Changing the default settings of our mind
Hare Krishna. So, I'll speak now on this topic of what your phone can teach you about your mind.
I'll speak maybe for half an hour and then we can have some questions. Now, the mind is a word that is multivalent. We use the word mind in many different senses.
Say, we may say that if a child is not studying, the teacher may say, give this your full mind. That means he is using the word mind to refer to attention. If somebody comes up with a crazy idea, have you lost your mind? There we use the word mind to refer to intelligence.
Why are you talking something so unintelligent? Also, we may use the word mind to refer in general to the intellectual faculty. Einstein was one of the greatest minds of the last century. Now, we also use the word mind to refer to something that is inside us.
That my mind is feeling dissatisfied. So, now the Bhagavad Gita uses the word mind in a specific sense. All these are different meanings which are applicable in different contexts.
One of the aspects of philosophy of language is that the meanings of words are not frozen in dictionaries. The meanings of words are actually embedded in contexts. So, in the Bhagavad Gita's context, the mind refers to a specific thing.
So, the Bhagavad Gita tells us that our existence is three-level. There is the body, there is the mind, and there is the soul. So, the body is like the hardware of a computer.
The mind is like the software. And the soul is like the user. So, now our phone is also like a computer.
The phone can do practically all the things nowadays which you can do with a computer, except for the typing with the size. But otherwise, you could do most of the things with the phone. So, now the mind as I said is the interface between the body and the soul.
So, the present existence that we have, we often identify ourselves with the body. Say, I am South Indian, I am North Indian, I am male, I am female. And these are our identities.
But they are our functional identities. Say, today somebody might be an engineer. Tomorrow they may change their profession and they may become an artist.
Today somebody might be an Indian. They may change their nationality and they may become an American. So, all these identities that we have, they are functional.
The Bhagavad Gita tells us that beyond this functional identity, we have a fundamental identity that is unchangeable. And that fundamental identity is the Atma, the soul. And this soul is something which is eternal.
Just like in today's world, say, often people like to show their phones. Especially if somebody has a very expensive phone, they have to show. I have this smart phone, just see how smart I am.
That's the idea. So, the idea is that we often… people identify themselves with their phone and we may often also get a first estimate or a first guess of a person's nature by looking at their phones. Now, the phone is something which is visible.
But the phone is changeable. When the phone changes, the person still remains the same. I may have one phone today, I may have another phone tomorrow.
But I remain the same. So, the phone, the physical structure of the phone is like the physical body which we have. And the Bhagavad Gita says that the body changes.
The change of the body is something which happens continuously. Scientists have found that our whole body keeps changing continuously. All the cells in the body change every seven years.
Not even one cell that we had seven years ago, we have. And yet, we remain the same. In the past, some scientists thought that actually, the brain cells don't change.
Whatever brain cells we have at birth, they only degenerate and die. But the brain cells remain as it is. That was how they thought we have steady memories, we have a steady sense of identity, we have continuity, a sense of continuity in our existence.
All that happens through the brain, through the constancy of the brain cells. But then, now scientists have found brain cells also die. Not only die, new cells are also created.
And in fact, the brain cells also get replaced periodically. But this raises a fundamental question. Say, if I have a piece of paper, and I write a message on the piece of paper, and then I start removing every single atom that makes that piece of paper.
And after removing all the atoms, if all the atoms are replaced, when I find the message is still there on it, say, how did that happen? How could, after all the atoms are removed on the paper, the message remain the same? That would mean the message was not just written over there. The message was also written somewhere else from which it was repeatedly being stamped back onto the paper. So, all the cells in our brain change.
And yet our memories remain the same. Sometimes we may show our friends our childhood photos. Ask me, recognise me over there.
Especially a childhood school photo is there. Now recognise me. Who is there over here? Who am I? Which one is I? And they find it difficult to recognise.
They will say, okay, is that you? No, I am that. Hey, you look so different. No, I think now your eyes are similar.
Now I can see the similarity. So, here we can see that I have changed so much. So, there is something which has changed, there is something which is unchanged.
So, who is the you that has stayed unchanged? That you which has stayed unchanged is the soul. The body keeps changing, but the soul remains the same. The hardware, the phone's physical structure, we may change the phone, but the person remains the same.
The user of the phone remains the same. Now going further, more specifically to our discussion, it is not about the body and the soul. Our discussion is primarily about the mind.
So, the mind is like the software. Now when we use a phone repeatedly, say, we after we get a new phone, we may log into it using our Gmail ID. Now as soon as we log into it, what happens is that all the bookmarks we may have had, all the preferences we have chosen, all the settings we have made based on our account, they all get transferred over here.
And then say if we have done a particular kind of Google searches, then those Google searches start appearing on our new phone again. So, if say, I had earlier bookmarked some site which I like to read for news, say Washington Post. As soon as I type W, immediately the Washington Post will come.
Now somebody may have the same brand of phone as I have, but if they type W, that may not come. Because they may not have bookmarked that site, they may not have visited that site. So the as soon as the phone gets logged in with the particular ID, then all those settings get transferred.
So these software settings which are actually software settings, these are like the mind. You see, all of us, we have different interests. We have different inclinations.
We are all unique individuals. And what makes us unique at a physical level, you see we all look different, that is true. But even if we consider those who look physically similar or even physically identical, say twins, even the twins who are physically identical, among twins also there are two kinds of twins.
There are specifically monozygotic twins, where there is one zygote which is created, where one egg and a sperm unite, and one zygote is formed, and then that zygote splits into two. That means these two kids who are born, they are not just similar, their genetic content is identical. And yet, they are different persons.
So what makes them different? That is actually at the level of the mind. So, every single thing that we do, it forms an impression on the mind. Just like everything, say, we search on Google.
Whether we know it or not, Google keeps a track record of it. I was reading a book about a lady who did research on how Google keeps track record. And she said, strikingly, that when I got access to all the Google searches that I had done in the past, it was like I was looking at my mind.
Oh, at that time I was thinking of buying this. I was searching for this. I was searching for that.
I was searching for that. So everything that we search for, it's tracked, it's recorded. And it influences the future searches.
Similarly, every single thing that we do with the mind, every single thing that we do, that creates an impression on the mind. And that impression shapes our future choices. Now our choices are often of two types.
There are conscious choices and there are subconscious choices. So conscious choice means that, okay, I decide, okay, I'll go for this programme. All of you consciously chose and you came for this programme.
Now subconscious choice is that which we do even without thinking that I'm doing this. So for example, say, if we feel hungry, we are working and we feel hungry and below our work table there's a drawer and some snacks are there. There might be some healthy snack like a fruit or a salad.
And there might be some other fatty snack. Now, if you're conscious, you have decided no, I won't eat that fatty snack. I want to eat this.
I don't want to become fat. I don't want to lose my health. And consciously if we think, we will eat the salad or the fruit.
But if you're talking on phone, you're reading something on the net and you're busy and then you suddenly feel a pang of hunger. Without even our thinking, our hand goes to that fatty snack, we start eating that. Hey, why am I eating this? After sometime we realise it.
