Managing the mind 1 – The mind is the TV and the thief

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
So, Managing the Mind will be a three-part seminar, which will be broadly divided into the three progressions in spiritual knowledge that Chaitanya Mahaprabhu talks about, Sambandha, Abhidheya and Prayojan. So, Sambandha is philosophical knowledge. Abhidheya is the process and Prayojan is the goal.
Now, originally, we are planning three seminars, but there have been a lot of questions which remain unanswered from the first question and answer session which I had last week or the start of this week. So, the last session, which is Monday morning, Monday morning session will be a question and answer session. So, I will take Sambandha, Abhidheya and Prayojan.
I will try to take it as soon as possible in two sessions, today’s and tomorrow’s sessions. Now, when we focus on the concept of the mind, the word mind, which is used in normal conversation is often different, has a different sense from the way in which it is used in philosophical circles in general. And that is different from the way in which it is used in the Bhagavad Gita.
So, these three different senses of the word mind, I will first talk about and then we will focus on understanding what the Gita means when it talks about the mind. So, for example, now in a normal conversation, we may say he lost his mind. He lost his mind there and we say it, it basically means he lost his intelligence, he lost his attention, he was not thinking clearly.
Or if you give it your mind, it means pay attention to it. So, in normal conversation, the word mind is often used to mean either intelligence or attention, basically focus. Now, in philosophical circles, especially in western philosophy, the word mind is used as the counterpart of matter.
That means, matter is considered material and mind is considered to be the opposite of that, that is, mind is thought of as spiritual. So, Descartes, who developed the, who? So, he is one of the pioneering philosophers in the western history who proposes a body-mind duality. So, he said that consciousness comes, does not come from the body, it comes from something else.
And that something else, he, based on western convention, called as the mind. So, in western philosophical convention, the word mind is used more or less as an equivalent to the word soul. So, the non-material side of our being is what is called as the mind in western philosophical circles.
Now, sometimes the word mind is used to refer to the person itself. Like sometimes, it is said that Einstein was one of the greatest minds of the 20th century. Now, here, we are referring to the person’s intellectual capacity, his intellectual genius, that is referred to by the word mind.
So, the seat of reason, the seat of consciousness, the seat of intelligence, which is different from the world, that is what is called as the mind. Now, interestingly, scientists, specifically, brain researchers, they have still preserved the brain of Einstein. Just like in the past, in the Egyptian kingdom, the bodies of the pharaohs were preserved as mummies.
So, it is thought that somehow the intelligence of Einstein came from his brain. So, in the future, if we can just inject life, then we can have Einstein back with us. So, they have preserved the brain.
This is a reductionistic conception of the mind. So, where on one side, it is understood that the mind is something higher than the body, higher than the brain, but it is also thought that maybe somehow it is related to the brain. So, the whole concept of mind is itself very confusing for many people.
Psychology was originally defined as the study of the mind. Psycho means the mind, Logos is study. But because the mind, as Western philosophers say, there is no locus standi, you do not know what the mind is.
So, they say, how can a whole subject be devoted to something which we do not know what it is? So, the most many mainstream psychologists now redefine psychology not as a study of mind, but as a study of human behaviour. So, just remove the mind from there. So, now the point which I am making about this is, although the mind both as a term and as a concept is familiar to us, term means the way the word is used, concept means we think of the mind.
So, it is familiar to us, but there is a lot of confusion and contradictory or varying terminology that is used to it. So, for example, when we use the word mind, we refer to it as something which is a fickle part of us, something which is changing, something distracts us, something which is often inimical to us. But in much Western philosophical discourse, the word mind is used to refer to the intellectual faculty of a person.
As I said, Einstein is the greatest mind of the 21st century. So, words have different meanings in different contexts. And when we talk about managing the mind, we are talking about the Bhagavad Gita’s conception of the mind as it is played out in our lives and in the lives of people in general.
Now, what is the Bhagavad Gita’s conception of the mind? At one level, we all know that, here we have this slide which was there. When we focus on the concept of the mind, the word mind which is used in normal conversation is often different, has a different sense from the way in which it is used in philosophical circles in general. And that is different from the way in which it is used in the Bhagavad Gita.
So, these three different senses of the word mind, I will first talk about. And then we will focus on understanding what the Gita means when it talks about the mind. So, for example, in a normal conversation, we may say, he lost his mind.
He lost his mind there and we say, it basically means he lost his intelligence, he lost his attention, he was not thinking clearly. Or if you have given your mind, it means pay attention to it. So, in normal conversation, the word mind is often used to mean either intelligence or attention, basically focus.
In philosophical circles, especially in western philosophy, the word mind is used as the counterpart of matter. That means, matter is considered material and mind is considered to be the opposite of that. That is, mind is thought of as spiritual.
So, Descartes, who developed the book. So, he is one of the pioneering philosophers in the western history who proposed a body-mind duality. So, he said that consciousness comes, it doesn’t come from the body, it comes from something else.
And that something else, he, based on western convention, called as the mind. So, in western philosophical convention, the word mind is used more or less as an equivalent to the word soul. So, the non-material side of our being is what is called as the mind in western philosophical circles.
Now, sometimes the word mind is used to refer to the person itself. Like sometimes it is said that Einstein was one of the greatest minds of the 20th century. Now, here, we are referring to the person’s intellectual capacity.
Intellectual genius, that is referred to by the word mind. So, the seat of reason, the seat of consciousness, the seat of intelligence, which is different from the world, that is what is called as the mind. Now, interestingly, scientists, specifically brain researchers, they have still preserved the brain of Einstein.
Just like in the past, in the Egyptian kingdom, the bodies of the pharaohs were preserved, as mummies. So, it is thought that somehow the intelligence of Einstein came from his brain. So, in the future, if he has lived life, he can have Einstein diamonds.
They have preserved the brain. This is a reductionistic conception of the mind. So, on one side, it is understood that the mind is something higher than the body, higher than the brain.
But it is also thought that maybe somehow it is related to the brain. So, the whole concept of mind is itself very confusing for many people. Psychology was originally defined as the study of the mind.
Psycho means the mind. Psycho means the study. But because the mind, as western philosophers said, there is no local standard.
You do not know what the mind is. So, they say, how can a whole subject be devoted to something which we do not know what it is. So, most many mainstream psychologists now redefine psychology not as the study of mind, but as the study of human behaviour.
So, just remove the mind from there. So, now the point which I am making about this is, although the mind, both as a term and as a concept, is familiar to us. Term means the way the word is used.
Concept means, you think of the mind. So, it is familiar to us, but there is a lot of confusion and contradictory, or varying or even contradictory terminology that is used to it. So, for example, when we use the word mind, we refer to it as something which is a fickle part of us, something which is changing, something which distracts us, something which is often individual to us.
But in much western philosophies and discourse, the word mind is used to refer to the intellectual faculty of a person. As I said, Einstein is the greatest man of the 21st century. So, words have different meanings in different contexts.
And when we talk about managing the mind, we are talking about the Bhagavad Gita’s conception of the mind as it is played out in our lives and the lives of people in general. Now, what is the Bhagavad Gita’s conception of the mind? At one level, we all know that, here we have this slide, which is there. So, our current existence is three-dimensional.
Three-dimensional means that we have a body, we have a mind, and beyond it we ourselves are the soul. So, the Bhagavad Gita’s conception of the mind is that it is intermediate between us. So, in the Bhagavad Gita’s conception, there is the soul, there is the mind, and there is the body.
Something similar to, if we have a computer, we have a user, there is software, and we have the hardware. Now, interestingly, within the software part, the software is not the person. The software is not a source of consciousness.
But within the software, the Bhagavad Gita divides into two parts. That is, the mind and the intelligence. So, this is the soul, the subtle body, and the gross body.
The gross body is what we see around us. The subtle body is what is primarily the mind. There is the mind, intelligence, and you, there are three components in that.
But, for simplicity’s sake, that can be referred to as the mind. Because, as I said, the mind also sometimes refers to the intellectual capacity. So, if you want to keep things simple, because, especially when we are talking with you, because when we are also analysing, if you have too many new terms and new concepts, it becomes confusing.
