Managing the voice inside the head – 1

[Congregation program at Montreal, Canada]

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Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Hare Krishna. I thank all of you for coming today evening.
And I’ll try to speak today on the topic of how the mind distorts our conception of life. We need to focus on life, not on the commentary that the mind is offering about life. So, I’ll speak based on 6.5 and 6.6 in the Bhagavad Gita.
6.5 is, Uddhare dātmanātmānam nātmānam avasādayet ātmaivayātmanobandhur ātmaivaripurātmanah. So, Krishna says we should elevate ourselves with our mind and we should not degrade ourselves. What this means is he’s saying that the mind is there inside us and it is going to work in different ways.
And we have to choose so that it works for us and not against us. A few months ago, I was at a mental health care centre in New Jersey. I gave a talk for the counsellors over there, mental health care providers.
And after that, I was talking with them about different kinds of mental health problems that people have. What are the common problems and how do they manifest? How are they treated? We’re having a discussion. So, some people sometimes hear a voice inside their head.
And when they keep hearing that voice again and again and again, then they may go to a doctor. And I’m hearing this voice inside my head. What is this voice actually? So, sometimes hearing a voice inside the head is considered to be a mental disorder.
Now, as I was hearing the doctor speak, I thought that actually we all hear a voice inside our head, isn’t it? So, I was basically, we all hear different things at different times, which sometimes distort us from the way we are meant to function. I remember the first time, maybe 25-30 years ago, I gave a talk in public. It was before I was introduced to Bhakti.
It was an audition for an elocution competition to represent the college. And I was speaking. And I had so much to speak.
It was a seven-minute audition, which I had to do. And I started speaking. I was so excited.
One of my conditionings is that I speak very fast. In fact, when I was recently in LA, one senior devotee, I went and met him. He attended one of some of my classes.
He told me at that time that, you know, I’ll give you a gift that will help you very much. I said, okay. So, I went to meet him in his room.
And he gave me a card. And that card read, slow down. He said, keep this card in front of you always.
That is my gift to you. So, I have this tendency that I speak very fast. I tend to think fast and speak fast.
So, at that time, I started, I was supposed to start my elocution, and I just started speaking. Sometimes if you get into a car, and as soon as you get in the car, the person shoots off. Then you just get jerked back.
And even before you can tie the seatbelt or you can move, the car is shooting off. So, like that, I started off. And I spoke for about 30 seconds, 45 seconds.
And I could see nobody was connecting. It actually can make out whether people are hearing or not. And somehow, something inside me told me that actually, in order to catch their interest, you should speak faster.
And I started speaking faster. And still nobody was paying attention. People were looking at the watch, looking at the door.
I started speaking faster. And then I had prepared for a seven minute talk. And two and a half minutes was over.
So, then after that, I asked those who were taking the audition, so how was it? He said, you know, we didn’t understand anything. So, then I had recorded the audio. And then I replayed it.
And I found that the last one minute, even I couldn’t understand what I was speaking. It was zooming past. So, that is one of the striking memories for me of something inside me, completely misreading the situation.
The problem was I was speaking too fast, but the voice inside said speak faster. So, the very cause of the problem was aggravated. But like that, we all have had situations when something inside us told us to do something.
And it simply made things worse. How many of you had any similar experience? You don’t have to share it. So, when we hear something, this voice inside the head, it sometimes gives us good ideas also.
It’s not that it’s always bad. But there is something inside us. And what exactly is that? And how does it work? So, basically the Bhagavad Gita explains that our existence is three levels.
The body, the mind, and the soul. These are like if you have a computer system, the hardware, the software, and the user. So, the software is something which is meant to help us better access the hardware.
But if the software is malfunctioning, say, if I’m working on a computer, and sometimes there are some auto-completes. If I write a particular word, and it completes it, it auto-corrects it if I type a spelling wrong. But suppose I’m writing a Word document, and suddenly some other pop-up window comes up.
And you know, okay, some notification has come on Facebook, some news, breaking news has come, this has happened, that has happened. Then it will catch our attention. And if we pay attention, it will go there.
And normally, most notifications come as pop-up windows. But sometimes, say, some people are visually impaired, then they may have the notifications coming as voices. A new email has arrived.
So, the voice speaks out. Now, the text-to-speech software is also quite good. It can read out fairly well.
So, when this voice comes up, say, we are doing one thing, and suddenly this voice starts off. And when the voice starts off on the computer, you can say, okay, do I need to pay attention to this now? Or can I do it later? So, to the extent we are purposeful, to the extent we are focused and doing something important, say, okay, I’ll pay attention to this later. But if we are just reading something casually, then we say, okay, I can look at that later.
I can read, I can do this work later. Let me look at it right now. So, similarly, our mind is like the software.
The body is the hardware, the soul is the user. And the mind keeps giving us many notifications. Now, this is not necessarily a bad thing.
We are capable of being aware of many things. Say, if we are driving a car, then our focus is on the road ahead. But then we also have part of a vision which is looking way ahead.
And if we see a stream of, a series of cars there are crowding together, let me understand, I have to press the brake right now. Or we will be looking at the road, but at the same time, we are aware of the signals. Here there is a school area, here there is a residential area, whatever.
So, we are capable of having some awareness in the foreground, while also having some awareness in the background. Say, right now, you are sitting here, you are hearing this talk. So, you are aware of what is going on in the talk.
But at the same time, you may be aware, okay, this room is, is it too hot, is it too cold? Normally, if there is no, there is no extreme stimulus coming up from the background, we don’t focus on it. Say, if it just becomes too crowded and starts becoming hot, then we may feel it. Or it starts becoming chilly, then we will feel it.
If in the periphery of our awareness, the stimuli are not above or below the threshold of normal, then we don’t pay attention to it. So, right now, all of us are discussing this. Now, you may hear the steps of somebody coming up.
Now, if it’s people coming up the steps, it’s a normal sound. So, we may, we note it, but we don’t focus on it. But suppose right now, we hear somebody suddenly screaming, everybody will turn around, what happened? Because that sound is out of the ordinary.
So, this capacity to be aware of something in the foreground, or to focus on something in the background. This is important for us, because in life, events can happen in many different directions. So, just as in the while we are driving a car, somebody will just try to race ahead of us from the right side, or somebody will just come into our lane, so many things can go wrong.
So, we have capacity for being aware of many things. It’s not that we are simultaneously aware of many things, our mind works very fast. For a moment, it takes note of this thing and comes back, takes note of that and comes back.
So, then it doesn’t give too much time. I see the person coming over there on that lane, and the person is say jerking too much. Is this person drunk? Maybe I’ll just move on to the other lane.
So, if you see them driving normally, just note it and we don’t focus on it. So, our normal functioning of the mind. Now, all this I’m giving in terms of visuals, but the same we can apply in terms of audio also.