So here what has happened, if we had been eating that fatty snack repeatedly earlier, then that becomes our, like our default setting. And automatically we choose that. So we choose that particular thing based on what has become like our mind's default setting.
And some of our mind's default settings may be good. And there may be many which are not so good. So we are all products of our past.
Everything that we have done in the past that shapes who we are right now. Just like when we are using a phone, whatever we have done with the phone, especially in terms of searching on Google, that specific aspect of similarity I'll focus on today. So whatever we have done, that becomes like a default setting.
And the phone as a hardware device also comes with certain default settings. And say I'm a writer, so I often use a speech, a text-to-speech software. So after I write an article, I get the computer to read it out.
So that I can check if there is any spelling mistake. The I, the and them may look very similar. When it's read out, the pronunciation difference is substantially catched.
So once I wrote that the soul is Sat Chit Anand. And then when the computer read it out, the computer read it as the soul is Saturday Chit Anand. And the computer had no conception of, it had a conception that Sat, S-A-T is a short form of Saturday.
Now, in this case, what had happened is that, so the computer is programmed, okay, if somebody has written Sat, make it Saturday. That's a setting. But the default setting in this case was incorrect, was wrong.
I did not want the default setting. If that had been set as autocorrect in the computer, Sat, a Saturday, then the autocorrect would be incorrect. And I would have to go back, so I enter the correct, the computer makes it incorrect, and I have to go back and re-correct.
So like that, often we make some resolutions. Okay, when I'm going to eat, I'm going to eat healthy. So that is the intention.
So I type Sat. But then we have default settings within us, based on our habits. And we start eating.
We take one item which is healthy, and then another item which is not so healthy comes up. And before we realise it, hey, I'm eating something else. I don't want to eat this.
We say yes, we say no. No, yes, no. All this oscillation goes on.
So there is something which we are choosing, and there is something which is being chosen for us by our past choices, by the conditionings created by our past choices. These are akin to the settings which we have done. So, the choices that we make, conscious choices means we are aware of what we are doing, and we choose it.
Subconscious choices means the choices, within them the options, the options that come, the option that comes prominently for us, that is shaped by our past choices. And if we are not thinking very carefully, we just choose it. We just choose it, and then that may not be a healthy choice.
So we are products of our past. That means who we are, what kind of options come before us, and what kind of options we tend to choose, that is shaped by our past. Just like our past usage of Google determines what kind of results come up when we start searching, or what kind of auto-completes come when we start typing, for a search also.
Now, the Bhagavata tells us that we are products of our past, but we are not prisoners of our past. Our past shapes us, but it doesn't control us. So just as if we have been searching one thing on Google, say I type G and it completes a particular say, even guardian, but if I type G and I search for God, if I search for God once, twice, thrice, four times, five times, gradually, the more I search for this, the search engine is getting customised.
And earlier when I type G, auto-complete would come guardian. Now if I type G, I repeatedly search for God, then the auto-complete will come as God. So just as the settings can be changed, even something which has become like a default setting, something which has become a preference because of past usage, that can be changed.
Similarly, whoever we are right now, there are some things which are good about us, there are some things which we feel we want to improve. Now, improvement is not just a matter of willpower. Willpower is important, no doubt.
But it is not just that alone. When we talk about the mind, the mind, in this case I am comparing to the software, which gives us certain options. And then based on that, we have to choose.
So sometimes certain choices may be prompted more aggressively to us. And yet, because those choices are prompted more aggressively, we may be inclined to choose those. Especially if we are not discerned.
But if we are careful, then we can evaluate a choice based on the choice, its own merit. Otherwise, sometimes what happens if you are having a meeting, and different people have different opinions, sometimes in a meeting, the person who speaks the loudest, that person gets heard. And that person just speaks loudly enough, then they may carry the day.
If others are not very careful, others don't feel very strongly about the issue, they may just say, okay, you are so aggressive, let him carry the day. So Hitler had a principle that if you speak a lie, loud enough, bold enough, and long enough, people will accept it as true. So now, what happens in social settings also happens, social situations also happens in the mental situation.
Sometimes, some idea, some desire, some craving, that's on one side, some anxiety, some worry, that just keeps coming up again and again. I want this, I want this, I want this, I want this, I want this. Or this may go wrong, this may go wrong, this may go wrong, this may go wrong.
Now both ways, sometimes our worries, the more we think about them, the more we think about them, by dwelling on them, they become like self-actualising prophecies. Because we think this will happen, this will happen, this will go wrong, this will go wrong, this will go wrong, this will go wrong. We subconsciously do the actions that make that thing go wrong in that.
So, just because a thought is coming persistently, something is speaking loudly, that does not necessarily mean it is the right thing. So, sometimes some idea, some desire, some worries just trouble us a lot internally. But that does not necessarily mean that they are reflections of our authentic self.
They may be just peripheral desires, peripheral worries, which are obscuring our core concerns. It's like if you come on a computer, if you come on a phone, we start, we want to do something, we go to a website to visit something, but suddenly some other pop-up window comes up. Now some pop-ups are really intrusive.
Some pop-ups come at one corner of the screen, some pop-ups come right in the middle of the screen. Now, imagine if there was some technology by which if there were some pop-ups, we go to one page and there are some other links which come up over there on the side. You can read this also.
Now suppose there is a technology by which as soon as we look at a link, that link would open up. Now, if there were a technology like that, now we would practically get endlessly trapped. We look at a link, that link opens up and we start reading that another link.
We just look at it, immediately that also opens up. Just get endlessly trapped. While that sort of technology may or may not manifest externally, but within the mind, things work like that.
You know, whatever gets our attention, gets us. We may be sitting peacefully in a comfortable room, but if some anxiety comes up in the mind, and we pay attention to it, what if this goes wrong? What if that goes wrong? What if that happens? What if that happens? And just in a matter of minutes, we might have been sitting comfortably, relaxed after a long day's work, and suddenly we become paralysed with worry. We just get horrified.
What if this happens? What if that happens? And the social researchers have found that the time that people worry the most is their leisure time. The time when, after having done their work, they should be relaxing. Now, I can sit peacefully.
But they may be sitting peacefully, but their mind has its default settings, its default promptings. And as soon as they pay attention to one worry, that worry grows and grows and grows and grows. In this way, this worry is just one example.
Craving can be another example. I am writing a book about spirituality and addiction. I was reading about addicts and how they recover from their addiction.
So, the defining step for an addict to recover is to recognise that I am addicted. So, there was this story, I read this story of an alcoholic. He was sleeping at night, a cold night, in his bed and around one o'clock, suddenly he got the urge, I want to drink now.
And then he got up, he went to his fridge and he found there was nothing. The kind of, the particular brand of drink he wanted was not there. So, he got out, went into his car and drove to a nearby bar.
And he went there, he found that particular brand of drink was not there again. And he took his car and he had to go half the way across the town, it was cold at night. As he was going along, his car broke down.