So, this gross body is matter, subtle body is mind, and this is soul or consciousness. So, our existence is three-dimensional. It’s matter, mind, and consciousness.
Now, in these three, if you look at the western understanding of philosophy, this part is removed. That means, there is matter and there is mind. And that is why, because of that confusion, today, many people mistake the mental and the spiritual to be the same.
That means, anything that makes my mind feel good, people call it as spiritual. Anything that makes me feel peaceful, makes me feel calm, yeah, that is why I am spiritual. So, now, this is a superficial understanding, at least from the Bhagavad Gita’s point of view.
So, now, when we talk about the mind, the Bhagavad Gita says the mind can be a friend and the mind can be an enemy. So, Krishna says, तुद्धरेदात्मनात्मादनात्मानमवसाधये आत्माइवेनात्मन्रोऽवन्धरात्माइवेवरात्मन्रोऽवन्धरा 6.5 in the Bhagavad Gita. And here, the word ātmā comes six times.
And one ātmā refers to the mind, another ātmā refers to the soul. Ropa translates that way. Some Gita translators, they translate it all as soul.
Then the verse becomes, raise the, they translate it as self or soul. Raise the self with the self, don’t degrade the self with the self, or the self is the enemy of the self and the self is the friend of the self. Most people they read it, forget the self.
It is very confusing. So, words have different meanings based on contexts. So, what this word, we take Ropa’s translation as ātmā referring to the mind.
And there are various places where the word ātmā does refer to the mind. So, it means elevate yourself with your mind. Do not degrade yourself with the mind.
The mind is the friend of the person. The mind is the friend of the self. And the mind is the enemy of the self also.
So, whether it is the Indian tradition or American tradition or European tradition, all over the world, people know, wise people have observed, that there is something within people, that makes them self-destructive. That makes them behave in foolish ways. And sometimes a person is functioning normally and suddenly a person gets angry and shouts and does something in a fit of temper and then speaks or does something that person regrets his whole life.
And different people ascribe this to different causes. In the Roman tradition they would say that when the gods become displeased with some person, they make that person angry. And when that person becomes angry, that person does all sorts of crazy things.
Or in the Christian tradition they have the idea of a devil. That same is called in the Islamic tradition as a shaitan. Or Satan is called shaitan.
So, the idea is, there is something evil which seems to influence us from within. And which makes us act against our own best interests. In the Native American tradition they say that there is a good dog within us and a bad dog within us.
And they say that the bad dog promises to do bad things, the good dog tells us to do good things. So again, so this, some force which is there inside, something which makes us do wrong things. What exactly it is, that is not very clearly explained.
So, now, if it is like going to the Christian tradition, they say it is the devil who acts, technically. And it is the devil that makes bad people bad people. So that may be the possibility.
But then, why do good people act in bad ways? We can see the answers, sometimes we see the others. And sometimes when some person does some serious crime, and the neighbours, he seems to be a normal person. How could he do such a thing? I never thought he could do such a thing.
So, what makes good people do bad things? This is a question which often eludes clear answers. So if we say that it is the devil which makes people do bad things, then the question comes, then why do different people act differently? That means, why are some people less bad, some people more bad? And some people seem to be good and suddenly act bad. Why are some people bad and they become worse? Why are some people bad and few of them change to good? So, in the Christian tradition, the understanding is that there was Adam and Eve, and Satan came in as a snake, tempted Eve.
And Eve persuaded Adam to eat the forbidden apple. And because of her, both of them ate the forbidden apple, then they fell. So, their idea is that evil came because of Adam’s succumbing to the seduction of the devil through Eve.
So, the whole idea of human propensity towards evil, it seems to be like a genetic defect that has come down from Adam. All of us have a tendency towards evil because Adam sinned. Now, if that is the case, it could be, but then again the question comes, if all of us are descended from Adam, then why do different people have different degrees of tendency towards evil? So, this is something which again eludes the question.
So, what the Bhagavad Gita explains to us is that this tendency towards evil, it doesn’t come from some external force. It is there within us, in the programming that we have subjected ourselves to. So, the mind is a very impressionable thing.
I will give various metaphors to convey the concept of the mind. So, one of the metaphors that we can begin with is like a blotting paper. Whatever, if some ink has fallen, you take the blotting paper, it is absorbed there.
So, the mind is like a blotting paper. Whatever impressions we provide it, it takes in those impressions. And why do some people have a greater tendency towards evil, lesser tendency towards evil? That is all because they have taken in different impressions at different times, either in this life or in previous lives.
And based on that, the mind has developed certain tendencies. Now, to understand this better, so the blotting paper metaphor conveys how the mind takes in external things. Another metaphor to understand how the mind functions is as I used the word programme.
Now, when there is a computer programme, sometimes if you are logging into a site repeatedly which requires a password, then initially it may ask you to write the password. And afterwards if you say, would you like to save this as a default password? Once you save it as a default password, then afterwards even without you wanting to log in, it will just log in as that ID. So, if you say you have two Gmail IDs and you want to log in through some other Gmail ID, but by default you log into this ID because that has been the choice which we have chosen repeatedly.
And then it becomes a default choice. So, basically when there are some programmes which run by default, then those programmes run a particular way because that’s how we have chosen them to run in the first. And then later when we want to change them also, even before we realise, they start acting in that way.
So, if I make, say, a particular Chrome as my default browser, and as soon as I launch the interface, by default that’s what publicity gets in it. So, like that, the way we act, the way we think, that creates impressions. But those impressions, like in what we pay for those impressions is going, but with respect to the mind, the impressions come out as actions.
And those actions are default actions, which often we don’t choose consciously, they automatically happen. I have a text-to-speech software which reads out the text, whatever I have written. So, when I write, if I do proofreading, if you read some words, you will be shocked.
But, though and then. You read it out, the though and then sound is very different. You catch the spelling mistakes.
So, I use that. So, in the software, as I wrote an article, and I was just, after writing the article, I was just walking along and hearing it. And repeatedly, I was hearing the word Saturday, Saturday, Saturday.
And I was wondering where this word Saturday is coming from. And then I went back and looked at the software. So, then I found that the Atma is Sat-Chit-Ananda.
Because it is Atma is Saturday-Chit-Ananda. So, by its default programme, it was transforming Sat into Saturday. So, here, the programme was intentioned correctly for a particular purpose.
But, for my purpose, the auto-correct was being incorrect. The auto-correct was going incorrect. So, although I had typed the right thing, the computer made it wrong.
And then again, I had to go back and make it right. So, like that, when we start practising Bhakti, so, our mind has, at least in our past life, got certain programmes with it. So, those programmes usually, that means, we think in materialistic terms.
And our mind goes towards material forms of enjoyment. Now, when we come to Bhakti, at that time, we want to think more spiritually. We want to act more spiritually.
But we find that our mind just goes off in certain directions. And although we start off, we may start a day, we may start an activity, with a devotional intention. But suddenly, we find out in the middle, where did the mind go? How did it end up? Especially, when we try to chant.
Then we start with the intention, today I am going to be very attentive. Yes, few mantras, we go on the rounds, two rounds. And then after, we become attentive, not to the mantra, but we become attentive to the mind.
That means, wherever the mind goes, we immediately follow. So, our attachment to the mind is something like, suppose you are watching TV at home. And a thief comes.
And the thief comes and picks up the TV. And starts stealing the TV. And we are so caught in watching the programme, that we walk along with the thief.
We keep watching the programme. So, instead of stopping the thief, So, like that, what happens is, so now here, when I am talking about the mind, there are two things I am referring to. See, the mind, now in the example which I gave, there is a thief and there is a TV.
They are two different things. But, when I am talking about the mind, the mind is the medium through which we perceive the world. Sometimes I am told, my mind troubles me so much.
I hate the mind. No, we can’t hate the mind. Because we have to live with the mind.
We cannot function without the mind. The mind is an essential interface between us and the world. That’s why we need to tame and train the mind.
Just like, say a horse rider is there. That person, if he is a horse rider, that person needs the horse. But if the horse is wild, then that horse can be a serious obstacle.
The horse can be a danger. Instead of helping the warrior fight against the enemy, the horse itself can become a danger. But then, if that horse warrior is there, then that person needs the horse.
