The mind keeps us enslaved

[Reflection at Gainesville, USA]

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
15.07 mumai vamsho jeeva loki jeeva bhootah sanatanah anah shashtani indriyani prapratisthani karshati So, here Krishna is speaking, and he is stating mumai vamsho, that all living beings are actually my parts, they are my eternal parts, mama amsha jeeva loki that they are my eternal parts, jeeva bhootah sanatanah, they exist in the material world presently, anah shashtani indriyani, what is happening while they are existing in the material world? They are captivated by the six senses, which include the mind, prapratisthani karshati, and here they undergo great struggle and suffering. Why? Because they are overwhelmed, by illusion.
They just don’t know how to function in the world at present. They just don’t know that their mind and senses will never lead them to happiness, that they need to find some alternative path to happiness, apart from what their mind and senses are alluring them with, otherwise they will stay forever bound in the vain pursuit of happiness, and that unfortunately is the predicament of most living beings. These don’t know what to do.
They don’t know how to pursue happiness. They don’t know how to live on. They don’t know how to fulfill their own innate longing for happiness in a way that will be fulfilling, not frustrating.
We see that all living beings search for happiness, and different people search for it in many different ways. There can be extreme forms of happiness, where some people try to risk their lives in craving for certain pleasures. Some people go in to a deep level of fascination and obsession with some subject in the hope that that will give them pleasure.
They may think that becoming mad, maniac almost about sports, say cricket, that will be their gateway to happiness. And there are others who think that actually just becoming compulsive or obsessive about something is not the way, so they may try to live more balanced lives. Now balance is definitely laudable, but balance also has to be purposeful.
Ultimately what is the purpose of whatever it is that we are doing? If our life is divorced from the ultimate purpose, then whatever we may do, that will actually not lead to happiness. It will lead to some sensation of some titillation for some time followed by frustration. So if we don’t want to live our lives enslaved by sensations, if we want some higher fulfillment that goes beyond such sensations, if we wish to mold our life to some higher purpose, then it’s vital for us to recognize that the mind and senses alone are not the pathways to such happiness.
We will need to find some alternative, better pathways to that happiness. And such a better pathway is actually our core nature. Because at our core we are souls, we are eternal parts of Krishna.
And as his parts, we are meant for a life of eternal love. That is our prerogative. That is our privilege.
That is our greatest, that is our deepest longing and that is our deepest right. But unfortunately, we go away from that right when we get enamored by wrong ways to pleasure. Now what do we mean by wrong way? We live today in an age of moral relativism where people think that whatever you think will give you pleasure, that’s your way.
Whatever I think will give me pleasure is my way. Don’t be dogmatic. Yes, the aversion to dogmatism is understandable and it’s reasonable.
At the same time, we have to understand that if we are going along a path, say, if we want to travel from New York to Washington, then it’s not that it’s a free for all. It’s not that you can believe your opinion and I can believe my opinion. No, there is an objective way to get there.
And if we don’t follow that way, we won’t get there. It’s as simple as that. So, we can end up with the tyranny of relativism, which is what the idea that anyone can do whatever they want and everybody has the right to believe whatever they wish to.
This ends up on that dead end. And that end is truly a dead end. Because by that path actually we get we get no fulfillment.
Because if I’m on the wrong path, the path that is not going to take me to DC, then it’s not a matter of simply of opinion. Someone may say, there are different paths, I’ll choose whichever path I want. Yes, there can be different paths.
We can acknowledge variety without descending into relativity. Yes, so for example, if we choose Google Maps and we say, this is my destination I want to go to. Google Maps may give us two, three ways.
You can go by this path, this path, this path. Yes, all those paths will have their valid paths in the sense that there can be different roads, you can take different interstates, you can get off at different exits, come in at different points on the interstate and we can get to the destination. So, variety is fine.
But variety does not mean absolute relativity. So the mind and senses often subject us to the notion of the tyranny of absolute relativity. Wherein we are made to believe that everything that is happening is relative, that there are no absolute truths and that anyone who claims there is an absolute truth is a fraudulent person.
Such a notion can be extremely debilitating for us who are trying to move forward in our spiritual journey. Because with this understanding we don’t choose a path that actually elevates our consciousness. We choose something which may end up degrading our consciousness.
And we only imagine or believe that we are elevating our consciousness. But we aren’t. So, for example, if we see a beautiful natural scenery that has a particular effect on our consciousness.