He was trying to get it to start, it couldn't start. And he just got out of his car, practically ran through the cold. He had been in such a frenzy that desire had dragged him so much.
Bhagavad Gita says, Desire is like a shackle which drags us. Krishna says in 16.11 in the Gita. So, he was literally dragged.
He did not even put proper warm clothes. He was trembling. He just ran to the bar and he asked, give me this drink.
He said, yes. He got a huge bottle of the drink. And then, as he got out, just immediately popped out the lid and started drinking.
Then he thought, no. I have gone through so much trouble. I will sit peacefully and drink this.
So, he again put the lid and started walking back. And as he was walking towards the car, suddenly he slipped. And he had not put the lid properly.
So, what happened was, the whole alcohol just fell all over him. As he just fallen, there was a moment of frustration and fury. So much trouble I went through and got this alcohol and it has fallen away.
But then as he was lying on the ground, looking around, all big bendings, all the lights practically closed. It suddenly struck him, what am I doing? I could be lying, sleeping comfortably in my bed. What am I doing here? Dripping in alcohol, lying in snow, freezing and cold.
At that time, he said, it struck me. Actually, I am bound. I am in sleep.
I am addicted. So, this is an extreme example. But we all find ourselves in situations which we had no reason to be.
Sometimes we, for a small pleasure, we get into a complicated mess and then we may think, what am I doing? Why am I? What got me here? In the Bhagavad Gita, when I read the Bhagavad Gita for the first time about 20 years ago, this was the section which struck me the most. In 3.36 in the Gita, Arjuna asks, What is it that makes me act self-destructive? I don't want to act this way, but still, something within me pushes me to act. What is that? This is the question I need to answer.
It's a question I had also. I want to know the answer. Till that time, for me, the Bhagavad Gita was an ancient work of wisdom.
Maybe I can learn something useful from it. But then, at that time, I felt the Bhagavad Gita is eminently relevant. So, the addiction is basically an extreme state of habit.
If you compare with the software of the mind, it is a strong default setting. Sometimes, some spyware or some kind of software gets downloaded on the computer. And then, normally, do you want to open this programme? So, the normal option would be no or yes.
So, if it's yes, the default option will be yes. If we click yes, it will open. If we say no, it will not open.
But sometimes, the programmes are such a way that, you know, if we don't click no within 10 seconds, it will open. So, they have it that way that unless we are alert, the programme will open. So, it's like that programme insists on getting open.
Or sometimes, some programmes just open in the background. We don't even realise that it is opening. Sometimes, you know, we are using a phone.
In half day itself, the phone is almost fully discharged. What is happening? Then we go and find out in the background there is some app sucking all the energy. So, like that, there are some programmes that just very forcefully open up and consume our power, consume our battery, consume our processor.
So, like that, we all have certain cravings which sometimes forcefully drag us. These are also like default settings which we have. Very strong default settings.
And now, when we talk about the process of Yoga, the Bhagavad Gita is called as Yogasastra. In fact, the word Yoga itself comes more than 100 times in the Gita. It comes attached totally.
Yoga, Yogi and Yukta, which is a variant of Yoga. These three, if we consider together, they come more than 200 times. So, the Bhagavad Gita is Yogasastra.
And Yoga has many aspects to it. One is the physical Yoga where we sit in postures. But along with that, that is only the physical dimension.
In its essential defining sense, Yoga is about connection. Yoga means to connect the finite consciousness with the infinite consciousness. The Atma with the Paramatma.
And that connection is what brings purification. That connection is what brings rectification. Purification means what? As I said, some of the default settings are faulty and we need to correct them.
So, one way to correct them is, say, if I type G and suddenly it's going to Guardian. I don't want it to go to Guardian. Then, I'll have to delete it and type something else.
But, over a period of time, one thing is, just keep going again and again, make the right choice and then the setting will change. But in some cases, say, if I have set my phone with a particular default browser. As soon as I click a link, then that browser opens.
Now, I found that that browser consumes too much power. So, I want to use some other browser. As soon as I click the link, because that browser is set to default, that browser is what will open.
I close that browser, then I open another browser and I copy the link over there. It's a messy process. If I go into the settings, I'll find out where is the default setting for the browser.
And I'll correct that. Then, it won't be a mechanical process. Each time the wrong browser opens, I close it and then I open it again.
So, initially, when we want to change ourselves for the better, our topic, what your phone can teach us about the mind, is about how we can make our mind better. How we can ourselves become better human beings. So, one level is, Krishna says this, whenever there is a wrong choice, correct it.
He says in 6.25 and 26 in the Bhagavad Gita, that wherever and whenever the mind wanders, bring it back under the control of the self. So, a certain unnecessary worry comes up in the mind, an unhealthy desire comes up in the mind, okay, it's popped up, but bring it back. Don't let the mind go over there.
So, this is like mechanically changing the settings, or mechanically making the right choice by which gradually the settings will change. The other is, what is, the other is purification. So, purification is like finding the default settings and changing the default setting itself, by which the right choice will become the default, rather than the wrong choice.
So, purification, … … … … So, Krishna says that, by the steady practise of yoga, the mind will become pacified and purified. … The mind will become pacified, it will become purified. And when it becomes purified, it will naturally go in the healthy directions.
So, at that time, when it starts going in the healthy directions, then … we can experience the ultimate happiness. So, I'll conclude with this point about happiness. We all are, by nature, pleasure seeking.
We may do a hundred things, ultimately through those things, we all want pleasure. Now, the Bhagavad Gita tells us that our nature, our longing for pleasure, where does it come from? It comes from our core. We are Atma, and the Atma is Sat-Chit-Ananda.
The Atma is, by nature, joyful. But, presently, the Atma is identifying with that which it is not. … … … … … The Bhagavad Purana says that when the Atma identifies with that which it is not, then it comes under illusion, and it suffers tribulation.
Like, say, we may be sitting comfortably in our home, but if you are watching a horror movie, and that horror movie identifies with the character who is being victimised by all kinds of horrible attacks, then you start trembling, you also start shivering. It's because of misidentification. Yoga, actually, when we become purified, then we no longer identify with unnecessary or wrong things, and that when we cut off the misidentification, then, naturally, we experience joy.
We experience joy because we are, by nature, joyful. So, currently, based on the default settings of our mind, we identify with many different things. We may identify with our bank account, we may identify with our looks, we may identify with our house, we may identify with our gadgets.
These are, as I said right in the beginning, they are functional things. They are important for us to function. But when we let them define who we are, then that causes insecurity.
But when we understand that I am different from these things. I need these things for functioning, and I'll use them. But they don't define me.
I am something different from all this. When this understanding comes in, then the insecurity that comes because of external changes, that decreases. And further, when we realise that we are souls, and we are part of a whole.
The Bhagavad Gita talks about many different yogas, and it recommends the best yoga is bhakti yoga. That yogi is the most intimately united with me, who thinks of me constantly within their heart with devotion. 6.487 in the Bhagavad Gita.