Say, we are hearing a lecture on our phone, and that time the phone gives an audio notification, an email has arrived from so and so. Now, if we are expecting something and that is urgent, then we will shift. Or okay, an email has come, that’s a good notification, I’ll look at it later.
So, basically, inside us, there are multiple inputs that are coming in. And we need to be able to process and focus on that which is the most important. Or in this particular situation, that is the most urgent.
And the other inputs, we can put them aside. Maybe some of you can come ahead because there are many devotees coming still. Thank you.
So, when we focus on something which is for us important, then we can act effectively. But suppose, some unwanted notification just comes up and starts distorting us. Say, sometimes the notifications come in our computer, some notification comes and you don’t find anywhere to cross, to remove it.
It’s just there. And then we may have to just fill in the screen, just catch hold of it and just move it aside. We can’t minimise it, but we can just move it aside.
So, similarly, for us, inside our mind, many voices are there. So, basically, the voice I’m using as a metaphor, because the inputs can come from the eyes, they can come as a touch, you feel something warm or cold, it can come from smell. From all the five senses, inputs come.
And the Bhagavad Gita says in 15.8 that the mind is the integrator of the inputs from the five senses. So, eyes, the ears, the nose, the tongue and the skin, from these the inputs come to the mind. And the mind presents it to the soul.
So, you could say the mind is like the screen on which the inputs are coming in. So, sometimes these inputs start becoming so insistent that we just get distraught, we just get distracted. So, sometimes when somebody has hurt us, so somebody has spoken something which has really hurt us, then after that we may be a little fragile, maybe a little hypersensitive.
Then if anybody else also speaks a little bit negative, we might feel very offended by that. It’s not that what they spoke was offensive, but we are vulnerable at that time. So, for example, say, normally if you pat someone on the back or just touch them, it’s just a gesture of greeting.
But, say, if they have some wound on their shoulder, I’d pat them. It causes a much greater reaction because there is already a wound over there. So, similarly for us, the mind is inside us and the mind sometimes accentuates or aggravates certain stimuli.
So, if one person has spoken harshly to me, the mind starts saying, people are so bad, nobody cares for you, nobody loves you, nobody respects you. And then second person does like that. Then, just see what I said was right.
And then the third person does like that. And then the mind says, yes, see, nobody cares for you. And now, and the fourth person, maybe just a small neglect on their part.
Say, we are walking through a door and they are in front of us. And instead of just holding the door open, they just let it close. And we may just explode.
How rude you are! They may just be lost in their thoughts and they not even notice that we are behind them. So, what happens? The mind can, sometimes it interprets a particular thing in a particular way. And after it’s in, it started telling one story, you know, people don’t care for you.
And then everything that is happening, it starts interpreting it in a way that it acts as evidence for that story. So, if I start believing that, say, as I said, people don’t care for me, then one event, second event, third event, even if there are other ways in which people care for me, I will just, the mind will silence that. The mind will not allow me to focus on that.
So, one of my friends is a, he’s a mental health care provider. So, one of his services was to act as a suicide helpline attendant. So, when people commit suicide, just when the thought is coming, you know, kill yourself, kill yourself, kill yourself.
At that time, if somehow they can talk with someone, they hear a human voice, and that human voice speaks something to deter them, then they may be saved. And he saved several people that way. So, it’s literally the mind is something which can kill the body.
Suicide is when the mind kills the body. Yes, problems are there, out there. But the mind interprets them, you know, this is wrong, that is wrong, that is wrong, everything is wrong.
What is the use of living? So, suicide is when the voice inside us tells us to kill ourselves. And at that time, if you can just hear some other voice, hey, no, you don’t have to do this. So, then that, if that voice can be countered at that time, or that voice can be interrupted at that time, then even lives can be saved.
So, he was telling me that there’s one girl who committed suicide and then called. She took the heavy dosage, and then she called. So, then they rushed to there to rescue her.
And why did she take those pills? She was in a relationship with some boy. And she called that boy. And that boy didn’t pick up her phone.
That’s it. Because of that, she thought, oh, he doesn’t love me. Maybe he’s with someone else.
He doesn’t care for me. Maybe in future also no one will care for me. All my friends will be in happy relationships.
I’ll be all alone. Everybody will feel pity for me. Like my life will be so miserable.
What is the use of living such a life that we commit suicide? So, now, somebody not picking up a phone call, such a trivial thing in a sense. There could be a hundred reasons why somebody may not pick up a phone call. But the event is just one event.
But the mind gives a spin to that event. Now, what the voice inside the head is telling whom is something which we just don’t know. Everybody has this voice inside their head and it is interpreting reality in a particular way.
So, as this voice keeps speaking, keeps speaking, keeps speaking, then whatever events are happening, the mind is actually playing multiple roles. The mind is not just an interpreter of reality in the sense that it is saying, it is telling, this is like this, this is like this, this is like this. But the mind is also filtering reality.
Filtering means it does not allow us to see certain things. Say, recently, during my last US trip, I was just driving from one place to another, one devotee was driving me. And something had happened in India which had just disturbed me very much.
And we were going through California, going from one place to another. And I was just so disturbed. I was just thinking what to do, how to respond to it.
And then, we started from the city, we started from LA, we were going to Carpentaria. And as we were going, going, you know, I was just lost in my thoughts. And then suddenly I looked and I saw this beautiful mountain, this beautiful sky, beautiful mountain, there was a sea which we could see.
It was just a spectacular sight. And then I asked the devotee who was driving me, he says, when did this start? He says, it’s 25 minutes. So, I was just so lost in my thoughts that I just didn’t notice it at all.
So, what happens here, it’s the voice inside us, not only gives us a particular story, but also blinds us to other things. So, it starts filtering the reality, we get lost in our head. And when we are lost in our head, then we just don’t see what is happening.
And sometimes this happens the most when we are chanting. Because why? Actually, the chanting is meant to control the mind. I’ll talk more about how bhakti helps in dealing with this voice inside the mind.
But unfortunately, what happens? Say, sometimes our mind seems to wander the most when we are chanting. That is for a particular reason. See, basically, the soul is here, the mind is here, and the body is here.
In the body, the tongue is there. So, when we are chanting the holy names, actually, we are not chanting. It is the tongue that is chanting, the tongue is chanting the holy names, the mind is wandering, and the soul is thinking which of the two to do.
So, most of the time what happens, the tongue goes on auto-chant mode, and the soul starts wandering with the mind. So, normally, normally, when we are doing something which requires physical attention, say, if you are driving a car through a crowded place, at that time, we need to be physically attentive, otherwise, there can be an accident. So, at that time, even if this voice inside the head is saying something, the mind is wandering here and there, we neglect it.
We focus, yes. But, say, if you are driving through a long clear road with not much traffic, not much to negotiate, then what happens? The mind starts wandering. When the physical reality does not require immediate attention, then we tend to go off at the mental level.
