Is thinking too much unhealthy?

[Sunday feast class at ISKCON, Adelaide, Australia]

Video:

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
So I welcome all of you to the Sunday Feast class today Is it on? Hare Krishna Ok Is it audible now? Thank you So I welcome all of you to the Sunday Feast programme today at the lotus feet of Shraddha Shamsundar and I will speak today on the topic of Is thinking too much unhealthy? Is thinking too much unhealthy? So I was in America and there was a devotee who had some mental health issues and the devotee was considering a psychologist and the psychologist apparently told this devotee that you think too much and that is what is causing you so much trouble so then this devotee had the idea that actually when we become spiritual we are meant to become philosophical and becoming philosophical means thinking philosophy is all about thinking about life’s ultimate realities so can thinking too much be unhealthy? So I explained some things to the devotee to them but then I will speak more systematically today and I will speak this in three parts the principle the purpose and the process The principle refers to in general doing anything too much can be damaging eating is good but if you eat too much that can cause health issues sleeping is good, it is necessary but if it is too much again it is a problem. Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita talks about the principle of regulation and it says yukta har viharasya yukta ceshtasya karmasu yukta swapnava bodhasya yoga bhavati dukkha and when you are regulated you are eating, sleeping, recreation and work then the practise of yoga can free you from misery Krishna says he is recommending regulation so in principle when anything done in excess is bad so what do we actually mean by thinking too much the question itself is assuming a value judgement that you are thinking too much but what do we mean by thinking too much so there is thinking is something you are constantly doing in the sense that we are always having thoughts say right now when you are here, you are hearing this talk, you are thinking you are also thinking of what I am speaking you are thinking maybe who is coming into the room, what are the sounds what people next to you are doing so thoughts are something which constantly go on within us and there is no button by which you can stop thinking if you say somebody you are thinking too much what do I do is there any button which you can just press to stop stop thinking that’s not possible so now thinking can have multiple meanings we use the word thought itself in two different senses sometimes we may use the word thought means I got a thought and another sense we may say I have given this a lot of thought so here the word thought is used but very two different meanings I got a thought means it’s just a stimulus that has come within me but I have given this a lot of thought that means I have analysed systematically so in this first sense we can thoughts popping up within us we can’t stop that we can’t stop thoughts from popping up within us in the second sense that to give deep thought to things to deeply contemplate things actually that is a unique strength that we have we need to think deeply so that we can take important decisions properly but what can lead to disorder or what can lead to mental exhaustion is if we start thinking too deeply about any and every thought that pops up within us so then that is the problem thoughts will pop up and there are some thoughts which require serious attention sometimes say we meet someone and then we talk with them and they seem very distracted they just want to get the meeting over and go somewhere else now we may wonder is this person upset with me have I done something to offend them why are they behaving like this it’s a natural thought that will come which is just because we observe each other’s behaviour and we expect some basic courtesy if that is not there we may think a little bit about it but if somebody becomes super sensitive and somebody doesn’t behave nicely with them and they spend hours what do they do because they are behaving like this well that might just be that they have heard some bad news and they are burdened by that so it may not be about us at all it may be about something that is just going on in their own life so if we start thinking too much about any and every thought that pops up within our mind then it can be a problem another issue is when we are thinking if thinking replaces acting then also thinking too much can become a problem so just keep thinking keep thinking and never make a decision so for our suppose somebody has to decide ok no should I go to the temple or not ok maybe I should go, maybe I should not go and going to the temple and coming back takes 2 hours but before that the person spends 2 hours thinking should I go or not and then the thing I already wasted 2 hours better let me not go so if we think so much that thinking replaces acting then it is again a problem however there is a difference between thinking excessively and thinking deeply thinking deeply means that we go below the surface of subjects this is the surface but we go below that and understand things and all advancement in knowledge which humans have made is because of the capacity to think deeply when Newton saw the fruit when Newton saw the fruit falling at that time on seeing it falling he asked the question what made it fall famously most of you know the incident Newton in England when I was invited to to the Cambridge University to speak on science and spirituality he passed by that tree where Newton said to have seen the fruit falling so that tree somehow is still alive and that tree is considered to be like a pilgrimage place for scientists so people go there and try to get inspiration I want to be brilliant I want to also develop myself scientifically