So what it means is that the Gita says we ourselves are joyful and the source of all existence, which can be known by different names. The Gita knows them by the name Krishna. That source is the reservoir of all happiness.
Krishna is sarva-akarshati iti Krishna. The one who is all attractive is called as Krishna. So when we become attracted to Krishna, then therein, in that bond of love, there is a supreme fulfilment that is experienced.
So God is all pure. And by connection with Him, we become purified. So we become purified.
And the more we become purified, the more the joyfulness that is our nature, we start experiencing that. So the purpose of spirituality at one level is to decrease the impurity that brings us anxiety, that brings us distress. At another level, the purpose of spirituality is to restore us to our own serenity.
To restore us not just to serenity but to our own ecstasy. That is by returning to understanding of who we actually are. And the Bhagavad Gita offers us the vision that when we realise ourselves as souls, it is not that we reject the world.
Arjuna wanted to reject the world. Krishna said, No. And he told him, By your work, you can worship the Lord.
And by that worship, you can attain perfection. So the Bhagavad Gita offers an integrated vision of the spiritual and the material. Both can be combined for our inner growth.
The spiritual refers to our inner dimension. We purify ourselves internally and then whatever we are doing externally, we see that as a contribution in a mood of service. And when we do it that way, whatever we do externally, that also helps us in our inner growth.
Because we are doing it in a mood of service. And what we are doing internally, that calms us, it focusses us and that helps us to contribute better at an external level also. Thus there is a symbiosis of the external and the internal that refers to the practise of Yoga, specifically of Bhakti Yoga, because it helps us to conceptualise all of existence as an opportunity for contribution.
Internally and externally, we harmonise ourselves through this mood of service and contribution. And the Bhagavad Gita concludes with Arjuna picking up his bow, ready to fight. If you know the Bhagavad Gita in the beginning, Arjuna has put down his bow.
He says that his mind is filled with distress, puts aside his bow. I will not fight. So Arjuna's bow actually represents our determination.
When we face difficulties in life, Arjuna was a warrior and he was trained to fight in very difficult situations. He was one of the best archers of his times. And yet, he was defeated even before the war started.
He was not defeated by an outer enemy, but he was defeated by the inner enemy. That was his own mind, became overwhelmed with confusion, with negativity, with fear, with illusion. And he was defeated.
He put aside his bow. But after hearing the message of the Gita, what happened? He picked up his bow and he was ready to fight. So similarly, sometimes we may have external issues in our life, but actually we get troubled far more by our mind's perception of those issues, those problems.
We get overwhelmed. We just lose heart. I quit.
I can't do this anymore. I can't take this anymore. We just tend to quit.
But when we understand the Bhagavad Gita's vision, when we complement our own vision with the spiritual wisdom of the Bhagavad Gita, then just as Arjuna's morale was restored, by the end of the Bhagavad Gita, he has picked up his bow. Arjuna has picked up his bow and is ready to fight. Similarly, by understanding the wisdom of the Gita, our morale gets restored because we understand that actually the mind is what is troubling and I am different from the mind.
There may be some default settings of the mind which are disturbing me, but they can be corrected. When I correct them, then whatever be the present I am in, whatever be my past, I can create a bright future for myself. Just as Arjuna's morale was restored by the wisdom of the Gita, similarly, our morale, our confidence can also be restored and we can create a brighter future for ourselves.
So I'll summarise. I spoke on the theme of what your phone can teach you about your mind. I started by talking about this three level conception of the self.
Does anyone remember that? So body, mind and soul are alike. What is the body like? What is the mind like? What is the soul like? Body is the hardware. Mind is the software.
And soul? User. First I talked about how we have functional identities. We may be Indians or Americans or South Indians or North Indians or whatever, but these may change.
We remain the same. Just like our phone may change, but the user, the phone remains the same. So we may identify with our phone to some extent, but we are different from our phone.
So same way, all the cells in the body change, all the cells in the brain also change. So it's like all the molecules of a paper on which we, all the atoms of a paper on which we have written a message have changed, but the message still remains. How does that happen? That means the message is not just stored on the paper, it's also stored somewhere else.
So our brain also changes, but we are different from the brain. That's how our memories continue, our sense of identity continues. So therefore, the point was that there is something more than the hardware.
The hardware itself is not everything, the body is not everything. Then we talk about the mind, and I'm primarily focused on the mind's, mind like a software which has its own settings. Like as soon as I get a new phone and then I log in with my ID, then certain bookmarks, certain websites, certain search preferences, they all get transferred onto that company, that phone or that device.
Similarly, when we take birth in a particular body, the twins are not just physically similar, they're genetically identical, monozygotic twins. And yet they have their individual personalities. Where does that difference come from? It doesn't come from the body, it comes from the mind, which is carrying over from the previous body.
So we are products of our past. It's like, based on our past searches, if I type G, it might just go to Guardian, because that's what I search for. So like that, we have certain past preferences in our mind.
Our desires go towards certain things. As soon as I have to eat, if I've been eating unhealthy, even before I think and choose, my hand goes towards unhealthy food. So, we may decide to choose consciously and wisely, but many choices are made subconsciously and unwisely.
It's like there are autocompletes that might happen on a computer, based on previous settings. So now, how do we change these undesirable autocompletes, these undesirable settings which are there? One is, just by repeated correctives. If I type G and search for God, and do it again and again, then G from Guardian may change to G for God.
So like that, Krishna at one level says, okay, if the mind goes off in the wrong direction, bring it back under control. If it goes off in the wrong direction, bring it back under control. The wrong direction talks about two things.
One is worries. We might be sitting comfortably in our home, during our leisure time. At that time, the mind may just go off on a frenzy of worry.
It could be our mind is like a web page where links get expanded just by thinking about them. So we think about one thought, and the thought consumes our mind. And we get lost by that.
So worry can be one way in which our mind may misdirect us. The other is desires. I talk about the alcohol addict.
He went out right in the middle of the night just to drink. For giving up the addiction, the defining step is recognising that I am addicted. So when I start understanding, okay, this desire is not my desire.
I don't want to do this. How am I trapped like this? Then we can begin the process of introspection and rectification. So one way of rectification is just repeatedly making the right choices.
But the other is purification. It's like if, say, there's a vertical default browser which is set up. Then I click a link, that browser will open.
I may close that browser and open another browser. If I can go deep within the device, find out where the default setting of the browser is, I'll change that. Then next time the browser which we want to open will open.
So like that, purification means going deep within to the core of ourself. And yoga is the process by which we go to the innermost core of ourself. Yoga helps us to understand ourselves as souls and also helps us to understand ourselves as parts of the whole.
So the Gita reveals, recommends the process of bhakti yoga which connects us with the whole, who's all attractive, who's all pure. And by that connection with the all pure, we become purified. That means that connection with the absolute, with the source, is like changing the default setting.
Then our choices become healthier. And as we become reinstated in an understanding of who we are, then we naturally become joyful because as souls we are joyful and by connecting with the whole, we connect with the source of unlimited joy. And lastly I talked about how life can cripple us because of the way we perceive problems.
