​Learning to live with the mind 1 – Gita 6.27-36

​Talk at VOICE centre, NIT Rourkela

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
So, I am delighted to be here amongst all of you, so as I should be able to say in the introduction that you know I was there in the first one time programme in the college. So, actually speaking there is sometimes a politician comes to a place to inaugurate a place and the politician goes off everywhere else and then it is a local team that actually builds the whole project. So, I am I was fortunate to be a part of history in the making at that time and all of you have very competently carried on that legacy.
It is wonderful to see such a CBT’s to see a big temple hall and see all of your enthusiastic smiling faces and of course, my Quran too and I go a long time back and so your whole team has been taking care of and savouring and sharing, savouring ourselves and sharing the spiritual wisdom of bhakti with others. So, I am happy to be here amongst all of you and the question that I speak on the topic of the mind. So, I will speak on learning to live with the mind.
Normally we think about controlling the mind, conquering the mind, but today I will focus on learning to live with the mind. So, I will take four verses from the Bhagavad Gita. It’s a discussion between Krishna and Arjuna from 6.33 to 6.36. Among all the chapters in the Bhagavad Gita it is the sixth chapter that talks extensively about the mind.
And Krishna Prabhupada explains in his purports in the sixth chapter that the essence of the process of yoga is not sitting in any particular posture, but it is focussing the mind. And after Krishna describes to Arjuna how by the process of yoga, Prashantamanasam dhenam yoginam sukham uttamam Upaiti shantarajasam brahmabhutam kalmasam So, he says in 6.27 that Prashantamanasam dhenam. By the steady practise of yoga the mind will become peaceful.
Prashantamanasam dhenam yoginam sukham uttamam The yogi will experience the supreme happiness. So, actually when the mind becomes peaceful, the yogi becomes joyful. When the mind becomes peaceful, we are all aspiring yogis, bhakti yogis, but we are yogis.
So, when the mind becomes peaceful, we become joyful. And till the mind has not become peaceful, bhakti or any process of yoga is a struggle. So, Krishna says over here that when the mind becomes prashant, then what will happen? Yoginam sukham uttamam, the yogi will experience uttamasam, the transcendental happiness.
Upaiti shantarajasam, rajas, the rajoguna which makes us agitated, that will become peaceful. Brahmabhutam kalmasam, one will understand one’s spiritual nature free from all contaminations. And then after that in 6.28, 29, 30, Krishna talks about progressively higher levels of spiritual realisation.
6.28 talks about Brahma realisation. Sukhenam brahmasamsparasam, atyantamsukham ashrutte There also he talks about the process of steady practise. Yunjan evam sadatmanam, yogi vigat kalmasah, yunjan evam sadatmanam In fact we consider atma, when atma is used in the form of nominative, there are different forms of words in grammar.
So, atmanam. So, atman actually contains the word manna also in it. So, the idea is that the manna is a part of our whole being.
So, Krishna in 28th verse he talks about the Brahman realisation. 29th text he talks about Paramatma realisation. Sarvabhutasthamatmanam sarvabhutamichatmanim Ikshate yoga yuntatma sarvatra samdarshanah One who sees the universe in the supreme and the supreme in the universe.
One who sees this way each person is spiritually realised. This is the Paramatma realisation. And 30th text talks about Bhagwan realisation.
Brahman, Paramatma and Bhagwan are three aspects of the absolute truth. Yoma pashyati sarvatra sarvamichamai pashyati Tarsyaham na pranashyami sacchame na pranashyati Those who see me everywhere and see everything in me, they are never lost. Now after this, we may say we understand Brahman, Paramatma, Bhagwan.
But what after that? How do we look at the world? It’s not that we don’t care for the world. We learn to see actually that same Paramatma present in all living beings. Sarvabhutasthitam yoma bhajante kathoma sthithah Sarvatha vartama yopi sayogimai vartate One who sees that same Supreme whom we are realising in the heart that same Supreme is also present in all living beings.
So we see the equality of all living beings. Not that they are all one absolutely but they are all beloved for the Supreme One. They are all part of our same universal family.
And thus the yogic vision leads not so much to detachment but to compassion. Not so much to renunciation but to compassion. Sometimes people think of renunciation as not caring for things.
But renunciation actually means caring for something higher by which one doesn’t get obsessed so much with caring for lower things. So just like a child when the children grow up. In childhood they may just be caught up in playing.
But as they grow up then they have more constructive things to do in their life. It’s not that they don’t care for playing in the sense that they hate playing. There is a phase in life when people have to play.
But now I have outgrown the phase. Of course nowadays with video games people never outgrow the phase. Nowadays elderly people also just keep getting caught in playing.
Now there is a new video game called Pokemon Go which has come. Which has become a craze. People are meeting with road accidents, car accidents.
Just lost in playing the game. They don’t know where they are going, what they are doing. So some people may not outgrow.
But normally when we have something more constructive to do then the less constructive things we automatically become indifferent to them. So the advanced yogi is not that they don’t care for the things of the soul. Actually their renunciation brings compassion.
In 32nd text Krishna tells Arjuna that this yogi is what do they say? They say that actually the Atma in all living beings is the same. All living beings are equal in that sense. In the happiness and in distress.
Such a yogi is Paramo madahas. Yogi is having the highest vision. Nowadays there is a great threat of terrorism in the world.
And some people which is not able to digest the idea of brutal terrorism and they try to simplistically say okay what is the cause of terrorism? Islam is the cause of terrorism. Now yes Islamic ideology can spawn terrorism. But there is no simplistic one to one correlation.
Ultimately if we are actually saying spiritually people are not Muslims, people are not Hindus, people are not Christians. People are souls. And the souls can get affected by the modes.