If we see sensual imagery that has a different effect on our consciousness. And in that way there are things that affect different people differently. Now, some people may not be so inspired by natural scenes.
Some people may not be so agitated by sensual imagery. But the fact is that even if you go beyond the specifics of what affects what person in a specific way, still the fact remains that we are all affected by our perceptions. And different perceptions affect us in different ways.
So, to say that all perceptions are same and it is just a matter of relativity. No. If I eat nutritious food, if I eat fatty food, if I eat poison, the effects are going to be objectively and substantially different.
And there are no two opinions about that. Similarly, when we understand that actually every one of us is subjected to the illusions of material existence. And we need an objective process by which to go beyond these illusions.
And if we do not follow an objective process, we cannot go beyond these illusions. These are the raw facts of material existence. And those who don’t accept these raw facts are not spared of the consequences.
Just as the food that we take in has its effects on us, similarly, whatever it is that we take in, the perceptions that we take in, the opinions that we take in, they have effects on our consciousness. And these effects are substantial. We cannot deny those effects.
So, by acknowledging the objectivity of reality outside and by acknowledging the consequentiality of the particular modes of interactions that we may exhibit with those objects, we can move onwards towards understanding how best we should take in what perception and take in what opinion. When I say take in, we may take it in from the outer world based on the people whom we interact with or we may take it in from the inner world based on the people based on the mind and whatever conceptions it has based on it, it comes up with suggestions. And we may uncritically take in the suggestions of people outside us and we may uncritically take in suggestions of people inside us.
Either way, the consequences are deleterious. And the way if we don’t want to be carried away by these consequences, then we need to recognize that we have a responsibility to ourselves to make intelligent choices. The mind and senses will keep us forever misled choosing whatever appears attractive according to the mood of the moment.
And we will get infatuated, captivated and ultimately devastated because for example, nobody desires to become an alcoholic, alcohol addict when they drink alcohol. But that is the very nature of addiction. One drink, two drinks, three drinks and over time the drinks become so many that the person becomes the desire becomes irresistible and the person becomes a slave.
So similarly, we too can become enslaved by the many desires that come in our mind. And so Krishna manah shishtani indriyam He talks about the senses but among them the foremost he talks about is the mind because the mind is the you could say the fulcrum the center point around which all the senses revolve. The senses may pursue something alluring but if the mind does not register it then we feel no temptation.
On the other hand we we may be perceiving something very serene. We may be in a temple beholding the beautiful deities but if our mind is dwelling on some sense object on some sensual imagery then we will go there and we will not see what the senses are seeing we will see what the mind is showing us and if we do not restrain ourselves eventually the mind will make us do physically that which we are contemplating mentally. In this way the mind is the most significant of all senses.
Krishna says indriyam manah shishtani among the senses I am the mind. The mind is the most dangerous of all senses and we need to know how to deal with this extremely dangerous mind. The mind can make the safest place dangerous and the dangerous place safest.
When we think of danger and safety we often think of it in terms of externals and that is true there are certain places which are externally safe and certain places are externally dangerous. So for example if we are in a war zone then that is obviously a dangerous place and we need to acknowledge the dangerousness of that place and be more cautious be equipped with weapons, with maybe armor or if you don’t have any business don’t go there or at least don’t go to an exposed position over there. So we need to acknowledge that certain places are safe so certain areas where there is high security when we are inside our homes with our security systems activated then we naturally feel safer than we would feel when we were in a externally vulnerable situation.
So recognizing that our externals affect our internal affect our safety situation is obviously common sense but reducing the conception of safety only to externals is not because what what we conceive of as safe or unsafe is often shaped often by our preconceptions about safety and those preconceptions may not always be true. As for example we may think that inside our house we are safe but what about mental safety beyond physical safety that is what about the fact that our mind can make us do stupid self-defeating and suicidal things. As for example when a person commits suicide most of them or many of them do it inside their homes home is considered to be a safe place but they may close their houses they close all their doors and then after closing all their doors they just look inwards they just lock or close the doors, close the windows and then they hang themselves maybe by the fan or suspend themselves with the fan or whatever.
