Does the working of the mind match with our desires?
Are is are the desires that we carry connected with the working of the mind so that it matches with the needs of our desires so to satisfy it okay so does the working of the mind match with the the desires that we have yeah here usually we talk of the mind in a negative sense that the mind is our enemy and we have to protect we have to guard against it we have to control it that is true at the same time that is not the complete truth so there is now the terminology may vary i'll use specific terminology then i'll explain that there is or put another way there are desires desires that are associated last time these are what are the emotions which come in the mind which need to be controlled if we indulge in them they will lead us to self-destruction but along with that the mind also has this inclination which is called as which is our nature we could say so the word can be related with which means emotion but can also mean existence krishna uses it in that sense also so means it's our own existential nature so for example there is the way it is classified as brahman krishna in the bhagavad he says what can repression accomplish so now he is not recommending that okay you feel lust you become lusty you feel greedy you become greedy what can repression accomplish he's not talking about that then he's talking about he's telling arjuna that you are a brahman you are a kshatriya if you try to act like a brahmana you are repressing your nature and you will not be able to repress it what can so in that context he is saying what can repression accomplish so we can say that our the emotions that we have the desires that come up with with associated with those emotions they can be classified in three categories one is the pure spiritual emotion to the soul and then simply the desire to love and serve krishna to absorb krishna we have them but as of now they are only a small part of our mental world we they will grow as we become more and more purified then there are emotions which come from our body mind complex now they are not necessarily all of them bad there are the emotions which come from lust anger jealousy pride illusion they have to be controlled but there are emotions which come from our nature in terms of whatever is our subhava and they cannot be suppressed they have to be channelized so for example now in terms of say contemporary terminology if i want to use it say one way in which modern psychology classifies people is some people are introverts and some people are extroverts so this is just the way people are and this is not something which can be changed introvert people they gain strength when they are alone it's not that introverts dislike others it's like people but they need their time for themselves so on the other hand extrovert people they want to meet more and more people the more people they meet the more they socialize the more they feel happy the more they feel a sense of belonging the more they feel a sense of joyfulness so now this cannot be changed so as devotees we live in a community but at the same time just because we live in a community our that core nature may not change so some devotees may gain more strength in introspection in study and they need their time alone and other devotees may need more socialization so now this is it a part of conditioning yes it's the soul is not introvert or extrovert the soul is transcendental but it's a part of a conditioning which we cannot repress we can use in Krishna sense so uh when you talk about the working of the mind and our desires do they work work conjointly to some extent yes that means there are certain things which we like to do and there are things which we are good at so when it works that way we don't have to repress it so if I'm if a particular person is good at doing something if say a person likes to sing now and a person is good at singing also now if I start singing am I singing for Krishna's pleasure or am I singing for my pleasure yes it is good to introspect like that but then that introspection should not make me stop singing because if I stop singing or see the basic anartha I may think that if I sing now I'm missing for my pleasure I'm doing self-gratification and maybe I'll become proud that I'm such a good singer yes all that can happen but it is not that because of my singing I became proud pride was already there the singing was an expression wasn't just a medium for the expression of that pride so that and so what I'm saying the pride is already there because I sing nicely I get a forum get a means for expressing the pride but if I don't sing it's not that the pride is going to go away the pride is going to be there and then that pride will express itself in an ugly way as envy for those who are singing nicely as envy for those who are singing nicely somebody sings nicely this person is so proud so now whether that person is proud or not I don't know I don't know what is there in their heart so yes even if there is pride the cure for pride is not suppression of talent it is purification of intent it means yes I'm doing it for Krishna's service let me do it and yes there may be some pleasure of mine also it's like say if this is this is circle of my pleasure this is circle of Krishna's pleasure now we shouldn't think that these two circles are completely non-intersecting that I have to give up all the things that give me pleasure so that I can serve Krishna no it's not that Krishna wants us to be miserable to become purified that's not the process of bhakti so if you consider these two circles there is an intersection in those circles and we can steadily practice bhakti when we live in that intersection now of course we will have our lower desires which will drag us out of that intersection and we have to resist them and there can also be emergencies where we may have to go out of that intersection in this direction also that means I may need to do some services which I may not like to do but that's what the what the situation demands that's what the what that's what the circumstance is so we should be ready to come out of that circle also for Krishna's sake that means sometimes I may just do things which I don't like to do because that's what the circumstance requires that's our selflessness that's our sacrifice but as a to sustain our bhakti we can't we can't completely deny or reject our nature so we will be able to sustainably practice bhakti when we are in that circle of what gives us pleasure not pleasure in a self-centered sense not pleasure in lusty greedy angry sense that sort of unorthodox sense but pleasure in terms of what is our nature the whole principle of varnashram is if a person is a brahminical orientation that person does brahminical activities in Krishna's service the person is of kshatriya nature the person does kshatriya activities in Krishna's service so the mind is working does it correspond with our desires yes it will correspond but we have to see whether the correspondence is healthy or unhealthy that means if the desire the lust anger greed unorthodrival then they are unhealthy and I need to control them but if they are expressions of my nature so there are activities which we can do in bhakti different devotees have different talents different strengths then we don't tell them in bhakti and there usually if we are good at doing something we feel happy doing it and we also make constructive contribution so that we shouldn't that we shouldn't do that should be we can see that as as a blessing that Krishna has given us by which we can serve him serve him properly serve him fruitfully in a way that we contribute and we are also satisfied so the now understanding our nature may take time also usually here also the mind comes in the service that I am doing is not my nature and that's what the mind says for every service so that's what the mind says for every service and in that way the mind will keep us perpetually dissatisfied so usually if our authorities our guides give us some services we should do those services but while doing those services we also observe ourselves okay which services do I really feel happy with which services am I good at and gradually as time progresses it will become more and more clear that this is my nature this is what I am good at this is what I can continue in life long and that way you can move ahead in life.
Does it address your question? I just have a follow-up to the question.