How can we practice austerity of the mind?
Answer Podcast
Transcript
This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
How to practice austerity of the mind? It begins, first of all, by noting. Noting where the mind is going. Sometimes, sometimes when we start chanting Hare Krishna and practicing bhakti, at that time we find that my mind is wandering so much.
My mind is wandering so much. Is this meditation helping me at all? But actually, lack of You know, when the mind is wandering, our becoming aware that the mind is wandering is one step higher than wandering with the mind. In the past, the mind would go wherever it wanted and we would go along with it.
Now, at least, you know, the mind is going there. I don’t want to go there. So, in that sense, trying to focus the mind on Krishna, even if we don’t succeed, that itself is an effective austerity for the mind.
Because by that process, at least we become aware that, you know, there is something inside me which is pushing me here or there in the wrong direction and I have to pull back. So, regularly practicing bhakti, that is a way of, that is the most powerful way of doing austerity of the mind. Now, within bhakti, there are standard practices which we all do, like chanting, studying scriptures, attending satsang programs.
Along with that, we can find out some things which we like to do, which help us to absorb ourselves easily. Some of us may find kirtan is very good. Some of us may find, you know, worshipping the deities is what I like.
Some of us may find that taking darshan of the Lord is what connects me very easily. So, we find out some activity within bhakti that connects us very easily with Krishna. When that happens, then we will be able to do that activity with relative ease.
And then, the austerity of the mind will not seem so much like austerity. That means my mind is getting worried about this, my mind is getting irritated about that. And I want to get the mind off that and get it somewhere else.
Now, getting the mind off that is where the austerity comes in. Because you have to pull it from there. When we think about austerity of the mind, you can think of it as a parenting exercise.
You know, we have children and the children are doing something which is not good for them. We have to get the child off that and get the child to do something else. Now, what happens is, the child is spending time in playing and we want the child to study.
Then getting the child off playing is not easy. But if somehow, if the study is presented in an interesting way, there is something creative over there also. The child gets involved in studies and then the child gives a play.
So, in the austerity of the mind, our focus should not be on what I should not do. Our focus should be on what I should do. And that way, when we have within the parameter of bhakti, things which we can easily do, things which we can joyfully do, then also some effort is required in pulling the mind away from other things.
But because what we are doing is also attractive, then that effort becomes much lesser. So, firstly, by becoming aware of where the mind is going, secondly, by trying to in a discipline to fix the mind on Krishna, and thirdly, by finding out things within the realm of bhakti with which we can easily connect, then the austerity of the mind can be done with lesser difficulty and with greater effectiveness.