So the way is, in horse training, there is something called breaking the horse. Breaking the horse means you tame the horse so that the horse becomes manageable. So just like a horse warrior, the cavalry will need the horse, similarly, we need the mind.
We can’t function without the mind. The mind is an essential interface between us and the world. So the soul perceives the world through the mind.
And, so right now, for example, if I am speaking something, you are hearing something. So it’s like, say, some sound is coming from my mouth. It is going through your ears.
The soul is here. And around the soul is the mind. So the mind is the doorway to the soul.
And if the mind is elsewhere, then it’s like the door is closed. So, then, if, say, for example, you are thinking of something at home or you are thinking about something else, wherever the mind is, that means the consciousness is rooted over there. So, this is a subtle point to explain this concept of the mind and the soul.
The soul is the root of consciousness, R-O-U-E. And the mind is the root of consciousness, R-O-U-E. Root is the pathway.
Soul is the source or the origin of consciousness. And the mind is the pathway for the consciousness. So, for example, if this door is open, if, say, there are five doors over here, in front of me, right now, but if there are five doors here, if one door is open, that’s what I will be able to see.
But if that door gets closed and some other door opens, then, wherever that door is pointing, that’s where I will be able to see. And instead of thinking of five doors, think of one door that opens in five different directions. Like you have a crossroad, that may only go in five different directions.
So, like that, the mind is like a door which opens in multiple ways, pointing to different pathways. So, just as, if I want to see outside the room, I need the door to be open. And whichever direction the door will open, that’s where I will be able to perceive.
So, like that, we need the mind to perceive in this way. We can’t function in the world, we can’t perceive in the world without the mind. But, we need the mind to focus on what we want to do.
Just like, if one door goes to the, assume this is the house, one door, the same door is there, but if it opens one way, it goes to the kitchen, one way it goes to the main entrance to the house, one way it goes to the bedroom. Now, if I want to see who is coming at the door, at the main, into the house, at that time, the door will open towards the kitchen. I will not be able to see what is there.
So, like that, when we want to concentrate on something, but if the mind goes elsewhere, then, we can’t concentrate. We can’t, rather, we can’t perceive even what to speak of concentrating. We can’t even perceive what is happening.
So, often, when we sit for classes, our body sits, but our mind goes for walks. Not just walks, it goes for jogs also. And then, if somebody laughs, oh, what happened? I missed a joke.
Something interesting is happening, let me hear it. And then, the sun comes running back. Then, there is a class going on, and somebody’s joke is there, suddenly, the person asks, what was the joke? So, that is the nature of the mind.
The point which I make is, we need the mind for perception. So, we can’t have a lifelong, hostile, or illegal relationship with the mind. And that is why, Krishna said, the mind can be the enemy, but the mind can be the friend also.
And the, we have to befriend our mind, in a way, that it helps us. That it serves our purposes. Not that, we serve it for its purposes.
So, going back to the earlier metaphor of a computer programme, or rather, before that, I was giving a metaphor of the thief. A thief comes, and steals the TV. Now, in this metaphor, there is a thief, and there is a TV.
So, when I said, that the mind is the means by which we perceive, then the mind is like a TV. So, whatever channel is on the TV right now, that’s what we will perceive. So, like that, whatever the mind is focussing on, that’s what we will perceive.
But, along with the current perception, the mind also has previous memories. So, every perception stimulates certain recollections. And based on, so there is perception, there is recollection, and then there is emotion.
Perception is what we see from outside. Recollection is what it kindles from our past experiences and memories. And based on that, there is emotion.
Now, Ramanujacharya, in both his Bhagavad Gita commentary and the Sri Bhashya, he says that subtle body goes to these three, it performs these three main functions. Thinking, Feeling, and Belief. So, thoughts are primarily objective.
It’s like, I see, someone comes inside the room. So, at that level, it’s a thought. Someone just comes inside the room.
But then, that thought will stimulate some recollection. This person, last time, this person decided, that recollection immediately kindles an emotion. So, perception plus recollection gives rise to emotion.
So, that’s how thinking goes to that. So, there is thinking, there is perception, there is recollection. Perception plus recollection leads to emotion.
Now, when there is recollection, the mind is not just a the mind is not just a passive retriever of memory. It’s like, passive retriever of memory means, it’s just like, I want to find something on my computer. I type in the search engine.
I search, I want some data. So then, when I search, basically, what is there in the computer will come. It’s not like, my search engine will come to me.
But in the case of the mind, the mind is not simply a recollector. So, there is perception, perception coupled with recollection leads to emotion. Now, emotion coupled with imagination leads to intention.
The mind, it does not just recollect, it imagines. So, for example, I see somebody coming in. And, that person is insulted.
And, my mind sees that, feels anger. And then, you should insult that person. Maybe, you should just punch on that person.
So, what happens? That, emotion is accompanied by imagination. Now, we, we don’t, the mind doesn’t just recollect, recollect, paints up scenarios. And when it paints up scenarios, you can do this, you can do this, you can do that.
And then, after that, when the imagination becomes very strong, then, naturally, things won’t stay away from the imagination. You want to actualise it. Then it becomes an intention.
So, there is perception, emotion, intention. There is thinking, feeling, being. So, Ramacharya says that among these three, feeling is the most powerful.
Feeling is the most powerful because to some extent, perception, we can’t regulate much. We live in the world. There are, there are people who we like, people who we don’t like.
There are things which we like, things which we don’t like. So, we can’t just close our eyes and avoid perceiving the things which are, which we don’t like. We can’t avoid entirely meeting the people who we don’t like.
We can minimise it, but we can’t entirely eliminate it. So, perception is unavoidable. But, when the perception leads to emotion, then, it becomes more and more difficult to control.
So, now, I’ll explain this with another example. But before that, let me complete the example of the TV and the theme. So, when I said the mind is like a TV which is shown in a particular programme.
But along with that, the mind is also like a TV. Because the mind is not just a passive transmitter of information, but the mind is also an active engineer. So, for example, sometimes, if you try to retrace how the mind goes from one place to another, it’s so difficult.
The way the mind works is very simple. I’m chanting Hare Krishna, and I’m looking here, looking there, and I say, Oh, my God! And once, I’m sitting here looking, and I’m looking for the answer, and it was better over there. So, maybe it’s ringing, and maybe the devotee did not remove the phone.
And I want to make a phone call to check. My cell phone is missing. Where did it go? It went the other side.
Probably that person took it. That person is very irresponsible. And I deserve justice.
And he said, see there, how the mind went all this way. I said, I don’t even know. And he said, look there, your devotee has already sent it there.
Once the mind goes at the start of the imagination, it just becomes very forceful. So, in that sense, the mind not only shows us a programme, but also tracks our consciousness. And just like, as I said, from the devotional activity of chanting, the very emotional act of anger and wanting to shout at a person, just in a practically twinkling of an eye, the consciousness is there.
Just like, we are watching the programme on TV, and a thief comes, and the thief is dragging the TV. And we are sitting comfortably one moment in our house, and a few minutes later we say that we are in a park, and the TV is just going along, and we are watching the programme. So like that, at one level, we get caught in whatever the mind is showing us, but while showing us something, the mind also drags along.
And in that way, we end up somewhere we don’t even realise where I am, or how did I get there. So in this way, the mind distracts us from whatever we are trying to do purposefully. So now, as I said, there is thinking, feeling, and will, or perception, emotion, and an intention.
And after intention, we are action. So now, as we move from perception to emotion, or we move from emotion to intention, the mind becomes more and more difficult to understand. There is another example you could use for this, for understanding this is the chariot metaphor.
In the standard metaphor, so we know that in the chariot body metaphor, what are the horses? Horses. The mind is the brains. Intelligence is the driver.
The body is the chariot, and the soul is the passenger. So now, Krishna says, in the same example, Krishna doesn’t mention this example specifically in the Bhagavad Gita. It comes in the Kukuli Shastra.
But Krishna points to the example, in the 15th chapter, and he says, that the mind is the centre of the senses. So, in the 15th point, he says that the five non-sequential senses are centred in the mind. It’s like, I may have five fingers, they’re all centred on the palm.