So, now, during chanting, we are meant to go to the spiritual level. The sound of the holy name can help us rise to the spiritual level. But unfortunately, the sound can seem sometimes very repetitious, and it may not seem very interesting.
Just like when we are driving through a clear road, it may not seem very interesting. So, when chanting, chanting the holy name doesn’t seem very interesting. On the other hand, the story that the mind is telling us, it seems much more interesting.
So, just like sometimes we drive to a place, sometimes we are lost in our thoughts, we may get into our car, start from our home, go to office, and we reach office also, and then, you know, how did I drive here? So, caught in our thoughts, we don’t even realise. We somehow, on auto mode, we went along, because it’s a predicted road, it’s a well-known road, and there’s not much disruption over there. So, we just took the right turns and got there.
So, sometimes working on the auto mode also works. It’s not necessarily a problem. But, when in chanting, we want to focus on the holy name.
The holy name is a sound which comes from the physical level. We chant with our tongue, but that sound, if you pay attention to it, it will take us to the spiritual level. But, when we don’t pay attention to it, it is the sound comes at the physical level and stays at the physical level.
Our consciousness doesn’t get invested in it. So, when during chanting, we don’t feel that there is any immediate consequence of inattentive chanting. It’s like inattentive driving can have serious consequence.
But, inattentive chanting, it also has consequence, but it doesn’t seem serious in an immediate way. So, therefore, when the mind starts telling its story, we just go off with the mind. So, it is not that the mind wanders more during chanting.
It is just that we don’t feel that the physical level requires more attention, much attention, and that’s why we go off with the mind. And, the mind works in such a way that the more attention we pay to that voice, the louder it becomes. Say, if, same situation, you know, let’s say, if I feel people don’t care for me.
Now, then the voice says, see, it’s like they forgot this, they don’t care for you. Now, if at that time, I have something important to do, let’s say, I have an important meeting to attend, I have an exam to give, I have some important assignment to complete, then although that voice is there, I will not pay attention to it. But, if I don’t have much to do, especially much that does not require my focused attention, then that voice will be there and the voice will keep speaking.
And, the more I pay attention to it, the voice starts growing. It starts growing bigger and bigger and bigger. So, it’s like sometimes we have children and some children start making faces.
All kinds of faces they make. And, they start making those faces. Now, if the parents pay some attention, the child starts making more faces, more gestures.
So, we have child making that already. So, similarly, if we pay attention to the mind, the voice that it is speaking, it just grows bigger and bigger and bigger. And, then it can consume our consciousness completely.
So, this voice inside us can be actually very dangerous. And, the way to deal with this voice is twofold. Before we go into the solution part, let me add a few points.
As I said, that the mind doesn’t just transmit a voice, but it also distorts our vision. It is not only an interpreter of reality, it is also a distorter of reality. Say, if many times cricket matches are going on or any sports matches are going on, there’s a commentary which goes on with it.
Now, when the commentary is going on, at that time, the purpose of the commentary is to help the spectators understand the match better and enjoy the match better. Okay, this match is going on like this. And, in this situation, there is this match like this.
And, this happened at that time. Let us see what happens here. So, the commentary of the cricket match, say, is meant to increase the enjoyment, increase the absorption, increase the involvement in the match.
There are events which you can see with the eyes, but then there is a voice that says, okay, this is like this. This is the situation. Now, imagine that, normally, there are the cricketers who are on the sports, on the sports field.
There is a commentator who is by the side, somewhere in the commentator’s box. And, there are spectators who are there all over the world. And, the commentary is meant for the spectators.
But, suppose, the commentary is heard by the players also. So, the batsman is batting. And, when the batsman is batting, the commentator’s commentary is also coming in the ear.
He is hearing it. There are some high-tech devices there. You can hear it.
And, say, the match is at a critical turn. And, one batsman is batting very well. And, he can take the match to victory.
But, the commentator says, actually, you know, this match is already lost. So, this batsman is the last hope. Once he gets out, everybody is going to collapse like a pile of cards.
And, this batsman is batting very well. You know, he is hitting boundaries, he is hitting sixes, scoring very well. And, the commentator says, that was just a lucky shot.
You know, soon his luck is going to run out. How long is luck going to stay? Now, actual reality is that the batsman is leading the match to victory. But, the commentator is saying, no, you are going to lose, you are going to lose, you are going to lose.
Now, here, the reality is one thing. And, the commentary, instead of enhancing the reality, is trying to distort the reality, is misshaping the reality. So, similarly, for us, the mind is a commentator.
But, in our life, we are not just spectators. We are the players. And, as the player, it is for us to act responsibly.
It is for us to act competently. But, the mind keeps giving its commentary. This is not going to work out.
Say, we go for a book distribution for the first time. Nobody is going to take books. Nobody is going to take books.
Nobody is going to listen to you. Nobody cares for you. And, if somebody takes a book also, that was just lucky.
It is not going to happen again. So, the mind keeps speaking various things. And, in that way, the mind comes between us and reality.
I am here, reality is here. The mind is meant to be the presenter of reality. But, instead of simply being a presenter, it becomes an interpreter and a distorter of reality.
It interprets it. This is like this. This is like this.
But, its interpretation is distorting. So, most of the times, when we get mentally distressed, the primary reason for this is, the mind is distorting our perception of reality. The reality may be bad also.
It is bad things do happen in life. But, the mind often aggravates the whatever bad is there. Say, if somebody has insulted us.
Now, the insult happens in one moment. And, yes, it is painful. But, suppose, say, if sometimes, we are going through some door or just, say, in an airport, if you are sitting on a seat and you rise up, suddenly rise up and if you are very tall, our head may bump against the upper wall.
Now, if the head bumps against the wall, we will move our head away. Now, do you think there will be anyone who will again hit the wall? Hit once, second time, third time, fourth time. Now, if you are hurt once, you avoid that stimulus.
We want to replay the hurt again, physical level. But, actually, at the emotional level, we keep replaying the hurt. That means, one person has insulted me.
Yes, that is hurting. But, the mind keeps replaying it. Oh, they spoke like that to you.
Oh, he must have seen it. She must have seen it. What they must have said about you.
So, not only the insult, the mind starts saying, you fool. Why didn’t you have a good comeback at that time? They spoke like that. You should have spoken like that.
And, it is a replay that just goes on and on and on. And, hurts at the emotional level are also real. It is not that my mental level is just some abstract or conceptual.
It is also, there are real effects on us. So, normally, at a physical level, we will never repeat the hurt. We will be careful to avoid it.
But, at the mental level, when one bad thing happens, the mind keeps replaying it. And, by replaying it, it aggravates the hurt. Normally, at a physical level, we will replay something if it is enjoyable.
Say, maybe 7-8 years ago, India won the cricket world cup. So, at that time, the Indian cricket captain hit a match winning sixer. So, that is, in cricket history, that is the clip that has been replayed the most.