And when they get affected by the modes especially by the lower mode of passion and ignorance then they can act in horrible ways. So if Islam itself was the cause of terrorism then Islam has been existing for 1500 years. So why Taliban and ISIS come now? So yes religion can be a cause but economics is a cause, politics is a cause, social unrest is a cause.
There are so many other causes that contribute to it. So the point which I am making is some people in a material vision they demonise the other. We Hindus are good, those Muslims are bad.
Or it can be in any way. It can be in Hitler’s Germany We Nazi Germans are good, those Jews are bad. So simplistically dividing people according to some kind of racial, religious, geographical boundaries that is a superficial vision.
Because ultimately everyone is a soul. And people when they become influenced by the lower modes they will act in demoniac ways. Actually this first suicide bombing was done not by Islamic terrorists it was done by LTD which was a secular organisation.
LTD did not believe in any religion or anything like that. So it is when people are in Rojoguna, Tamoguna they will act in demoniac ways. And while going in Rojoguna and Tamoguna they may have different reasons for that.
Some may use religious ideology as a reason some may use racist ideology as a reason some may use nationalist ideology as a reason. So different people can use different rationalisations but we if we are seeing through philosophy we should see that all souls are essentially similar. All souls are essentially similar.
And when the soul… Sukhamvaya diva dukkham sayogi par momadaha In happiness and in distress all living beings are similar. So what this means is the yogis see that when people are disconnected from God when people are not in spiritual consciousness they will suffer. When people get connected with God when they are in spiritual consciousness then they will be happy.
And in this way there is compassion. What is the compassion for? To connect everyone with spirituality. To help raise everyone’s consciousness.
So this is the vision of compassion of the topmost yogi. Krishna says such yogis are the topmost yogis. So yogi par momadaha which is the parama, topmost yogi.
At this point Krishna stops and Arjuna asks a question. So all this I spoke till now was the background of the topic. So Arjuna says the 33rd text now.
yogyam yogas tvayaprota samyena madhusudana etasyaham na pasyami chancharatva sthitinsthiram So he says that oh Arjuna, oh Krishna this process that you have spoken samyena means samatha, equanimity You say that I should see everyone equally. It’s not practical. etasyaham na pasyami I will not be able to see like this.
chancharatva sthitinsthiram The mind is very restless. So Vishwanath Chakravarthy is a prominent commentator on the Bhagavad Gita. On the Bhagavatam also.
But in this Bhagavad Gita commentary he says that Arjuna is thinking Krishna if you are saying that I should see all living beings equally does that mean I should see Yudhishthir who is Dharmaraj who is the personification of Dharma and Duryodhana who is the personification of Adharma Am I meant to see both of them equally? I am going to fight against Duryodhana and I am going to fight for Yudhishthir How can I see both of them equally? So he says this doesn’t seem practical to me. And then the theme of chanchala which he is saying in this verse he elaborates in the next text in the 34th text he says chanchalam himanah krishna pramathi pallavendranam asyaham nigraham anye vayoriva sadhushkaram So he says this mind is chanchala, restless pramathi pramathi means children are also restless but children are simply mischievous they are sitting here, go there, go there, go there but suppose if it’s not just a child sometimes in some mental asylums there are people who are physically very well built but their mind is restless actually sometimes when they go crazy 4, 5, 6 people are required to restrain them because they are not small so if somebody is restless that is a problem but pramathi it’s not just innocent restlessness it’s madness then it becomes very difficult and then on top of that he says balavat so it’s not just a restless person it’s a mad person it’s like an intoxicated person a mad person who is also very powerful balavat drudham it’s one thing somebody who is strong but those people see reason we tell them ok this is not right and they understand and they accept it but drudham means obstinate so actually the same quality can work both ways now holding on tightly to something can be determination but holding on tightly to something undesirable that is obstinacy so what we are holding on to determines whether something is determination or something is obstinacy see the name dhritarashtra it was not necessarily a negative name dhritarashtra often the meaning is given as dhrita means to hold on to rashtra is kingdom so one who is very attached to the kingdom and you held on to the kingdom and that was dhritarashtra’s life story very irrationally adharmically attached to his kingdom but that was not the original intent of that name dhritarashtra means one who sustains the kingdom one who holds on to the kingdom and maintains the kingdom and that’s what a king is supposed to do so even a king has to protect the national bond the state bond that is whatever they are and for that the king has to hold on to the kingdom but that has to be done in the pursuit of dharma but if one does that with selfishness with irrationality with irreligiosity then that becomes negative so the point is obstinacy and determination are in one sense two sides of the same coin sometimes some devotees say that I have no determination I have no determination at all if I have to wake up in the morning I just can’t wake up I just can’t do it so actually rather than saying we have no determination we should see that when I say I am not able to do something when I am not able to wake up in the morning that means I have determination to keep sleeping in the morning see it’s not that we lack determination it’s just that we have determination for something which is not the best so say suppose if we are in a play some people are very lazy now actually now normally nobody likes lazy people people just chastise you are a lazy person do this why are you not doing this people chastise people mock people deride and in spite of that that person continues on being lazy so they have a determination for laziness so actually Krishna talks about this in 18th chapter 35th verse he says this is determination in the mode of ignorance यया सोप्नम् भयम् शोकम् विशाधम् मतनेविश्व नविमुञ्चति धुरमेधा धृति सापात तामसी तामसी in ignorance the determination is where people keep doing all this यया सोप्नम् भयम् शोकम् सोप्नम् is daydreaming not just dreaming daydreaming here in this भयम् always being fearful I just may go wrong that may go wrong that may go wrong people are just paranoid भयम् शोकम् always being negative whatever idea we give them they find problems with the idea well what works then actually to always be negative is not at all pleasant but although it is not pleasant they hold on to that unpleasant disposition and that requires determination so no one can say that I don’t have determination we all have determination it’s just that our