How our mind messes our relationships 1 – Understanding instincts and impulses

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This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Hare Krishna. I am grateful to be here amongst all of you today at the lotus feet of Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra.
And I would like to take this opportunity to thank Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and 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Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha Vrindavan Chandra and Shri Radha So what we are looking for is what we are looking with. So we can see the inner screen, but we can’t see the inner seer. So the inner screen is the mind.
And the inner seer is the source of consciousness beyond the mind. You can take three deep breaths and then you can open your eyes. Thank you.
So the inner seer and the inner screen, these two things are there inside us. And the inner screen can keep changing. Many different things are seen on the inner screen.
For example, when we dream, our eyes are closed. But there is an inner screen on which we see things. So the inner screen on which we see, that is the mind.
That is the integrator of whatever is coming from the senses. So the inner seer and the inner screen are different. So sometimes this inner screen acts like, especially when our eyes are closed or when we are absent minded, the inner screen acts like a TV screen where we see something else apart from what is there in the outer world.
So our consciousness gets transported somewhere else entirely. And in normal functioning, the inner screen acts like a window by which we see the outer world. So the inner screen can act both ways.
It can act as a window to the world where we see the outer world and it can act as a TV where our consciousness can be transported far away. So, now when we talk about the inner screen, now I will give these two examples, window and TV. That brings me to another aspect which complicates the understanding of the mind.
The mind is like a monitor which doesn’t just have five windows to it, it has a sixth window. The thoughts that arise within us, they arise either from outer perception or they arise from inner recollection. When they arise from inner recollection, sometimes there is nothing in the outer stimulus, but suddenly some thought comes, some desire comes, and suddenly we might remember, I want to read this, I want to watch this.
Or this person did like that, how dare you do like that. So at that time, there may be nothing in the outer perception that stimulates, but it is what comes in the mind can be from our inner recollection. So when this happens, there is outer perception, inner recollection, from both of these thoughts can come in the mind.
And when it comes from the inner recollection, at that time, the person gets more internal, more get internally absorbed or internally lost. So internally absorbed means when one is consciously focussing on something, but lost means one is not, one is getting carried away by the thoughts without any conscious intention. So Prabhupada gives the example that if we have a pond of still water, in the pond, bubbles may be formed in two ways.
One is you throw a stone from outside, ripples are formed, other is some fermentation happens inside and bubbles come up. So same way, from outer perception, certain image may be formed in the mind, certain ideas may be formed, or from inner recollection, certain things may come up. So, this is the way we perceive things.
So when we say somebody is absent-minded, what does it mean, it’s like somebody puts up their specks on their head and they say, they are searching, where are my specks, where are my specks, searching everywhere. Now what is happening, the mind is always there, but the mind is not there in the head to sense, oh there are specks over here. So the mind is present somewhere else apart from where the body is present.
And that’s why, that which is an obvious perception, that perception doesn’t take place. So the mind is always there, but when you say the mind is absent, the mind is present somewhere else apart from the body. And that is what absent-mindedness is.
So when we perceive anything, we perceive through this mechanism of the body-mind complex. And some people are very good at certain things. Some people are very good at music.
Some people come for kirtans and nice music is going on. But somebody is very good, if one taal is a little off-beat, they can immediately sense it. Some people sing very well.
Now if you take, if you analyse the throat of a particular famous singer, and the throat of an ordinary person, at a physical level, we may not find much difference. Maybe because of practise, the throat muscles are a little stronger. But the strength of the throat muscles does not produce the sweetness of the voice.
So you say, somebody, as I said, who has a very sharp ear, as we say, sharp ear for music. Now it’s not necessary that if you do an ear-hearing test, it’s not necessary that a person with a strong musical capability will score higher on hearing. So some people, say, if somebody is a doctor, they see a person and they can make out, okay, you know, you’ve got anaemia, you’ve got this, you’ve got that.
Now when they are seeing, at that time, it’s not necessary that their eyes are sharper in terms of the physical organ’s capacity to see. You know, a lay person may have a 40 by 40 vision, and a doctor may have a 40 by 40 vision. But the doctor is able to see more, not because of the capacity of the senses.
Krishna says, we see with the eyes of knowledge. That means, comprehension, we see something and we make sense of something. Comprehension happens not just because of perception, but comprehension happens because of the education that accompanies perception.
So now, where is this education, or where is this specialisation? As I said, somebody has a sharp ear for music. Some people may have practised, and then they have got a sharp ear. Some people are just born with amazing musical talent.
Some children, just at the age of two, three, they pick a kartala and they start playing. And if you look, Prabhupada was so small, his hands could barely reach across the Mridanga, but he was playing a Mridanga at that time. So where does this capacity come from, or where is this capacity situated? So, even the physical skills, say like playing music, or singing, or observing, dancing, these physical skills, the locus, the place where these physical skills are situated, is not the sense particularly.
The sense will have a role, the sensory organ will have a role in it. But this is actually situated in the subtle body. So, subtle body we could call broadly as the mind.
We can refer to subtle body as containing mind, intelligence, ego. That is a technical classification. At a simple level, we can say there is matter, mind, and consciousness.
So, mind we can refer to the subtle body at large. In general, if we look at the third canto of the Bhagavatam, Sankhya section, if we see the various elements of material nature, they are differentiated primarily based on their functional characteristics, not on their structural characteristics. Functional means, what do they do? Structural means, what are they made up of? So, mind, intelligence, ego, the differentiation between them is primarily in functional terms.
Just like if I have a computer in which I have a normal software, then I have a virus which is corrupting. Now, from the software perspective, if I look at the code, the normal softwares which are helping my computer function, they are also codes and the virus is also codes. So, from the structural perspective, both of them are codes.
But from the functional perspective, that function is very different. One will help my computer function better, the other, the virus will stop my computer from functioning. So, like that, the differentiation between mind, intelligence and ego, it’s primarily in functional terms, not so much in structural terms.