People just keep replaying it. Oh, just see how we won the world cup. So, normally, if something is enjoyable, we replay it.
But, with respect to the mind, it sometimes just replays that which is just distressing. Now, why does it do like this? So, Krishna says, this is determination in the mode of ignorance. या सोप्नं भयं शोकं विशादं मदमेवच नविमुञ्चति धुर्मेदा धुर्ती सापार्थ तामसी तामसी, तामसी means in the mode of ignorance.
So, धुर्ती means determination. So, normally, we consider determination as something very positive. So, to hold on to something, even when there is difficulty, that is called determination.
But, if I hold on to something worthwhile, that is good. If I am falling down from a cliff and somebody throws a rope and I catch hold of the rope. Now, even if there are blisters on my hand and my hand is bleeding, should I hold on to it? Because it’s a matter of life or death for me.
So, holding on amidst difficulty, something which is important is determination. But suppose, I am sitting comfortably in my house and I hold on to some sharp object which is causing tears to my hand, is causing me bleeding. Holding on to that is stupidity.
So, determination in the mode of ignorance is the perverse of determination. It leads to our holding on to things which are unwanted, which are unhealthy. Our holding on to things which actually hurt us.
So, this happens at the mental level when we keep replaying, again and again, the things that have gone wrong. So, Krishna says, शोकम् भयम् means fear. शोक means lamentation.
So, broadly speaking, you see, there are two major categories of mental health problems that people have. One is anxiety. Anxiety started shooting up or at least people’s experience of anxiety started shooting up since the 1960s.
But now, another mental health problem which has now become a close competitor, sometimes superseded anxiety, is depression. So, now, if we consider from this model of the voice speaking inside us, what is the nature of anxiety and what is the nature of depression? Basically, we are experiencing reality right now. So, physically, things are in front of us and we are experiencing it.
But when the mind starts replaying something that may go wrong in the future, this may go wrong, that may go wrong, that may go wrong, that may go wrong, that may go wrong. And as it keeps replaying it again and again and again, then that starts causing anxiety. So, this may go wrong.
And what happens? 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. And then the mind goes inside. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Thinking about the future in order to plan for it, to prepare for it is good. But in this case, when the mind starts replaying it or the mind has both visual and audio.
It speaks, look at that. Just see, this is going to go wrong, that is going to go wrong, this will go wrong, this will go wrong. So, it starts replaying like that.
Then we get anxiety. We get a panic attack. We get completely overwhelmed.
And then it can become a serious problem when you just become overwhelmed. Because at that particular time, the mind just is going crazy. Just looking at this wrong, this wrong, this wrong, this wrong.
Now, right now, physically, actually, nothing may be wrong. Physically, I may be perfectly calm. But it is just the mind, the voice inside that this will go wrong, this will go wrong, this will go wrong.
And thus, we get overwhelmed by anxiety. It said that, I write articles, I write articles on the Gita every day, GitaDigital.com. So, one of the articles I wrote there was, the worry is like the interest that we pay on loans we haven’t yet taken. It’s a future problem, which may not even happen.
But it’s an interest we are paying on a loan. Nobody would do at physical level, but we do at the mental level. So, anxiety happens when the mind starts replaying worst case scenarios from the past, future.
And conversely, depression happens, then the mind starts replaying all the bad things that have happened to us. See, this person did like this. See, this went like, this went wrong like that.
You know, yourself made this mistake over here. See, this went wrong, this went wrong. Now, in all our lives, things have gone wrong at times.
But the very fact that we are alive means some things have gone right also. Otherwise, we wouldn’t even be alive. Now, how many people die by the age of 20, 25, 30, 40? There are countries in the world, especially in Africa, where the average human age is less than 40.
So, basically, the point is that, actually, there are many things that have gone wrong in our life and many things that have gone right also in our life. But when depression happens, the mind starts replaying this went wrong, that went wrong, that went wrong, that went wrong. And then it says, see, all these things went wrong in your life, and the future is going to be more of the same only.
And then, you just get completely de-energised. Just get completely exhausted. Sometimes, when we wake up in the morning, fresh, but there is this voice that goes on, you know, see, this person did like this, this went wrong.
And then within two, three hours, without having done much work, you feel tired, can’t do anything. So here, it is the mind that is drained of physical energy. Actually, the voice in the head, it has real effects on us.
The effects are not just circumstantial or casual. But actually, real problems can happen to us if we do not learn to manage this voice inside us. So, now, how do we go about managing this voice? Broadly speaking, there are three aspects to it.
First is identifying the voice. If I don’t even identify, this is a voice inside me, this is speaking to me, but I don’t have to listen to it. This voice is different from me.
If you don’t even identify the mind, then there is no way of rectifying it. There is no way of minimising its influence on it or preventing it from influencing us. So, identifying the voice is the first step.
We will talk later about how to go about doing this. But the first step is identifying it. The second step is focussing on something other than this voice.
Actually, we can’t silence the voice. It is always going to speak. But depending on how much attention we give to it, it will grow louder.
If we don’t give attention to it, it will become softer. So, we need to have something worthwhile to focus on. So, first is identification.
Second is engagement. If we focus, we engage ourselves on something constructive. And then third is challenging the voice.
Not challenging in the sense of combating the voice. We don’t want two voices to be fighting inside our head. Challenging means that this is not the only reality.
It is a different take to reality. So, we need to have some other source of knowledge inside us which gives us, we need to have some other source of knowledge accessible to us which helps us see that I am seeing reality like this. But actually, it may not be like this.
It can be something different also. And the more we learn to give credibility to this alternative source of knowledge, the more we learn to hear that voice, the more this voice will become softer. In fact, this is actually ultimately the voice of Guru Sadhu Shastra, the voice of scripture, sages, and spiritual master.
And the wonderful thing is if this voice we keep hearing it more and more, not only does this voice start influencing us more, but actually this voice changes the mind’s voice also. The mind will over a period of time become our friend. The Bhagavad Gita says that that for those who have learned to control the mind, the mind becomes their friend.
So, it is possible for us to make the mind into our friend. So, I will today speak briefly on these three points, but tomorrow’s class will be elaborating these three points. Now, identify, identifying, engagement, engaging ourselves and connecting with the alternative source of knowledge.
So, the Bhagavad Gita in the 14th chapter tells us that it talks about three modes of material nature. And there it says we should become an observer of our consciousness. That various stimuli will come inside us, just be a detached observer.
In 14.22 and 23, it says that sometimes you just feel cheerful and clear, sometimes you will feel passionate and pushed. Come on, do this, do this. What are you doing with your life? Come on, run here, do this, adapt.
Sometimes moha. What is the need to do anything? Just become apathetic. Just don’t feel like doing anything at all.
In Hindi, it is a chalta hai. Then whatever is happening, let it happen. Don’t bother about it.
So, all these different kinds of inputs will come into us. When they come in, Krishna says, just observe them. They’ll come in, they will go.