So here what we see is same place which is normally considered safe now turns out to be extremely unsafe and the sole reason for this is that they failed that the mind itself is our enemy now the mind is not necessarily intrinsically or eternally our enemy but it is frequently our enemy and failing to recognize the mind’s inimical nature can be disastrous so our danger is not primarily because of the situation we are in our danger is often primarily because of the disposition that we are in if we are in a unhealthy disposition that means we are in a disposition where we think that disposition where we are hurting our mind and we are on the verge of hurting others because of that then that is a dangerous place to be in no matter what anyone says or feels about it so therefore dangers are often within us and the mind can make home normally when we feel very comfortable and safe at a place we say I am at home here or we tell some guests who comes along feel at home here but that very place home which we normally think of as so safe and secure turns out to be so insecure that people may commit suicide now people may drink and drink and drink and if they have a lot of drinks at home or people may get caught in watching obscene stuff and all that can happen in the security of the home so a fundamental step in our inner growth is to recognize the consequentiality of our inner reality that the consequentiality of our inner reality means that what happens to us externally matters as much as if not more than what happens to us internally or what happens what happens internally is as important if not more important than what is happening to us externally so how do we go about creating safety for ourselves internally what are the measures that we can follow what are the practices we can adopt what are the things which we could do to make our minds safe for ourselves the most important need is purification we all are at our core impure and we all need purification just as we may consider that danger is removed when we free our house from hazards similarly danger is removed when we purge our minds of self-defeating self-sabotaging self-destroying misconceptions one of the deepest misconceptions and of course one of the most dangerous misconceptions is the idea that life is all about immediate pleasure that we are meant for immediate pleasures and to the extent we are enjoying those pleasures to that extent we are enjoying and to the extent we are deprived of those pleasures we are living in a state of deprivation that makes our life worthless this equalization of pleasure with sensual pleasure is among the most dangerous deceptions with which the mind can trap us and recognizing the dangerousness of this deception is a vital necessity for keeping ourselves safe and danger free so where exactly does this conception emerge from we know it is in the mind but it is not just in the mind most of our conceptions are some of them are in the prominent places in the mind some of them may be in the background of the mind the more prominently a conception is placed in our mind the more dangerous it is the more important it is to resist and counter it and actually it is correspondingly that difficult to do it because if we have an enemy who is across the border we could we could very well do something to counter that enemy but if that enemy were inside us that means in our own home territory if a traitor were if it were a traitor it is much more difficult to identify that person because broadly speaking we know that people across the border may be hostile to us so we are careful while dealing with them but people within our national borders we don’t treat them, subject them to the same level of scrutiny or security checks in prosperous countries like America the level of security checks at immigration are far more scrutinizing than during travel within the country from one city to another so generally we have higher barriers for externals than for internals of course we may say that we can’t function if we keep building barriers inside also but barriers and borders do serve a constructive purpose they help us filter what is worth coming in and what is not worth coming in and by such filtering we learn to keep out the dangers one of the great fears for countries in adopting liberal immigration policies is that if some immigrants have terrorist sympathies or they are terrorist supporters or they are terrorists themselves then after they get into the country they will have access to so many things and that will make life difficult for everyone so dangerous for everyone detecting them will also be difficult because they are already inside the boundaries so we need to be very careful about what we take in into our consciousness through the materialistic culture around us we often are subjected to many dangerous misconceptions and unless we are vigilant enough to resist such misconceptions we will find ourselves overpowered by them once they have lodged themselves internally they will drive people to sin they will drive us to self destructive actions so the best thing is to filter what comes into our consciousness Krishna points to this in the Bhagavad Gita when he says in 2.58 so it is a tortoise withdraws its limbs inside its body so too do we need to withdraw our consciousness into ourselves and not let it wander towards random sense objects to the extent we let it wander to the extent we will find that that consciousness will endanger and sabotage us so when it comes to spiritual growth it’s important to recognize that external security is important if we place ourselves too much and too undiscerningly in the presence of sense objects then we will be setting ourselves up for danger for trouble for disaster and the way to avoid this is by having something having some security barriers on our consciousness so just as when we go through the security barriers security gates when they have security alerts say some they ask do you have any metallic parts in your body because the security alerts will detect the metals security systems so similarly for us we too need to keep ourselves protected by having some alert systems and those alert systems should be able to detect dangerous temptations dangerous desires dangerous cravings that may be triggered within us by our circumstances we don’t allow them entrance within us so once we have tried our best to ensure that dangerous conceptions don’t come into the mind just as a nation has good security systems good immigration procedures to not allow dangerous elements inside the borders the next step is that we need to have good systems also to detect