The mind, intelligence, ego, they are all subtle matter. And they function differently. So, why I am talking about this is, that we all have certain abilities and certain inabilities.
So, some people are musically very sharp here. Some people are what is called tone deaf. It’s not that they are deaf, they are tone deaf.
So, tone deaf means they just can’t make any musical sense of anything. So, no matter how much they try, it just doesn’t make sense. So, I happen to be tone deaf also.
So, what happens is, now, if somebody is musically very sharp and somebody is tone deaf, and the two of them come together. Now, sometimes the kirtan is going on, and a tone deaf person comes and picks up a karta and starts playing. And this person closes his eyes and is blissful.
But people around are miserable. What are you doing? So, the mind gives us certain abilities. By mind, I am using generically for the subtle body everything.
So, the mind is endowed with certain abilities and it has certain inabilities. And these shape our perception of things. So, a tone deaf person just can’t perceive music.
A musically sharp person can’t not perceive music. If somebody tells him, don’t worry, just focus on the Hare Krishna. How can I focus? This is wrong.
This karta is wrong. You just can’t tolerate. For me, this happens with English spellings.
Now, anywhere I come, in any room, even if it’s a temple hall, I look at all the notices and notice all the spellings. And I start noticing the spelling mistakes. This is wrong, this is wrong, this is wrong.
And if I tell someone, most of the time, everybody understands. Why don’t you understand? So, there are two concepts. There is being insensitive and being desensitised.
Being insensitive means to not care for others. Being desensitised means not having that sensibility itself. Not having the capacity to perceive that.
So, somebody is playing music out of tune. Or somebody is typing a letter with spelling mistakes. Now, somebody else gets very irritated.
Why are you typing it like this? It’s not that this person wants to annoy the other person. This person doesn’t have that faculty itself. It’s okay.
What does it matter? So, quite often conflicts happen because one person is desensitised to something and the other person thinks, why are you so insensitive? Like some people, they are just not cleanliness conscious. Just come to a place and after 15 minutes, it appears as if a storm has come in that place. What happened? And somebody else comes, why is it unclean? Oh, is it unclean? I didn’t notice anything.
Now, they are not being irritating. They just don’t notice things. So, in modern psychology, they say some people lack a cleanliness gene.
They try to attribute everything to genes, which is not exactly accurate. But the point is that there are some people who are just desensitised to certain things. And it is not that they want to irritate somebody else.
But it doesn’t register in their mind only. So, things are unclean out there. Things are musically not sound, or musically it’s off-tune.
Spellings are wrong. Now, that is a fact out there. But their subtle body is shaped in such a way that that problematic thing doesn’t register in their consciousness only.
The subtle body doesn’t see it at all. So, all of us have, based on the nature of our subtle body, the nature of our mind, certain sensitivities, and certain, we could say, we have sensibility, or we have capacity to perceive certain things very sharply. And we just don’t have the capacity to perceive certain things.
And this creates, often, misunderstanding. Because some people can perceive, some people can’t perceive. And I’ll elaborate on this theme further tomorrow.
But I’ll talk about two more points, with respect to the mind now. And then we’ll have some question-answers. In the mind, when we function, there are two aspects.
There are instincts, and there are impulses. So, instincts refer to programmed intelligence. Both instincts and impulses, they are both done unthinkingly.
So, for example, say, I’m speaking right now, and if I touch this, and suppose it happens that there’s electric current over here. Now, I won’t have to think, oh, there’s electric current, it will harm me. As soon as I touch it, immediately my hand moves away.
So, this is instinct. So, instincts are provided to us by nature for our survival and for our subsistence. So, animals have phenomenal level of instincts also.
And sometimes some instincts of animals may be far, far more, more developed than human instincts. If you take a human being and put him in an unknown city, you know, without a Google map or something, you don’t know where to go. But there are birds which are expert at migration, and you blindfold them and put them in a distant land, then you zoom up, circle round, round, and then straight go back to their home.
So, this directional intelligence is given to them by nature. So, instinct is programmed intelligence. So, in a sense, it is intelligence, but there is no exercise consciously of one’s intellectual faculty to exhibit it.
So, for example, somebody who doesn’t have a very good musical instinct, they may have to hear, you know. So, a person with a good musical instinct, even without, even putting much effort, hey, this is off-tune. Oh, is it? Somebody else who doesn’t have that much instinct has to hear.
Oh, yeah, it’s a little going off-tune. Somebody who has a very good language instinct, hey, there are so many mistakes here. What mistakes? Somebody else, you have to carefully read it, then you find the mistakes.
So, our instincts are actually what differentiate us in terms of our abilities. So, a Brahmana’s instincts are different from a Kshatriya’s instincts. We know the famous incident in the Mahabharata where the Pandavas, when they were incognito, Arjuna won the hand of Draupadi.
And then Drupada wanted to know who are my son-in-law? Who is my son-in-law actually? Is he a Brahmana, Kshatriya or what? So, he invited them for a banquet. And then in the hall where they were having the feast, they kept some scriptures, some weapons, some currency, some trade-related things, and some artisans’ tools. And the Pandavas, as soon as they came, they went straight to the weapons.
They picked up the weapons, this weapon is like this, this weapon is like this. And so, they became immersed in discussion. So, as soon as… Now, Drupada and Dhristadyumna, they were observing from another room.
They understood these are Kshatriyas. These are Kshatriyas. So, here what has happened? Pandavas are devotees.
But still, they didn’t instinctively go towards scripture. Because our defining relationship with Krishna is through our service to Krishna. And our service is determined by our nature.
So, they are Kshatriyas, so they immediately went to the weapons. So, we are all differentiated by our instincts. Now, I have not found in our scripture any specific term which equates with instinct and impulse, this difference.
Broadly, you could say, we have vritti and vasana. Because vritti is the tendency or nature that can be called as instinct. This is a very approximate term because these are two very different ways of looking at the world.