Don’t identify with them. How can we not identify with them? That is by understanding that we are souls. Understanding that we are different from the various thoughts that are coming inside us, the various emotions that are coming inside us, the various voices that are speaking inside us.
We are the soul. We are different from that. Then later on, this is 14.22 and 23, in 14.27, Krishna says, ultimately how do we go beyond all these voices inside us? They speak because of the three modes of material nature.
I’ll talk about the modes more tomorrow also. But he says the way to do that is by steady bhakti, by constant engagement in bhakti. He says that if we become purposefully engaged, firmly engaged in the practise of bhakti, that means this voice is speaking, but no matter what the voice speaks, I’m going to serve Krishna.
Now serving Krishna is not just chanting the holy names or worshipping the deities. Serving Krishna is an inclusive activity. All our life’s activities we can do in a mood of service to Krishna.
So when we become engaged in this way, in something that is valuable for us, something that is more important for us, all of us have this voice inside us and all of us have the capacity to turn away from this voice. Like earlier I gave the example, if I’m driving a car, if there is a lot of traffic, then even if my mind is showing something, saying something, we put it aside and we focus on what I’m going to do. Just like say if I have an exam in one hour and my computer gives a notification.
Hey, your friend has posted a picture. Okay, later. If the exam is after six months, okay, let me see what is the picture.
So now that means the notification may still come, but it depends on us whether we respond to the notification or not. Same way, we have the capacity to put the mind aside, put the mind’s work aside, if we have something urgent and purposeful to do. So that cultivating that sense of purposefulness and engaging ourselves, that Krishna says is the way to transcend the moods.
And then in the same 13th chapter, in the previous chapter, he says that ultimately how do you go beyond the illusion of this world? By hearing. This is a beautiful word over here, this is 13.26. He says, that those who become attached to hearing. Bhagavatam uses the word those are devoted to Narayana or Vasudeva.
Here Krishna is using that, yes, we will become devoted to Narayana, but before that we have to become devoted to hearing. Hearing means, he said, we hear from scripture, we hear from sadhus. So when we hear this and we take the input from there, then the result of hearing will be, Krishna says, one will even go beyond the cycle of birth and death.
It is the mind and its propositions, come on, enjoy this, enjoy this, that keeps our consciousness consumed in the material level. But when we learn to hear regularly, we realise that there’s a higher, better, richer reality and a higher, better, better, richer life waiting for me in connection with that higher reality. If I connect with Krishna, there’s a better life for me.
And as we start connecting more and more with Krishna, then the mind itself gets transformed. And over a period of time, the scriptural message gets internalised within us. So even if we are not hearing the scripture externally, still the replay of the scripture message goes on.
Instead of the mind replaying unwanted stimuli, actually it is the words of the sadhus, the words of scripture that start replaying within us. And that’s the time when we become empowered. Empowered to not only counter the mind’s influence on us, but empowered to help others counter the mind’s influence on them.
And that is when we become agents of positive change. Helping people protect themselves from the distress caused by their minds and of course helping ourselves to minimise the distress that is caused by our mind. Krishna Prabhupada was such a messenger.
He brought the voice of scripture far and wide all over the world. He has given us access to the knowledge of the Bhagavad Gita. And by this knowledge, if we understand and apply it properly, we all can minimise the aggravation of life’s distress by the mind’s commentary on that distress.
And thus we can move forward in our life journey with minimum agitation and ultimately to the best destination by Sri Prabhupada’s and Krishna’s grace. So I’ll summarise what I spoke and then we can have some questions. I spoke today about focussing on life, not on the mind’s commentary on life.
I talked about how there’s a voice inside us which we need to manage. So sometimes having a voice speaking inside us can be seen as a sign of a mental health disorder. But at a normal level, we all have this voice.
And this voice sometimes misreads reality. Like when I was speaking in public, I was speaking too fast and the mind said, in order to catch attention, speak even faster. So in this way, the mind, it misreads reality.
So what exactly is the mind? I talked about this body, mind, soul, like the hardware, software and user. This software keeps giving a pop-up. Usually they come as visual, but sometimes they come as audio also.
So like that the mind keeps giving us audio and visual notifications. And if we start paying attention to it, we get carried away by it. So the notification might just be one simple thing.
But the mind interprets it, gives a spin to it. And what spin the mind will give for whom it’s unpredictable. Say, if one person doesn’t speak nicely to us, see people don’t care for you.
And then this goes on and on. So much so that somebody not responding to a phone call can make a person want to commit suicide. So this voice inside us can not only hurt us, it can kill us.
And why is this voice inside us so malevolent? Actually, that voice inside us is simply the programming that we have. Just like a software keeps giving us certain promptings based on whatever we have seen earlier. Similarly, the mind keeps giving us these voices.
So it’s basically like a software which having multiple voices in it is not a problem. It’s like we have foreground awareness of what we want to do and we also have background awareness. So we need both this foreground and background awareness for effective functioning in the world.
Like while driving, we focus on the road inside, but we have to look at the big picture also. But the mind’s voice sometimes distorts our sense of perspective. That means that which should be in the background, suddenly that comes in the foreground.
And then the normal functioning of the mind becomes distorted. So, say when we are chanting, if at the physical level, we don’t require immediate attention, then the mental level becomes very strong. It’s like while driving, if we don’t have anything to focus on, the mind starts wandering and we wander with it.
So during chanting, because we feel the physical doesn’t require much attention, there’s no consequence of not paying attention, the mind seems to wander more and more. And the mind can act not only as an interpreter of reality, but also as a distorter of reality. If we are agitated, we may go into a beautiful scenery, but we don’t see the scenery at all, because the mind is just acting like a filter.
So a player who is playing a match, but the commentator starts giving the opposite spin, then the player will become disheartened. Similarly, we are going through our life, in our life, we are the players, the mind is the commentator. And the mind can just make us completely disheartened, even when we have the ability to do things, even when things are good, the mind can make us feel that they are bad.
So the mind is the voice inside us, and we can’t just silence this voice. But we need to manage it. And managing it, there are three aspects to it.
First is identify it. And we just understand, okay, this voice inside me, it is not me. It’s someone different from me.
And I have to evaluate it. Sometimes it may give good suggestions. Most of the time, it gives bad suggestions.
So I have to evaluate. So first step is identify. Second is engagement.
Krishna says, become an observer of your consciousness, see what emotions are coming inside it. And there is engagement, be fixed in devotional service to me. When we do that, then we start seeing that the more attention we pay to the mind, the voice becomes bigger.
The less attention we pay, the voice becomes smaller, just like a child whose antics are not paid attention to the child becomes silent. So and lastly, we hear a better voice, we access higher knowledge. And by this, not only does the not only does do we understand reality better, but also the mind also understand the better and stops misinterpreting it.