So like that, the senses are centred on the mind. And, he says, the five horses, they are all centred on the reins. And the reins are meant to be controlled by the intelligence.
And the intelligence is meant to be directed by the mind. So, when Krishna says, elevate the self with the mind. Elevate yourself with the mind, don’t degrade yourself with the mind.
That means, control the reins in the mind. is going in one direction. Now, for simplicity sake, let’s assume there are five horses.
There’s one horse. Let me expand this. There’s one horse.
And there’s a person sitting on the chair. Let’s keep this simple and I’ll expand this further. So now, if the horse is going on a particular path and then the horse sees some fruit somewhere and the horse’s eyes go there and the horse’s head turns, his legs turn and he starts running towards it.
Now, the quicker the horse person, the horse rider sees his horse is turning and brings it away. Just pulls the reins and brings the horse back. The quicker the horse rider does it, the easier it is.
So once the horse starts moving and keeps moving, then it requires some other mechanism. So, pulls the horse back and brings it away. Now, even if the horse goes into a ditch and throws out the rider, even after that, the rider can get up, again bring the horse back to the ground and keep moving.
So, there is no permanent defeat in the rational mechanism. Even if the rider knocks us down and knocks us down graciously, still we can rise and fight again. But, the earlier we are able to gain control, the easier it is to control.
And the later we are in seeking control, the more difficult it is. Same way, with respect to perception, emotion, intention. So, when the horse just sees the fruit, at that time we see certain objects which trigger certain emotions, something.
It may trigger anger, it may trigger greed, it may trigger lust, whichever emotion it is taking. So, when the perception is there, at that time itself we can alert the horse away. Then, it is not yet coming to the level of emotion itself.
Then, it is much easier to alert. But, once it comes to the level of emotion, then, it requires more effort. So, what Ramacharya says is that we are essentially feeling beings, we are essentially emotional beings.
And, there is actually not much distance between perception and emotion. Especially, the more we become habituated to a particular activity, the more quickly perception leads to emotion. The more we become habituated, then, there is not even the consideration.
This is the perception, this is the emotion, and the two are separate. Even for an alcoholic, as soon as a glass of alcohol, immediately he is addicted. So, the more we are attached or addicted to something, the more perception triggers emotion quickly.
In fact, not only triggers, the two become almost inextricably linked. So, in psychology, there are some famous experiments called the experiments of Pavlov. So, instinctive instantaneous responses are called as Pavlovian responses in psychology.
So, what was the experiment of this person? He had some dogs. And the dogs had bell that whenever the dogs were to be fed. And as soon as food was brought in front of them, the bell rang.
So, the dogs over a period of time started normally when we see food, we will see some attraction. The food is good. So, when we see food, our tongue starts salivating.
So, similarly with dogs, when they see some food in front of them, their tongue will start salivating. But interestingly, every time consistently, whenever the dogs were given food, bells were rung. So, after that, the bells were rung even when no food was given.
And still, the dogs would start salivating. So, that means, actually, there is no object which should stimulate saliva. So, food should stimulate saliva, but because food was mentally associated with the bell ring, so instead of food stimulating saliva, it is the bell which So, this is an example of a mystical association between perception and reaction.
There is emotion, oh, I’m going to get food, and the reaction comes out physically at the tongue, it stimulates saliva. So, these Pavlovian responses, they are considered to be instinctive responses, which are often not based on actual reality. There is no actual reason for that stimulus to come up, but still it comes up.
Now, how does this apply to our understanding of the mind? Initially, when a person starts indulging in an activity, say, drinking, so, there is some pleasure. One feels high, one feels excited, one feels good. But after some time, when that particular activity becomes addiction, then it is not so much that one gets pleasure by doing that activity, rather one gets agitation by not doing that activity.
So, when one indulges, the indulgence is not so much because alcohol gives pleasure, it is because not drinking alcohol causes so much pain. It causes withdrawal symptoms, it causes irritation, it causes various set of problems. So, with respect to us, when we start practising bhakti, there are certain activities, which we did in the past for enjoyment, and those activities may have also given us enjoyment.
But, once we start practising bhakti yoga, we get a higher taste. And, when we get that higher taste, at that time, we will have consciously realised that this taste is higher, because the lower taste still keeps up. There is one devotee, he said in the 2011 cricket world cup, India won that world cup.
And, this devotee told me his story. He said, I was very attached to cricket before I came to Krishna Consciousness. Then, my stories are attached to cricket.
But, then in the 2011 world cup, India performed very well. So, I did not watch any of the matches. But, when India came to the bottom of the world cup, I said, now I have to watch.
Then, after that, I said, I resisted the temptation. But, then 75 of those India boxers came. I said, how can I miss this? So, then I started watching it.
India did not like very well. And, India’s team won. And, it was so difficult.
He was sitting with his old friends and we were all watching the match. And, he found all his friends were so happy. He did not feel the All this is just noise.
All this is just noise. He said that, I could remember myself being so jubilant when India won a match 10 years ago. But, he said, what is the big deal about it? What is there to enjoy? He did not get an enjoyment.
So, Prabhupada says that Krishna consciousness is an incurable infection. It infects us in the higher taste. When we get the higher taste, we will still engage in the lower taste.
But, it will not be enjoyed. We will do it, but we won’t get the kind of pleasure we want. So, here, I am talking about the Pavlovian response.
There are certain objects which gave us pleasure in the past. And, when we perceive those objects now, this will be enjoyed, this will be enjoyed, this will be enjoyed. So, the mind gets excited.
But, just as in the case of the Pavlovian responses, the stimulus actually is not there. There is no food for the dog to get excited about. Similarly, for us as devotees, there is no pleasurable object actually out there.
Yes, the object might be there, but the pleasure in that will hardly be anything because we have got a higher taste. And, unfortunately, we don’t realise that, okay, this is what, when we get attached to something, the perception, the emotion and the action, they just often go very fast. I see something, I desire it, I do it.
And, after that, I think, why did I do this? I didn’t get any pleasure in this. Why was I doing that? But the whole problem is, the mind has entered into a very fast-acting programme. Just like a default programme that was chosen, you know, so, if I have chosen a particular browser, if I have chosen Grow as a browser, then as soon as I have done it, automatically the browser working.
So, like that, as soon as our mind acts, we think of pleasure immediately, our mind thinks of material pleasure. And, immediately the mind starts going in a particular direction. So, it becomes a default programme for us.
And, the way to change the default programme is, we can’t do it. Every time I turn on the internet, I turn it off. That’s one way to do it.
Another is, go into the default settings and change the default settings. So, like that, one level of trying to control the mind is, it goes in the wrong direction and we bring it back. Vishakha says we should do it.
So, the 6th chapter on yoga, Vishakha talks a lot about mind control. So, here he is saying, wherever the mind is, bring it back and do it. So, the mind may stray, but we don’t have to let it stray.
The mind may stray, it may go here, it may go there, but we don’t have to let it stray. We can bring it back. This is one level.
That means the mind is like a default programme, it starts off, if you don’t want it to start, it starts and then we stop. So, that is some level of mechanical control that the mind goes on bringing it back. But a deeper level is, like we go to default settings and change the settings.
So, like that, we go deeper and challenge the mind’s definitions of patterns. Challenge the mind of, you might be getting so excited about the settings. Has it really given you pleasure worthy of the kind of excitement that you’re getting over there? Challenge that.
So, when we challenge that, that means often, when we engage in some enjoyment activity, there is some enjoyment, after that there is disappointment and after that there is frustration. So, Krishna says that, there is some pleasure, in the beginning there is some pleasure, but after that there is misery. So, we experience that.
We enjoy something and afterwards, all material enjoyment is at best, an anticlimax. At best, an anticlimax. So, actually, that was one of the main realisations that attracted me to Krishna consciousness.
In India, most of you are from India. In India, there is a tremendous pressure on education. Students are evaluated by their marks.
So, since my childhood, I had this desire, I want to be the number one. I want to be the top. I was always among the toppers, but I was never the topper.
I was second, third, joined first, but never the first. Then, throughout my career, I came to engineering, and in my third year of engineering, I gave the GM exam. So, I, I, I always liked English very much.