But for our understanding, we can take from both and we can get a working understanding for ourselves. We can never get an exhaustive understanding, but a working understanding. So, all of us get certain instincts.
So, a Kshatriya loves to manage, control, get things done. A Brahmana loves to sit, analyse, study, discuss. That’s their instinct naturally.
So, all of us have certain instincts. Instinct means we gravitate towards certain things and we are good at that thing without even much conscious thought about it. So, in both instinct and impulse, we don’t exercise our intelligence consciously.
But we act. But with respect to instinct, we act right. With respect to impulse, we act wrong.
Impulse means that is also in the subtle body only, but it pushes us towards doing certain things. Say, as soon as if we see some food, I want to eat it. As soon as we enjoy some attractive looking image, I want to see it.
So, we all have certain sense objects towards which we will be attracted and impulses pushes towards that. And often impulses work against our intelligence. That means that the impulses make us do things which are bad for us.
In certain countries in the West, Europe and some other places, the countries are welfare states. Welfare states means that if a person is not able to get a job, then the government pays for that person to maintain that person. Now, many times some people become drug addicts.
And they don’t take a job. And the government pays them dole for their maintenance. And they take this money and instead of getting food, they take drugs.
The body is starving but they are taking drugs. So, what has happened? The mind which is uncontrolled can be the enemy not just of the soul but even of the body. So, the instincts work for self-preservation.
But the impulses often work for self-destruction. So, our impulses are what need to be controlled. So, now when we practise bhakti, we have instincts, we have impulses.
And based on the kind of instincts or the kind of impulses we have, we all have a certain kind of perception. So, I the soul am here. The world is out here.
My senses are here through which I am interacting. But in the mind which is in between, there are certain instincts and certain impulses. And these shape how I will perceive things.
So, some people have a very well-developed aesthetic sense. So, you know, okay, this looks good. This looks beautiful.
This doesn’t look that beautiful. They have that aesthetic sense. This is instinct.
Some people, okay, it all looks the same. It all looks good. But even good, there are degrees of goodness.
This is very good. This is not that good. But some people just don’t have that sense.
So, but some people, you know, for them looking good is simply equated with that which triggers their sensual desires. So, for them it is not instinct which is appreciation of aesthetic beauty. It is simply an impulse for sensual gratification.
So, in either case, it’s the way we perceive the world with our eyes that is different. But, so our instincts actually help us to perceive properly even without conscious effort. And if the instincts are not there, then we can’t perceive so easily.
We are required to put some effort. The impulses, on the other hand, distort perception. When a person is impulsive, so, I was at a mental health care centre in America.
I gave a talk over there. Now, in India, we would crudely refer to a mental health care centre as a Pagal Khana. But it’s not exactly the same.
The people there are not mad. Actually, when you say somebody has to be, requires mental health care, when does a person need mental health care? Their idea is that, see, all of us have certain impulsive responses. All of us, for example, get angry.
Now, when some people get angry, they just become sullen and become cold and unresponsive. They just don’t talk with anyone. Some people get angry and talk too much.
They start shouting at others. Blasting at others. Some people, when they get angry, they don’t just shout, they attack others.
Start beating others. Some people, when they get angry, especially in America where gun laws are relatively free, just pick up a gun and shoot. You know.
Now, when we travel and preach, we do long drives. Because we go from one place to another. Either we fly or we drive.
So, one day, one driver was telling me that when he got his driving licence, they told him that if any driver is driving very unpredictably, zooming round and round and round, driving crazily, so he says, if you suspect that he’s drunk or he’s disturbed, don’t go close to him. Just inform the cops. He says that because many people have guns, you just honk a person.
In India, we press the horn quite often. In the West, you never press a horn. In fact, if you press a horn, that means the other person has done a serious mistake.
And if somebody presses a horn at you, it’s considered an insult to you. How dare you? You think I don’t know driving? So, in India, we write, horn please. So, again, what has happened is, people are very sensitised to traffic laws and people drive very carefully.
In India, people are very desensitised. So, because of that, we have to press the horn, blow the horn. So, anyway, the point which I was making is, if you blow a horn and the other person gets angry, that person may just have a gun and take out the gun and shoot you.
It’s called road rage. So, people get angry if they shoot. So, the point which I am making is, all of us, anger is a weakness which is there in every one of us.
But based on our impulses, what kind of impulses we have, how we express the anger will vary. So, I gave four examples. I just become sullen and uncommunicative, I shout at others, I hit out at others, and I shoot others.
So, now, when does a person need mental health care? When their impulses become harmful for others. So, everybody has lust in them. That is just common to everyone.
But when, because of lust, a person starts exalting someone else, then that person becomes a criminal. Everybody has greed in them. And because of greed, people want to accumulate.
But when one wants to accumulate by cheating and exploiting and extorting others, that becomes excessive. Everybody feels depressed. But when that depression becomes destructive, then that person needs medical health care.
So, the point I am making is, the impulses that are there within us, the impulses, how bad they have become, that determines whether a person needs mental health care or not. So, I met a person in this mental health care. He was a double PhD from Ivy League universities.
That means like a double doctorate from IITs in India. And somehow, what happened was, he was a brilliant person, but he, there was a friend who was actually simply a master’s. And his friend got a better paying position as a faculty than him.
And because of that, he went into depression. And that’s why he was in this mental health care centre. So, now, the point which I am making is, we all have certain impulses.
And when those impulses grow wild, then we can’t function properly. So, for us, we have been given certain instincts which we can develop. But the instincts are largely what we have.
Now, a person who is tone deaf cannot become a musical genius. It’s very, very difficult. So, we can train and improve our instincts a little bit.
But most of our self mastery is in terms of training and regulating our impulses. So, the impulses distort our perception. The impulses make us act unintelligently.