So by by intelligence, identifying the mind by keeping engaged as engaged purposefully, and by regularly hearing the voice of scripture, till it becomes internalised within us. That is the way by which we can manage the disturbing inner voices. And this three part solution.
I’ll elaborate more with examples in tomorrow’s class. Are there any questions or comments? Okay, yes, it’s a good question. When the mind is so loud, does the super soul intervene? Yes, the super soul is always there with us.
At the same time, the super soul has given all of us free will. So depending on whether we in the past by our actions have shown the super soul, I want to hear you or I don’t want to hear you. So if repeatedly we are, I don’t, I’m not interested in hearing you, then the super soul voice becomes mute.
It is not that super soul doesn’t want to help us, but the super soul doesn’t interfere with our free will. So if we are regularly hearing Krishna, say the super soul can speak inside us, but the super soul can also speak through Guru Sadhu Shastra externally. The same super soul is manifesting when we chant the holy names.
So when we are doing our devotional activity nicely and are trying to connect with Krishna, at least showing Krishna that we want to connect with him, then those actions will lead to when the mind starts speaking something, the super soul will speak and we’ll be able to hear it. So there’s this beautiful explanation of mattah smritir jnanam apohanam ca. 15.15 Krishna says, I give remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness.
So now when does, about what does Krishna give remembrance and what does he give forgetfulness? That depends on our desires. If my, if my driving desire in life is to serve Krishna, but sometimes mundane desires, anti-demotional desires start coming up. So when those desires come up, if I’m determined to, if I’m steadily serving Krishna, then over a period of time, Krishna will give me remembrance of the joy of Krishna consciousness.
And he will give me, that smriti will be of remembrance of the joy of Krishna consciousness and the vismriti, apohana, the forgetfulness will be of the pleasure of material life. So when that happens, then this voice becomes completely disempowered. It’s like some people, they’re speaking and they have lost their voice.
Their lips are moving, but no sound is coming. So when Krishna does his magic inside us, the mind may speak, but no voice comes out of it. So that is, that is, that is a state when we are liberated from this troubling voice inside us.
So that’s when we consistently practise bhakti, Krishna does that. But if we are only intermittently and half-heartedly practising bhakti, and we also want to do worldly things a lot, then we may hear scripture a lot, but when the temptation comes, at that time, seeing our desire, Krishna reciprocates. And he reciprocates, what does he do? He gives us forgetfulness of the voice of scripture and he gives us remembrance of the pleasures of the world.
So Krishna basically reciprocates with our desire. So it is very difficult for us to always be Krishna conscious when the mind starts screaming. But what we can do is, in the intervening period, whenever the mind is not distracting us, that time we can try to practise bhakti as seriously as we can.
So if during those times we show Krishna, I want to hear you, I want to be conscious of you, then at other times when the mind’s voice is making consciousness of him impossible, at that time Krishna will see what is our majority desire and he will reciprocate accordingly. It may happen immediately, it may happen after some time. So the super soul’s voice is there, but the super soul will interrupt the mind’s voice only if we have shown him that we want it to be interrupted.
But if we have repeatedly shown that this is what I want to do and I don’t care who says what, then the super soul will give a hands-off approach. So the instruction of the spiritual master gets you off the mind? Yes, definitely. It’s vital for us.
So the more we hear the instruction of the spiritual master, the more not only do we get guided properly, but over a period of time our mind also gets guided properly. So the instruction of the spiritual master is life-saving. At the same time, the instruction of the spiritual master is not just one thing.
Sometimes somebody would say, oh, my spiritual master has told me to preach or my spiritual master told me to distribute books. That’s true, but ultimately the spiritual master’s instruction is that become conscious of Krishna. And Prabhupada asks, what pleases you the most? He says, if you love Krishna, that pleases me the most.
So in that sense, some of us may feel, oh, I don’t have any instruction from the spiritual master. How can I? No, but there are many standing instructions that are already given. And to the extent we, the soul by nature is subordinate always.
If the soul doesn’t obey Guru and Krishna, the soul will have to obey the mind. But the more we start obeying Guru and Krishna, more we start taking their words seriously, the more the mind’s voice will become lesser. Thank you.
You’ve given such a practical good analysis of how our mind is either helping or stopping our progress. Krishna says in the Gita, for one who has conquered his mind, liberation is already open. Yes, it is already reached.
But yet, it’s just like by our karma, we get a certain type of body, good things, not so good things, and by our karma, we get a certain quality of mind. And we can see some devotees, they are naturally attracted to Krishna, and they have no problem with their minds. Well, very minimal problem.
And they go and get a deeper case very quickly. And other devotees, after decades, they’re still having distractions or fall downs or problems. So we have the mind that we deserve by our past karma.
But it seems that Krishna’s name is Hari, which means he takes away all the bad things in our minds and whatever, externally and internally, Krishna’s making good things for his devotees. So Krishna’s certainly improving our mind and helping us develop bodhi, like proper discrimination and like that. Perhaps we’ll be able to discuss that tomorrow.
Yes. Thank you for the comment. Sometimes some people seem to have a mind which doesn’t distract them at all or very little.
And some people’s mind troubles them a lot. Yes. All our minds have some conditionings.
And I’d say that sooner or later, everybody is troubled by their minds. It may just be that people who are in the mode of goodness, the troubles may not be that easily visible. Those who are in the mode of passion and exuberance, the troubles are more easily visible.
Say for example, somebody is in goodness, the mind can make them proud of their goodness. So that is also, that ego is also a problem that comes because of the mind ultimately. Sometimes, sometimes having an undisturbed mind can make one complacent and can make one feel that I don’t need Krishna.
So I have one of my uncles, he’s Australian. I believe God exists. He’s happy there.
I’m happy here. So it’s that one of the tricks of the mind also is that it makes us feel that our mind, no, that is also possible, but otherwise that it may also make us feel, oh, you know, others don’t have as much problems as I have. Self-pity, you could say.
Even with respect to the mind, my mind troubles much more than others’ minds. And therefore, for others to practise bhakti is easy, for me it is difficult. And therefore, others will practise, I can’t practise.
So in that way, see, basically the mind will find some way or the other to discourage us in bhakti. So we may, if we start, if we start doing spiritual life, the mind will say, sometimes we start doing our sadhana bhakti, we start doing seva a lot. Mind says, hey, what about your family? What about your financial responsibilities? What about this? What about that? And then, OK, then we start doing them diligently.
Mind says, ultimately all this is temporary. Why are you spending so much time on this? You should practise bhakti. So especially students, I’ve seen that.
What happens when we are bringing Krishna bhakti to students? Throughout the semester they sometimes come for programmes, sometimes they don’t come for programmes. And then, sometimes it happens for some students, just a few days before the exam, when they have to study intensively, they start saying, you know, actually, all this, this is mundane knowledge. This is mundane knowledge.
And they develop a great love for Ramayana, Mahabharata, Leela Amrit. I just want to read that. This is spiritual.