Arjuna is a warrior who could have won any war. But when his mind became overwhelmed by worry, illusion, then even before the war started he was defeated. He put aside his bow.
But then by hearing the message of the Gita, his morale was restored. Similarly, when we feel disheartened, when we feel lost, then by hearing the message of the Gita, which helps us to go back to our spiritual roots, our morale can also be restored. I talked about Bhakti Yoga.
It brings about a symbiosis of the internal and the external. By internal purification, internal rectification, we can maximise our external contribution. And when our external contribution is done in a mood of devotion, in a mood of service, then that external contribution also helps us in our inner growth.
In this way, we can have inner satisfaction and outer contribution both. Thank you very much. Hare Krishna.
Thank you. That's okay. Okay.
So any comments or questions? Please. You said about the default settings in the mind. Yeah.
If you keep searching for one thing, then later that only changes. Yeah. Sometimes like some patterns or habits which are very impressive and maybe creative and very most of the time we don't even identify what the problem is.
So how do we know where to correct it? Suppose I have some habit which I don't even know where I am doing wrong, what I am doing wrong. So how do I correct it without even knowing what the… So sometimes we have some undesirable habit which we are not even aware of. Yeah.
And how do we correct that? Generally, we what is in the inner world, it is difficult to know. What we can see is the effect of what is there inside. So for example, I may not know there is anger inside me.
But then I find myself shouting at someone. I find myself throwing at things. What happened? From that external action I can infer there is anger inside me.
So when we observe ourselves at a physical level and we look at our own behavioural patterns and if therein we find that there is something wrong then we can look back and find out what is the unhealthy emotion that is there inside me. So in general, we can't directly see the internal. We see its effect in the external and based on that we can understand the internal.
Now sometimes we may find something external but we may not be able to correlate it with something specific internal. For example, I may find that I just feel depressed. I feel depressed but then I can't find any reason for my depression.
You know, I say that okay, I am in a steady relationship, I have a good career, my health is good. Why am I feeling depressed? Sometimes it may happen that although the external wrong we can identify, what is the internal cause we can't identify? So this is, at this stage it's like say if we are cleaning our house and we see some dirt somewhere then we look at where did this dirt come from? And okay, you know, there is a window over there that's been left open. That's where the dirt came from.
Then we first clean the dirt but along with that we close that window also so that again the dirt doesn't come. But sometimes we find some dirt, just can't figure out where the dirt has come from. Then we don't obsess too much over that.
First thing that we do is remove the dirt. And then again if we see the dirt over there then we try to observe more carefully and see okay, where could this have come from? I went there, it was not there. I came here, it was here.
Probably it came from somewhere in between. We do some detective work and we find out. So like that when we can find a causal link between an outer behaviour and an inner emotion, then we can deal with it.
And if we can't, then the important thing is correcting at the physical level first. I'm feeling depressed, let me see how can I cheer myself up? Maybe go meet some friends who are encouraging in their attitude. Do something which enlivens us.
And at least correct ourselves. And then generally speaking when we are caught in the throes of something which is undesirable, it's not so easy to see it. Like this, alcoholic I told about.
Anybody else would have seen? This person is so terribly addicted going out in the middle of the night. That person would not think I'm an addict. I can give this up whenever I want.
Most alcoholics have given up alcohol many times. And they're still alcoholics. So sadhana is when we are in the throes of something, when we are caught in something, we don't realise that we are caught.
That's why if we have good friends, they can help us. They can act like a mirror by which we can understand ourselves better. But most importantly is that if we connect ourselves through the process of bhakti yoga with God, with Krishna, then that itself purifies us.
So where something has come from is not as important as if it's unhealthy, go out. So this darkness, just turn on the light, the darkness goes off. So like that if we invoke God's presence in our life, in our heart, then whatever darkness is there, whatever negativity is there, it will go out.
And we don't have to worry too much about the habits which we don't know about. Because if we just focus on dealing with whatever issues we have, that will improve us. And we are also in the process of evolution.
A small child, a child does not know triple integral calculus. It doesn't have to know that also. When the child grows up, it will come to a level where it has to deal with that.
So whatever is needed, if we have a sincere desire to grow, then whatever is needed for our growth, it will in due course be revealed to us. So we can fight the battle that we need to fight right now. And if we do that diligently, then whatever is in the future required for our improvement, that will be revealed to us.
And how to do that also will be revealed. So basically we can focus on the present issues that we have, whatever we have. And if we don't find any specific issues we want to deal with, then just the overall connection with God through the process of bhakti, that will bring out the best within us.
And then gradually, whatever lesser things, they will be revealed and then they can be removed. Does that answer your question? Yes, please. So everyone in their life faces difficulties in life, but sometimes there are some couples that are really chronic because of what is going on, like a bad health of family member or something like that.
So for a really long duration of time, how do you keep up that good energy level when you're dealing with them? Like when I talk to a family member who has been in really bad health for a very long time, how do I cheer that person up when I'm sad about something? So that's what I've been dealing with. So if some family member has been facing a persistent problem which is bad health, how do we cheer them up when we ourselves feel depressed by seeing their distress? Yeah. The Bhagavad Gita talks about two distinct virtues.
One is the virtue of assertive action. For example, Krishna is telling Arjuna don't be passive, fight the war. The Kauravas have wronged you and you have to correct the wrongs.
At the same time, the Bhagavad Gita also talks about tolerance. It tells, 2.14 it says that Arjuna, just as when it's summer, it's going to be hot. When it's going to be winter, it's going to be cold.
You can't change this. So similarly in life, just as there are seasons and we just have to learn to live with the seasons. Similarly, our life also goes through seasons.
Sometimes there'll be a phase of distress, sometimes there'll be a phase of happiness. And Krishna does not tolerate it. Tolerance does not mean passivity.
Tolerance means keeping small things small so that we can focus on the big things. Or put another way, tolerance means to accept the things that are unchangeable so that we can focus on the things that are changeable. In general, especially if somebody has a chronic disease or somebody has a disease that is incurable, but not yet fatal.
So then, in that case, a vital state, a vital stage in their healing is ending the state of denial. You know, when something bad happens to us, how can this happen to me? No, this is not happening to me. We see it happening to us, but we stay in a state of denial.
As long as we stay in the state of denial, we can't deal with it. So, if somebody is going through a difficult health situation, that may cause a lot of stress, that may limit a lot of things which they can do. But if there's acceptance that comes, okay, this is what it is, then within that acceptance, options open up.
Because life, sometimes we are going in a particular direction, and say, we are going to meet someone, and suddenly, bang! The door gets closed right in our face. We feel angry, how rude this is, how could they close the door? So like that, sometimes life slams some door in our face. And if we just keep glaring at that door, why is that door closed? Why is this door closed? Why is this door closed? Then, we often don't even explore.
We can't even see that there may be some other door that is opened. And that door can also take us ahead. Maybe not exactly in the same direction we had planned, but we can go ahead.
