Three principles for controlling the mind – Intelligence Diligence and Dependence

[Bhagavatam class on 11.13.9-10 at ISKCON, Alachua, USA]

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
of the Mahabharata, thank you The mind is generally as a creature of habit whatever the mind is habituated to doing it auto-repeats of course it doesn’t auto-repeat, it expands it so when it is said the mind is in the mode of goodness or it originates from the mode of goodness Vaikarakam what it means is we know the three modes there are three modes broadly in which material nature functions there is creation, maintenance and destruction now in a sense all these three are happening constantly, right now when we are sitting every moment practically hundreds of cells in the body are dying, hundreds of new cells are being created and thousands and thousands of cells which are being maintained, so creation maintenance destruction is constantly happening creation is associated with the mode of passion maintenance is associated with the mode of goodness and destruction with the mode of ignorance the mind is primarily occupied with maintenance maintenance of whatever the soul is in situation so if the soul is in material existence the mind by its habit will maintain the soul in material existence now maintenance itself is not a static process people who are in say maintenance department in an establishment they know maintenance is a lot of work so to maintain things also requires considerable effort now the mind it maintains in the sense that once the mind gets a conception it just holds on to that conception and it keeps acting according to that conception so even if the mind thought that this particular thing will be enjoyable and it starts doing that it gets pleasure once, twice, thrice but afterwards even if the pleasure is not there the mind just keeps doing that again and again because it believes that there is pleasure over there so psychologists did some experiments on some minds they had like multiple sockets in front of them and one of the sockets was food other socket was electricity so if they touch one socket they would get food, touch the other socket they would get electric shock so now if on one particular socket they would get food again and again and the other socket they would get electric shock but after sometime they changed it so that now here there was electric shock there was food but even if there was electric shock again and again they would keep doing the same thing still next time I will get food, next time I will get food, next time I will get food so another variant of this experiment has led to the development of what is called as the Pavlovian response, Alexander Pavlov was a Russian psychologist he said that some dogs were fed and when they were fed food whenever they were fed food the bell was rung like we do aarti and ring a bell the perverted symbol of that they would ring a bell and then over a period of time the dogs started associating food with the ringing of the bell normally when we see food saliva is secreted in our tongues now for those dogs as soon as they would hear the ringing of a bell they would start secreting saliva although there was no food coming over there after sometime the researchers would simply ring the bell and not provide any food but still the dogs would salivate so here the point is that the psychology at a psychological level the mind has associated the ringing of the bell with food and because of that as soon as the bell is heard they think we will get food and then the dog starts salivating so for all of us in our minds there are three things there is the ringing of the bell, there is the provision of food and there is the secretion of saliva so the secretion of saliva we can compare to the pleasure that we get or the desire or the hope that we will get pleasure the provision of the food is the experience of pleasure and the ringing of the bell is like the perception of the object so alcoholics they drink initially they may go some high but after sometime they drink not because they go high but because not drinking causes torment so there is the sense object there is the perception of the sense object there is the pleasure of the sense object and there is the desire for the pleasure now what happens after sometime the pleasure gets removed the pleasure is no longer there but based on the past experience the perception of the sense object triggers the desire within us although if we actually indulge in the sense object there is hardly any pleasure because in material life all the pleasures follow the law of diminishing returns something gives a lot of pleasure initially but afterwards the pleasure keeps going down and somehow unless we decouple this in our mind the sense perception means we hope it will lead to pleasure and unless we decouple this association there is sense perception, there is pleasure and there is desire so when the sense perception, the desire comes I will get the pleasure now but all that happens is the sense object is there but the pleasure is not there so the mind is a creature of habit means the mind has its own momentum so if we are driving a car and the car is moving very fast now even if we press a brake the car doesn’t stop immediately like that even if we have been at a fast speed for many lifetimes in human as well as non-human lives we have been perceiving sense pleasure so there is a momentum in the mind for the perceiving of sense pleasure and even now if there is no sense pleasure the mind thinks, what happened, why didn’t I get pleasure maybe next time I will get and in that way the mind didn’t stop the momentum slows down but it doesn’t stop at all and this is where sankalpaha savikalpakah material pleasure is always is a concomitant feature of material existence but whether we consider western