But even there, they don’t want to read philosophy. They want to read some stories. Yeah, basically, the mind always wants to look for the path of least resistance.
So, sometimes when spiritual life appears to be the path of less resistance than material life, the mind says, practise spiritual life. And when spiritual life starts encountering some resistance, it says, come on, go to material life. It’s so much easier.
So, whichever way we go, we go from material to spiritual, from spiritual to material. We ask them, what do you want? I want you to be miserable. So, whatever the mind we have, we can take it this way, that although this mind is troubling me, but this mind, Krishna knows that even from this situation, Krishna can get me to Him.
So, if our mind is undistracted, it doesn’t distract as much, we can say, this clear mind is my opportunity by which I can serve Krishna more. If my mind is distracting, you can say, the distracting mind is my opportunity to feel the need for Krishna and to urgently take shelter of Krishna. So, that way, whatever be our situation, instead of feeling that others are better or I am worse, we can simply use, we can simply take the situation as an impetus for intensifying our bhakti.
Thank you. What about two things, intuition and faith? So, is that a voice in our head? Is that something beyond the mind? Is it from the heart? Because the faith, the bhakti that we have is helping us to transcend the mind. Yeah, good questions.
So, if we talk about the voice in the head is coming from the mind, then what about intuition and faith? As I said, the mind is not always our enemy. The mind has impressions within us, within it. And broadly speaking, the impressions can be of two kinds.
Again, terms may vary. I just use terms as handles to talk about concepts. You can say there are instincts and there are impulses.
So, impulses are those which are anti-intelligent. We impulsively shout at someone. We impulsively do this or do that.
So, impulses prompt us to act without new intelligence, whereas instincts are like programmed intelligence. So, some people, you bring them to a new house and they intuitively say, okay, you move the sofa here, you put a curtain of this colour over here, you paint it this way, this house will look very beautiful. Some other people come and they look at the house for days, they stay in the house, they can’t figure out how to make it look better.
Sometimes, they have, you could say that home design instinct. There is a gift from nature. So, some people, you know, with respect to somebody, the Vaishya mentality, then you give them money, they will count 100 notes in a few seconds, they count it.
Somebody, maybe it’s a Brahmana, they’re counting, the notes fall off, they just can’t do it. So, basically, by our past impressions, we are good at some things and we just get it at that time. Some people, they’re good at language.
Just look at one essay, you rewrite like this, start over here, change the sentence like this, use this word. And say, if somebody is making a poster, somebody spends one hour trying to get good words for the poster, and somebody is in five minutes, makes it brilliant. So, we all have these instincts.
So, these are like programmed intelligence. So, now, it’s very difficult for us to know which voice is coming from where. What we can look at is, rather than the source, the destination.
Where does this voice take me? So, if this voice is helping me to do things in a better way, then that’s good. If this voice is making things worse for me, then it’s bad. So, sometimes, some people are driving, they just get an instinct.
Okay, this person is driving in a crazy way, I think he may be drunk, let me move aside. And actually, that person just veers off the course. So, that’s a voice inside us, whether it is a super soul’s voice, or our own instinct, we don’t have to bother about that.
It’s very difficult, as I said, to know the source. But as we go through our life, we can, ourselves, by some self-observation, understand that these are things we get quickly. And I get it right.
So, then we can use that. So, our intuition can be just our own instincts, as our programmed intelligence. Or our intuition can be the voice of the super soul, guiding us specifically.
So, both are fine. But rather than categorising which is which, we focus on whether it is taking us in a positive direction. And we accept it.
We heed it. And as far as faith is concerned, faith is a different ballgame. Faith basically means that even when things seem negative right now, things will be positive.
Faith can have many different meanings. One is that if I keep serving Krishna, everything will work out right in the future. So, even if bad things are happening, Krishna will bring good out of the bad.
So, that faith is basically related with the understanding, the mind is giving a particular spin to reality. But our faith helps us see things in a positive, hopeful, optimistic light. So, the faith is something which we, some of us have from our past lives, some of us have to cultivate.
The more we practise bhakti, our faith becomes stronger. And when the faith becomes stronger, then even when bad things are happening, even when the mind is giving a bad spin to those things, our faith will keep us looking for the silver lining. It will keep us moving forward with positivity.
Actually, Prabhupada faced so many reversals. He tried to spread Krishna Bhakti in India. His Bhagavad Gita commentary was stolen and sold off as garbage.
His bohis, he tried to distribute back to Godhead. A cow came and hit him and knocked him down. He tried to start a league of devotees and he was practically kicked out of there by a clique of people.
He tried to work with his God brothers, but they had a constricted vision and they would not let him do any much. So, time after time after time, he got so much discouragement. But his faith was that this is what my spiritual master wants me to do, let me do it.
And with that faith he pursued. So, faith is something which is a very vital asset. That means, even when everything around us seems dark, faith is what keeps our eyes looking for the glimmer of light in the distance.
And that’s what keeps us moving. No, intelligence is super soul, you talked about it. Super soul is behind intelligence.
Super soul is coming from the passenger and intelligence has a responsibility to take the soul, not super soul. I explained that, yeah. To the proper place.
Yes. So, when I, yeah. So, when I. But somehow you are telling the intelligence inside that.
Ok, I will explain that. Let’s take one thing at a time. Then we will take the second thing.
So, I talked about how to manage the voice of the mind inside us. But I did not talk much about the intelligence. See, different metaphors have different purposes.
So, consider for example, the soul, the body, a car metaphor. In the body as a car metaphor, the soul is considered to be the driver. So, here the purpose of this metaphor is simply to illustrate that there is something beyond the physical level of reality.
Now, if you go to the chariot body metaphor, in that the soul becomes the passenger, not the driver. The driver is the intelligence. The chariot body metaphor is not meant to just talk about how there is a soul beyond the body.
Chariot body metaphor’s purpose is to talk about how the soul interacts with the body. Its focus is to illustrate the mechanism by which the soul and the body interact with each other. So, within, so you could say at the level of the software and the interface, there is both the mind and the intelligence.
Now, the metaphor which I used of the hardware, the software and the user. This is just a contemporary metaphor which relates with our experience much more. How many of us regularly go in a chariot and use a chariot here? Very rarely, isn’t it? So, this is something which we easily relate with.
Now, in the software itself, so there are, if you see the body is physical reality, the mind is subtle reality and the soul is spiritual reality. So, just like the hardware is something physically tangible. The software is not physically tangible, but still it’s real.
But the user is a different category of existence. So, the word mind is sometimes used generically to refer to the whole subtle level of reality. So, matter, mind and consciousness.
So, in this case, the mind refers to the subtle level of reality. The difference between the mind, intelligence and ego, it is more functional than structural. That means, if you consider earth, water, fire, they are made of different natures.
