How do we know which is our voice, the minds voice and the Supersoul’s voice?

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Transcript

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So, when we say that we can control the mind or check the mind by a plan, the question may come up, who is making the plan? Is it not the mind making the plan? And further if we say that we can consult others, that only adds more variables, adding to the confusion of decision. And if we say super soul is also there, then how do we know which is the voice of the super soul? How do we decide? Yes.
It is said that bhakti is simple for the simple and complicated for the complicated. Now, what I mean by this is that when we are talking about simple for the simple, it means that if the mind or if our normal mode of thinking is in the mode of goodness, that in the mode of goodness, all the doors of the senses, they are illumined with knowledge. That means when they are illuminated with knowledge means what? It is not that some light comes out of the eyes of a person in goodness.
What it means is, just as if there is a door and there is a light in the door, then we will see, oh, this person is a friend, I let this person inside. This person seems to be intruder. I won’t let that person inside.
So, when the door is illuminated, we can decide what to let inside, what to not let inside. So, like that, the senses are illuminated by knowledge, we know what to let inside our senses, what to not let inside our senses. So, like that, there is inner perception or inner illumination that is there when we are relatively speaking in the mode of goodness.
So, it may at first glance seem very confusing. Is there someone else inside me? Is there someone else also speaking? But actually, that confusion is better than the confusion, why did I do that? If we don’t recognize that there is someone else inside me, then we end up speaking things, we end up doing things. So, actually, the mind can sometimes, if we don’t recognize the mind, the mind will make us unrecognizable to ourselves.
That means the mind will make us do things and we think, was it I who did such a thing? How could I have done such a thing? So, although it may be confusing, but actually, not recognizing the mind can lead to far greater confusion. So, it’s essential for us to recognize and yes, it can be the mind involved also in making the plan. But in general, we all go through the different gunas, sattva guna, rajo guna, tamo guna.
And we all can observe that there are times when we are more reflective, when we are more thoughtful, when our perceptions are clearer. That is the time when we are in goodness. The example I give for goodness, passion, ignorance is, say, there is a, people are going on a bus or in Australia, we are trams.
So, you go on a tram, there are three windows and three people are sitting. The first person is in goodness, second person is in passion, third is in ignorance. And they all are looking out at the window and there is a forest, a nice green room.
The person in goodness is trying to read a book and say, it’s a bumpy road, it’s bumpy. This person looks at the forest and thinks, this forest is so peaceful. I can just sit here and dive deep into the wisdom in this book.
The second person sees the same forest, the second person is in passion and remembers the latest movie that they have seen. And there is a hero and heroine dancing in the forest. If I had someone, I would be dancing here.
The third person is in ignorance. The person is just lazy, trying to sleep. And the bus is bumping.
I could sleep so nicely here. So, now it’s the same object, different responses. This is shaped by the moods.
So, now I give this example as three different persons, but actually all three, we can also go through these three different responses at the same time. So, like that, we all have times when we are relatively calmer, where our perceptions are clearer and that is the time of goodness. So, in general, when we make plans, if we make the plans when we are in the mood of goodness, when we are reflective, when we are thoughtful, then it is the intelligence active.
The mind is usually very impulsive, very hasty, pushes us down. I want it and I want it now. So, in general, if we are able to pause, think and then decide, it’s reasonable to infer that it is usually the intelligence active.
And adding the additional factors such as the super soul or our others who will guide us, that may seem to be confusing, but if we understand that ultimately that there is the mind over here, which may sometimes mislead us, but it is Krishna who is guiding us. And Krishna may guide us as the voice of the super souls, Krishna may guide us through devotees, Krishna may guide us through Shastra. And the most reliable guidance of Krishna is through Shastra.
Reliable in the sense that, you know, when we may feel a voice from within. So, Prabhupada was once in New York and he says, Swami, in the early days, one hippie came to me and said, Swamiji, you came in my dream. I said, you told me to take LSD.
So, Prabhupada said, that was not me, that was Maya in my dress. So, in general, you know, from scripture, we know what is to be done, what is not to be done. That is in 16.24, Krishna says that, by Shastra, know what is to be done, what is not to be done.
And if any voice from anywhere tells us to do something opposite, we should know that is not the voice of Krishna. But if the voice from within tells us, do this, and that is what scripture is also telling us, then doing that is good. And even when you say you should consult others, if we are indiscriminate in consulting others, we will only compound our confusion.
So, when we say consult, there are people whom we trust, and who is a trustworthy person, that is a person who has one’s own mind, consent and control, and it is an intelligence functioning and acting. So, when we consult, we should also consult a reliable person. And that person also is giving guidance according to Shastra, or in broad harmony with the principles of Shastra, in those situations, when Shastra does not specifically talk about something, but there are broad principles that Shastra talks about.
So, if it is in harmony with Shastra, then the confusion will be minimized. So, yes, it can be confusing, but it is better to go through some struggle and resolve the confusion internally, than rather face the consequences of having acted based on the prompting of wrong words. And if we study scripture regularly, and if we take our decisions, when we are in the mode of goodness, then there is a very fair good probability that we will be able to act in a way that is not induced by the mind, but that is disciplinary.
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