tradition or Indian tradition in the past there was some amount of regulation of material pleasure and by the regulation of material pleasure so for example in all cultures, civilised cultures there has been always marriage we need some sensual pleasure but there is a regulation in that but when that regulation has been discarded in today’s world so what happens the mind there is sankalpaha savikalpakah the mind gets infinite options at the material level itself the idea is we cannot give up material pleasure immediately but we experience it after experiencing it gradually we realise that there is not that much pleasure here and then we start exploring the spiritual option but in today’s society there are so many material options that are provided that we keep exploring newer and newer material options so the Bhagavatam talks about how people who are attached to their families and actually in Kali Yuga people don’t even form families people just live together so there is aversion to commitment and aversion to commitment is not detachment aversion to commitment is in tamoguna detachment is in the mode of goodness detachment means I experience whatever the mind is promising and there is nothing there I want something higher so in detachment one looks for something higher when there is aversion to commitment then the mind thinks there are so many options all of them are enjoyable I want to keep all doors open so in detachment we shut the door to material pleasure so that we can look for something higher but in aversion to commitment it is not that we are detached it is rather I want to keep all the doors open so whatever enjoyment I find enjoyable I will take that, if that doesn’t work I will take something else so sankalpah sa vikalpah kaha that options which are there when the options for material enjoyment are increased too much then the soul never explores anything higher when the soul if you don’t get pleasure here, here, here in the past there was television with one TV channel now there are 100, 1000 TV channels now with internet we can just go anywhere and everywhere so people think somewhere or the other I will get pleasure somewhere this one boy in Thailand he was surfing on the internet watching youtube movies continuously for 76 hours he forgot to eat, he forgot to drink and finally fainted and he was hospitalised somehow he survived so what happens is the mind gets so consumed we are talking about the mind because of the mind’s craving for pleasure we forget the soul but the mind’s craving for pleasure can be so great that one can even forget bodily needs it’s not that they have transcended the body they have actually become so captivated by the mind that they neglect even the body so the mind is not just the enemy of the soul the mind when it is uncontrolled can become the enemy even of the body the mind when uncontrolled can become even the enemy of the body there are many states which are like social welfare states and there if the people are not working the government pays them some money many of these people who take social welfare they are often drug addicts or other substance abusers and when the government gives some dole to them instead of using that for food they will starve but they will stone themselves so when the mind gets captivated it just neglects everything else that’s why the word here is ghoram in the mind it’s vikarika once the mind has got a conception that this is what is enjoyable then as it will expand in that direction so once the mind thinks that ok, taking drugs is enjoyable and even if suffering comes in that process still the pleasure is worth it think like that and just keep pursuing it again and again and then it can go to such an extent that actually the suffering that comes is unbearable but the person doesn’t realise it because the mind has got its own momentum once the mind has got its momentum then it is very very difficult to stop it the standard example that we use for the mind and the intelligence for the way the inner world works is the chariot body metaphor now in a chariot there are horses and there is a charioteer so the charioteer is the intelligence and the horses are the senses so if we could simplify that to understand this principle instead of a chariot there is a person riding on a horse so there is a horse manoratha na satidhavato bhai manoratha, that metaphor is also used in the bhagavatam people run here and there on the ratha of the mind the upanishads talk about the whole body as a chariot but here the bhagavatam talks about the mind itself like a chariot so either way, basically it is a carrier for us so there is the intelligence so the charioteer is there, the horse is there and the chariot is there so basically the horse is like the mind and the person is driving it now when the horse starts running in a particular direction the horse is meant to go this way as soon as the horse goes, there is a fruit over there now it wants to eat that fruit initially when the horse head moves in that direction it is easy to control it but once the horse starts running the more momentum it gains, the more difficult it becomes to control it so the faster the horse starts running the greater will be the effort required to control it similarly once the desire comes in the mind at that time, it is possible to control it but as the desire keeps growing then it becomes almost unbearable it becomes almost irresistible so the soul is forced to act as it chooses to desire so we do have free will by our free will we desire but once the desire starts growing, then the desire overpowers us it propels us so actually there is for dealing with the mind the first thing is to recognise the danger we can hardly ever fight a battle if we don’t even know that the battle is going on so for us often we don’t even realise that there is a battle going on