Instincts enable us to act intelligently without even using our intelligence consciously, without thinking. So, we all, when we work, we interact with each other. We all have different instincts and different impulses.
And all of us have to manage it. So, we have to help each other curb our impulses. And we have to help each other strengthen our instincts.
Or channel and use our instincts. And to the extent we understand this. Now, some person may have very disciplined impulses, may not get angry with anyone.
And somebody else just gets angry immediately. Say, why are you so short tempered? And the other person will say, why don’t you get excited about anything? You know, you are just so unemotional about everything. You don’t care for anything at all.
So, mutual understanding requires understanding that we all, at the level of soul, we are similar. But at the level of the mind, we are all different. And there are certain differences that can be changed.
Certain differences can’t be changed. So, instincts can’t be changed much. Impulses can be changed.
But they also require time. For somebody, anger might be a very strong impulse. And it may take a long time for that person to control it.
For somebody, anger might not be a very strong impulse. It may take less time. But when we understand that all of us have our own sets of impulses and instincts with which we are working.
So, we often compare, you know, I can keep things clean. Why can’t you keep things clean? I may want to keep things clean. But, you know, I may be very forgetful of things.
I forget, I had to go here, I had to go there, I had to go there. And that person may be able to remember things very well. So, when we compare, often we compare our strengths with others’ weaknesses.
We feel, you know, you are so incompetent. But, you know, if others have weaknesses, we should compare their weaknesses with our weaknesses. Our weakness may not be in that field.
It may be in some other field. So, just as, say, I have to struggle to remember similarly, this person has to struggle to keep things clean. That doesn’t mean that person should always stay unclean or I should always keep forgetting.
But just as I need help, I need assistance, I need training. Similarly, this person needs help, assistance, training. So, in this way, if we understand that all of us have our own minds which limit us in certain ways and which endorse us in certain ways, then we can become more understanding of each other.
And the more we become understanding of each other, the less there will be avoidable conflicts. And with this, we can actually progress more smoothly in our service, in our relationship with each other, in our service to Krishna and in our journey towards spiritual growth. So, tomorrow I will talk more about specifically how these instincts and impulses within us lead to a judgemental mentality and how that can cause unnecessary problems in our interactions with others outside the devotee community and within the devotee community also.
I will summarise what I spoke today. I spoke about how the mind messes up our relationships. And in that, first I explained what is the mind.
The mind is the channel through which the soul’s consciousness goes to the outer world. So, the mind is the integrator of the perceptions coming from the senses, like a monitor which brings in the images from the security camera. Now, so the mind, whichever is the sense that is giving us the most attractive impulse, that captures the mind and then that is what we focus on.
The perception in the mind can come from external perception, the images on the mind can come from external perception or from internal recollection also. And we are different from our mind in that the mind is the inner screen and we are the inner seer of that screen. And based on our particular nature, we have certain instincts.
Instincts means that among the various windows on the mind’s monitor, where we will zoom on reflexively, that is determined by our instincts. So, instincts are like programmed intelligence. We act rightly without consciously thinking about it.
And different people have different instincts. So, somebody who has a very sharp instinct for something and somebody has a blunt instinct, the two will find difficult to get along, not because the two are bad or incompatible, but just that one of them is super sensitive, the other is desensitised. So, similarly within our subtle body also are impulses.
So, instincts are we act intelligently without thinking, whereas with impulses we act unintelligently without thinking. So, impulses are like our vasana, they impel us to do destructive things. And when we want to control our mind, that means we want to channel our instincts constructively and we need to control our impulses.
So, when we are interacting with each other, all of us have our particular set of instincts and impulses, which direct our perceptions in certain ways. And because different people are going to perceive differently, so rather than blaming others for the way they are seeing or acting, we have to understand that their set, their mind is different, their impulses are different. And that’s why some things which are obvious to me, may not be obvious to them.
And rather than comparing their weaknesses with our strengths, we can compare their weaknesses, the things which they find difficult to do, with some other things which we find difficult to do. And in that way, we can become more understanding of each other and we can progress more harmoniously in our relationships and in our service to Krishna. So, are there any questions or comments? Yes, Prabhu.
Yes. Thank you for the mind and its problems. My question is related to this instinct and impulses, basically what I understood as vritti and vasana, its propensity and, you know, vasanas… Craving, craving.
Craving, yeah. You know, looking at myself, and also at, you know, so many devotees we deal with, or with our own children, over a period of years when we look at somebody, including ourselves or the people whom we deal with, we see that this instinct and impulse, you know, it hardly changes, essentially. As in, even after taking to the process of devotional service, perhaps we are not practising properly or whatever, but even after several years, we see the person who has a tendency to verbally abuse in a relationship tends to keep falling to that.
The person who is lusty and has sexual issues, challenges, keeps repeating that mistake again and again. The person who has a problem in dealing with money, because of greed, tends to keep doing that. So, at least after several years, I started thinking that maybe all these discussions which are obviously there in the shastra, one thing certainly everybody can do is, with all this analysis and help, one can understand, one can at least understand one’s own vritti and vasana.
Perhaps that example is a very big achievement, that you understand what is your, you know, basic set of instincts and basic set of impulses where you are looking. So, that perhaps is possible. But I personally have kind of actually lost hope that it can actually be reformed as in, you know, especially the impulse part.
The vritti part, yes, because you mentioned that as an instinct in terms of the varna, maybe that polishing is, and the example that you gave was very appropriate, the varnamasa. But whether this vasana can actually be, you know, over a long time, a person can change, I personally have lost hope in that. Yeah.
So, can we actually change our impulses even after practising bhakti? Still the impulses seem to be there, probably abusive person still remains abusive. Yeah, to some extent, we start our bhakti with unrealistic expectations. We start thinking that bhakti is like a brush that is going to whitewash me.
You know, like, everything about me is going to be changed. Pure, sparkling, attractive me is going to emerge. Well, that doesn’t happen.