the dangers that are already inside whenever we study scriptures and the conceptions given in scripture contradict our preconceptions that is a fair indicator that something is wrong that something needs to be corrected that or at least something needs to be scrutinized to be examined so especially this is not in terms of scriptural technicalities and details it’s largely in terms of broad directives scripture cautions us that actually the world itself is filled with sense objects and sensual indulgence leads not to pleasure but to trouble the contact of the senses with the sense objects Krishna says it leads to distress it doesn’t lead to happiness such things have beginnings and ends you see so and they lead to misery now for us we often have conception that sensual indulgence is the way to pleasure and when we see this radical contradiction between what we have believed earlier or what we have believed till now and what scripture is teaching us that should immediately activate our inner alert system not just to examine scripture to see whether it is true but primarily to examine our understanding does it need revision and just as if a security system has been tampered with or has not been properly maintained is run down then the security system cannot detect if the battery is gone down if the devices have become old then it may not detect dangers like that when we don’t study scripture adequately then when we don’t study scripture adequately then we face dangers that is we become our our inner alert system becomes weakened and even when there are dangerous ideas popping up within our consciousness because of the past conceptions of the mind our inner alert system does not get activated it does not remind us that this is dangerous and we uncritically accept it and react on it then we have to bear the consequences which are often disastrous so if we are not if we are to not let ourselves be sabotaged by our conceptions then we need to understand that we cannot uncritically entertain our mind’s ideas so regular scripture study is what maintains our inner alert system it keeps our inner alert functional and strong so the principle of caution just as we apply it to our external situations we need to apply it to our internal dispositions also when we understand that the principle of caution that needs to be applied just as we apply it to our externals external situations we need to apply it to our internal dispositions also when we are in vulnerable areas we are more alert so like that sometimes we are in vulnerable dispositions especially at times when we are entertaining ideas of enjoyment that run contrary to scriptural ideas of enjoyment scriptural understandings of what is enjoyable at times our disposition should set off our inner alert systems with that inner alert system we need to evaluate what am I thinking is it right what am I desiring are such desires worthy of my spiritual essence you know we need to change our inner evaluation system also sometimes we only think of this is wrong and I should not do it and this is right and I should do it that can seem too didactic and moralizing even to our own eyes and we may not feel very inspired to act wisely when such decision making is the basis of our such thinking is the sole basis of our decision making so we need to think that more appropriately as is this worthy of my time is this worthy of who I am all of us have our own spiritual respectability and we have we are meant to enjoy pleasures that are deeply dignified and such pleasures are beckoning us they may not be immediately and easily accessible to us but still they are there so we need to think we meant pleasures that are deeply dignified and we are meant enjoy pleasures and we are meant to enjoy pleasures that are are meant enjoy pleasures that are dignified and we are meant to pleasures that are deeply dignified and we are meant to enjoy pleasures that are deeply dignified and we and we are meant to enjoy this is the theme that Sri Prabhupada often uses when he compares human beings and animals he says we human beings are meant for higher pleasures we have been given the intelligence to understand what is what we have been given the intelligence by which we can pursue higher pleasures if we choose to so why when we have that privilege should we lose it for gaining some pleasures that are anyway available for millions everywhere that have been enjoyed by people in the past millions of time that most likely we ourselves have enjoyed many many times in the past that are nothing special even if they appear to be special so by that thinking that we are meant for something better in our lives that we as souls have a higher purpose that we can and should fulfill so that we are meant to relish lasting love and lasting joy in relationship with our eternal Lord and that lasting glory beckons us at every moment as we move towards our all attractive Lord by trying to serve Him by trying to remember Him by trying to devote ourselves to Him so this vision of under based on the understanding of the innate dignity of our spiritual core and the worthiness of spiritual pursuits and unworthiness of sensual pleasures this vision makes resisting sensual pleasures and persevering in the pursuit of spiritual growth that becomes it makes it a more positive and a more inspiring endeavour rather than a negative endeavour based on abstinence our vision determines our determination if I think that I am being exploited by someone if I think that my boss is using me to make as much money as possible and my boss is not going to give me anything from all the hard work that I do then naturally that conception will make me want to do as less work as possible and get away with it as quickly as possible get it over with because I am not getting anything from my boss and anything from my boss and not getting anything from my and I am not getting anything from my boss and I am not getting anything from my boss and I am not getting from and am not getting anything boss and I not anything from my and I am not getting anything from my and I am not getting anything from my boss and I am not getting anything from my boss and I am not getting anything from my boss and I am not getting anything from my boss and I am not boss anything from my boss and am not getting anything from my boss and I am not getting anything from my boss and I am not getting from my boss and I am not getting anything from my boss and I from and I am from and I am not and I We see security negatively as an arrangement for preventing nightmares. That vision is true also. Security protects us from terrorist attacks.