now yes if we consider from the point of view of thinking deeply thinking is bad then Newton had seen a fruit falling instead of Newton the monkey had been sitting there the monkey saw the fruit falling what would the monkey do pick it up it didn’t go its way so it is because Newton thought deeply what made this fruit fall that is why he was able to develop science he was able to come up with the theory of gravity so in any field there is observation and then there is contemplation ok what did I observe how do I make sense of it so thinking deeply means looking beyond the observation to something deeper so some deeper principle some deeper process some deeper phenomena beyond what we just see so any field if somebody is an expert in that field that means say we may try to drive our car and the car makes a strange sound its driving but its making a strange sound ok the sound is odd but if you go to a car mechanic that car mechanic hears that sound ok there is some dirt in your carburetor you know that your car will work well now they are hearing the same sound we are hearing the same sound but because they have the education so they can see that sound and go deeper what is causing that sound all that we can say is this cause is odd this sound is odd so in general whatever perception or observation that we do the capacity to go beyond that observation to understand what that observation is about what could have caused that phenomena that requires deep thinking so actually deep thinking is a unique strength of human beings among all species in existence it is human beings alone who are capable of deep thinking most species live for fulfilling their biological drives the drive to eat, the drive to reproduce the drive to defend such drives are what most living beings function according to, we human beings also have these drives but we can think of something more so thinking deeply is a human strength thinking excessively can make it into a weakness so this is the principle in the Bhagavad Gita Krishna talks about how thinking excessively living inside the head too much can be a problem in 18.35 he states yaya swapnam bhayam shokam vishadham madamevaccha navimunchati durmedha dhrutisaparthatamasi so he says if somebody is just day dreaming I’ll do this, I’ll do that, I’ll do that yaya swapnam now dreams are good if they are spurs to action but if dreams are substitutes to action then they are of no use swapnam then bhayam what if this goes wrong what if that goes wrong we just keep worrying worrying worrying is like worry is like the tax that we pay on loans that we haven’t yet taken worry is like the tax we pay on loans we haven’t yet taken because most of the time when we worry about problems those problems are not here right now what if this happens, what if that happens we just worry and we exhaust ourselves yaya swapnam bhayam shokam shokam means what has happened why did it happen like this, why did that person speak like that why did things go wrong like that well, it’s already happened in the Mahabharata it is said that lamentation achieves nothing except to sap the energy of the lamenter what has happened has happened what’s done is already done what can’t be changed can’t be changed so when we keep obsessing over that it’s like we are fighting a battle that is already lost already lost there are other battles in all these cases we are living inside the head without connecting with the actual reality and when this becomes a habit yaya swapnam bhayam shokam vishadam vishadam means moroseness always being pessimistic some people find solutions to all problems that they face and some people find problems with every solution they are provided so now of course if we are having an issue and somebody comes up with a solution we may have to objectively evaluate whether the solution is likely to work or not but to obsess only on that that just means that our own inner energy gets dissipated uselessly and then the last Krishna says mother is intoxication where people feel oh I just can’t deal with reality so let me go into some imaginary world let me drink, let me get intoxicated and let me forget the world around me so Krishna is giving that on all this he says are characteristics of the mode of ignorance na vimunchati durmedha dhruti sa partha tamasi this is in the mode of ignorance it’s interesting Krishna uses the word dhruti dhruti means determination normally we consider determination to be a good thing but if we are determined then we hold on to something even when it is difficult but if we are holding on to something which is bad then what is the use so if somebody is holding on to thought patterns that only drain them and hurt them then that is ignorant determination that is obstinacy that is a self-defeating mental health pattern so now Krishna here we are talking about the process that means I said broadly speaking that if there is only thinking but no acting if the thoughts are disconnected from reality then that thinking can be unhealthy this we can analyse further in terms of the three modes of material nature the three modes are subtle forces that shape the interaction between matter and consciousness so we all see the world around us but we don’t see the world in a similar way say three people are sitting in a bus and they are sitting in the bus they see outside the window there is nice greenery over there so first person is in goodness second person, second row is in passion third person, third row is in ignorance now the first person is reading a book and the person sees oh this lush greenery such a peaceful place I can become absorbed in reading in the wisdom of this book the second person is maybe watching a romantic movie on their phone and person sees the greenery and says oh if I had a partner I would enjoy over here such beautiful natural scenery the third person is trying to sleep and the