So, I was very good in English, and I was very good in maths also. Then, till then, in our college, and in Maharashtra, and that is in Pune and Mumbai, the highest score had been up to a 22-50. And then, in my Maharashtra I was 23-50.
So, I was normally the topper. I was the topper in the history of the college. I was the topper in the whole state.
And then, I thought, I’ll be so happy now. And first, when the, by air force, the report came out, I was very happy. Also, typically, in sports or movies, somebody will say, yahoo, brah, this sort of thing.
Then, afterwards, I found that this booklet that people was not a source of any great happiness. Ok, there is some happiness. Then I found it all depended on how much and how well And then, whenever I would meet someone, the first thought that was in my mind is, does this person not know what I have done? Why is this person not congratulating me? So, I just happened to be… Most people congratulated me at that time, but there were some people who didn’t know.
Maybe they were envious, maybe they did not know, whatever they said. But I started thinking, at that time, since my childhood I was dreaming for this. I have achieved it, but rather than becoming happy, I have just become dependent on others for my happiness.
I need someone else to congratulate me, then I will be happy. And very strongly, that actually, as compared to the… You see, when we expect something from someone and that person doesn’t fulfil the expectation, that causes a lot of agitation. Then it reminded me, then I thought, actually, when I was studying for GRE, I was happier than after I got this.
So, then when I read the Bhagavad Gita, Karamandirvani said, Mahabaleshwari Prabhakar said, Bhagavad Gita says, work, because you are right to work, don’t pay attention to the result. That made sense to me, what it means. So, the point which I am making is, we feel a little enjoyment, even when we get it.
At best, it is an anti-climax. There is pleasure, but the mind hides it to such a high level, that the reality does not live up to that. And it’s at best an anti-climax.
But unfortunately, after that pleasurable event is over, then the next time, that similar pleasurable event, the opportunity for enjoying something similar, comes. At that time, the mind does selective recollection. Selective recollection means, it remembers only the pleasure and not the disappointment of it.
Now, why is that? Why would the mind do selective recollection like that? Bhaktivedanta Prabhupada says in one of his songs, that in the womb, I was suffering so much, janani jathare, chila maja kona, vishyam bhavan pila jata rashi, dekha bhaara prabhu, dekha diya more, panchita edhi na darshi. Yes, my God, I suffered so much in the womb, at that time, janana hoya, karima bhaja na tarwa. I will worship you.
I promise you. But as soon as I came out, then, happy birthday to you. I forgot it all.
So, often, when the consequences hit us, we feel regretful, we feel determined, we feel determined to change. But the next time the temptation comes, it is just the pleasure, the initial delayed pleasure, that’s what we remember, and the remaining is forgotten. Why is that? This would make us think that the mind is like a ring.
The mind is doing a selective recollection, that is actually a deceptive recollection. If somebody sold us a product, and told us only the pluses of the product, and didn’t tell anything of the problems of the product, eventually, when we started facing the problems, we would be angry with that person. So, like that, the mind sells us certain ideas, sells us certain proposals, but it tells us only the positives of it.
Nothing about the negatives of it. Now, why does the mind do it like that? Again, the mind is a creature of habit. It is a phenomenon.
So, because we are habituated to certain things, whatever will facilitate that habitual activity, the mind will bring that. And whatever will impede that activity, the mind will cause it like that. So, the mind basically functions according to the way we have made it function.
Just like one browser might be slow, another browser might be fast. But if a particular browser has been made a habitual browser, then even if it is a slow browser, still that browser should open first. So, that’s our default browser.
So, in material intelligence, there is a bit of pleasure and there is misery of the mind. But because we are habituated to material pleasure, and whatever is favourable about that material pleasure, that’s what we will remember. That’s what the mind will do.
So, the reprogramming of the mind, which I was talking about, in two stages. First is, when the mind goes somewhere in the wrong direction, we need to change the default settings. That’s like, when a wrong default programme is opened, close it down.
But the second I was talking about is, change the default settings. In that I was saying, we need to challenge the mind’s definitions of happiness. So, in that I was saying, most of what the mind is thinking is happiness, it’s actually an anticlimax in this.
So, how do we challenge the mind’s definitions of happiness? How do we change our default settings? That is the essence of pure intelligence. When the intelligence accepts it, that is comprehension. When the mind accepts it, that is materialisation.
When the intelligence accepts it, that is comprehension. I understand this. But when the mind accepts it, that is materialisation.
So, quite often, with respect to the emptiness of material enjoyment, of worldly pursuits, we have intelligence that says, this is temporary, this is not going to give me a lot of happiness. Intelligence accepts it, but the mind does not accept it. And because the mind does not accept it, it’s not really a realisation.
It’s an intellectual comprehension. Intellectual comprehension is good. But from there, it has to go towards a realisation.
So, what exactly a realisation is, I will explain diagrammatically in the next class. And how do we get realisations? I will talk about it a little later. But here, I would like to conclude with one point.
About this point of challenging the mind’s definitions of happiness. So, once the mind accepts something, then at that time, the desires themselves do not arise. Till that time, the desires will come and we will have to see.
I will tell you one last metaphor. A small child, it’s a mother and a child. In the first class, last Saturday, I talked about how the mind is like a child, the intelligence is like the mother.
So, now, when the child is very small, the child may see a shiny box, the child may see an eye, the baby, they see an eye, and they just want to go and touch them. Now, the mother has to be vigilant, and not let the child go and touch them. The child will again and again go and touch them.
Even in the child, sometimes what happens, is the child may add and also may cut. But still, if the intelligence is not adequately developed, for the child, the connection will not be established. Oh, I got this pain because of the cut.
Because I touched the baby. Still, the mother thinks that, Oh, this knife is attractive, shiny, I want to touch it. So, when the intelligence develops, then the child will himself or herself understand, Oh, I should not touch this.
But till that time, the mother has to be vigilant. Don’t keep the knife close by, or always keep an eye on the child, so that the child doesn’t go to the knife. So, like that, during the process, when the mind has not yet accepted, mind has not yet accepted the futility of various worldly indulgences, during that time, the intelligence has to be there.
And intelligence being there means, that we need to hear Shastra, study Shastra, because, essentially for us, for us as spiritual seekers, intelligence is almost equivalent to remembrance of scripture. We have very little intelligence of our own. I am not giving it to itself or disrespect anyone.
The point when I am using the word intelligence, comes from a different sense, from what our IQ tests tell us. The IQ tests, they tell us about information processing capacity. And many of us may have phenomenal information processing capacity.
And that has achieved it. Even those of us who are intelligent, if we have information processing capacity, we can remember words, we can analyse concepts, we can explain things. It’s very good.
But when scripture talks about intelligence, it is not talking about information processing capacity. It is talking about the discerning capacity. The capacity to understand what is right, what is wrong.
The capacity to understand what is beneficial, what is harmful. What is short term, what is long term. What is material, what is spiritual.
So this is a capacity which we don’t have in India. We may have, based on our own upbringing, a certain moral sense. Which will tell us, this is right, this is wrong.
But that moral sense is often dull, especially when the culture becomes more and more materialistic and amoral, if not immoral. Amoral means, there are some people in today’s world who are immoral. They can just say, there is nothing wrong in doing anything that you want.
Whatever you want to do, it is rightful. But other people, everyone may not be immoral, but there are many people who are amoral. Amoral means, that’s what is right for that person, they can do that.
This is what is right for me, I will do that. So people suspend moral judgments in that. In such a situation, our own innate moral sense, if we have it also, that becomes weakened.
So, if you study, it is what strengthens and sharpens our intelligence. So, when in Dhyayato Vishayanatma Saha, in 2.62-2.63, he talks about how, from contemplation to self-destruction happens. In that sequence, the last fall, before self-destruction, is the fall of the intelligence.
In Dhyayato Vishayanatma Saha, in 2.62-2.63, he says, I will analyse this more in tomorrow’s class, just to concentrate. I will use one example, a metaphor of an interlopist, to explain another way how the mind works. But the point which I am making here is, the intelligence is the last defence from the temptation.