So sometimes just life slams a door in our face. If we don't accept this door is closed, it's not going to open, we just keep banging our head against the door, we hurt ourselves. So, it's not easy, but it will make life easier.
Accepting is not accepting that some situation is unchangeable. That is not easy. But accepting it makes life easier.
Because when we are not accepting something, it's like we are trying to drive a vehicle with our leg fully on the brake. So what happens is our resentment, our denial is like pressing the brake. And then our efforts to do anything else, they just don't work.
It's like we are steering the vehicle, we are doing it, but as long as the brake is there, it will not move. So just have to get the brake off the leg. So that means that if I just okay, this has happened.
And sometimes life just, shall we say, life stinks. Sometimes it's just like that in life. And we see throughout the scriptures also, we see Ram, what was his fault? He was just a virtuous prince and suddenly for no fault of his he was exiled.
So we see even in our scriptures there is this sudden adversity that comes up for no reason. The Pandavas, they were virtuous and suddenly they found that one of them Bhima was poisoned, attempted to be killed. So time and time again we see that scriptures also demonstrate that adversity comes.
And the key is how we respond to adversity. So these scriptures exemplify how the right response to adversity helps people to live. So nobody in this world is spared from distress.
Some of us may get more distress in particularly agonising forms. But other people also get distress in some other forms. It may not be right now, but it will come later.
So this also, understanding that ultimately distress is democratic. Everybody has to suffer distress. So understanding that it's okay, this has happened.
Now let me see how I can deal with it. So within that especially if we just stop looking at the closed door and start looking at options. We find that options emerge.
And at such times when we are just choked with resentment, choked with negativity and distress, we need very much an alternative object of thought. Object of thought means if we are facing some problematic situation, just keep thinking about it, keep thinking about it, keep thinking about that. And it's extremely frustrating.
But if we just direct our thoughts somewhere else. And not just somewhere else. People may just watch some movies or read some novel, that may also direct.
But then afterwards, the thought comes back again to that thing. But if we direct our thoughts somewhere else, it's just somewhere higher. If we at this time direct our thoughts towards spiritual wisdom, towards God and prayerfully seek His shelter, then that strengthens us internally.
External problem is more or less unchangeable. But it is the mind which is just pushing against the problem. It's like hitting against a wall, hitting against a closed door.
It's not helping. Now we can't stop thinking. The mind will always keep thinking something or the other.
So if we just direct the thought somewhere else and somewhere uplifting, then that gives us some strength, gives us some solace. And afterwards, when we come back and revisit the problem, we can find this option is also there, this is also there. So if we just consume in thinking about the problem, that drains us.
But if we lift ourselves up, it says don't tell God how big your problems are. Tell your problems how big God is. That means, tell your problems how big God is, means that we focus on God and try to connect with God.
And then our consciousness becomes permeated with His presence. That gives us a piece by which we can deal with problems. The Bhagavad Gita leads to the Bhagavat Purana, Srimad Bhagavatam.
And the Bhagavat Purana describes the theme that it starts with the story of Parikshit, a king young, virtuous, powerful and he is close to die in seven days. And in the whole Bhagavatam, it talks about how he takes shelter of God through the process of bhakti and transcends the process of death. The death as a physical event happens, but his consciousness is lifted up.
He realises his immortal nature and he attains immortality. The underlying theme of the Bhagavatam is that God's power to heal is greater than the world's power to hurt. On our own, the world's power to hurt is so great that sooner or later we will be hurt.
And on our own, we can't face it. But if we turn and take shelter of God, we'll find that his power to heal is greater. And with that power to heal, we can tolerate the hurt, we can transcend the hurt and we can be ultimately healed of the hurt.
So that inner redirection of our thoughts towards God, God will help us to accept and will help us to find ways forward. So in this case of a family member or relative in distress, first of all, if you are distressed by that, you can't help them. But you need to redirect your thoughts first.
And by the redirection of your thoughts, as you become uplifted, then you'll yourself find options, doors opening and you'll find how you can help them. Does that answer your question? Thank you. Any other questions? Can you introduce yourself? I'm Shweta.
Shweta. I work in Interactive. I'm studying right now.
Oh, okay, okay. His brother, one of my good friends, he was here before, but now he's moving to this side for the job purpose. Oh, okay.
He should have been Master at that time. Oh, okay. Yeah, I think we caught him working and I was standing somewhere at the edge of the fence trying to connect to you guys.
Oh, okay. Okay, no problem. So, he says he thought about Bhagavad Gita a lot.
I know a little bit, but maybe people don't know that he was a continuous stopper in his academy, and then he did the engineering, and then he took all the records of the Maharashtra. And then the governor of Maharashtra came to his house and then he was going to do a Master, but suddenly Bhagavad Gita came in his life and suddenly everything changed and he's now in front of you. Obviously, being an engineer he could have contributed to the society, but now he's contributing thousands and thousands of more times to the society.
So, would you like to share what actually suddenly changed your life going through all… I mean, we all are in the normal path and you were there, but suddenly changed and then you are helping thousands and thousands of people around the world. I don't know if I'm helping anyone. I'm simply trying to do what I can.
But, yeah, what changed my life trajectory? I would say two main events. When people ask me, I say that I was frustrated by success. So, as I said, my dream was to be a topper and when I gave GRE, I did come first, not just in my college, I came first in the history of my college.
It was in the history of Maharashtra and I thought that I was delighted. I'm going to be happy now. But then I found that just looking at the marks sheet, it was only a very little pleasure.
It's only when other people come and congratulate you. Then you feel happy. And then I had three, four of my friends who just forgot to congratulate me.
No bad intention, but they just forgot. And then I was meeting there and I was expecting it. At that time, I felt so agitated and suddenly it was an epiphany I had that I just felt instead of becoming happy by this GRE achievement, I have actually become more dependent on others for my happiness.
Earlier I would meet with them and just have normal interactions, but now when I'm meeting them, I expect them and if they don't give it, congratulations, I don't feel happy. So I thought, okay, I might pass another exam, I might do well in another exam, I might do something else in my life. Whatever, this pattern will remain the same.
I will be dependent on others for my happiness. So that was the time when I felt I should look for something which will give me inner happiness. And at that time, a friend gave me the Bhagavad Gita and when he gave it to me, I told him, I read this already.
I had read it, but I saw that he was changed. He had been a typical materialistic, happy-go-lucky kind of person, but now he was looking so peaceful, so serene, so purposeful. I thought, maybe I have missed something in the Gita when I read it.
That's how I started reading it. And when I started reading it, I started practising what he was teaching. All this was in the third year of my engineering.
So then, I found that I was getting transformed. I used to, I was notorious for my short temper. So, short temper just almost disappeared within just a matter of weeks.
And I started talking about Bhagavad Gita with my friends in the hostel. And some of them were into bad habits. Just the bad habits disappeared.
Their parents had been concerned about, oh, my son is going into bad habits. But then, parents were also happy. In the meanwhile, I was also into a little bit of social service.