But the mind, intelligence and ego, all three are subtle. So, it’s considered if I’m using a computer, I have an operating system, then I have some programme that I have installed and maybe there is some virus which is infected with my computer. Now, all three are software.
But the way they act is different. The operating system creates the basic system interface, my particular programme that are there, the user installed programmes, they customise the software for particular purpose that we want and the viruses work in a negative way. So, similarly, we could say, in this case, from a structural point of view, there is no difference between these various softwares.
It’s from a functional point of view. So, similarly, in the mind, intelligence and ego, we could say the ego is like the basic operating system. It’s a rough analogy.
The intelligence is like the programme that we have installed for doing what we want to do. But all the other unwanted programmes that are installed, like the virus, what happened? Is it on? Hare Krishna. Is it on? The viruses are like the mind.
So, now, again, as I said, Krishna also said the mind can be our friend. So, it’s not that Krishna uses all of these at the same time. That means, in the third chapter when Krishna is talking about the hierarchy inside us, he talks about Indriyani Paranyahur Indriyabhya Parammana Manasastu Parabuddhe Yo Buddhe Paratastu Sa It’s about the body and the senses.
About the senses is the mind. About the mind is the intelligence. About the intelligence is the soul proper.
Here he doesn’t talk about the ego. Why? Because in this particular analysis, that is not relevant. Talking about how the mind and senses distort us and the intelligence we can use to control it.
So, each metaphor has its particular purpose. So, when I was talking about the metaphor today, I was basically, my focus was on understanding that there is a subtle level of reality. And that subtle level of reality distorts our perception.
Just as when a virus infects the computer, the virus is software. If I want to remove the virus, I have to get an antivirus programme, which is also software. But it is functionally different.
So, rather than saying, earlier I said it’s a very rough metaphor to call the mind like a virus, because the mind also has positive impressions within it. So, we could say that the negative impressions at the subtle level, they are like the virus. And whatever positivity, positive impressions, positive instructions, positive directions, we get in the subtle body, that is like the intelligence.
That is what is like the antivirus programme. So, from a functional perspective, we can differentiate between the mind and intelligence. But for this particular metaphor, my purpose entirely was to talk about how there is a subtle level of reality, which distorts our perception.
And the whole talk, as I said, its purpose was to nourish our intelligence. So, who is going to identify that the mind is doing like this? That is going to be the intelligence. Who is going to say, okay, this is not this important, let me focus on practising bhakti.
That is the intelligence. Who is going to say, okay, instead of hearing the mind, hear the voice of guru. That is the intelligence.
So, it is at the software level, there is the corrupting software and there is also the correcting software. So, we could broadly characterise the corrupting software with the mind and the correcting software with the intelligence. But because the mind also has good things within it.
That is why I just use the mind generically over here to refer to the subtle level of reality. But the intelligence is, we could say, the part of the software that can correct the corruption within software. Thank you.
Does anyone else have any questions? We will come back to you. So, the soul and the super soul, is there a difference between the two? Yes, actually, see the spiritual level of reality is something which we cannot directly perceive. So, many people who are on the spiritual path, when they intuit that there is something beyond this world.
This world is temporary and there is something beyond that. So, the primary perception of the spiritual level is that there is some reality beyond that. But as we move forwards, then we start perceiving that in that reality also, there can be gradations.
Just like, say, if we are walking on a road in dark, the darkness blinds us. But sometimes, if, say, suddenly a vehicle comes, a big truck comes with its high glare on, then even the light blinds us. So, although the light illumines, is normally meant to illumine, but sometimes the light can also blind.
So, there can be, you could say, darkness that blinds and there can be brightness also that blinds. So, the brightness does give light, but it doesn’t help us to see clearly. But once our eyes get adapted to that light, then you can say, okay, it’s not just brightness.
Okay, there is a truck coming over here, there are trees over here, there is a road over here. That variegatedness we start seeing. So, for most of us, for most people on the spiritual path, when they start from the material level of reality, which is like darkness, and they come to the spiritual level, the first perception is that they are blinded by the brightness.
They understand there is a big light, but they perceive it all as one. But as one gets habituated to the spiritual reality, then one starts perceiving more clearly. And one understands that there is differentiation over there.
So, there is this, you are a soul, I am a soul, we are all individual souls. And beyond us, there is a super soul. So, in the Ishopanishad, there is a verse which says, My dear Lord, please remove the white curtain around you.
Hiranyamayena patrena, sathya saapihitam mukham, tattampooshanapavaronu, sathya dharmaya dhrishtaye. So, at that time, please remove this so that, there is a black darkness, we could say, darkness, but there is also the brightness. So, please remove the brightness, so that I can discern you clearly.
Hare Krishna. Thank you. Yes, ma’am.
Okay. Okay. Okay.
Okay. Right. I think yes, that’s a good idea.
So, shall we? I think I will be talking about it tomorrow, more in detail. Last question? Comment or something? Can you make a comment on what Sri Bhakti Siddhanta said? That the first thing in the morning should be to beat our mind with broomstick hundred times and at night hundred times with shoes. Okay.
Yeah. So, what does Sri Bhakti Siddhanta first say when he says that beat the mind with a broomstick or beat the mind with a shoe, say, in the morning and the evening? Basically, the broomstick is an object for cleaning. And the shoe, you could say, is an object for disciplining.
So, if you see, cleaning, the common metaphor used is also cheto-darpana-marjanam. So, clean the consciousness. So, in the mind, there are negative desires, the negative voices, the negative images.
So, we chant the holy names and infuse our consciousness with Krishna. So, then, as the holy name comes in, it brings in positive spiritual impressions in the consciousness. And the negatives start going out by that.
So, Bhagavatam is also the example that hearing is like fresh rain water. A pond or a river might be dirty because of much soil and sedimentation. When rains come in, then the dirty water goes away and the water becomes clean.
So, using a broom on the mind means we drive out the negativity and bring in the positivity into the mind. And using a shoe basically means that it’s more of disciplining. In any part of training, there is some amount of education that has to be given.
This is what you should do. And there is some amount of discipline as well. This is what you should not do.
So, that is, the shoe represents the foot of the spiritual master. Or it represents the instructions of the spiritual master. So, the spiritual master has to tell us, you should not be doing this, you should be doing this.
So, at one level, just engaging in the process of bhakti vaisya, bringing positivity into our consciousness. And also equipping ourselves with the intelligence coming from the spiritual master, so that we know what is the right thing to do and what is not the wrong thing to do. And not only know, but when the mind starts doing the wrong thing, we learn to counter it.
We learn to silence it. So, shoe represents, we could say, disciplining. And the broom represents cleaning.
So, by these, we can learn to channel our mental energy, so that it helps us in our bhakti and doesn’t work against our bhakti. So, thank you very much. Shloparupa dekhi.
Gaur bhakta vindaki. Gaur premanandai. Thank you.
Thank you, Prabhu. Thank you so much. If you are coming to give Bhagavatam tomorrow?