bus is moving, jerking such nice greenery I could sleep so peacefully over here so the perception the object that is perceived is the same but how it is processed is different so the mode shape the interaction between matter and consciousness so the matter, the object material object here is the greenery the person is the soul, consciousness the mode shape the interaction between matter and consciousness and in general when we are in the mode of ignorance that’s when our thinking starts working against it it becomes unhealthy so these three modes Krishna describes in shorthand by three words he says prakasham cha pravrttim cha moham eva cha pandava dveshti sam pravrttani nani vrttani kankshati in 14.21 in the Bhagavad Gita the 14th chapter of the Gita talks about the three modes of material nature and in 14.21 he is describing three words to refer to each of the modes prakasha is the characteristic for the mode of goodness he uses this word 10 verses earlier also so prakasha means illumination so what is this illumination he says when all the doors to the body are illumined that is the characteristic of the mode of goodness the doors to the body are the senses so what does it mean if somebody is in goodness is it that light comes from their eyes, their ears, their nose no here light represents the light of knowledge just as if a door is dark we will not know who is coming in, who is going out but if the door is lit and if a child is running out we will stop the child from going out if some intruder is coming in we will stop them from coming in so similarly when the senses are illumined then we know what to take in and what to let out so in the mode of goodness when some stimulus comes in we know whether to think about it or to not think about it so in the mode of goodness when there is prakasha, there is illumination then there is first contemplation and then action so whenever there is something to do we think and then we act in contrast in the mode of passion there is pravrutti, pravrutti means zeal for acting so that zeal to act, do something so the mode of passion is characterised by first action then contemplation so people don’t think they act some people speak some people speak to express their thoughts and some people speak to discover their thoughts they speak I didn’t mean to say that we all have slip of tongue so actually it’s not a slip of tongue, it’s a slip of the mind so what happens when there is action without contemplation, that is the mode of passion and the mode of ignorance, Krishna says moha there is neither action nor contemplation, there is simply delusion in the passion somebody acts but doesn’t think properly, in ignorance person may sit for hours watching TV or playing video games just lost in thought, not doing anything practical and there is neither action nor contemplation, there is just delusion being lost in the head that is in the mode of ignorance and that kind of thinking is unhealthy that is detrimental for us that is something which makes us makes our thoughts our inner world work against us so thinking deeply is in the mode of goodness thinking excessively is in the mode of ignorance thinking excessively means just keep thinking don’t do anything that is in the mode of ignorance now how do we at a practical level know the difference between thinking deeply which is in the mode of goodness and thinking excessively which is in the mode of ignorance so that depends on the big picture so Prabhupada explains that intelligence in the 10th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita he says intelligence means to see things in their proper perspective this is more important, this is less important this requires this much time this requires this much time so when we understand what requires how much time because we understand the big picture we don’t obsess over one thing alone then that is with that intelligence we can understand whether I am thinking too much or I am thinking adequately so let’s do a thought experiment to understand this so wherever you are seated you can sit comfortably, as comfortably as possible and you can close your eyes and with your eyes closed now you can take three deep breaths with me three deep breaths with me now with your eyes closed look at what you see in front of you because your eyes are closed you can’t see what is physically in front of you but it is as if there is a screen inside you and that screen displays various things you may see this room you may see your house you may see your loved one you may see your car or you may see various images coming and going on that inner screen or there might just be a dull haze of colours that slowly or rapidly changes whatever it is that you see you see on an inner screen now as you are observing this inner screen try to take a step back and look at who it is that is looking at that inner screen instead of looking at the inner screen try to catch sight of the inner seer, the inner seer of that inner screen try once again, take a step back mentally and try to catch sight of the inner seer, no matter how many steps you take back the seer steps back with you what you are looking for is what you are looking with you are that seer, you are the soul, the consciousness that is the seer and the inner screen is your mind you can take one deep breath and you can open your eyes so normally when we pursue things the inner seer the inner screen and the outer scene the outer scene what we see all three are in one line that is when proper perception happens if the inner screen is going somewhere else say we are thinking what has happened at home what is this person doing what is happening over there, then the inner screen starts displaying something else then we can’t we don’t notice what is happening on the outer scene so for us to function properly we could say I talked about the three modes of material nature