In fact, sometimes, initially, when we start practising bhakti, we may curb our vasanas because of the initial newness and attractiveness of bhakti. But many devotees, after 10, 15, 20 years, they start finding that, you know, the old me starts reappearing. Not necessarily in always a negative sense, but it is that who we essentially are, that is going to be there.
So, especially in youth, we may have the passion to fight against our nature. But as we grow a little older, we get tired of fighting against our nature. It just takes too much effort.
So, we don’t want to work for our nature. We don’t want to work against our nature. We want to work with our nature, for Krishna.
So, I would say, everything when we do analysis, the categorisation is very smooth. So, in general, taxonomy is a system of classification. So, taxonomy on paper and taxonomy in reality is very different.
See, on a map, if you see the map of America, they have divided the states almost like squares. But, you know, actually, if you go across a state border, there is no line over there. So, is this river in this state or that state? Is this tree in this state or that state? It’s not always so clearly differentiated.
So, systems of classification, in concept, their categories are clear. This is here, this is here. But in reality, there can always be porous boundaries, as they say.
So, similarly, what are impulses and what are instincts? In terms of conceptual analysis, I categorise them. But, in terms of reality, it may not be so easy to differentiate. So, for example, somebody is a business person.
And now, Prabhupada says, in connection with that, all endeavours are covered by faults. So, in that connection, he says, those who are business people, sometimes they have to speak some untruths. That’s the way of business.
Now, some people speak untruths consciously after thinking, this is what I have to speak. Some people, of the tongue, untruth slips off. Now, they are not bad people.
But, that is just the way that their intelligence, isko ye bolna hai, isko wo bolna hai. You speak here, speak this here, speak that there. And they get things done.
For them, speaking the truth is a very important concern for a Brahmana. But for a Vaishya, getting things done is important. That doesn’t necessarily mean, even a Vaishya will have his or her own limits.
Everybody has our own moral limits. But, what those moral limits are, that will vary from person to person. So, we can’t expect that to change drastically.
So, somebody, for example, there are some lies which are not really very harmful lies. Some lies are very harmful. They are malicious.
They are meant to hurt others. And they are actually, so even within lies, there can be degrees. Even within, so some people shout.
They just have, as I said, some people are verbally abusing. But, some people just shout, and that is the impulse which comes upon them. But they don’t hold the grudges.
Like, some people, they say that, I am not a mourning person. I am not a mourning person. That means, when they wake up, they are always in a bad mood.
They just feel glum when they wake up. Now, if a person who is not a very cheerful when they wake up, if you start talking with them, hey, we have to do this, we have to do that, they just blast out. But, in that same person, you meet them later in the day, they are much more reasonable.
So, what happens is, there are certain things about us, which are not so easy to change. So, that does not necessarily mean that that is a vasana which is uncontrollable. That, as long as it does not make us violate the dharmic limits.
Now, what is the dharmic limit for whom? For a brahmana, the dharmic limit may be different from a vaisya. But, all of us have certain, as long as we don’t transgress the limits of dharma, then, there will be variation. Some people are very soft-spoken.
And, some people, for them to get things done, they have to shout. Now, after some time, this person shouts, but they don’t get angry. They are not really angry, or they are not mad at me.
So, we get to understand each other. And, that way, I would say that, there are certain aspects of us, which are very very difficult to change. And, trying to change that requires so much effort, that other changeable aspects, we don’t have energy left to change them.
So, it’s very important for us, over a period of time, to take stock. And, to understand, which aspects of mine, are most important for me to change. And, not just most important for me to change.
Somebody else may tell me, this is very important. But, I may feel it is impossible. So then, which are most doable for me? So, gradually we move onwards.
And then, we may ourselves learn. So, others learn to live. We have to learn, this is what I am.
I will live with this aspect. And, others also learn to live with that aspect. But, there are certain other aspects, which we work on changing.
So, both the extremes, thinking that bhakti will change everything, and bhakti will change nothing. I think both are wrong. Bhakti will change.
Ultimately, what bhakti changes, is our purpose of life. I may have been short-tempered, but I have been short-tempered materialistic person. Now, I am still short-tempered, but I am a short-tempered Vaishnava, or at least sadhaka Vaishnava sadhaka.
My goal has changed. So, impulses and instincts come up within us. But, what is ours is our intention.
So, bhakti strengthens our intention. And then, how much the impulses and instincts come, and how we manage them, that is something which is an individual battle for every one of us to face. Thank you.
So, how to see that, we have to deal with our misery, we have to deal with our problems, but at the same time, our basic practise, our basic absorption of Krishnamurti, because why there is a tendency to get absorbed in our own misery? Yeah. So, if we face problems, then how can we ensure that we still practise our Krishna Consciousness? It is artificial to expect that our material life will not affect our spiritual life. The soul is covered in three cases.
The body, the society and the environment. And all these three affect the soul’s capacity to function in the world. When we have many of these Hindu functions where at the end they say Om, Shanti, Shanti, Shanti, they say three times.
Why three times? Because the soul is in these three coverings. The body, the society and the environment. So, from the body we get Adhyatmiklesh.
From the society we get Adhibhautiklesh. And from the environment we get Adhidaiviklesh. So, the idea is Om Adhyatmiklesh Shanti.
Om Adhibhautiklesh Shanti. Om Adhidaiviklesh Shanti. So, the soul has to function in this world through these coverings.
And the upheavals in these coverings are going to affect the soul’s capacity to function. And because we are going to serve Krishna in this world, so naturally the ups and downs in this world are going to affect us. So, in fact when I was in Melbourne I gave a whole series of seminars on emotionally healthy spirituality.
Emotionally healthy spirituality means it is artificial to expect that our emotions will not affect us at all. If we lose a loud one, then that is a big loss. And to think that I understand we are souls and we are temporarily in this world and nothing should be… It doesn’t work like that.
