.
So, genetically, not just they are identical, but still, they are different persons. So, what is making that difference? Their genes are completely the same, but still they are different. That is, the purva janma karma.
So, our body, our mind, our personality, this one shaping factor is our past karma. The second is our upbringing. The way we have been brought up.
Say, if we have been brought up with parents who were very irritable, very quarrelsome, then we may also be very irritable and quarrelsome. If our parents set an example of, you know, they had some quarrels, they were always, you know, they have settled it amicably. They kept things in a decent level.
Then we will also not want to overreact. So, our upbringing also shapes us. The third is our association.
The kind of people we associate with shapes how we become. The fourth is our free will. That means how we use.
How we use what we have. And the fifth is God’s grace, Krishna’s mercy. What this means is, I just repeat this in terms of the pitch metaphor and in terms of our behavior.
See, the first two are largely unchangeable for most of us. For those who are children, they are different. But for most of us, our past karma we can’t change, our upbringing also we can’t change.
But what we can change is association. So, if, you know, we are, we tend to be very picky. That means if our mind always looks at faults, you know, this is wrong, that is wrong, that is wrong.
So, if we associate with, even in devotee circle, if we associate with devotees who are always finding faults, then actually that tendency of the mind to find faults may get aggravated there also. So, what we should do in association, if we know that I have some behavior which is undesirable and there is some behavior which I want, then we try to associate with those who have those desirable traits. And we avoid, minimize the association of those who have those undesirable traits.
And just by that example, that will rub off on us. So, we can’t change our association. And the pitch that we get, is it, I said it also changes by our free will.
That means what? That, see the mind is not, not a rigid, unchanging thing. The mind also keeps changing. So, for example, there are these three modes, Satvaguna, Rajoguna, Tamoguna.
So, now sometimes we may just find ourselves feeling a little lazy. Say we are studying and we start feeling, we start feeling like yawning, lazy. At that time, if I, maybe I just get up, walk, even go to a library, I see everybody studying over there.
I also feel like studying. But, then what I am doing? I am putting myself in a Satvaguni environment. So, Tamoguna is there, but if I put myself in a Satvaguni environment, so I am using my free will to increase the influence of Sattva within me.
But, if I am feeling a little tired, see most of the time when we start yawning, the first yawn is not because of tiredness. It is because of boredom. What happens is, when we feel a little bored, because what happens, the mind doesn’t like to do hard work.
So, if something requires hard work, we just start getting a little bored. And the mind very quickly misinterprets that yawn, oh, you must be tired, you need some sleep. And then, we can do more, but we just take a shortcut.
Say, I think, okay, I think I am a little tired. So, I want to study, but I lie down on this bed, and while sleeping, I will read. And then, while sleeping, we are reading one moment, and next moment, we are in Samadhi.
But this is not a Samadhi of Shuddha Sattva, this is a Samadhi of Tamoguna. We are completely in existence. So, what has happened here, there is a little influence of Tamoguna, but we use our free will to go into a more Tamasic environment.
So then, basically, the shape of the pitch, it was a little Tamoguna, but we made it more Tamoguna. It was a little Tamoguna, but if you go to a library, then we can increase the sattvic influence also over there. So, we, by our use of free will, can also change the way our pitch is shaped.
And lastly, is Krishna’s grace. We may have a particular pitch, but Krishna can change the pitch completely. Krishna can miraculously change the way our mind functions.
And we may have seen this in our own life. We may have been very attracted to some things in the past. But by starting the practice of Bhakti, something just goes off.
Some of us may be addicted to say, may be very attached to eating meat. And we start practicing Bhakti, and then say if we are travelling in a plane, and then somebody else starts eating meat. We don’t even feel tempted.
We just want it to get over. So, what happened? The same mind, which had a strong desire for that earlier, now it is not that there is a temptation and I am resisting it. There is no temptation.
So, the complete pitch has changed. So, the process of Bhakti can also change the pitch. So, what pitch we have? That is to some extent determined by past karma, to some extent determined by upbringing, to some extent by association, to some extent by our present use of the free will, and to some extent by Krishna’s grace.
So, what we can focus on is, the unchanging is accepted for what it is, but focus on what we can change. So, we try to cultivate good association, try to use our free will as best as possible, and try to practice Bhakti diligently to attract Krishna’s grace. And by that, our pitch, no matter however it was, it will become more and more favorable for us.
So, thank you very much.