so there is thinking and acting, contemplation and action so when what appears on the inner screen so I earlier also talked about the two concepts of thoughts, thought is what I got a thought and I have given this a lot of thought so that means I got a thought means some stimulus appeared on that inner screen hey what about eating this what about watching that so when it appears over there at that time how do we respond, it’s like if I have a computer and suddenly the computer notice comes up, on facebook your friend has updated the photo, cover photo or some day some instagram or where is the notice comes then if you are doing some important work you may note it but you will not click on it and go there so thought in one sense is what appears on our inner screen but second meaning of thought is whether we give due attention to it or not whether we calmly objectively analyse it or not so in terms of this model first there is thought and then there is action that is the mode of goodness that means something appears on the inner screen, we duly contemplate it and then we take the right action that thinking enables us to function more effectively suppose I am driving out somewhere then before rushing into the car I think what all am I supposed to take A, B, C, D 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, have I got all these things then I move then what happens, I don’t forget things and I don’t have to go back and get those things so in that sense thinking before acting helps but when I talk about the mode of ignorance that is characterised by there is no contemplation, there is no action there is simply delusion that means what happens whatever stimulus is popping up on that inner screen, we just keep watching that and we don’t do anything constructive about it what about this, what about that what about this, what about that so then that becomes very damaging for us there are two major mental health problems that people are facing in today’s world one is depression and the other is anxiety in terms of this inner screen model now when the inner screen starts going to the past and showing us everything that has gone wrong in the past oh this person did like this to you you made a mess of things over there and this terrible thing happened as it starts showing us a horror movie, a tragedy of all that has gone wrong in the past then we feel my future is going to be more of the same and that’s how we get depressed depression is caused not so much by the specific problem that we are facing right now it is caused more by our mind replaying all the past problems that we have faced and we are thinking this is what is going to go on conversely when the inner screen goes into the future and there it starts showing all the things that may go wrong in the future when it shows us all the things, this may go wrong, that may go wrong that may go wrong then the result of that is we get anxiety so if we could just make sure that the inner screen stays focused on the outer scene what exactly is the situation right now and how can I deal with that situation then that kind of thinking is good so again thinking I said when is thinking too much or when is thinking too much bad when thinking disconnects us from action and thinking replaces action so in terms of the inner screen if the inner screens are showing us things about the past and they can’t change the past so then we keep thinking about it that kind of thinking will drain us it will tyre us, it will dishearten us so in that sense if we keep thinking too much about the past that has happened that is bad, that is unhealthy now somebody may say no but bad things have happened and how can I deny it, we are not denying it we are just not letting the past control the present somebody may say but somebody did wrong to me, can I just let it go, we are not talking about letting the wrong go we are just making sure that the wrong doesn’t keep holding on to us there is something which we can learn from the past there is something which we can do to correct the wrongs that were done in the past but for that what do we need, we need to be in the mode of goodness as I said earlier the difference between the mode of goodness and the mode of ignorance is actually in the inner world a person in the mode of goodness is sitting calmly and a person in the mode of ignorance is also sitting calmly once I was in Pune, I used to do some programme so one person would come for the programme very early every time, before the programme would begin and then I asked you are very enthusiastic, he said yes I always come before that this wall is so comfortable I want to catch a place next to the wall so I can just relax comfortably so he was not interested in the subject he did not come to take shelter of Krishna he had come to take shelter of the wall so now a person may be sitting calmly but whether they are in the mode of goodness or they are in the mode of ignorance, we don’t know the mind is running wild they are in the mode of ignorance they are letting the mind go uncontrolled so therefore the point here is that when we are thinking at that time if we are in control and we are directing our thoughts then okay I am calm I am secure and now I am going to look at the past and learn from the past that is what is helpful if I am myself so disheartened so insecure then if we try to learn from the past at that time for learning from the past we need a basic sense of security a basic sense of calmness and when things have gone wrong in the immediate moment after things have gone wrong if we try to learn from it, we won’t learn from it we will simply lament it just distance yourself from it at that time and later on when we are calm so when we are in control and we direct that inner screen to the past okay, this happened and this happened, at this point maybe I could have done this, at this point if I