inside us the mind is constantly trying to take over our consciousness and once the mind takes over our consciousness it can make us do insane things all of us have experienced at times we do something and then we ask why did I do that? what made me do that? so actually that is our mind which impels us to do certain things now I will talk about three aspects for controlling the mind there is intelligence diligence and dependence so intelligence is evam buddhe param buddha samsthah bhyatmanam atmana intelligence intelligence is what we need for understanding at the very least that I need to control the mind so without the intelligence we just go along with the mind and many people don’t even recognise that they have uncontrolled minds why? because they are simply going along with the mind if I have no plan where I want to go wherever the horse is going if I just go along with that then I won’t even recognise the horse is wild or uncontrolled because I am simply going with the horse it’s only when I want to go somewhere and the horse doesn’t let me go there then I realise that this horse is very wild it’s uncontrolled so it’s only when we plan to do something and then we try determinately to do it and then when we can’t do it then we understand there is something wrong inside what is going on so the first is with intelligence we recognise that there is this force inside me which is actually working against me and this intelligence is nourished by scriptural study so the buddhi, the intelligence sometimes we say the intelligence is lost buddhi nasha pranashyati so now intelligence in a sense is never lost or destroyed intelligence is simply captured by the mind and once the intelligence is captured by the mind the mind uses the intelligence in its service so Prabhupada says in one letter that now we are meant to use our intelligence to control our enjoying mentality but instead we are habituated to enjoying intelligently enjoying intelligently means we use our intelligence to actually find out new ways to enjoy or we try to use our intelligence to find out ways in which we can enjoy and we think we will not get caught by it so most of science and technology actually requires a lot of intelligence to develop it a lot of thought, intelligence research and experimentation so intelligence is definitely there but what is the purpose of the intelligence unfortunately most of the technology if you consider technology how has it been developed, if you look at the history most of the funds for developing technology comes from defence or it comes from the consumer industry so defence is basically defending, consumer industry is eating, sleeping, mating we just want to enjoy better so it is the enjoying mentality, science may be a search for knowledge but technology is mostly a search for enjoyment a search for providing better means of enjoying that is not the only thing there is technology can be used for constructive purposes also but that is the primary purpose driving technology the whole if you look at the recent history the way video streaming has developed the primary reason video streaming developed was because people wanted to see videos with obscene content and that was what fuelled the development of the high resolution video streaming industry so basically the technological development is simply the mind using the intelligence to fulfil its desires so now if the intelligence is controlled it can be used, the intelligence comes in control and controls the mind, the technology can be used for positive purposes no doubt, right now we are using the mic we use internet, we fly by plane when we are trying to serve Krishna we use the technology for constructive purposes but the point is that when the mind takes control it is not that it destroys the intelligence yes, it destroys the intelligence in the sense that we don’t make intelligent decisions but after that it uses the intelligence for its own purposes it’s like say a war is going on between two people and there is a formidable general on side B who is defending against the attack of side A now side A attacks and defeats B and then wounds and wounds but doesn’t kill B wounds B and then gives some injection to B by which what happens, B starts fighting for A B defects over and starts fighting for A so like that for us A is like the mind, B is like the intelligence there is a battle going on between the mind and the intelligence within us but when the mind wins then the intelligence is destroyed but afterwards it is destroyed in the sense that we stop acting intelligently but after that the mind injects the intelligence with its enjoying mentality and then afterwards the intelligence starts working for the mind and when that happens then it becomes very difficult for that person to be saved so much of modern society we see there is a lot of rationalisation for sensual enjoyment so few years ago I was doing some research on abortion and how it is wrong or how to scientifically logically explain it as wrong so I read some opposite arguments so one of the arguments is the pro-abortion campaigner says that actually pregnancy is the slavery that nature has imposed on women and abortion is freedom from the slavery that nature has imposed now whoever wrote that book if her mother had thought like that she would not have been born isn’t it so its terribly misled now they are writing whole books giving out reasoning like this so in the writing of the book there is definitely intelligence but unfortunately its intelligence which is so captivated by the enjoying mentality that one just doesn’t see any alternative facts at all so similarly the whole language is changed so for example if there are obscene images now obscenity can be called obscenity, vulgarity but nowadays in movies whenever that is there movies filled with bold scenes what is