determination is misdirected and bhakti is actually the process to redirect that misdirected determination I will come to that later but the point I am making is द्रुधम् obstinacy means determination which is misdirected so these four characteristics of the mind Arjuna tells that it is restless it is intoxicated it is strong and it is obstinate and these four make the mind very very difficult to manage and he gives an example वायो रिवसु दुश्चरम् वायो रिवसु दुश्चरम् this is very very difficult to control it’s like the wind blazes it’s a stormy wind cannot stop it just sweeps everything away in its path sometimes we have experiences of cyclones or tornadoes when they come everything is swept away so when the big big towers big big trees they are just swept away so the mind is like that it just sweeps everything away how can it be controlled? now Krishna’s response is very interesting he in 6.35 and 6.36 he responds actually in two words after which Arjuna asks another question so in 35 he says असंशयं महा बाहो मनोदुर निग्रहं चलं अभ्यासेन तुकांतेय वैराज्येल चिन्दुयते असंशयं महा बाहो so undoubtedly oh Krishna मनोदुर निग्रहं चलं मनोदुर निग्रहं चलं the mind is very difficult to control it is restless चलं Krishna is using a similar word चलं चलं and चलं चलं is restless yes it is difficult to control अभ्यासेन तुकांतेय वैराज्येल चिन्दुयते अभ्यास by practise and by detachment वैराज्ये by these two things we will be able to control the mind so now interestingly here Krishna gives a generic answer prior to this Arjuna has heard from Krishna the process of अश्टान्योगा which is basically जंगल्दुचाउदेशे पतिष्ठाप्यस् तिरमासनमात्मना नात्युच्रितम् नातिनीच चैलार्जिन्दुशोत्तरम् तत्रैकाग्रमनः पृत्वा तजित्ते इंद्रियं फ्रिया उपनिशास लेगिन्जा योगमात्मुशित्थे 6.11 and 12 he says that go into the jungle sit on a seat that is neither too elevated nor too much on the ground lay down on the kusha grass use deer skin and then sit down and focus on the mind and practise yoga so that is the process which Krishna has talked from 6.11 onwards 6.10 onwards till 6.30 till this point before Arjuna asked 6.32 where Arjuna asked the question so that Krishna has described that particular process and then Arjuna has expressed his objection and Krishna responds by saying practise अभ्यासें तो कौंते है वैरावदिर्जियोगत् by practise and by detachment you will be able to succeed so Krishna does not endorse the process of Ashtanga Yoga nor does he reject the process of Ashtanga Yoga he simply states that you have to practise and he reiterates that thing in the next verse which I will come to a little later but right now when we study Shri Prabhupada’s purports sometimes we may find that there is one thing which is said in the Sanskrit verse and if you know a little bit Sanskrit and we find Prabhupada is saying something different in the translation so we wonder why is Prabhupada doing like this some people say what is this and then Prabhupada, the Sanskrit is saying something the translation is saying something else and on top of that Prabhupada says this Bhagavad Gita is as it is well if the translation itself is different from the Sanskrit in some verses the Sanskrit is Karma Yoga Prabhupada says Bhakti Yoga so then how can you say it is as it is actually when Prabhupada says as it is what does he mean he means as it is in terms of essential conclusion it is not in terms of technical precision say technical precision means if we go into the Bhagavad Gita it is so technical ok this process of yoga what are the advantages of that what are the disadvantages of that what are the pros and cons and how this level is higher than this level how this level is at this level the Bhagavad Gita is in one sense a very technical book and that technical precision of the Gita’s flow and analysis that has been done by Princes Acharyas and Prabhupada is aware of that Prabhupada knows what is happening over there say for example if you read in the 2.72 second chapter 72 verses the last verse of the purport the purport of the last verse so there Prabhupada says in this chapter Karma Yoga has been described and a hint of Bhakti Yoga has been given however if you read Prabhupada’s purport he has not given a hint he has given a full picture so now what is Prabhupada doing Prabhupada himself tells what is his strategy he says people in Kali Yuga are are upadrutaha they are very disturbed it is said that the condition of Kali Yuga is anekashastram bahuveditavyam alpashchakalaha bahuvashchavighna so anekashastram there are so many scriptures and then bahuveditavyam in every sentence of the scripture can have different meanings there are so many commentaries written alpashchakalaha we have so little time bahuvashchavighna and we have so many obstacles we sit down to read and then our mind is like a bird sitting on a perch one clap and it flies away so we sit down to read and the mind just wanders all over the universe and if it doesn’t wander anywhere else in the universe then it wanders to one place that is nidraloka it just goes to sleep so bahuvashchavighna there are so many obstacles therefore tatsar bhutam tanupasita uvyam therefore just focus on the essence tatsar bhutam just focus on the essence so what Shri Prabhupada does is he says that people in this age are not likely to be patient enough to go through the technical precision of the yuta so he says his strategy is that if people open any page of my book on any page anywhere they should get my essential message they should get not my essential message in the sense that the essential message of the Bhagavad Gita so the conclusion of the Bhagavad Gita what Krishna gives at the end Prabhupada gives throughout so Prabhupada’s Bhagavad Gita is as it is in the sense that the essential conclusion is preserved as it is so what is the essential conclusion? sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja so sarva-dharman parityajya so what happens in the 6th chapter Krishna is telling go down to the jungle chucha udeshya patishtha pisthira maasam naatmana and Prabhupada says in his purport this is not practical you should chant Hare Krishna somebody will say what is this? you are supposed to comment but you are cancelling the verse you are contradicting the verse but actually Prabhupada is not contradicting Krishna himself contradicts at the end when Krishna is saying actually it’s not a contradiction it’s a higher revelation what is Krishna saying? sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja give up all varieties of religions and surrender unto me so you know there are some Hindus there is one Hindu scholar who just couldn’t I just the idea of how can God tell you to give up Dharma? so he changed the Bhagavad Gita and he made this 18.66 as sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja give up all Adharma and surrender unto me yeah that is his concern is valid but the point is how can God tell someone to give up Adharma that’s a valid concern but we have to see that Krishna is speaking to Arjuna and Arjuna is already a dharmic person so for him Adharma is not an option only so for him for Arjuna the question was I have Kula Dharma and I have Kshatriya Dharma Kula Dharma means my family duty according to my family duty I should protect my family members I should not attack or kill my family members so