Since my childhood, I had a lot of faith in the power of education. In opening new options for people and helping them to grow. So, while I was doing my studies as a part of a social service organisation, I used to go to some nearby slums and there I would offer like free tuitions for the children over there.
So, I would teach maths, history, English. And most of these kids, nice kids, but they were from dysfunctional families. Especially their fathers were alcoholics.
And there would be a lot of domestic violence when these fathers would come drunk. So, when these kids opened up to me, I started thinking, how much is this education going to help them? And one of my friends was much more into social service. So, at that time, we had observed the problem of alcoholism and we felt that we should also diversify.
We means our organisation at that time. We should diversify and help people become free from alcohol. So, we had adopted a small village and my friend was the leader in that.
He had gone and he had got this whole village. He had got everybody almost to give up alcohol. And that was a big achievement of our organisation.
But one day he came back. I used to go to the nearby slum. He used to go to this village.
One evening, when he came back, I saw he was looking shattered. And he told me that just the previous week, there had been local panchayat elections. And the candidate, in order to get people to vote for him, had brought three truckloads of free liquor.
And not only the fathers, even the kids had got drunk. So, at that time, we started thinking that it's not just that we have to open options for people. We also have to equip people to choose those options.
That is, internally, if they don't have the strength to choose the right options, our opening options is not going to help them. So, around that time itself, I was in the Government Engineering College, Pune. And there was a student.
He had been a university topper throughout his eight semesters of engineering. And he had got the highest-paid job in the history of our college. So, like a model of success.
But he was also a chain smoker. And in six months of that job, he got cancer, lung cancer, and he died. It's tragic.
So, that event also shook me. I mean, I saw that this problem of self-destruction, it was not just among the uneducated slum dwellers. It was afflicting someone who was also far more brilliant than what I was.
So then, that was the time I felt… By this time, I had also passed out. I had also got a job. I was also working.
I was working in a software company. But I felt that I could contribute to society much more by sharing the wisdom of the Gita, which had helped me to change myself for the better, which in my observation helped others to change also, rather than writing software programmes. Writing software programmes is wonderful if that's what we are inspired to do.
But if I don't do it, there are hundreds of other people who will do it. But how many people are going to teach the Bhagavad Gita? So, I felt this was the way I could contribute the best. So, that's what I'm trying to do right now.
Any other questions or comments? So, what is the starting point for Bhakti Yoga that you are doing? What is the starting point for Bhakti Yoga? There are four starting points. We call it A, B, C, D. A is association. Whatever we wish to do, it all begins with association.
The kind of association we have, that's how we will become. So, Bhagavad Gita says in 2.62 that by our association, our desires are shaped. If we want to become spiritually interested, then we need to associate with spiritually interested people.
So, if we have a group of friends who are interested in Bhakti, by that association, our questions will be answered, our interest will be nourished, and we'll move forward. So, the first is association. This is indispensable.
Without association, our spiritual inclination will soon get submerged under the deluge of materialistic influences that are there in today's culture. And B is books. Books is like the Bhagavad Gita.
When we study the books, then that gives us intellectual conviction. Association gives us social support. When we study ourselves, we go deeper, and our intelligence gets honed, it gets sharpened.
Many of us, we may have been introduced to Bhakti and to Bhakti as the whole process of some kind of devotional practises as a cultural practise. And that is a good enough introduction. But, something that we simply see as cultural, then we feel, okay, I may do it, I may not do it.
So, it just remains like an artefact from our past. But when we get intellectual understanding of why we are doing it, then we see the cultural, not cultural, as a means to the spiritual. So, the philosophical understanding is what helps us to see these practises as meant for transformation.
So, for example, visiting a temple or chanting the names of God, or doing any Bhakti activities, they are vehicles to self-transformation. And that understanding of not just seeing them as cultural practises, but as transformational practises, that comes through study. So, that is books.
C is chanting. Now, in this particular age, which is called as Kali Yuga, the recommended method for raising our consciousness is the chanting of the holy names. So, there are different methods in different ages that are recommended.
So, in the earlier age, Krita Yuga was Dhyan, sitting in meditation, deep into meditation. Krita Yuga, it was doing yajnas, fire sacrifices. In Dwapara Yuga, it was doing temple worship, deity worship in the temple.
In Kali Yuga, it is the chanting of the names of the Lord. So, the other methods are also useful, but the most potent method in this time is chanting. So, there are many different mantras which can be chanted, and similarly, there is an Upanishad called the Kali Santran Upanishad.
It specifically talks about how to navigate the Kali Yuga. And there, the Hare Krishna Mahamantra is recommended. This 16-letter mantra is the means to overcome the ocean of Kali.
So, we chant this holiness, and by chanting, we connect with God. So, it is a very accessible way of spiritualising our consciousness wherever we are. D is diet.
We spiritualise our food. We take pure food, and in a mood of devotion, we offer it to God, and then take the food as mercy. So, basically, the idea is whatever practical activities are there in our life, we spiritualise them gradually.
There are specific activities which we adopt for our spiritual growth, and whatever routine activities we are doing, we spiritualise them. So, food is something which we are going to eat anyway. So, like association books, chanting is something which we add to our life.
We, of course, have some association, we spiritualise the association. The whole process of bhakti is not the process of rejection. It is the process of connection, of redirection of our connection.
So, whatever we were doing in the normal course of our life, we read something, we meet with people, we speak something, we meet something. So, all those things, we just channel them spiritually, and that way we can move forward in our spiritual journey. So, the question that raised in my mind is that you have like many mantras in Puranas like Vishnu Shastra and all that.
Yeah, correct. So, when I was small, I was kind of forced to learn them, and my mother tongue is Kannada, and then Sanskrit was very difficult for me. Then, I was thinking what is the point of learning thousand names and just bharating them, and there should be a story or there should be some meaning behind each name.
Then, when I asked around, they were like, no, you need to chant it. There are certain names where you can connect to a story, but then most of the time, it's just chanting the name. So, I was thinking like, you know, what is the point of doing this unless you know the inner meaning and the why question.
So, why should I do this? So, that was something very difficult for me to understand. So, many times, we are taught some practises in our culture, but we are not told why we have to do it. Then, it becomes difficult to accept.
Let's say, we have to memorise thousand names. There is no rationale given for doing that. Yeah.
That is to some extent the sad state of spirituality in India. Spirituality has two limbs. There is philosophy and then there is religion.
So, this is like in science, there is theory and there is experiment. Theory offers us postulates. Okay.
Newton saw a fruit falling. He postulated that maybe there is a force by which particles attract to each other. Now, theory is conceptual.
The experiment is what helps us to check the theory, to prove it or to disprove it. So, similarly, in spirituality, there is philosophy and there is religion. So, philosophy gives us the concepts.
Okay. There is God and God can be accessed through his own will. And by connecting with God, we become purified.
Our inner positive, pure, potent side comes out. All this is the philosophy. And then the religion comprises of specific practises.
It may be go in the temple and bow down before God. It may be chant the names of God or whatever it is. So, now the cultural, the religion has many aspects.