You see, there is a loss over there and in the Vedic tradition there is a whole process for grieving. Unless the emotion is channelled through grief, the emotion will choke us. Even in the Mahabharata we see that when Abhimanyu is killed, Arjuna breaks down and cries.
Arjuna lashes out at his brothers. He says, Are all your weapons like bangles? Couldn’t you protect my son? Even he turns and lashes out at Krishna. Krishna, you must have known what happened.
Why didn’t you tell me? No, Krishna is not sanctimonious over this. My plan is perfect, don’t doubt me. Krishna is understanding.
Krishna is just supportive, understanding, commiserating. So there are natural human emotions which will come in particular situations. So we have to accept that and we have to work with that.
So, naturally our spiritual life will be affected. Even in the Lamrut, when Prabhupada was in Allahabad, Prabhupada had this pharmacy, he was giving the medicines and there was another doctor who would prescribe the medicines and Prabhupada would dispense the medicines. So this doctor says to Abhimanyu, Swamiji was a very religious man but at that time, he had only one concern.
How can I earn more money? How can I earn more money? At that time, that was Prabhupada’s driving concern. Now, he wanted to assist his spiritual master, he wanted to finish his household responsibilities so that he could serve Krishna, serve his Guru more, but whatever. So, our material situation will affect us and the magnitude to which it will affect will vary based on our particular nature.
Some people are very sensitive to cold. So if the weather becomes very cold, somebody else, it doesn’t make any much difference. But for them, that Adi Daivik Klesh is too much to bear.
So somebody, they have so much cold that if they just come out of the house, they start getting pain in the legs and everything. So we have to understand, this is the machine I have and this is the machine I have to work with. So for some people, they are very shaken by relationships.
If something goes wrong in their relationship, they become very disturbed. Some people, with respect to health, if something goes wrong in their body, they become very disturbed. Some people, so doctors also say that different people have different capacities to bear pain.
So, it does not necessarily mean that one is transcendental to the body. It’s just that different people have different capacities. Prabhupada in Tamal Krishna Maharaj writes in TKG’s diary that Prabhupada would moan in pain in the last few days.
It is not that a pure devotee does not feel physical pain. A pure devotee’s purpose is not affected by the physical pain. The determination to serve Krishna is there.
But the pain is just a function of the body. And that will be there. So, the point which I am making is that based on our particular body-mind nature, we all will be more vulnerable to some particular disturbances, whether it be in the body, in the society or in the environment.
And we have to acknowledge this. And actually, it is our association that has to work as a shock absorber. We need to have friends who understand us.
Some devotees, you know, some loud one passes away and others may say, why are you so attached? Well, that is not the way to function. You know, that is a time when there is a loss and there is a healthy way to deal with that loss. So, we have to have around us, in the broad devotee community, some friends who understand our sensitivities and who help us deal with that.
So, it is important that our mind is of a particular way. And somebody else’s mind is of an entirely different way, they will just not understand what we are going through. So, whatever are the issues that we are facing, we need to have the like-minded association which helps us understand.
So, basically, we need someone who understands our mind and who helps us to understand our mind. They understand our mind, okay, this is how you are thinking. So, some people, when they study philosophy, they have a lot of doubts coming up.
Now, this question, that question, others say, why do you think so much? You are a bhakta, don’t be a jnani. But you know, it doesn’t work for them like that. Their mind just, this question comes, they will think, how did you get this question? It’s obvious.
So, for them, they need somebody who is intellectual. Okay, you get this question like this. Yeah, I also got this question.
And this is how I resolve this issue. So, for our material situation, whatever it is, we get, we need understanding devotees. So, they help us.
First of all, our mind is the only mind we have. The mind is not like a replaceable part. Well, if my mind gets upset by certain things, it gets upset.
I can’t wish away the emotions of the mind. I have to deal with them, but I can’t wish them away. Those emotions are there.
So, somebody else who also gets similar emotions, and they have dealt with those emotions, they can understand why I am feeling like this. And they can, based on their experience, their reading of shastra, they can explain to me, okay, how to deal with this. So, when difficulties come, we need like-minded association to go through those difficulties while remaining steady in our bhakts.
Okay, thank you. Thank you. Okay, the mic is here.
Okay, fine. We were really looking to see how the mind senses the mind and the soul. Mind is like a storehouse for all the experiences and perceptions.
What about the brain? When someone has a jewel in the brain, they also lose memory and all such things. Okay. Okay.
So, if the mind is an integrator of the sensory inputs, then what is the role of the brain? See, the brain is the physical organ which is required for information processing. Just like somebody may be a very good singer. That means that singing ability is there within their subtle body.
But if they have a sore throat, they can’t sing. So, we need, if the ability itself is stored at the subtle level, but we need a physical tool for exercising that ability. Somebody may be a very good dancer.
Now, dancing is not simply about moving the hands and legs. Yeah, but there is an aesthetic sense inside which enables the hands and legs to be moved in a very nice way. Somebody may still have that aesthetic sense, but if the body is damaged, they got a fracture or something, they can’t dance.
So, similarly, the brain is the physical tool. The line becomes slightly blurred because with respect to the brain, the brain is also the seat of memory. So, it’s like there is a software in the computer, but there is also the hardware.
And in the hardware, we may have a central memory unit. So, the brain is the place where the memory unit is there. And the brain, you could even say, is like the CPU.
The memory is there, CPU is there. It’s very important. So, I have written a book, Demystifying Reincarnation, where I talk about, I will be speaking on it today evening.
So, I talk about cases of Hydroencephaly. Hydroencephaly is where people, where there are children who are born, they have practically no brain substance. In their cranial cavity, cerebrospinal fluid is not around the brain, it is present instead of the brain.
So, they have nothing. They have practically less than, some of them have less than 5% brain substance. And still, there was Dr. John Lorber, he is a member of the Nobel Laureate committee.