had done this, this could have happened, why did I not do this, oh you know I didn’t think properly or I was just too attached to my own idea so when we are in control and we take our thoughts back to the past that is when we can learn from the past but if we are just passive and the mind just goes to the past see this went wrong that went wrong, that went wrong then we don’t learn anything from it so we need to be ourselves in the mode of goodness, so if you want to learn something from the past incidents make sure that we are calm take a few deep breaths, chant some Hare Krishna mantra, study some scripture, pray to Krishna and then look back in the past, when we are calm, look back at the past we can learn from the past similarly when we have to prepare for the future we don’t there is being fearful of the future and there is preparing for the future we don’t need to prepare for the future but again we need to be calm when we are calm and then we take our thoughts to the future not the thoughts take us to the future but we take our thoughts to the future that is when we can learn so this capacity to direct our mind where we need it to go that is the essential capacity of a Yogi the Bhagavad Gita says that the mind when we learn to direct it according to our thoughts, that’s when we become a Yogi no Yogi doesn’t necessarily mean somebody has to go to a mountain top and renounce the world, Yogi simply means that we understand that we are different from the body, we are different from the mind and we have a spiritual purpose to our life that’s the last part of the talk I talked about the principle of thinking then I talked about the process of thinking the process is in the mind thoughts keep popping up and then who is directing our thinking process, is the mind directing it or are we directing it now the last point is the purpose of thinking ultimately everything that we do it is for some purpose so the Bhagavad Gita explains that that the supreme absolute truth Krishna, he is knowledge he is the object of knowledge and he is the objective of knowledge that means what does it mean, object of knowledge and objective of knowledge, some student may be studying say medical science they want to become a doctor so the object of study is the medical textbook but the student’s interest may be not so much in medical science, the interest may be in earning money so the interest is primarily I want to earn a lot of money so then the object of study and the objective of study are two different things but in spiritual life the object of study and the objective of study are the same we study about Krishna so that we can know Krishna more, so that we can love Krishna more so Krishna is the supremely stable object he is supremely stable supremely secure and he can make us also stable so when we learn to focus our mind on Krishna we direct our thoughts towards Krishna that directing of our thoughts towards Krishna calms our mind, how does it calm? I told about thoughts as events popping up this thought, that thought, that thought on a screen inside us could use another metaphor of a boat a boat in an ocean this wave comes, that wave comes, the boat will be tossed, but if the boat is attached to something heavy, to an anchor then the boat when it is anchored even when the waves come, the waves will not shake it so much so for us, for our inner world Krishna is that anchor so when we direct our thoughts towards Krishna and we connect our consciousness with Krishna then we become anchored to him by that practise by regularly hearing about chanting about Krishna, worshipping Krishna, serving Krishna our thoughts become anchored to him when they are anchored to him then certain stimuli might pop up here, certain stimuli might pop up there, but it won’t disturb us that much, because the waves will come, the waves will shake, but the anchor will bring it back in place that’s why the more we can make it a habit to fix our mind on Krishna the more we will find our mind will become stable prashanta manasam hyenam, yoginam sukham uttamam, upaiti shanta rajasam brahma bhutam akalmasam Krishna says in 6.27 prashanta manasam, the mind will become peaceful yoginam sukham uttamam not only will it become peaceful we will become joyful sukham uttamam and how will it happen? upaiti shanta rajasam the passion that is there in the mind do this, do this, what about this, what about that that itself will become pacified and brahma bhutam akalmasam we will understand that I am a soul that I am different from the mind that this is the inner screen whatever is popping up on the inner screen that is different from me I don’t necessarily have to act on it I can observe it, evaluate it and then decide what to do so if we make it a habit to think about Krishna then our thinking will start working for us instead of against us because that thinking about Krishna will become the anchor that will stabilise so the purpose of thinking for a devotee is ultimately how can I serve Krishna when Prabhupada was asked how can we know whether we are Krishna conscious so Prabhupada said that if you come to the temple and you look at the deities and then you feel Krishna is asking you what are you doing for me then you are Krishna conscious most people come to the temple and ask Krishna what are you doing for me I have this problem this problem, this problem, not yet solved when are you going to solve it yes it’s good if you have problems and we pray to Krishna also for that but ultimately Krishna wants to take us beyond all problems in this world this problem that problem will keep coming they will keep going but if our consciousness becomes attached to Krishna then we will go beyond all problems so when we have that attitude of serving Krishna Krishna how can I serve you in this situation then that service attitude will become our guide so I talked about the anchor, the anchor