Kula Dharma if he is to follow Kula Dharma then he should not fight against the Kauravas especially because his grandfather Bhishma is over there but according to Kshatriya Dharma he should fight against aggressors Kshatriya is meant to counter aggressors so the Kauravas have abused their wife the Kauravas have stolen their kingdom the Kauravas have tried to poison them the Kauravas have tried to burn them alive so such aggressors should be punished so Arjuna’s conflict with the Sharda Bhagavad Gita is which Dharma is higher Kula Dharma or Kshatriya Dharma so for Arjuna Adharma was not an option only so his option there is there are these two dharmas which dharma should I be following and Krishna answers by telling follow give up all dharmas and follow that dharma which enables you to do maam ekam sharanam vraja follow that dharma which enables you to do so sarva dharman parityajya doesn’t mean that Krishna says you become adharmic actually Prabhupada says in one lecture that the hippies were also following sarva dharman parityajya you know the hippies in America they had given up their family they had given up their education they had given up their careers they had given up their jobs they were doing sarva dharman parityajya but it needed Prabhupada to teach them how to do maam ekam sharanam vraja how to surrender to Krishna so the point is that Krishna is telling Arjuna yes there can be multiple levels of dharma but don’t get caught in that focus on that process of dharma which will enable you to do maam ekam sharanam vraja and in by doing that if you give up some other dharma and even if some sin happens because of that aham tvam sarva papebhyo mokshesha mi maam ishu jaha I will free you from all sinful reactions so that means Krishna talks about various dharmic practises so there can be karma kanda there can be karma yoga there can be jnana yoga ashtanga yoga and Krishna says give all of them up and practise bhakti so what Krishna is doing at the end is what Prabhupada does throughout the gita so Prabhupada is fulfilling Krishna’s purpose by giving the essential conclusion throughout so the context of this is while we are discussing here that here Prabhupada says that that actually Krishna is Krishna Arjuna objects to the process of ashtanga yoga he says this is not practical and then Krishna recommends bhakti yoga so Krishna recommends bhakti yoga but not here so here Krishna says you just practise and by practise you will be able to detach yourself so 6th chapter is called as dhyana yoga ashtanga yoga the 8th chapter in the 7th chapter Krishna introduces bhakti yoga and in the 8th chapter Krishna compares ashtanga yoga and bhakti yoga and after comparing ashtanga yoga and bhakti yoga in 8.14 that’s the only verse in which in the Bhagavad Gita where Krishna says something is easy the process of yoga and the process of spiritual progress is easy he says no sorry for that person I am easily attained one who without deviation remembers me for such a person perfection is easily attained I am easily attained so what is Krishna telling always remembering Krishna is the process of bhakti yoga so Krishna is recognising that Arjuna you said in the 6th chapter that oh this process of yoga is very difficult so I agree it is difficult but we have to practise it and if we practise it then you will attain perfection and the best way to practise it is not through ashtanga yoga but through bhakti yoga by the practise of bhakti yoga you will be able to attain perfection so now what is this two things he is saying by practise and by detachment you will be able to attain perfection so what is this practise and detachment this I will elaborate in tomorrow’s class but till what time can we go on 8.30 ok so I will give one example which I will elaborate tomorrow and we will talk specifically about the mind control more there but I would like to have some question answers also so what is he referring to by practise and by detachment so sometimes when we start understanding that the mind creates so many problems for me it distracts me it degrades me we may go to the mode of becoming averse to the mind when we start hating or loathing the mind but both attachment and aversion are problematic that’s why the topic title is learning to live with the mind so I will give an example suppose a person is a ranch owner the person has a big farm and now it’s a rural setting so they don’t have any vehicle so they have a horse the owner has a horse and the horse is wild now if this owner is careless and the owner gets on the horse two things may happen one is the horse may just rear and throw away the owner the owner may get injured if the owner falls off on the path of the horse the horse may stampede and break bones and even kill the owner the other possibility is that the horse may just rear run off and the owner may want to go in one place but the wild horse may take him somewhere else so like that the horse can be very dangerous but at the same time if the owner starts saying I hate this horse I just hate this horse I won’t go near the horse but if there is a huge ranch and the ranch has to be overseen, supervised, managed the horse the owner needs the horse for going around so what is required is not attachment attachment means I just sit with the horse and I am careless whatever the horse wants to do I let the horse do it aversion means I won’t touch the horse also but what is needed is discretion is caution I need the horse but I have to be careful while managing the horse so like that the soul is spiritual the body is material and the mind is the essential interface between the soul and the body the mind is the essential interface just as the ranch owner needs the horse to go around in the ranch so for functioning in this world the soul needs the interfacing mechanism of the mind shrotram chakshu sparshanam cha rasanam dhranam eva cha adhishthaya manashchayam vishayan upasevate Krishna analyses this further in 15.8 and 9 in the Bhagavad Gita and he says all the senses are centred around the mind and the soul is connected with the mind and the soul functions in this world through the mind so if we cannot get rid of the mind we cannot become averse to the mind we have to cautiously deal with the mind so if we are just indiscreet that means what happens we are not watchful then wherever we are sitting and supposed to do one thing but the mind goes here and there and we just wander all over the universe with the mind that is distractedness or sometimes the mind makes us do not just passively we wander here and there the mind sometimes makes us do foolish things the mind makes us do dangerous things you know sometimes people just over it over it over it and then after over it why did I do that why did I do that and you know now a days people are very very figure conscious they want to look thin they want to look slim and attractive so what happens people over it and they get so panicky that there are some special medicine which they take to try to vomit out what they have eaten and then they hope that you know my weight will not increase I have eaten but the weight will not increase it’s a very intrusive and harmful way of trying to deal with the fear of weight loss or weight gain rather but the point is people just why did I eat that so