When the intelligence falls, we will fall. So, therefore, what we need is to keep our intelligence strong. And the stronger our intelligence is, the quicker if the mind goes in the wrong direction, we will bring it down.
And more than that, the stronger our intelligence will become, we will change the mind because of it. We will challenge the mind. You must be feeling so excited about this.
Now, don’t just go along the line of selective recollection. If you consciously, there is something which is like a subconscious recollection, or spontaneous recollection, and there is conscious recollection. So, spontaneously, the mind will remember only the enjoyable part of the past experiences.
But consciously, we will contemplate. Then, we will be able to recollect the consequences also. Oh, there is some delicious food I had.
I will eat that. And last time I ate it, it was so enjoyable. Yes, food is meant to be, the masala is meant to be delicious.
But then, it is also meant to be delicious. Last time, I ate so much food. I had so much food.
So, the mind will not remember the sort of food you ate. So, what happens is, then, we can use our intelligence to challenge selective recollection also. But, the intelligence has to be very sharp.
So, of course, the intelligence is not separate from bhakti. Bhakti is the ultimate intelligence. And the relationship between bhakti and bhukti, that I will talk about in the next session.
The summary is already discussed. You can have your own answers. I started by talking about how the word mind means different things.
In ordinary discourse, it means attention. In some context, it means intelligence or intelligent person. In the western philosophical discourse, it means our non-material side.
Whereas in Bhagavad Gita, it refers to the intermediate between the soul and the body. And we discussed various metaphors for understanding the mind. The mind takes an impression like a vlogging video.
And then, the mind gives us a certain perception and the mind drags our perception on. For example, a TV and a kids video. The mind gives a particular picture and associated with that perception, the mind immediately hinders emotions through recollection and imagination.
And then takes our perception somewhere else. And in that, we want to control the mind. The earlier we can do it, the better it is.
Take an example of a horse rider. If the horse gets off track, the earlier the horse rider gets off track, the easier it is. And then we discussed especially the computer programme or software metaphor, where a certain software becomes a deployed software.
Because we are only YouTube video. What we need to do is, the deployed software opens up, closes. If some set of desires start coming up and going on, we check them and bring the mind back.
And the deeper thing is to challenge the mind’s definition itself. Not to change the default settings, so that it does not go in that direction. And it challenges the mind’s default settings.
Take for example, Pavlovian responses, where there is no food, but saliva is secreted. Because the mind has associated food with the sound of bells. So like that, our mind has associated pleasure with sense objects.
But now that we have got a validation of food, there is actually not much pleasure in these objects. But still, while Pavlovian response, the mind gets very excited. So, when I gave different examples about the cricket world cup and my own journey, what will enjoy a bit? At best, anticlimax.
It never lives up to the expectations. So unfortunately, the mind has a selective recollection. That’s because it simply facilitates our desires.
And we need to consciously get the complete recollection. And for that, for stopping the mind from going in instinctive direction, we need to sharpen our intelligence. The more they are habituated to something, perception, recollection, imagination, intention, action, all of it happens very fast.
But we need to create a distance between them. And that distance is created by our own intelligence. We do not allow perception to transform into emotion.
Because we do not allow selective recollection. This is so enjoyable. No, it is not enjoyable.
There is so much trouble also. We do not allow perception to lead to emotion. And emotion also, it happens, we do not allow emotion to lead to intention.
No, it is not the right thing for me. Otherwise, I say, hey, come on, you are doing a job. No, it is not the right thing.
I am not doing it. So, the intelligence can check the flow of the mind. Today, what I talked about is how the mind acts as an enemy.
But the mind can also act as a friend. And that I will discuss in tomorrow’s session. Thank you very much.
… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … Because we are tasting only the additional items which are much more perceivable to the raw taste. So, what if somebody decides, I will not take any spice, I will not take any salt, I will not take any sugar. Then we should be able to meet the vegetarians.
What is the point? I am so blind. But once you start eating it, it will have you to ask them, how does this taste like this? This is a native taste to it. It is subtle.
Now subtle does not mean it is less enjoyable. But it is of a different kind of enjoyment. There is a taste of a different kind.
So, the pleasures of material life are very gross. So, they are directly physically perceivable. So, just like the taste of spices and sugar and salt.
So, like that. The tastes of material life are very gross. And when we are habituated to that, then in bhakti, we feel as if there is no pleasure.
Only when there is some intense spiritual experience, we feel there is some taste. Otherwise, we feel it is all tasteless. But even at all times, there is some taste.
There will be no taste at all. We do not have to go into practising bhakti. We just have to give it up and go back to material life.
So, we do experience some things, but it is subtle. And second point is that the anandhas which we have, the impurities that we have, they come in the way of our perceiving the taste of food. Just like Rupa Goswami gives the example, that a blondie’s tongue cannot taste sugar, when it is sweet.
Similarly, Krishna is sweet, but he cannot taste the sweet. Because, again going back to your example, now, suppose, there is a beautiful garden outside. The door looks this way.
And other side, there is a whole series of trash. A whole lump of trash. Now, the garden is there, the trash is there.
So, whichever side the door opens, that is what I will see. So, now, for us, most often, when we practise bhakti, Krishna is always relishing. But when we say that impurities prevent us from tasting Krishna’s sweetness, what that means is, the impurities obstruct our experience of Krishna.
Because they misdirect our consciousness. When I am coming to the temple, and I am taking darshan of Krishna, my consciousness is all focused on Krishna. But I am thinking, oh no, this happened, that happened, that happened.
Then, the consciousness is not present. sukhena brahma samsparshan atyantam sukham asnute sukhena brahma samsparshan Krishna says that, contact with Brahma. Brahma is Krishna.
Krishna is part of Brahma. sukhena brahma samsparshan In 6.29, 28, it says, what happens? atyantam sukham asnute That will lead to the ultimate happiness. Supreme happiness.
But, because of our past conditionings, that contact with Brahma doesn’t happen. Although I am taking darshan, but, the door of the mind is only sparshi yoga. So that, the perception goes in language, and the contact with Brahma, that’s what the satisfaction will be.
Another example. See, a mother is giving some delicious sweet rice to a child. But the child is so restless, the mother is pouring the sweet rice, the child is moving around here and there.
The sweet falls all over the house, but nothing goes inside the house. All over the place. Then the child probably won’t taste anything sweet.
So, it’s like, both the mother and the child are inside us only. We are trying to force our mind to focus, but the mind is not focussing. And, we will see that, if we, sometimes, say, Chaitanya seems very powerful, very powerful.
But if we can push ourselves to concentrate, gradually the taste starts getting expressed. It’s our experience. So, essentially, it is not that, bhakti, the pleasure of bhakti, is not accessible or not present.
It is just that, we are too restless. So, at our level, there are various ways in which we can occur to such restlessness. One is, of course, empathy.
It’s like, the mother keeps the child’s face straight. Like that, we force the mind. The other is, that, associative devotees.
When associative devotees are all seriously trying to practise bhakti, then, their seriousness also comes out. So, they also have their mind. The mind is already there.
But still, they are focussing their knowledge. And, they can do as much as they want. The third thing is, apart from that, prayer.
You need Krishna, also. Although, Krishna gives us the taste, we also need the strength to accept the taste. So, that’s why, in fact, what is the causality of praying to Krishna? There are Vaishnava poets who pray to the tongue.
PRAVATAYA KATHAM BRUVANANI PARAM PARASTAR MADRUK SHARANTI VAMOGA VAHANI PRAVATAYA RANJALAYI RASI JUMBHE NAMANI NARAYI NALOK CHERANI So, Kundashekhar Maharaj, I remember, the holy name, KATHAM BRUVANANI PARAM PARASTAR, refers to the supreme absolute truth. How easily it is accessible. That which you always need to meditate for a long, long time, that absolute truth becomes accessible to the holy name, so easily.
And what is this? MADRUK SHARANTI VAMOGA VAHANI It brings a flow of nectar, as if I was drinking honey. And so nectary and that, I am just nodding my head. Old town, I stand in front of you with folded hands.