is what will keep us stable but sometimes in life we don’t just need stability, we also need direction I don’t want to be knocked in this direction and that direction, I don’t want to be tossed here and there but I also need to know where to go most of the times people succumb to thinking too much when it comes to making decisions when it comes to making decisions say should I take this job or that job or in today’s world should I marry this person or marry that person just think too much and when that happens just don’t move forward I was in America, in Texas there is one devotee boy he is working in a big MNC software company and very well educated in a top institute in India almost 10-12 years he has not been able to find a partner so he was frustrated by that then I asked the devotees who were guiding him what happened so he says why is he not able to find a partner so they said that actually whenever he finds anyone, anyone is proposed he starts becoming hypercritical about that person and he keeps finding fault with everyone and he keeps finding fault with everyone then this ends up with no one so another devotee his wife she told him actually he wants someone who has the beauty of a Miss Universe and the devotion of Devahuti so if you are going to have unrealistic expectations it’s not going to work life never comes with a guarantee of right decisions even if we think adequately enough that does not necessarily mean that the decision we take will be right what is in our hand is not making the right decision but having the right decision making process if we have done the right homework ok these are the parameters because of which I have decided this, this, this we choose a particular job in a particular place and then this is why I chose this 1, 2, 3 if we have done the thinking then eventually if the decision turns out to be wrong we can do the course correction we won’t just be on the whims of our mind taking a decision and then quitting the decision this is why I did this and if this is not working out ok let me try for a few months, if it’s not working out I’ll change so Bhagavad Gita is not just for telling Arjuna what to do Krishna if you wanted to tell Arjuna fight could you have spoken one word, fight, yudha and there would have been no Bhagavad Gita Krishna spoke the whole Bhagavad Gita to give Arjuna the world view the intellectual content by which he could understand the rationale for taking a decision so ultimately if we think not so much to necessarily make a decision but think to get the sound basis for making the decision then we will the chance that we will make the right decision will be much more and even if our decision turns out to be wrong later we will be able to do course correction faster so if we make it a habit to think about Krishna and we have an attitude Krishna I want to serve you how can I best serve you in this situation that service attitude will become like our torch light sometimes our inner world is so dark nothing seems to make sense but then when it’s dark we need a torch light to move on so Krishna can be both our anchor to stabilise our inner world and Krishna can be the torch light by which if you have an attitude to serve Krishna then I will be able to let me take this one step forward one step forward and eventually Krishna will guide us to safety Krishna will take us to eternal auspiciousness because that is what he ultimately wants even if we make some mistakes Krishna is like the ultimate google now we have google map so google map tells us to take turn left now if somehow we turn right at that time the google map doesn’t say you fool you turned wrong get lost what does google map do? it recalibrates and then reroutes us from here you do this way similarly if we are connected with Krishna our Krishna consciousness our connection with Krishna is like our consulting with a reliable google map even if we take a wrong turn even if we take a wrong decision it doesn’t mean that we are doomed Krishna can do course correction Krishna can reroute for us and take us to auspiciousness that is how thinking about Krishna is the best use of our thinking power and it will help us to use our thinking power in all other aspects of our life also constructively so I will summarise I spoke today on the topic of is thinking too much unhealthy and some people get mental health problems because they live too much inside the head so then I analysed this in three parts first the principle, the process and the purpose in the principle I said doing anything in excess is bad but how do we define what is excess with respect to thinking if thinking replaces acting then that thinking is too much and it is bad however there is a difference between thinking excessively and thinking deeply we humans have this capacity to think deeply to not just look at phenomena but to try to understand the principles that are governing the phenomena that’s how we gain scientific knowledge and that’s how we can gain philosophical understanding so thinking if we think superficially then we won’t understand deeper truths of life at all, so we talk about two different meanings of the word thought, one is stimulus that pops up within us and thought as our calm systematic thinking so thinking too much means that any and every stimulus that pops up within us we give a lot of time to it and we let our mental energy get dissipated but thinking deeply means we evaluate which thought needs our attention and then we give it the necessary attention so with respect to the process I talked about three modes of material nature the mode of goodness means there is first contemplation then action in the mode of passion there is first action then contemplation, in the mode of ignorance there is neither contemplation nor action there is simply delusion the modes are like subtle forces that shape the interaction between matter and