what is happening over there is that they are indiscreet and the mind makes them do things which are harmful for them so that sort of indiscretion in dealing with the mind is carelessness apathy is not desirable but if you start hating the mind that will also not work because we have to live with the mind the mind is inside us and we have to learn to manage it so how to manage it that is abhyasel kaunteya vairagya janmita abhyasel means there is in India people don’t use horses so much or kshatriyas used to use in the past but there is something called breaking a horse when a new horse comes the horse has never been ridden by anyone then a trained person is required to break the horse break the horse doesn’t mean to break its bones break the horse means to break its unruliness that means an expert person gets onto the horse so they approach if the horse is wild even approaching the horse has to be done very cautiously so they slowly steadily they approach the horse they climb on the horse and very very carefully and expertly the the collier is a person who takes care of horses collier or some other horse expert they actually break the horse break the horse means they tame discipline the horse and once the horse is disciplined then even a lay person who may not be so expert at horse management when they can come and ride the horse the horse will be trained and disciplined at that time so what is required is abhyasa means practise practise practise so it is not that first time the person sits on the horse even a horse expert it is not that first time they sit on the horse the horse is going to behave meekly and submissive but then they have to keep trying keep trying so like that abhyasa we have to practise the mind may not focus but practise we will discuss more about what this practise practically means in tomorrow’s class but practise practise practise and vairagya vairagya what does it mean it can mean two things one is that if the horse gets infatuated with something don’t just go after that check the horse but the other is that means we may be attached to something we have to become detached from that so but that means if the mind starts saying do this it is not that we do it immediately but another understanding of detachment is we also have to become detached from the idea of instant senses that means we shouldn’t think that okay yesterday I made a resolution and from today I will be a pure devotee it is not going to work like that we have to accept the reality that when we start trying to walk on the spiritual path sometimes we may slip sometimes we may fall so detached means we should not be detached to our own conception of perfection perfection will come gradually and we need to patiently walk even if I fall I will rise it is not that because I have fallen down so I have to just give up no even if I have fallen I rise and I keep going on so that way it is like a person is trying to ride a horse because if they say that this horse knocked me down I will never go here that’s not going to work so detachment means detachment we have to be detached from attachment and we have to be detached from aversion also so in a detached way we keep doing what is needed and thus we move onwards and bhakti yoga enables us to do both because bhakti yoga enables us to go beyond this binary of attachment and detachment because we develop a higher attachment and by that higher attachment we learn to rein in and direct the mind and that we will discuss more in tomorrow’s class I will summarise I started by talking about how the Bhagavad Gita chapter 6 talks about control of the mind I basically took an overview of 6.20 from 6.27 to 6.35 36 36 I have noticed 35 so 6.27 basically is that when the mind becomes peaceful we become joyful and to pacify the mind is the purpose of yoga and then after we become peaceful after we become joyful then spiritual realisation starts awakening so then we discuss 6.28 talks about Brahman realisation 6.29 talks about Paramatma realisation 6.30 talks about Bhagavan realisation and 6.31 talks about how we learn to see all living beings equally so the perfection of yoga is not just renunciation it is compassion it is not that renunciation means we don’t care for others rather we care for people with a higher understanding and then after that we discussed about how the yogi in 6.32 the yogi see all living beings equally and that can be discussed how we should not brand one group of people as good and another group of people as bad in any group of people there are people in goodness passion and ignorance and for whatever reason if people go into passion or ignorance then they are going to act terribly and religion can be a cause race can be a cause nationality can be a cause caste can be a cause there can be many causes so we need to we should not brand this kind of people as bad and this kind of people as good we need to see all living beings equally and then we have to deal with them appropriately whatever is required but we should not see them as bad they are intrinsically bad and then Arjuna expresses objection and Krishna expresses objection Arjuna expresses objection and Krishna expresses objection and Arjuna expresses objection and expresses objection and Krishna expresses objection and Arjuna Krishna expresses objection and Arjuna expresses objection and Krishna expresses objection and Arjuna expresses and Arjuna expresses objection and Krishna expresses objection Arjuna expresses objection and Krishna expresses objection and Arjuna expresses and Krishna objection and Arjuna Arjuna expresses and Arjuna expresses objection and Krishna expresses and Arjuna expresses objection and Krishna expresses objection and objection and Krishna expresses objection Arjuna expresses objection and and Arjuna expresses objection and Arjuna objection and expresses objection and and and and Arjuna expresses objection and Krishna objection Krishna expresses and Arjuna expresses objection and Arjuna expresses and Krishna says So, while practising we made some failures, so how to keep our determination and move onwards despite those failures? We are defined not by how we fall, but how we rise. Falls are going to happen, but they do not define us, they are defined by how we rise and move.
See, if we consider our consciousness, if our material desires might be there, we will be lost or greed or anger or whatever it is. See, if our consciousness is at this level, then within that sometimes there are spikes. Spikes means like in, if you have electricity in wave form, sometimes electricity only goes up, spike is there.
So, we may need a spike guard in the computer to protect the delicate devices from those spikes. So, like that there are spikes in our consciousness and when the spikes come, it appears as if resisting the temptation is impossible. Now, when the spikes come, there are two things we need to know.
First of all, the spike is not going to last forever. Although at that time it appears, how long can I keep fighting this? It is going to go on and on and on. How long can I keep fighting? Better let me succumb.
So, we may think that eventually I cannot keep fighting also, let me succumb. But it is not like that. Sometimes we use the idea of a war against temptation, a spiritual war or a war against temptation.