boldness, its not boldness its shamelessness but when language is changed like this what happens is basically the intelligence is used to further the enjoying mentality there are lot of bold scenes in this movie everybody wants to be bold so then when the intelligence is used to further the desires of the mind and so Prabhupada in section 3.36 to 43 where Krishna talks about lust there he says that actually a civilisation that is based on furthering the enjoying mentality that simply increases the material bondage of the soul it simply prolongs the material existence of the soul so when the intelligence is captivated by the mind at that time people start rationalising now to rationalise is now rationalise the spelling is r-a-t-i-o-n-a-l l-i-e-s rational lies when people rationalise they tell rational lies so whatever they are saying sounds rational but its actually a lie so they tell like that and its one thing to fool others but its quite another thing to fool ourselves if we are fooling others well its ok we are being cunning we are deceiving but at least we know I am fooling others but sometimes the mind can speak such lies that we start believing our lies and when we start believing it, it becomes very difficult for anyone to help in the Mahabharata Durodhana says when everybody is trying to tell Durodhana to stop antagonising the Pandavas to accept a peace proposal with them so Durodhana says why are all of you blaming me even after great introspection I can’t see a single fault in anything that I have done a single fault I can’t see and then he says whatever I have done I have done simply by the nature that I have got and this nature I have got from the creator so if anyone is to be blamed for my action it is the creator who is to be blamed so this is rationalisation now yes is it that we have got a particular nature and we are going to act according to our nature now yes we have a nature but a part of the human nature or part of the human endowment is also our intelligence and we are meant to use our intelligence to understand which aspect of our nature is to be regulated which aspect of our nature is to be rejected and which aspect of our nature is to be reinforced there are some aspects of our nature yes if somebody is intellectual, somebody is a singer somebody has some skills that aspect of nature is to be reinforced some aspect of our nature has to be rejected this is not the way I am going to write it is ok but it is to be done under regulation so we all when the mind takes over the intelligence then practically no one can save that person unless the person just gets such a terrible suffering what happened, what am I doing why did I do this this is what Vidura does to Dhritarashtra in the first canto when Vidura comes and starts speaking strongly to Dhritarashtra so Dhritarashtra is forced to confront is this the reality what I have done he says what are you doing with your life the only thing you are producing is coffee you are doing nothing except just coffee now the way he speaks is that the food that Bhima has thrown away you are eating that food you are living like a dog at his place now Dhritarashtra was actually treating Dhritarashtra quite respectfully so it is not that literally he was eating the food that Bhima had given away but the point which Vidura is saying over there is that actually this is the way you are living you are living on the Pandavas whom you tried to kill so he basically jolts him out so when the mind it rationalises then it needs someone who is very very strong who can actually break through that rationalisation so for Vidura for Dhritarashtra it was Vidura so now the Acharyas describe that Vidura we see Vidura in the Mahabharata and Vibhishan in the Ramayana are similar they are in the opposite camps but Vibhishan goes over to Ram’s camp and fights against Ram but Vidura doesn’t fight against the Kauravas why? because Vidura in the Ramayana Vibhishana’s brother Ravana is the main villain and he is irredeemable in the Mahabharata it is Duryodhana who is the main villain and Dhritarashtra is redeemable so therefore because Dhritarashtra was very attached to his sons, if Vidura had been a part of those who had killed his son then he would just not have been able to hear anything from them but because Vidura had not been a part of it directly when Vidura came back, Dhritarashtra still remembered that actually he is my well wisher and thus he was able to hear from him so for us the first step in dealing with the mind is the intelligence and intelligence is not just our analysis often we need to get intelligence from others especially from someone whom we trust see most people we look at them through our mind but we need someone in our life with whom we look at our mind and most people if somebody speaks sweetly to us we start thinking what does this person want why is he speaking so sweetly if somebody is speaking harshly to us we start thinking this person is envious of me so we filter everything that people say through the mind but if we have someone whom we trust as spiritual masters, as spiritual guides then they help us to see the mind that’s how we get the intelligence the second is diligence it’s not that when we decide I am not going to do this or I am going to do this it’s not that the mind is going to be controlled in one way it’s a gradual process, it’s an incremental process so this takes small steps in controlling the mind and the mind goes off track we bring it back again track and usually self improvement whichever it is, it happens through small steps it happens through small steps we just take gradual steps so that diligence is required so everyday when we are practising bhakti, chanting the holy names hearing about Krishna, worshipping the deities this is diligence, if we keep doing that gradually the mind is getting controlled