He published a paper in Science Magazine. And there he wrote, the paper’s title was, Is Your Brain Really Necessary? So, he gave many cases of people who had no brain substance, less than 5% brain substance. And still, it would function normally.
In University of Sheffield, there was a graduate who was studied by the John Lorber. And he had a very high IQ. And yet, he had less than, a very small percentage of the brain he had.
So, in some exceptional cases, that ability can function even without the structural tool. Just like, there are some blind people who can see. You know.
No, there are, in YouTube, there are some videos also. Now, in our tradition, we have some devotional poets, who couldn’t see, but they knew all the Lord was dressed. So, in some, like in outer body experiences also, what happens is, the sensory faculty is not working, but the mind also has its eyes.
The mind has subtle senses within it. And in extraordinary situations, the mind’s subtle senses can perceive even without the gross senses functioning. But that is extraordinary.
Normally, the mind’s subtle senses need the gross senses to function. So, similarly, normally we need the brain to function. But the brain alone is not the storehouse of memory.
The brain alone is not the tool by which recollection and conscious perception happen. Sometimes it can happen without the brain also. The brain is simply the physical tool which is normally required.
Thank you. Okay. Till what time should we go on to? I mean.
Okay. Yes, sir. Thank you very much.
And this is more from the community’s perspective now. So, nobody asked the question about whether impulse can be changed or not. And you very nicely verified the purpose of bhakti and not having undue expectation from bhakti and actually wanting the impulses to be changed.
And you verified that ultimately it will verify our intentions and redefine the purpose of life. And then you made a nice point there that as long as it does not transgress dharma. Now, my question begins there.
So, let’s say somebody’s impulses are transgressing dharma. I am talking about that scenario. Now, there are three differences.
One has probably said that even if we become aware of our impulses, would also be a very good achievement. Second is to be able to manage our impulses. And third is to be able to change our impulses.
Which in one sense will be directly accepted when it is transgressing dharma, then changing impulse may be needed. Either by one’s own effort or by external help, which is where you talked about mental health care. Now, my question is this.
In fact, I am just building a background before. So, education, hearing lectures and self-introspection, etc. can help change one’s impulses if one is self-motivated.
And has that ability to be able to bring a conscious change in oneself by hearing lectures. Now, as far as others are concerned, not everybody in society is like that. That will change by hearing.
or who is self-motivated enough to be able to change impulses. Now, majority of people in the society will fall in other category. And this quant being a hospital, and this quant being a university, we also want to make sure that we help others changing their impulses.
Right? So now, how will somebody else be able to change impulses? When I say somebody else, I am talking about those people for whom lectures are not enough and who are not self-motivated enough. Now, there, if their impulses are harming themselves, then by getting some feedback, they will be able to change their impulses. For example, when I become angry, I bang my head against the wall.
Now, after banging for 3-4 years, I realise that I am harming myself only. And therefore, perhaps, I may change my impulses because I am harming myself. Now, let us say, I am talking about the 2B.
That category of people who are harming others because of their impulses. I believe their impulses can get changed by culture. That is where the role of culture comes in.
They will also get a feedback by the community of devotees, by the culture of devotees or the culture of society. They will get some feedback by which they will be able to change their impulses which is harming others. Now, my question is, first of all, is this a right understanding? That for such people who are not self-motivated, for whom lectures are not enough, and who are harming others by their impulses, the role of culture becomes important.
Question 1. And question 2. In a society of devotees, people like Vaishnava, we have heard his lectures, we have understood how the mind works, and therefore, they do not get feedback. So, how does this, from a community perspective, from a community of devotees perspective, how does… So, I mean, just to summarise. Let me summarise.
Okay. So, when people are not self-motivated enough to just change themselves by hearing, then is it that culture will change their impulses or is it that the feedback from others, should it be given so that the impulses will change? Yeah. Culture is gradually meant to, we could say, osmotically or organically, shape people’s behaviour.
Sometimes we learn some culture. Okay, this is what you should do, this is what you should not do. But a lot of culture is learned simply by observing.
Oh, this is how this person behaves, this is what this person believes. So, many times culture is like blood. We don’t normally know that blood is flowing in our body.
We know it, but we don’t really, are not conscious of it. But when blood gets cut and starts flowing out, then you start realising, hey, something is wrong over here. So, like that, culture is something which is innate.
And people start, as they come into a community, they observe, okay, this is how everybody behaves, this is how I should behave. We all learn that. And do in Rome as Romans do, as it is said.
So, we all have to… We all do learn certain things by culture. Now, certain impulses can be observed. We see others doing certain things and we learn to rein in those impulses.
Say, for example, if I have a tendency to speak very loudly, and I am in a community where everybody is speaking very softly, and I may just initially keep speaking loudly, but then I notice everybody, I speak loudly, this person responds softly, this person responds softly, this person responds softly. And gradually, that gets it, I should speak softly. So, culture can teach in a subtle way like that.
Now, as far as giving feedback for helping others whose impulses are harming others. Harm is a very extendable term. What do we mean by how exactly is it harming others? We will have to see.
So, there is the principle of tolerance and there is the principle of discipline or law. So, in certain situations, certain impulses may be tolerated more. And in certain situations, this will not work.
So, I would say this is a matter of each community will have its own ethos over there. Some places, even a little impulse going wrong, strong feedback is given. Some places, a lot of things go wrong, after that, some gentle feedback is given.
So, each of them has its advantages and disadvantages. Generally, even if some strong feedback is given, and that person may temporarily curb that particular impulse, but whether that impulse is getting changed, whether it is getting reformed, that we really don’t know. So, or sometimes it may happen, if you get strong feedback, that person just leaves and goes away.
So, we have to balance between protecting that person’s Bhakti Lata Beach and protecting other people’s Bhakti Lata Beach also. So, in general, western and westernised cultures are more non-hierarchical. Where they are more horizontal.