So, we may think that enemy is so powerful and I am so weak, anyway I am not going to win. So, why keep fighting? Better let me be defeated now only. But actually we should understand that the war against temptation is not like a conventional war of a fun enemy against another enemy.
It is more like weight lifting. See, when I lift a weight, a heavy weight, I know that I am not going to lift that weight for the rest of my life. But that doesn’t mean I should immediately put it down.
Isn’t it? As long as I can hold on, that much my muscles are being exercised. So, like that when the spike comes, the illusion is to think that this is the kind of agitation I am going to face lifelong. And then we just give up immediately.
But actually the spikes in the desires don’t last for very long. If you can just endure it during that phase, the desire will go away. That’s the first thing.
So, this if we can remember that the spikes are not going to last forever, we will tolerate when they come. And that’s how we will, our fall itself will become lesser. But secondly, even if we fall, even if we slip and fall, what we should know is that what do we do after that? After that, what happens is the mind plays a very dangerous double role.
What is that double role? First it tells us, do it, do it, do it, do it, do it. And then afterward, you are a fool. It just beats us up, beats us up, beats us up.
Now we may think, yeah, you know, actually I am repenting, I am feeling guilty. It’s good. Yes, repentance is good.
But repentance should raise our consciousness towards Krishna. If we are simply beating ourselves up, why did I do that? Why did I do that? Why did I do that? Then what is happening? In both cases, we are simply mind conscious. First the mind said, do it.
And afterward it says, why did you do it? In both cases, we are simply listening to the mind. And if we are mind conscious, then next time the spike comes, the mind will again catch it. So, we have to move from being mind conscious to being Krishna conscious.
Okay, I did something wrong. Fine. And even later, fine is not good.
But okay, it’s over now. Now I have a fortune to be Krishna conscious. So, now that spike has come, maybe again after a few days or after some time the spike is going to come.
But what do I do in the intermediate period? At that time also I am still mind conscious, beating myself up. Then I will be totally vulnerable when the spike comes again. But if in the intermediate period I think, okay, this happened, but still I have a fortune to practise bhakti.
It is not that Krishna has left my heart and gone away. Krishna never does that. So, there is nothing that we can ever do which can make Krishna stop loving us.
There is nothing that we can ever do which can make Krishna stop loving us. Krishna always loves us no matter what we do. So, knowing that we still have the opportunity to chant Hare Krishna, we still have the opportunity to practise bhakti, we start diligently practising bhakti.
And if we diligently practise bhakti, then that is making us spiritually stronger. And next time when the spike comes, we will be better equipped to deal with it. Even if next time also we fall.
But still, if we keep practising bhakti, gradually the odds will shift. See, as long as we are listening to the mind, we are making the mind stronger and ourselves weaker. And sometimes the mind speaks so forcefully that it appears as if it is impossible to resist.
But most of the time, it is not that the mind is terribly agitating us. So, when the mind’s agitation is not very bad, at that time you focus on Krishna. Then what is happening? The mind is so powerful right now or say lust or anger or whatever it is so powerful right now and we are weak right now.
And if we keep hearing the mind, then we will never become stronger. The mind will keep becoming stronger. The selfish desires, whatever it is there in the mind, they will keep becoming stronger.
But if we, okay, whatever happens between the spikes in the remaining time, I will keep hearing Krishna. I will diligently practise bhakti. I will engage in constructive activities.
And what is happening? By this we are becoming stronger, stronger, stronger, stronger. And the less we hear the mind, the mind also starts becoming weaker. And then eventually the odds will shift.
And we will be able to deal with it. So, when falls happen, we never lose till we lose hope. We never lose till we lose hope in the battle against the mind.
And that’s why the mind, what it does is, first it makes us lose and then it makes us lose hope. You are good for nothing. You are a fallen person and you are going to stay fallen so better fall down more now.
So, rather than succumbing to the mind like that, okay, whatever happens in those spikes, what do I do during the remaining time? That is more important. And if we keep practising bhakti diligently, we will ourselves become strong enough to resist the spikes. Does it answer your question? So, I said that the mind is the essential link between the soul and the body.
But what about the intelligence and the ego? Yes, they all are. See, the word mind is sometimes used to refer to one component within the subtle body. In the subtle body there is the intelligence, ego and the mind.
But sometimes the mind is used as a shorthand for referring to the whole subtle body itself. So, whatever it is, the mind, even if we consider the mind as referring to one specific component within the subtle body or to the whole subtle body itself, it is either a part or the whole of the mechanism which connects the soul with the body. So, in one sense, see, earth, water, fire, air, they are gross elements.
And the difference is also gross. The earth is solid, the water is liquid. But that sort of rigid differentiation cannot be done between the mind, intelligence and ego.
They are all subtle. So, the primary difference in between the mind, intelligence and ego, if they are all subtle, is the difference in terms of functionality. The mind is more impulsive in its functioning.
The intelligence is supposed to be more discrete, more rational, more analytical in its functioning. And the ego is basically the mode of identification. Actually, the whole mind, intelligence, ego, how they function, that I will be talking in tomorrow’s class.
So, I won’t go into it right now. But essentially, yes, the mind is a part of the subtle body which is a part of the interfacing mechanism. But either way, we do need the mind for interacting with the body.
And that’s why we cannot neglect the mind. We cannot entirely reject the mind or we cannot hate the mind. We have to dovetail or use the mind.
How can one practise devotional service directly without going through all the other process of yoga? That is by the process of bhakti. Sorry, that is by the process of association of devotees. Normally, a person will not have the evolved consciousness necessary to appreciate Krishna and bhakti on one’s own.
So, on one’s own, one may recognise that this world is temporary. Say some loved one dies, some terrible accident happens. So, one may start thinking what is there beyond this world.