PRAVATAYA RANJALAYI RASI JUMBHE Old town, I stand in front of you, and it’s NAMANI NARAYI NALOK CHERANI Please chant the holy name. Or we have a song, BHAJAN PURE MANNA What is the devotee doing? The devotee, Krishna, he is actually preaching to the mind. Oh, I am the priest, preach the name of Krishna.
So, basically, now, preaching to the mind is also done in the form of PRAYER. It’s a song which is praying on the Lord, through the medium of prayer, through the medium of instruction, through the medium of our discretion. So, whichever way it is, we can connect with Krishna, play to Krishna’s music.
And it’s quite often these spiritual sound vibrations, certainly the holy name is the most important spiritual sound vibration, but other associated spiritual sound vibrations which trigger our intelligence, they are very helpful. If you remember some verses, some songs, some prayers, then if the mind is handling too much, and you don’t feel any taste in the holy name, then in some other cases, you get the taste of the holy name is purely spiritual. In Kirtan, it is spiritual and musical.
But in Japa, it is only spiritual. That’s why in Kirtan, we can very easily absorb it. But in Japa, there is no musical directly.
So, it becomes much more difficult. Because Japa forces us to come to spiritual platform. So, when we are not able to come to spiritual platform, at that time, we have ye na keena prakari mana krishna nisha.
Somehow or other, access a little bit of the heels of the pleasure, by which we can convince the mind, there is pleasure. Just serve Krishna, there is pleasure. So, that way we can get a glimpse like, if we are trying to chant, we are not able to concentrate, then we just come and maybe sing a reggae song, or whatever you like.
One or two tunes, you see. That calms the mind. Or just some favourite verses, recite those verses.
That calms the mind. So, you can emotionally or intellectually, give the mind a glimpse of Krishna. The experience of Krishna.
And then, nothing is wrong. So, three main things. That is, first thing, pleasure.
And second, because of our habitation with God’s pleasures, we have become, sort of, beddened to certain pleasures at present. Secondly, it is that we are, the pleasure of bhakti is there, Krishna is there, but our consciousness is misdirected. So, we don’t conceive Krishna.
That’s why we need intelligence, we need association, we need prayer, and we also need some way to quickly access the higher taste. That is, to quickly give the mind an experience of the higher taste. Whichever way it works.
And that way, we can perceive it. More and more, as the impurities decrease, and the misdirection will decrease, and then we will be able to reach the taste of bhakti. We have, over the past, we have theorised that we can programme our mind to achieve the desired results.
We can achieve desired results by programming our mind. So, I just want to understand, somehow, from Bhagavad Gita point of view, we can programme our mind. So, I heard that we can programme our mind for achieving success, whether it is material or spiritual.
So, what does the Bhagavad Gita say about this? The Bhagavad Gita primarily tells us that the mind is moulded. And once it is moulded in a particular way, it functions in that way only. So, chameleon moulding, chameleon programming requires time.
So, now, in self-help circles, when they talk about programming the mind, it is centred on something like auto-suggestions. That means, the auto-suggestions are of different kinds. And some of them can be helpful.
So, at a simple time, you say, calm down. Calm down. Now, basically, what we do through auto-suggestions is that we try to activate our intentions.
So, the mind is going through certain emotions. We try to activate our intentions. And some people say that just while you are sleeping, or just before you go to sleep, or just after you wake up, here are some of your plans.
Tap the core of your conscious mind. Tap the core of your subconscious mind. We say that the transition between sleep and waking is, your mind is very receptive.
So, if you hear something at that time, those thoughts will go deep into your consciousness. Now, there is certainly some level of truth to the various techniques for reprogramming the mind. And, that’s why as devotees, we said that the last thought that we have is we offer ourselves in the mid-prayer to Krishna.
We wake up. We offer obeisance to Him. We wake up.
We pray to Krishna. So, some devotees can sleep with some kirtans going on. And, that way, that principle is there.
The problem with material conceptions of reprogramming of the mind is often they assign omniscience to the mind. That means, for example, there was this book, just a few years ago, there was this very popular book called Secrets. And, it said that whatever you desire, you will achieve.
So, a woman stands outside a jewellery shop and sees a beautiful necklace. She just proclaims, I will get this necklace. Or a young man sees a car and says, I want this car.
And, next he is driving the car. Now, this sort of visualisation is, it is misleading in the sense that the mind is not omniscient. The mind itself is not omnipotent.
The mind is not God. And, to think that just by desiring something, just by visualising something, I will be able to achieve whatever I want, that is unrealistic. Because there is, apart from certainly, there is our endeavour and then there is destiny.
Both need to come together by which the result will come. So, the standard example the Puranas give is, a farmer has to sow the seeds and plough the land. That is the karma, that is the endeavour.
And then, there is the destiny, the rains come. And then, both of them come together in the harvest comes. So, now, the visualisation, positive visualisation can help in maximising our endeavour.
If I am always thinking negatively, I won’t be able to do this. I won’t be able to do that. I am like this only.
I am like that only. I am useless. Then, that negative thoughts will affect our own capacity to perform.
Our endeavour will not be able to perform. So, that is our scholarship. Of the way we think, it will affect our way, our capacity to function.
So, in that sense, positive visualisation can help us to maximise our endeavour. As in a farmer, you know, the street is so beige, this land is so rocky. How can I do all this? And the thoughts will burn the farmer.
But it is not that the farmer is just like this only. Now, rains will come. Rains will come.
Rains will come. That itself, if the weather is not conducive, if there are no clouds in the vicinity, then what is going to produce the rains? So, the visualisation can help us to increase, maximise our contribution. Just do what you can.
So, the previous night, tomorrow morning, when I wake up, I am going to try and attend to it. Everything which I am doing. Tomorrow, from night to day, I am thinking, or another day also.
Then that negative expectation will make things more difficult than they need to be. So, it can, the positive visualisation devotees can use it for making sure that we maximise our efforts. We do the very best that we can do.
But, to think that that will fulfil any and every desire that we have, that is not true. Because we are not God. And destiny cannot change just by our visualisation.
So, there is truth to it. But often that thing, the potency of our suggestions is exaggerated beyond a valid jurisdiction. So, we can use it to maximise our endeavour.
But you should think that everything will work out just because I have done non-suggestion. Because I have seen, in the world also, there are some devotees who used to do a lot of auto-suggestion. And then, when the auto-suggestion things don’t come about, those gurus or those self-help teachers, they give them a different kind of guilt.
Oh, you are not doing the auto-suggestion properly. That’s why it’s not happening. So, you give the auto-suggestion to stop another performance, but then you get the guilt of not performing the auto-suggestion properly.
So, it’s not necessarily a solution to the problem. It is useful in doing our part, but beyond our part, there is also much that is there which you can reconcile and need to understand. Yes.
In one of your classes, you mentioned that it is not correct to allow our mind to always shadow us. Because we are not, you know, it’s just shadowing our mind. But then one can reason out that if we are not thinking about the problem, then we may not be actively working towards the solution.
Yeah, right. So, do we say that when we say that we should not worry about our problems, at that time, does it, how do we practically apply it? Because sometimes not worrying about the problems, we may just be neglecting the problem. Or the mind may say that you are neglecting the problem.
That means we may be irresponsible or we may feel that I am becoming irresponsible, not actually doing anything to deal with the problem. So, yes, that is a possibility. Once one devotee had gone to a Buddhist mission.
And then after coming back from the mission, he lost all the Lakshmi. And then when he came back and told the temple Santhi Kali that money is lost. Money is lost.
He said, you don’t get excited. Krishna said, be positive. So, yes, we should be equal poised to compensate the stress.
But being equal poised doesn’t mean being irresponsible. We want to be equal poised so that we can be more responsible. If we are so caught up in the results that we don’t do the activity properly, we don’t think about the results, we don’t do the activity.
So, but it’s not like if you become irresponsible, that is not being equal poised, that is simply being irresponsible. So, yes, we do need to be responsible. And the difference between being being responsible and being over-anxious, it is largely in the matter of realistic regulation.
That means, if there are certain problems, there are certain things I can do about it. And there are certain things I just can’t do. So, for example, say, intellectual children, we want them to become good devotees, good students, good human beings.
We can do certain things for them. We can give them good education, give them good association. And if we are doing what we can, then that is our responsibility.