so the connection with Krishna, the diligence in Krishna bhakti is like a daily medicinal dose that we are taking everyday say, if somebody has got iron deficiency if everyday they take iron pill and look, has my iron level increased it’s not a daily correspondence but if you keep taking the iron pills, gradually the iron level will increase so like that, diligently if you keep practising bhakti gradually our Krishna, the intelligence becomes stronger our connection with Krishna becomes stronger and the capacity to control the mind increases and the last aspect is dependence dependence means we can’t control the mind ourselves we have to depend on Krishna and dependence on Krishna means that actually there is a particular point in our life when somehow the mind gets it see conviction is when the intelligence gets it and realisation is when the mind gets it conviction means I am convinced, this is what I should be doing but even if I decide this is what I want to do still my mind will keep proposing alternatives I make one sankalpa, I am going to do this but the mind keeps, why don’t try this, why not try that why not try that, mind will keep giving me the sankalpa so the conviction is what we do need and we need to get it, so by hearing scripture by associating with devotees from whom we can get proper understanding our intelligence becomes convinced and with the intelligence being convinced, there will be diligence, we will persevere but at one particular point the mind will get it when the mind gets it, then the mind will stop proposing the undesirable for all of us this has happened in some fields maybe some of us might have been eating meat before but now if somebody is eating meat, we don’t feel attracted the mind is not even proposing it that change of the mind, where the mind stops thinking of enjoying things that is going to happen by Krishna’s mercy that is where we are dependent on Krishna mayi asakta manaha for our mind to become attached to Krishna, it is going to take time but Krishna will do it in his due course but till that time, till it happens we just using our intelligence and with diligence we keep practising bhakti consistently the very fact that we have the opportunity to practise bhakti the very fact that we have the opportunity to hear scriptures and nourish our intelligence, that itself is good enough just because the desire has come, that doesn’t mean that we have to act on those desires so the mind will keep proposing, but if our intelligence is strong, we will not accept the mind’s proposals and as we keep saying no to the mind’s proposals then gradually Krishna sees our sincerity and Krishna gives us the realisation when he gives it, when the mind gets it when we get that realisation then, the mind will stop proposing, and at that time prashantamanasam hyenam yoginam sukham uttamam upaiti shantarajasam brahmabhutam akalmasam Krishna says, prashantamanasam hyenam the mind becomes deeply, profoundly peaceful yoginam sukham uttamam the yogi experiences the supreme peace upaiti shantarajasam because the rajas, which is agitating the mind that itself has become pacified brahmabhutam akalmasam, we realise our spiritual nature akalmasam, the impurities go away this is 6.27, Krishna says later in 18.54 that brahmabhuta prasannatma when we realise ourselves as spiritual beings as parts of Krishna, then we become joyful so this, joyfulness will come gradually as long as we try to, keep trying to fix our mind on Krishna, with whatever intelligence we have and whatever diligence we can summon at our present situation, and by that with intelligence and diligence we persevere in focussing the mind, while we are dependent on Krishna for changing the mind there is controlling the mind and there is changing the mind, so controlling the mind is what we can do to some extent but changing the mind is what Krishna will do as per his plan, so we keep controlling the mind to whatever capacity we can and in Krishna’s time, he will change the mind and once the mind is changed, once the mind is attached to Krishna then our life becomes susukham kartumam vayam our life becomes joyful, so I’ll summarise I spoke today about how the inner world and the mind and intelligence, how they work the mind is in the mode of goodness in the sense that it maintains whatever it is doing so the example of two experiments, even when the mice were getting shocked at a particular place where they had earlier got food, they keep going there, going there because it’s a habit, or when the mind when the dogs were given some food with the ringing of a bell even when the food stopped, still they kept salivating so for us, there is sense perception, there is sense pleasure and there is sense desire, so the sense perception causes sense desire because of the hope of sense pleasure, but after some time the sense pleasure goes away but still sense perception causes sense desire because there is a Pavlovian response we have associated that, so we have to change that association of sense perception with sense pleasure and for that for that inner change to happen, to understand that the mind, when it becomes uncontrolled, it has its own momentum which doesn’t stop. It’s like a car moving fast, it doesn’t stop.
When the mind is uncontrolled, it becomes the enemy not only of the soul, but also of the body. People captivated by say, watching movies or watching YouTube videos, they just forget to even eat at that time. Eat or drink, people may take money, they are addicted to drugs, they take drugs, but they don’t take food.
So the mind becomes the enemy of the soul as well as the body. And the intelligence is meant to control the mind, but the mind overcomes the intelligence and then it makes the intelligence defect. So when the intelligence is defeated, then the mind uses the intelligence for its own purposes.