And one may start enquiring. But the attraction to Krishna that is required for the practise of bhakti that comes by the association of devotees. So, if we can somehow associate with devotees and from those devotees get the attraction for Krishna then we also start practising bhakti.
Now we have to understand, sometimes we say that bhakti is the highest process. Therefore, I am the highest transcendent. Therefore, the bhakta is the highest transcendent.
Therefore, I am the highest transcendent. It’s not like that. See, it’s like the various process of yoga are like a ladder or like a staircase.
And bhakti yoga is like the elevator. So, it is very much possible that there may be ashtang yogis, there may be gyan yogis, there may be karma yogis who may, if there is a 100 story building, they may be on the 95th story. And we may be bhakti yogis who are just on the 2nd or 3rd story, right? So, actually in terms of practical living, in terms of detachment, in terms of sattva guna, it is possible that other yogis may also be presently more advanced than bhakti yogis.
But because they don’t have attraction to Krishna, because they are not associated with devotees, so they have not entered into the elevator. That’s why their progress, they may be more progressed than us right now. But their progress will be slower, more laborious.
It’s like climbing stairs one by one, one by one step. Whereas we, if we get the association of devotees, it’s like entering into the elevator. Once you have entered into the elevator, if you stay in the association of devotees, then that association will keep increasing our attraction to Krishna and we keep moving onwards, upward, upwards towards Krishna.
So, the way we can get the opportunity to practise devotional service directly without going through all the other processes is by the association of devotees. And how can knowledge of karma yoga, gyan yoga, ashtanga yoga help us in practising bhakti? It’s not necessary that we have to know all these processes for practising bhakti. But it is that if we know these processes, or at least in terms of analytical position of how these processes are, then we can better appreciate the glory of bhakti.
And appreciating the glory of bhakti, we will practise it with greater conviction. So, knowledge itself does not foster devotion. But knowledge can foster the conviction that enables us to practise the process that fosters devotion.
What this means is that knowledge, just by knowing philosophy, even by knowing about Krishna, just knowledge itself does not bring attraction towards Krishna. But there is a process for cultivating attraction towards Krishna. If I chant the holy names, if I worship devotees, if I study shastra in a devotional mood, if I go to holy places, all these activities, because they are exposing me to Krishna more and more, they will increase my devotion gradually.
They will increase my attraction towards Krishna. But if we have philosophical knowledge, then we will practise these processes with greater conviction. Many people chant Hare Krishna as a ritual.
Many traditional people chant Hare Krishna or Ram Naam or whatever. They do it as a tradition, as a ritual. That is good.
But they are not doing it as a sadhana. So, when I am convinced about the glory of the holy name, I will focus on the holy name. And the more I focus on the holy name, the more my attraction to Krishna will increase.
So, therefore, it is knowledge of the other processes. If we understand them, then we understand, okay, these processes have so much difficulty, so much complexity. And after that also, the result that I am getting is not complete result.
After that, bhakti, it seems so simple, but you are going to get still great result. So, that knowledge will give us the conviction to practise bhakti. So, if we have analytical frame of mind, where intellectual conviction plays a big role in our doing something, then we can go into the technical analysis of the Bhagavad Gita and understand how Krishna explains bhakti regarding the best.
But if we are not too intellectually inclined, we are not too much interested in technical analysis, and if we feel inspired to practise bhakti directly, then there is no need to go into technicalities too much. Certainly, we should study the philosophy, but the technicalities of the philosophy, we do not have to go into that. So, the knowledge helps us to practise the process that increases our devotion.
And in that way, we can say knowledge indirectly contributes to devotion. Knowledge does not directly contribute to devotion. Any other questions? In our day-to-day activities, how can we know which is the voice of the mind and which is the voice of the super soul? Normally, we are in the moods of passion and ignorance.
Even when we are practising sadhana bhakti, say in the morning programme when we try to wake up early, do our sadhana, that time we are trying to cultivate the mood of goodness. And that is very good, it is very essential. At the same time, in the rest of the day, we have to run around, do things, we have so much pressure.
So, inevitably, we will go into the mood of passion and ignorance. Not ignorance, actually it is passion we will go into. So, generally, when we are in the mood of passion or ignorance, our inner vision becomes very blurred.
So, when we are running around and doing things, at that time we get some impulses, maybe I should do this, maybe I should do that. We should know that that is actually usually not the voice of the super soul. So, when we are ourselves busily running around doing things, we get an impulse, let me do this, let me do that, we can assume that that is the voice of the mind.
When we have cultivated the mood of goodness, when we are ourselves thoughtful and introspective, and then we observe, we get some suggestion, we get some idea, we get something, this might be a good idea, it is worth exploring. So, what it means is, firstly, we have to see what is the level of our consciousness. Secondly, we have to see whether the idea, whatever is being spoken from the inner voice, whether that is in conformity with guru sadhu shastra or it is in opposite to guru sadhu shastra.
So, one time one devotee came to Prabhupada and he said, Prabhupada, you came in my dream yesterday and you told me to take marijuana. You told me to take drugs. Prabhupada said, that was not me, that was maya in my garden.
So, the primary way to discern which is the mind’s voice and which is Krishna’s voice. Now, Krishna’s voice is actually the same as the voice of guru sadhu shastra. So, ācārya chaitya vapuṣā suratim vinakti, yo antar baheś talu dhṛtāṁ aśubhaṁ nirvāṇi It is the same one lord who speaks.
From inside and from outside. So, outside he speaks as ācārya, he speaks as our spiritual guides and internally he speaks as the supersonic. So, this means if the inner voice is telling us to do something that is directly contradicted to guru sadhu shastra, then we should know that this is the voice of the mind.
This is not at all the voice of the supersonic. Now, what about when the inner voice is telling us to do something which is directly devotional? That’s fine. We can take that up and we can apply that eventually.