consciousness I gave the example of three people in a bus looking at a greenery now when we are in the mode of ignorance then we think too much but that thinking just keeps us in delusion so we discussed the thought experiment of the inner screen when the inner screen goes into the past and starts replaying all the bad things that have happened we get depression when the inner screen which is the mind goes into the future and talks so all the things that may go wrong in future that causes us anxiety now to learn from the past or to plan for the future we need to be in charge and we consciously direct that inner screen that means we have to be in goodness then we can learn and we can plan and concluded by talking about the purpose of thinking so ultimately the object of knowledge and objective of knowledge for us is Krishna so Krishna is like the stabiliser of our inner screen this idea this idea then at that time if we are firmly connected with Krishna if we are conscious of Krishna then the anchor and the boat will not sweep the anchor too much and thus we will find that we will become calmer when we give due time to focus our consciousness on Krishna and most of the time we think too much when we have to take decisions so we become paralysis by analysis as they say so to avoid that thinking about Krishna with a service attitude how can I serve you that can act like a torch light wherein we may not be guaranteed of having the right decision but if we go through the right decision making process then we will have the capacity to evaluate whether the decision was right or wrong and then do course correction so Krishna is like the ultimate google map he gives us the directions and even if we go wrong he will reroute and keep us moving forward so by connecting with Krishna connecting with Krishna, thinking about Krishna is the best use of our thinking power and that will help us to use our thinking power in other aspects of our life also constructively thank you very much Hare Krishna Hare Krishna is there any one question or comment sorry you are firmly embedded in that screen it doesn’t delude you it doesn’t deceive you it’s always there with you so you does you make a very practical ok so how can we ensure that the screen inside us doesn’t delude us it helps us to make sound practical decisions there is no guarantee there is only a process of repeated reorientation Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita 6.26 yato yato nishchalati manas chanchalam asthiram tatas tato niyam yai tad aatmanye vavasham nayet is wherever and whenever the mind wanders bring it back under the control of the self so what appears on the inner screen is actually determined by what we have viewed there in the past suppose we have our computer and on that we have visited a particular site say bollywood.com and we repeatedly visited that and now we come to a spiritual programme we hear about Bhagavad Gita and now we want to learn more about Bhagavad Gita so we go and type Bhagavad Gita on Google but we type Bhagavad Gita we type B and what happens Bollywood comes up now we want to go to Bhagavad Gita and Bollywood comes up because that is saved as a preference from the past so similarly for us whatever we think about whatever actions we do they become stored as impressions in our mind and the past impressions come as present propositions the past impressions come as present propositions so if I have thought about if I got angry many times in the past then as soon as I see something going wrong immediately I become angry immediately I want to yell at people so that is the default response that comes up so now if I am working on a computer and bollywood.com comes up what do I do I have to remember that I don’t want to visit this site so I cancel that and I type Bhagavad Gita so like that it is a conscientious effort that is required and we can’t always be conscientious because the mind is too fickle but if we have an overall structure and order for our life that means this is what I am going to do now this is what I am going to do now if we are constructively engaged in a mood of service to Krishna then that doesn’t give the mind too much time to mislead us if I have a whole day I am relaxed today let me see what I can do in the day and the mind will waste the whole day for this this doesn’t mean we have to be busy running around but we have to be constructively engaged and then even the mind proposes something ok what about this ok let me put it in pending, let me future think about it and then I will decide it so generally living in the mood of goodness that means having a regulated lifestyle a fixed time for doing different things that helps us to provide some structure and order in our life and that structure and order ensures that our mind doesn’t toss us too far and it’s a gradual process of developing sharp instincts, I will conclude with an example that suppose there is a fire fighter now there can be a novice fire fighter and there can be a seasoned fire fighter now when a big fire breaks out, both of them are alarmed but for the trained fire fighter the training kicks in the fire fighting instincts come ok now tackle this fire from here, you take the hose over here I take the hose over here, you go over there a novice fire fighter when the fire breaks out they have the nose and drop the nose they have the hose and then they drop the hose so what happens Hare Krishna so ok so when we understand that this is the process that the novice fire fighter by training properly will become experienced so similarly we may go off track for a long time but as soon as we realise we come back on track and as we keep practising bhakti do our sadhana more and more then our capacity to become aware of when the mind has gone off track that will become better and we will be able to come back on the right track faster so thank you very much