That’s why we see a lot of technology being used to create more and more options for the mind to enjoy, for us to enjoy. And then, then instead of looking for spiritual pleasure, the mind keeps going on with this option, that option, that option, vikalpaka. And that way, when technology can be, when intelligence can be used to increase the options available to the mind, that’s one way the mind misuses the intelligence.
The other is, technology, the mind can use the intelligence to rationalise the enjoyment. So we justify what we are doing. So to think that abortion is liberation from biological slavery, or for Duryodhana to say that, whatever I am doing, it’s simply by nature, so my creator is responsible, I am not.
This is where the, when we rationalise, we speak rational lies. And it’s very difficult to save a person whose intelligence has been conquered by the mind. It’s only if somebody who is very forceful, whom the mind is a little open to, then the person can have some hope to understand.
Such was Vidura for Dhritarashtra. So for controlling the mind, we discuss three steps, intelligence, diligence and dependence. So intelligence is to be strengthened by which we know there is an inner war going on, and I need to fight against the mind.
Intelligence is strengthened by scriptural study and is strengthened by hearing specifically from those whom we don’t see through the filter of our mind, somebody whom we trust. They can help us to see how the mind is acting in our life, how it is tricking us. And diligence means that even if we don’t succeed in controlling the mind, we just do whatever we can, small steps.
A horse, if it is running wild, the earlier we control it, the better it is. So diligence, the mind goes off, bring it back. And dependence is that with, with by Krishna’s grace, we are dependent for him that he will convert the mind.
So with intelligence and diligence, even the mind proposes wrong things, we reject those proposals and keep persevering. But when the mind becomes purified by Krishna’s grace, when the mind stops proposing the wrong thing itself, and then our bhakti becomes joyful. Thank you very much.
Hare Krishna. Okay, I got the question, yeah. So now we are meant to control the mind with intelligence, but even the intelligence is controlled by, is covered with worldly desires.
And because of that, although sometimes we may try, but we may, we may, we may do some wrong things. So what do we do at that time? Yes, Krishna does say that, indriyani mano buddhir astyadhishthanam uchyate. He talks about where all lust is situated.
In 3.40, he says that it is situated in the senses, mind and intelligence. At the same time, Krishna also says at the end of the Bhagavad Gita, now you, with your intelligence, contemplate this and decide what you want to do. Vimrishyay to the sheshe na yathichitako.
So deliberate with your intelligence and then do as you desire. So what this means is that our intelligence, lust is situated in the intelligence. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that lust or any worldly desire has constantly or totally taken over the intelligence.
So it’s basically like there is, there is a greed or lust or whatever, pride there in the intelligence. But there is the other part also in intelligence. So the intelligence is like in a conflict zone.
It’s in a border zone, but it’s partly controlled by maya, but partly it is also with Krishna. It’s also, we have a conscience. We do use our intelligence to choose wisely sometimes, sometimes unwisely.
So basically the more we nourish our intelligence, the more we will be able to act wisely. If we regularly hear scriptures, regularly study, then the intelligence is strong. Otherwise, if we indiscriminately contemplate sense objects, then the intelligence becomes weakened and then the intelligence starts getting rationalised.
The mind, it starts, we start getting used to rationalise whatever the mind is planning. So that’s with respect to, it’s not the intelligence entirely this way or entirely that way. It’s in between, both ways it can be used.
Now with respect to our slipping or falling, yes, that’s just a part of life. We, it’s very difficult for, it’s very, very rare souls who will just march towards Krishna. All of us will have our slips and falls.
So the two different things, one is a victim and the other is a perpetrator or a wrongdoer. So when we are wounded, when we are wounded, say because the mind misled us and made us do some wrong thing, then at that time we need to treat ourselves. So it’s like there are two broad approaches to look at our conditionings.
One is to treat them as a disease. So say lust, anger, greed, envy, pride, these are diseases. And a disease requires treatment.
But this itself, it can go beyond a particular limit. So if there’s anger and somebody goes and somebody shouts, okay, that’s bad. But if somebody doesn’t physically assaults, then what happens? Then that may go into the hands of the law and people may have to be punished.
The person may have to go to jail. So it depends on the extent. So at one level, as long as it is within reasonable limits.
Now we want to follow high standards of purity from there there are some lapses. But there are certain socially defined limits. If it’s within that, then it’s not such a serious issue.
If we just intensify the practises of bhakti, we may do some personal atonement and then we become purified by that. We don’t have to become very disheartened. That’s just the process by which we gradually grow.