Culture is one of them. But these religious practises which are there, sometimes they get divorced from the philosophy. So, Ishwara Prabhupada is the author of Bhagavad Gita as it is, a prominent commentator of the Bhagavad Gita.
So, he said that what happens, if there is philosophy only without religion and if there is religion only without philosophy. So, if there is only religion without philosophy, then it becomes either sentimental or fanatic. Sentimental.
Oh, why should we do it? Oh, we have always done it. It's good to do it. Now that, to today's generation, it just doesn't work.
Or it becomes fanatic. My way is the only way. And some religions are extremely fanatic.
If you are not following us, you are going to go to hell. Not only are you going to go to hell, we will help you get there faster. So, that is because of the religion is divorced from philosophy.
Now, the other is that if philosophy is only there and religion is not there, then everything stays simply in the head. Okay, maybe it is like this. Maybe it is like that.
Like you have a theory but you know experiment to either prove or disprove the theory. The theory just stays as it is. So, in general, the practises, the religious practises, they are much more widely known than the philosophical principles behind those practises.
And India has been for millennia a religious country, highly religious country. These practises have been there. And it also had a strong community of spiritual intellectuals.
They were originally known as the brahmanas. And the brahmanas, over a period of time, they became, you could say, power hungry or they developed an entitlement mentality. Why they started thinking? Just because we are born in a brahmanical family, so we are brahmanas.
And they started demanding prestige. And that led to the perpetuation of the discriminatory caste system. So, the brahmanas, their original purpose was to learn scripture, understand this philosophy and teach this philosophy to others.
But many times, the priests that are there today, their role is not to educate. Their role is simply to facilitate the religious practises. So, they come and they chant some mantra, they do some rituals and then they take some dakshin and go.
Now, this does not lead to any education. And those who already have some pious instincts, they may just accept things as they are. But those who have a questioning attitude, the brahmanical community that is there, they were meant to serve them by providing answers.
You see the Bhagavad Gita, it's a very rational book. It's a very open intellectual discussion. Arjuna is asking questions.
Krishna is not telling Arjuna, just do this. Krishna is actually giving answers. And at the end of the Gita also, Krishna tells Arjuna now, deliberate.
In 18.63 he says, now deliberate deeply on what I have said and then decide what you want to do. Do as you desire. That means, here the Bhagavad Gita is actually, in the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna is appealing to Arjuna's intelligence.
So, that was the original tradition, where intelligent questions were appreciated and intelligent questions were answered. But unfortunately, because of the history of the brahmanas becoming caste conscious and entitlement mentality afflicting them, they stopped discharging their responsibilities. And that's why many of us, we grew up with the culture but without the philosophy.
So, even now, there are a few areas where this, few forums where this intellectual aspect, the philosophical aspect is also being stressed. Vishal Prabhupada, who is the founder of ISKCON, he stressed the temples shouldn't just be cultural centres. Temples should also be educational centres.
So, wherever we have programmes, we just don't have kirtans and prashad and EDT worship. We also have talks, discussions and not just lectures, but also question answers. So, this is one small way in which we are trying to offer the philosophical wisdom of the scriptures in today's times.
But yes, without the philosophy, things just feel, why do I have to do this? And if they are thrust on people, then often people become resentful. So, I feel, especially those of us who are intelligent, and we get, we seek the answers from the right sources, we get the answers. And then we can share the answers with others.
That way, the cultural can be connected with the philosophical. The religious and the philosophical can both be harmonised. Okay.
Just a comment in this regard, in the similar context, like you are asking questions from the recording of questions and answers. Similarly, wherever the book covers, people ask questions and we record all the questions and answers. So, in website, it's just spiritualscientists.com, more than 5000 questions have been recorded.
So, if you have, even if you have some questions, go to the website, spiritualscientists.com, just try to search that question. It's 95% probability that you will find the question there. This is all sort of questions.
I am not just mind and intelligence. I am from different Mahabharata, from Ramayana, from different Vedic scriptures, from Bhagavad Gita, from our history, from this culture. It's full of encyclopaedia now, of the questions and answers.
So, it's a great conclusion, actually. There is also a question about moon. I started.
Isn't it a good tip for that particular question? No, but it's a different science section, science and spirituality. And then there are all sort of scientific questions sometimes. People feel that, I mean, it's common that people don't have the rational understanding of spirituality.
They think that no science is going on. But they don't understand what science is, actually. They even don't know what does the science mean, actually.
It's called the scientificism. Right, fellow? If I remember. Anyway, so my point is, there is lot of rational and very scientific information given.
If you have those questions, you can obviously, I regularly listen to those questions also. You can go and you can search, you can get help. In the project programme, I will mention that whoever he meets first, he wants to give some gifts to him.
So, he wants to give any one of his books. So, I just brought couple of books. There are many.
There are 20 books. I just find some. It's left to mind now, since there is a discussion on that.
And I like this book first time. I remember I laughed at least 10-15 seconds when I saw this book first time, GK for PK. So, you know, when the movie came, PK, and there is some of the questions on the religion and the spirituality.
And there was no answer given. They just raised questions. And they raised questions in such a way that it looks like they are right.
The question means that there is no answer for this question. But actually there are answers for all these questions. So, he and I remember probably mentioned that in one day he got 350 emails of all sort of different questions on the PK.
And then he decided to write down all questions and then answer all those questions. And before that he did same for the Oh My God also. Re-answering Oh My God, re-answering questions of the book.
Do you want me to do one more line to the people so that they can they can they can find a way to see any one of these. I find some of them. This is frequently unanswered questions.
We talk about questions like what is the proof that God exists? Or what is the proof that reincarnation is real? We go to, there are so many religions. How do we choose our path? Or if God can do everything, can God make a square circle? If God made everything, who made God? These kinds of questions are answered over here. This is a book called, this is a book on seven verses from the Bhagavad Gita which talk about the mind.
And there are 64 reflections on those verses. So, it's basically how we can manage our mind, mind it. This is ten leadership sutras from Bhagavad Gita.
This is a discussion between a spiritual teacher and a startup owner. It's a conceptualised discussion where the principles of the Bhagavad Gita are applied to the corporate world in terms of ten principles. I also have a set of YouTube videos.
This is like a course available on YouTube also on ten leadership sutras. So, I often do seminars on companies in this topic. And this is 121 articles in the Bhagavad Gita which are especially focussing on belong, the theme of relationships and how we can relate better with ourselves, with people around us, with the world and ultimately with God.
This is a book that just came out a few days ago. I saw it when I came here. For the first time I saw it.
The Searching Eye. This talks about the spiritual wisdom. How is it relevant in today's world? Today there is corruption, there is sexual abuse, there is terrorism.
These contemporary issues are there and how can we make sense and act positively based on using spiritual wisdom. So, finding spiritual meaning in a messy world. Okay, that's fine.
So, maybe all of you can just speak. Maybe one point which you felt was relevant from what we discussed today. Or anything that just struck you, which you feel you would like to be carrying with you.
I think the point about.