And what if it is in the grey zone? It is neither anti-devotional nor directly devotional. Sometimes we may get some ideas. See, as I said Krishna says the mind can be the friend also.
And we will discuss that. Sometimes we get good ideas also. So, what we should do is if some idea comes from within, one of the best ways to evaluate is to press the pause button.
Pause means neither yes nor no. I will wait and I will evaluate. And then when we cultivate the mode of goodness, say when we pray, when we study scripture, when we are in a contemplative reflective frame of mind, then we can evaluate with greater perspective, more wisdom.
And we can say, yeah, this is a good idea. And ultimately we don’t have to go around and say, I got this idea, it came from the super soul. We don’t know where it came from.
But we have to evaluate the idea on its merit. Okay, this thing is a good idea. Let me implement it at the proper time.
So, the important thing is to not just get carried away by the mind. Even if the mind comes up with good ideas, it’s not necessary that we have to get carried away by it. So, there are impulses and there are sometimes hunches.
The word hunch is usually used to refer to something positive. I had a hunch that this would be right. And sometimes our hunches also work out right.
So, it’s not that we have to be always suspicious of whatever inner voice comes along. We can evaluate. And evaluation requires a calm frame of mind.
To the extent we are calm and reflective, to that extent we will be able to evaluate and arrive at a proper understanding. And if there are major decisions to be made, then we shouldn’t rest them based on simply our own evaluation. There should also be consultation.
So, if I have an opportunity, should I take a job here or should I take a job there? Then suddenly we start thinking, maybe I should take a job here. Sometimes it may happen that we might get some hunches, there might be something positive about this place, something negative about that place. And sometimes our reasoning mind may not be able to, reasoning faculty may not be able to arrive at that conclusion, but just we get that in the sense of inspiration, some insight.
So, what we should do is, if we get some idea, rather than just immediately jumping on it, either jumping on it or jumping against it, we just say that let me evaluate this. I am feeling that I should do this. Why should I do this? Try to evaluate, try to analyse.
And then if it’s a major decision, we consult. Consult some senior devotees, consult our spiritual guides. And then we make a mature decision.
Ultimately the decision is ours. But we can make impulsive decisions or we can make mature decisions. And mature decisions largely means two things.
Patience and reflection. Patience means we don’t immediately act on whatever is the inner voice saying. And secondly, we reflect.
We calmly reflect and that requires usually doing something which brings us to sattva guna. So, we will continue this theme tomorrow. And if you have any more questions, we can discuss tomorrow.
One last question. Is the chitta a part of the subtle body? This is a little technical. Chitta is actually the embodied consciousness.
The atma is sat-chit-ananda. That has three characteristics or three integral features of it. One of them is chitta.
Chitta is consciousness. So, chitta is consciousness which is innate faculty of the soul, innate feature of the soul. Chitta is the embodied consciousness of the soul.
Suppose a person is going to watch a movie in a theatre. Now, in a theatre, what happens? Firstly, one light goes off and another light goes on. Isn’t it? The lights all around go off so that attention goes on the screen and then the lights go on over there.
And we see various things over there. Now, the person who is watching the movie, they can actually see who is their neighbour. They can see here, they can see there.
But the more they get reverted to watching the movie, then their consciousness goes into that movie. And they are not seeing anything else. So, like that, there is the avaranatmika shakti and there is the prakshepatmika shakti.
The avaranatmika shakti is that which is like all lights go off. So, you don’t see anything else. Prakshepatmika shakti is throwing.
So, the light on the screen goes on. Our whole consciousness goes over there. And then we get caught in that consciousness.
So, the person who is watching the movie, they can see here and there. But they are absorbed in the movie. And then their whole consciousness, all their emotions and everything is based on whatever they are seeing in the movie.
So, like that, the body, the mind and the body, basically the gross and subtle bodies, they are in front of the soul. The soul is different. And the mind, we could say, is like the monitor or the screen on which the movie, on which everything that is there in the world is being displayed.
So, the soul’s chitta is the original consciousness. It’s like the person who can see here and there everywhere. That is chitta.
But when the soul’s consciousness gets rooted into the body, into the mind and through the mind into the body, then that embodied consciousness is called as chitta. So, just like the person who is watching the movie and the person loses awareness of everything else. So, chitta is the embodied consciousness.
So, chitta is the original consciousness. Chitta is when the consciousness is rooted into the body. So, Krishna says in the second chapter of the Gita that consciousness comes from the soul.
Abhinashita give me a Sarva Vidantana. 2.17. But later on in 13.6 and 7, he says that chetana… इच्छावेश सुखम्तुक्षम् संभातु चेतनादुति एतत् क्षेत्रम् समासेन समिकार्मुदहरुतम् In 13.7 he states that chetana is a kshetra vikara. Kshetra is the body or mind, field.
And vikara is transformation. So, he says chetana is a transformation of the body. Now, what does it mean? Consciousness is not coming from the body.
What is he saying? He says consciousness is a transformation of the body. What that means is the consciousness that we experience right now is based on what is happening in the body and the stimuli connected with the body. Just like when a person is watching the movie, all their emotions are based on what is happening in the movie.
So, like that presently our emotions, इच्छावेश सुखम्तुक्षम् all that we experience is connected with the body. And in that sense, chit is the original consciousness of the soul. Chit is the consciousness of the soul that is rooted into and is practically trapped in the body.
And the mind, intelligence, ego, they are a part of the subtle body. So, we could say that they are like the screen and the whole mechanism by which whatever is being displayed on the screen is being displayed. So, chitta and mana, they are different.
Chitta is basically the consciousness being rooted into the subtle body and thereby through the gross body. So, the chitta is not a component of the subtle body, rather chitta is what is being rooted through the subtle body. Chitta is the energy of consciousness that is being rooted through the subtle body.
Does it answer your question? Thank you very much.