We fall, we rise, we fall, we rise and gradually we learn. So if you’re practising bhakti diligently in the inner war between the mind and intelligence, sometimes the mind may overcome the intelligence. But if you’re regularly practising bhakti, mind intelligence is getting stronger and stronger.
And eventually it will win over the mind. But if the mind, if somebody does something which is very seriously wrong, somebody breaks laws, somebody hurts others, not just emotional, but physically assaults others, then there it’s like a person is not just a victim. A person is not a victim of their conditionings.
Because of their conditionings, they become your wrongdoers. And then there needs to be punished. So punishment means there are much stronger actions required over there.
So for most of us, it’s not that we just rationalise or think that there’s nothing wrong when I fell down. But it’s just that that’s the normal way in which we grow. So instead of becoming discouraged when we fall, we can actually become more determined to connect with Krishna.
Yes, it is, why did I fall? Why did I have this slip or fall? It’s not because Krishna bhakti doesn’t work. It’s rather because I became disconnected from Krishna bhakti. So let’s say on many roads, at the side of the road, there are bumps.
So if a driver starts going off the road, then suddenly there’s a bump. So somebody is driving on a road and they start slipping off something. And then the car starts going off the road.
They wake up and they pull the road back, pull the car back on the road. So like that, when we start, we are going on the path of Krishna bhakti. But when we doze off, then we go off track.
And we all go off track, there are bumps. And the bumps wake us up. And we are going to pull ourselves back.
So when the desires start aggravating, agitating within us, rather than thinking that this is the failure of the process of Krishna bhakti, we can see that there is a failure of our absorption of Krishna. The desire is coming up within us. And the desire is making us do some small wrong things.
Then that’s, that’s like the car has gone off track and there’s a warning to get the car back on track. So if we see, if we think that because the desires have come, I have to do the thing, then it’s like we are going off the wrong track. But if you say desires have come because I have gone off track.
There are two different things. One is because the desires have come, I will go off track now. No, not like that.
Desires have come because I have already gone off track. I have become disconnected from Krishna. So let me reconnect with Krishna.
If we do that, then we find that we will be able to overcome whatever wrongs are there and that we’ll actually be able to become more intense in our Krishna bhakti. So the question is that can the intelligence be overcome by the mind? Okay. Okay.
I understood your question. Yeah, I got the question. Yeah.
Okay. Okay. Yeah, I got the question.
So here, yeah, so here it is said that when the intelligence is lost, then we identify, misidentify with the body and then we get captivated by the mind’s lower desires and then we fall. So actually this is the mind and intelligence are constantly, they are in an interaction with each other. That interaction can be cooperative or that can be antagonistic.
It depends. So there is a basic misidentification which is there, which indicates a lack of that is the soul identifies with the body. Now that is itself at one level delusion, but that does not necessarily mean that because of that the soul is going to fall into sinful activities immediately.
There can be people who identify with their body, but overall still they live in the mode of goodness. It’s not that everybody who is in the bodily conception necessarily living sinful. Majority maybe.
So in a sense, the misidentification of the body is like a broad illusion which is there for everybody in material existence. And in that sense, that itself indicates a lack of intelligence. So we can say that the intelligence is also lost at various levels.
Say somebody, somebody trying to recover alcohol, recover from alcoholism. They take the first drink and that is, that is itself a loss of intelligence. You should not have drunk at all.
But they drink twice, thrice, ten times. At least after one drink they could have stopped, that is further loss of intelligence. Then if they drink, now I can drive home.
They are driving under the influence of alcohol. That is even greater loss of intelligence. So like that, the intelligence is also lost in instalments.
So at one level, the loss of intelligence in terms of bodily misidentification, that is there for everyone. But further by contemplation of the sense objects, we can lose our intelligence further. So even when all of us, intellectually we understand I am not the body and the soul, but still many times we act on the bodily platform.
But the bodily platform itself does not have to necessarily be a sensual platform or a sinful platform. At the bodily level, people can act in different ways. So the intelligence is lost in various instalments.
And the more the contemplation of the sense objects, the more the intelligence gets eroded. So this is talking about that progression from the basic bodily misidentification to captivation by sense objects and then to degradation to terrible suffering. So that is a sequence that is being talked about.
So I think I will stop here. So if there are any questions, we will talk personally afterwards. Thank you very much.