Mind your mind to know when it is in order, when on the border and when out of order Gita 06 05

Transcript

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when on the border and when out of order.
It is often said that our mind is something which we should be mindful of. Mindfulness is a common word nowadays. Now, what does being mindful actually mean? So, if you want to understand this, there are different ways, but broadly we can say that we can classify it in three levels.
That when the mind is in order, when on the border and when out of order. So, we can consider our mind to be like a device. So, when a device is functioning properly, then it is an aid for us.
But when it is getting damaged, it is on the border, when it is out of order, normally, say, we have a phone that is not working, it is out of order, then it just doesn’t function at all. But with respect to the mind, it keeps functioning, but it starts functioning destructively. So, we need to be mindful to check whether the mind is in order.
In order means that we all need to take time to understand what are our values and purposes in life. What is it that we wish to achieve and how is it that we wish to live so that we can achieve this. And time-honored wisdom texts like the Bhagavad Gita can give us a holistic vision of life by which we can find the most meaningful and fulfilling purposes and values for our life.
And to the extent the mind is, when the mind is in order, that means it is pursuing the values and purposes that we have defined based on scripture for ourselves, for our elevation. When the mind is on the border means that it is considering other things which may be trivial or even destructive. So, for example, the Bhagavad Gita tells us that we can find the greatest satisfaction through spiritual evolution, but the world is filled with sensual temptation.
And when the mind is on the border, then it keeps oscillating between spiritual cultivation and sensual imagination. So, it’s on the border. So, the more we are contemplating sensual things, we can know that the mind is in border.
And when the mind is out of order means, when the mind starts impelling us, scheming to indulge sensually and then scheming to cover up our intelligence, then the mind is out of order. And at that time, we need to be extremely careful. That’s an emergency when we need to get ourselves back on track by an emergency dose of scriptural wisdom and a strong program of spiritual meditation and absorption, some spiritually uplifting association.
And of course, if we do all this, when the mind is in the border, then again it can come back in order. उद्धरेदात्मनात्मानम् नात्मानमवसाधयेत् आत्मैवया आत्मनो बन्दर् आत्मैव रिपुरात्मनः So, when we recognize that our mind can be both our friend or enemy, when it is in order, it is our friend, when it is out of order, it becomes our enemy. And when it is on the border, it can go either way.
Then we become mindful and then function in a way that the mind works as our friend and we become elevated and eventually liberated. Thank you.