​How can we neglect the mind when it obsesses on the very object we want to avoid?

Answer Podcast

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
so what to do when we try to neglect the mind and mind focuses on the very object obsesses with the very object we are trying to neglect there are two different things here which if we confuse it can create lot of problems there is the mind and there is the object on which the mind is focusing so the two are different and what scripture tells us is to neglect the mind not the object on which the mind is focusing that means the whole idea is that our focus is to become Krishna conscious our focus is to become absorbed in whatever service we are doing for Krishna and the mind acts as a distraction so consider that say this is our consciousness the soul is here and the consciousness is here so the consciousness has to be focused somewhere and the mind acts as the as the director and distractor of consciousness both director means what for example if this door is open then I can see outside if the door is opaque when the door is open I will see through it so the mind is like a door for the consciousness so where the mind whichever door of the mind is open that is where we will focus now consider a situation where we are sitting in a room where there are three windows in front of us we are looking at one window but suddenly some stimulus comes up from another window some big noise comes or some sudden movement happens we look over there so like that consider that say we are through with our senses and with our actions we are focusing on one particular so we are trying to chant Hare Krishna and at that time so the mind actually the ideal situation is where the mind and the soul is here the mind is here, the senses are here and the object is here what about the intelligence so this is the sequence the object is here and the holy name so the ideal sequence would be the consciousness goes straight like this it goes through the mind, through the senses to the object which you want to focus on now what happens at times is that instead of being in one line the senses are here the mind goes here and the soul is here so then the soul’s consciousness can either go through the senses to whatever we are looking at say suppose somebody is working on a computer in office at that time cricket match is going on what is going on what is happening there is actually there a conflict a lack of concentration we say it is primarily a conflict between the senses and the mind the senses are physically at a particular place and you want them to focus over there but the mind is going somewhere else in this case we can never be unconscious we are always conscious of something so for example if say I am sitting in a room and I know over there is a box which contains some sweet and I don’t want to eat it because I have diabetes or because it makes me obese now if I start neglecting that even to neglect that I have to put some consciousness in that the chocolate is there and the sweet is there and I should not eat now to the extent our consciousness goes to that that creates a desire because it is a it appears to be a desirable object and when it is a desirable object we get attracted to it so now to the extent we try to neglect it that means even to not think of something we have to think about it and that thinking can lead to the chain of that thinking thinking leads to feeling, feeling leads to willing and then willing leads to fall so then here scriptures tell us they are not telling us primarily to neglect the sense objects they are telling us to neglect the mind so for example say I am focusing on my work on my computer and there is a sweet box over there so now actually I am not looking at the sweet box I am looking at my computer but there is a mind which acts as an instructor look at that see that so now what we need to do is we neglect the mind not the sense object because to think of the sense object means we will start getting tempted so neglect the mind means that don’t think about it so that means you are giving your mind an instruction of not thinking about we don’t give the mind the instruction the focus is that if suppose we have some friend who is always very frivolous you know he just wants to chit chat and we have some serious work to do or we have some relative who likes to chit chat and we know that if we pay attention to them they will talk more and more and then all our time will go away so we may just neglect them that means we just continue our work and when somebody talks and we all respond it may seem a little rude but after all people will understand we don’t want it and they will stop talking and go away so like that when the mind talks why don’t you do this why don’t you do that if we listen to it even for the sake of neglecting if we look at it looking at that person itself is a sign of giving attention to them and they will speak more so if we can absorb ourselves more in Krishna or in any particular activities we are doing in Krishna’s service it may be our job it may be our final responsibility but if we try to absorb ourselves in that particular activity then we will be able to neglect the mind so neglecting the mind is more about getting an intellectual awareness that the mind is untrustworthy the intelligence comes where so if the soul is here the mind is here the senses are here, the sense object is here the intelligence is very close to the soul and the intelligence will decide should I focus on the mind or should I focus on the senses so if I am chanting Hare Krishna if my intelligence is not strong the mind starts thinking about job or finances or whatever eating, sleeping, whatever our consciousness will go off over there because the senses are here the intelligence is here the intelligence will guide the soul to choose if the intelligence is not alert the mind is more forceful, the mind will get chosen if the intelligence is alert then the intelligence will direct the consciousness through the senses towards Krishna or towards whatever work we are trying to do so neglecting the mind basically means that we don’t, we understand this person what they are going to speak is not very important, it is often distracting and I didn’t spend much time on it so just as say to neglect the mind another example is there are advertisers and sometimes we know that advertisers often exaggerate the claims and just because in India we see many many billboards everywhere, here also there may be but when we see earlier we might have looked at all the billboards what is interesting, maybe I should purchase this now if we understand that now we can understand that most of these billboards are simply wanting to take my money and I don’t really need all these things then just because our values have changed, just because we have become devotees does not mean that advertisers will stop preparing the billboards advertisers will not change their nature just because we have decided to change our values similarly the mind is like an internal advertising agent the mind will also not change its nature but just as we stop looking at the advertisers similarly we stop looking at the mind stop hearing what the mind is how do we do that? by focusing on something else say for example if I am driving in a car then if I am looking at all the hoardings and all the billboards I will slow down then just focus straight on driving and don’t look here, don’t look there the principle in bhakti is that we can’t empty our consciousness if we can’t empty temptations we can’t empty distractions of our consciousness we have to crowd them out crowd them out means fill the mind with something more positive replace it so if you can find out something which acts as a udbhipan udbhipan is I gave a seminar on the holy name here in the temple udbhipan is a spiritual stimulus that attracts us towards Krishna if you find out all of us will have our own udbhipans so for example I may like to recite verses and reciting verses absorbs me in Krishna someone else may find that they like to sing Hare Krishna Mantra to me others may find it and just look at the picture very deeply that gives them absorption so we have to find out our own udbhipan what connects us with Krishna and we try to surround ourselves with as many of the udbhipan that are best for us and by those udbhipan we will be able to redirect our thoughts towards Krishna and by so when the mind starts distracting us we focus not so much on saying no but understanding ok this mind is distracting me so it’s not my desire it’s the mind’s proposition that is coming in and we focus not on saying no to that we focus on saying yes to Krishna how do I discriminate between no and yes because when I say anything because anything which I’m thinking it is coming because of my desire for example I’m thinking about