We should do that. But beyond that, we constantly worry only about that. Then, that will distract us from being able to do other things.
And eventually, that worry will… We think that I have been responsible by worrying about this particular thing. But because of that worry, we are not responsible in doing other things. So, that means, when I say realistic regulation, that means, with our intelligence, we need to evaluate, okay, this is the problem.
What all can I do about this? And then, this is what I am doing. One, two, three, four, five. This is the thing which I can do, this is the thing which I am doing.
And that’s all. For example, students have to study for exam. If… The student says, if Krishna wants, I will pass this exam.
That is true. But that does not take into account the point that Krishna wants us to study also. Many times, you know, students… I used to do a lot of youth outreach.
So, students, when they have to study, they suddenly start developing a great love for scripture. You know, serious philosophers, their love was Ramayana, Mahabharata, Gita, all stories. And at that time, I was going to say, oh, this study is all mundane.
I came at a career and everything is temporary. I want to study Shastra. Well, that love for Shastra or not, they throw this exam.
Suddenly, it turns into an exam. Why? Because that Shastra is seen as a staple of the hard work of studies. So, when that happens, it is actually not proper.
So, when we say that we should not be too ambitious, that means, we evaluate what all we can do. And we need to do that. But beyond that, we also have to accomplish.
There is nothing much more than this that I can do. And so, please, do your best and leave the rest to Krishna. So, the two extremes would be that we are so anxious, how do we know we are hyper-anxious? That means, we are so worried about that thing, that we are not able to do any other thing that will equal that.
And when, when are we becoming irresponsible? When there is a problem and we are not even doing what we can and should be doing. So, both the hyper-anxiety and irresponsibility, when we avoid it, when we intelligently understand, this is what I can do to solve this problem. I do that.
And apart from that, actually, whenever a worry comes, it is to tell the mind, don’t worry, it doesn’t work. So, one of the best ways to deal with the worry is to transform the worry into a prayer. And, actually, I am really worried about this.
Whatever is your belief, whether it is happening, whatever prayer you want to offer, that’s to do. Offer that prayer and then, with that prayer, the thought moves from the worry to Krishna. And then, even from when the thought moves to Krishna, we ourselves will become a little calm.
And then we can get the thought back to whatever work we have done. And that way we can avoid both the extremes of not doing anything and worrying so much that we can’t do other things. Very nice lecture.
I have two questions here. The first one, you gave this answer. When, like, managing the mind, the first solution you said is in the Google Chrome, you are talking about the Chrome.
So, when we try to subdue our mind, when we try to control the mind, similarly, mind will also try to control us in a so much repulsive way. And it’s very hard to control. And my second question is… The question is that, when we try to control the mind, at that time it counters.
And rather than submitting the control, it tries to counter-control us. So, how do we deal with that? That’s why I gave the example of breaking a wild horse. Breaking a wild horse, when a horse has just been, say, captured from the forest, or it has not yet been trained to have a human rider.
And if somebody goes near the horse, the horse will just throw that person away. And if the horse trainer is not careful, not only will that person be thrown away, but that person can not only be trampled by the horse, but can be injured also. So, it has to be done carefully.
So, firstly, Krishna also acknowledges when he tells Arjuna, असंचे महा पाहो मनो दुर्भी ग्रांच There is no doubt that the mind is difficult to control. So, you know, often, our frustration or our irritation is not caused because of the problem with the mind. It is caused because of our expectation that there should be an easy way to move forward.
If we don’t go with that expectation, not in a negative, pessimistic sense at all, then there will be trouble with the mind. But, that’s just. The mind will not want to cooperate easily.
I have to train the mind. We can’t treat a horse that has been untrained the same way as a horse that is trained. So, if we go with the expectation that okay, this mind is going to perform like a trained horse, then we will be frustrated.
If we go in advance, if not, we will go and cooperate slowly. I have to train the mind. Then we won’t be so disheartened or irritated or frustrated by that.
And, this is going to be the topic of my tomorrow’s talk. It’s not that everything we just have to restrain and reject the mind. No, there is I’ll briefly mention this and I’ll talk about it more.
There is Vasana and there is Nidhi. Vasana is undesirable regards. Those have to be controlled.
But, there is Nidhi is our nature, our inclination. That is not to be controlled. That is to be directed.
If we completely reject everything that the mind says, then we will not be able to function at all. That means, the mind’s tendencies we can classify them in broadly three ways. Again, I’ll talk about this more tomorrow.
There are anti-devotional tendencies, there are non-devotional tendencies, there are pro-devotional tendencies. So, we don’t have to reject everything that the mind says. So, it is there are certain things which completely oppose the mind.
But, there are certain things which can blind the mind also. And, say, as I said earlier, if we like to sing, then, as if A, we find chanting the mantra difficult because the mind doesn’t want to chant it. B, we have to sing a few mantras, recite a few verses, whatever we like.
B, the mind is empty. And then, we just move onwards. So, it’s dynamic.
It’s like a horse trainer may have a general pattern about how I want to train the horse. But, each horse is special. And, the horse may also behave differently at different times.
So, like that, we can’t go with a stereotype plan for controlling the mind. The mind is dynamic and we also have to evolve strategically. This is our field.
So, let’s do this. And, this can at one level seem very burdensome. But, it can also actually be stimulating.
Because, we can see that there are so many different ways in which Krishna provides me ideas freely. And, we learn more about ourselves. We learn more about our mind.
We get more realisation about the potency of Krishna. And, that way, we can grow ourselves through the natural building of the mind. And, yes, it’s not easy.
But, it is very desirable to learn to control the mind. And, controlling the mind is not just one way that we dominate the mind. But, we are befriending the mind.
Befriending means that those of the likes of the mind which are not harmful to us, we can get out of them. And, that means that at a given time, we move onwards in life. You see, Krishna is so different.
And, how is faith impacting on the mind and its functionality? How is one’s faith, like you say, in devotional service, we say, faith on Krishna. And, if we take material world, we can say, psychiatry is saying, have faith on yourself. So, how is that faith impacting on mind and its functionality? The question is, how does our faith affect our functioning? Like you say, Krishna says in the 17th chapter, शद्धा नहीं उन्हें पुरुष्यो योगे शद्ध से एवस्ति We say, शद्धा नहीं उन्हें पुरुष्यो We are made of our faith.
And, योगे शद्ध से एवस्ति As our faith is, so we will become. So, Krishna is talking about two causal relationships. He says, we are made of our faith.
And, as our faith is, so we will become. That means, if my faith is in material enjoyment, I am a materialist. If my faith is in Krishna-bhakti, then I am a devotee.
शद्धा नहीं उन्हें पुरुष्यो We are made of our faith. योगे शद्ध से एवस्ति As our faith is, so we will become. This talks about, so faith, we may say to everyone else that this is our faith, right? But, faith is also a matter of choice.
We can choose to have faith in something, choose to not have faith in something. And, Krishna says, the kind of faith you choose, that is what you will become. So, now, when we face situations, say, for example, the mind says, come on, do this, enjoy this, watch that, and then our intuition says, no, don’t do this.
At that time, we have a choice, which we will do. So, our choice is, we determine, which faith will become strong. So, if I choose Krishna, I think Krishna will become strong.
If I choose the mind, although there will be temporary frustration, and then I think, I am facing temporary frustration, and I realise also the mind cheats me. But again, next time the temptation comes, the mind by its selective recollection will again go in that direction. And because we have gone in that direction in the past, the impression will push us faster in that direction.
So, in that sense, our choice is very important. So, based on our faith, we have certain conceptions of happiness. Our present definitions of happiness are determined by our faith, as it is presented.
And, because we are in the middle stage, we are coming forward towards Krishna, so we have certain material definitions of happiness, and we have certain spiritual definitions of happiness also. So, we are in the process of transition right now. Whichever we choose, that definition will become reinforced.
Those corresponding questions will become stronger. And accordingly, next time, we will be more habitually prompted to act that way. So, it’s already 12.30. Can we continue tomorrow? Tomorrow I will give a shorter section, and you can have question and answers.
And we have to do more of your having. Thank you very much.