So, in general, in western and westernised cultures, people don’t give much feedback to each other. You live the way you are, I live the way I am. And now, of course, in every culture, there are certain things which are not to be done.
And for that, we may get some feedback. But in general, authority is de-emphasised. In many traditional cultures, they are more hierarchical.
And authority is very much emphasised. So, we all are trying to practise a tradition, traditional way of living, but we all have come from an upbringing which is to different degrees westernised. So, we will have to find out how best we can serve Krishna and what is the social environment in which our Bhakti Lata Beach can flourish.
So, sometimes feedback may help us, sometimes it may hurt us. See, it also, I have a whole seminar on fault finding or correcting, but I’ll take two main points in this. See, there is, in each of us, there is a side which is confident, yes, I can do it.
And there is a side which is diffident, no, what if I can’t do it. So, the side which feels that I can improve, I can do better, I can achieve this. And the side which says, no, no, you won’t be able to do it.
So, now, when somebody gives me feedback, you should not do like this. If I have the basic confidence that I can improve, then that feedback will help me. Because, oh yes, I can learn this and I can do it.
But, if I am myself very diffident, and then on top of that I get corrective feedback, already I am struggling, I can’t do this also, and I am told you have to do this also. Better I’ll give this up. So, I’ll not do it.
So, that’s why our goal always has to be to help people rise from where they are to one step up. And sometimes, feedback may push them down from where they are also. Because that feedback may so much discourage them.
And sometimes, that feedback is what is necessary, okay, this is what I am meant to do, and this is how I can do it. So, we have to actually, in general, it is not good to give feedback to those whom we don’t know very well. Because, first of all, they will think that we are envious of them or something like that.
And we may not know what they are going through when we give them feedback. So, if somebody who knows them well can understand their situation. So, there is the need to improve and there is the ability to improve or the will to improve.
If the will to improve is itself not there, not in the sense of they don’t want to change, but they don’t have the confidence that I can change. See, what happens is, especially in organisations like ours where everybody is a volunteer. In Wisconsin University, there was a survey done about writers.
There was a group of students. So, the boys formed a group and they said that all of us when we write, we will give corrective feedback. This is good, you need to improve this, you need to improve this, you need to improve this.
Now, the girls, they also wanted to form a group, but they decided we will do exactly the opposite of what the boys are doing. They said, when we write, we will tell each other what is good in our writings. And then, the survey, they followed them 10-15 years down the line.
And they found that there were 15 boys, not one of them had become a professional writer. And 4-5 of them were known as very poor writers. And all of them, when they had to write, they would feel fear.
What if this goes wrong, what if that goes wrong, what if that goes wrong? Among these 15 girls, 3 of them had become published writers, and remaining 9 of them, they were known as very articulate writers in their social circles. And the remaining 2-3 of them, they were not very articulate, but still they would just write freely. So, the point here is that, just looking at the faults, and pointing out the faults, just took away their morale to write.
And they stopped writing, basically. On the other hand, the encouragement inspired them to write. So, especially we are in a voluntary movement.
And even if you say, okay, you have taken initiation, and you have initiation vows, but ultimately, if the devotee decides to become so disheartened, they stop practising bhakti, the spiritual master can’t come with a gun, you have to follow your vows. So, we are a voluntary movement. And if we give too strong a feedback, if that disheartens people, then they will just stop practising.
So, we do need to give feedback, so that people rise upwards. But, sometimes some people, if for them to change is difficult, or for them to give feedback is difficult, then it may be better that, we let them find a space, where they can serve the way they want, without affecting others. Some people may be a little short-tempered.
But, they need not be put in a service, where they are interacting with too many people. They interact with just one or two persons, and that person is a little thick-skinned. So, if this person shouts, they are able to tolerate it.
So, I would say rather than, it’s not just giving feedback or not giving feedback, I would say, along with giving feedback, it is the responsibility of the community and its leaders, to create the necessary space, where devotees can work, with their conditionings to serve Krishna. So, without that space, then lot of devotees will feel just choked, and they may give up practising bhakti. This doesn’t mean correction doesn’t have to be done.
Correction is required at times. Constructive feedback is required. But, it has to be given cautiously.
Trying to make sure that the person doesn’t become, disheartened in the practise of bhakti. So, basic there, we have to make sure that, we affirm their spiritual self-worth. That you know, you are a soul, you are a part of Krishna, and we very much want you to continue practising bhakti.
But, in this particular situation, in this particular way you are acting, that is a little troublesome. So, if we make sure that, we affirm their spiritual self-worth, and then point out their conditioning, then that is fine. But, if somehow we criticise in a way, that they start equating their conditioning with themselves, and they start feeling hopeless, then we are actually, our conditioning is doing a disservice to them.
Don’t disturb the minds of the intelligent people. I was reading an Acharya’s commentary, on this verse. It’s interesting, Prabhupada translates that, don’t disturb the minds of people.
But, the Sanskrit is, na buddhi-bhedam janaid. Don’t disturb, don’t penetrate, don’t break, the intelligence of people. What does it mean? The Sanskrit word is buddhi, buddhi is not mana, buddhi is intelligence.
What it means is, that based, we may have certain conceptions, which may have formed with our mind. But then later, we use our intelligence to solidify those conceptions. Okay, this is the way I am, and this is the way I am going to function.
So, what happens is, if the intelligence itself is penetrated, then they have nowhere to go to. So, we need to work with people’s intelligence. We can’t, so people’s, we may say this is just a conditioning, but people’s world view is formed around what they are.
And it’s very very difficult, for us to, be able to penetrate into that, in a way that they don’t feel threatened, or they don’t feel demeaned. So, they have to feel affirmed, then they will be ready to accept the constructive feedback. So, thank you very much.
Shri Prabhupada Ki, Tantra Shri Madhvagatam Ki, Gauravatrunda Ki, Namaskar, Gaur Premananda.