But that vision will keep us always activated by a negative conception which may not be the most healthy. A healthier conception is the positive one that we need security and safety for fulfilling our dreams, not just for preventing our nightmares. By this understanding, when we start seeking security, then we don’t get carried away by life’s negativities.
Even when certain bad things do happen, we see those bad things as being parts of a worthy arrangement. Not just a defensive arrangement to prevent dangers, but a positive arrangement for fulfilling dreams. Ultimately, our heart dreams for lasting love and lasting joy.
And it is that dream that will be fulfilled by our practice of bhakti. When we become purified, when we become absorbed in Krishna, when we become devoted to Krishna, then this is what is going to happen. Then we are going to be joyful.
Our deepest dreams, our greatest longings for happiness, for joy, they are all going to be fulfilled. We will be reunited eternally with the Lord who is the source of inexhaustible ecstasy. So this vision of life as a positive pursuit of enduring fulfillment can give us a greater determination to do whatever is necessary to make the arrangements that are necessary for pursuing that ultimate goal.
So if pursuing that goal means that we need to resist temptations, we do that. And we do it not with a feeling of deprivation, but with a feeling of determination that this will lead me to higher satisfaction. The more we actuate our lives with this positive self-conception, the more we will be able to overcome whatever negativities life may send our way.
We will be able to deal with the dangers that may come upon us externally and the dangers that may come upon us internally. The mind can make the safest place unsafe, but the mind can also make an unsafe place relatively safe. That means that if the mind is guided by proper understanding, then the mind will be able to see the presence of Krishna everywhere.
And when we see the presence of Krishna, when we see the benevolence of Krishna, then we understand that living in that presence is the greatest joy. Living with the purpose of serving our Lord is life’s greatest joy. And when we live with this purpose, then nothing, nothing at all can actually disturb us in the sense of tempt us.
Temptations will come, but if we are fulfilled in Krishna, then we will not feel tempted. Prahlada Maharaj says this, नईवोद्विजेः परधुरत्ययवै तरण्यस् त्वद्वीर्यगायन् महामृतमक्नचित्तः शोचेततो विमुखचेतस इन्द्रियार्थान मायासुखायभरं उद्धवहतो विमुधान कुद्धवहतो विमुधान That, why do we have to carry the burden of the pursuit of illusory worldly pleasures when we can do something much better with our lives when the lasting fulfillment of transcendence is available for us त्वद्वीर्यगायन् महामृतमक्नचित्तः That, त्वद्वीर्यगायन् glorifying You, speaking about You, my dear Lord, what is the nature of it? महामृतचित्तः It is great nectar त्वद्वीर्यगायन् महामृतमक्नचित्तः And when I can become absorbed in this nectar, my Lord Why do I need anything else at all? This is itself so fulfilling, so uplifting, O Lord that I see no need in my life for anything else And when we are thus sheltered in our Lord in our devotional service to the Lord in our devotional absorption in Him then the things of the world will not shake us They will not disturb us They will not have the capacity to agitate or irritate or distract us So we see security as the roadway to spirituality We see security as the means to progress to spiritual growth As the means by which we all can rise from wherever we are presently and rise towards our all-attractive Supreme Lord So to the extent we are activated, we are driven by this positive vision of spirituality to that extent we can move forwards in our life with verve and energy With being activated by the positive understanding that Krishna is our Lord that He is our greatest well-wisher and serving Him is our greatest interest This understanding can positively transform every single one of our endeavors We see our life will become infused with positive energy not restrictive or negative energy Not that I have to give this up or I have to give that up but rather there are so many wonderful things waiting for me Why should I let myself be deprived of all those things in the name of some things which actually don’t even give much pleasure whose promise of pleasure is actually deceptive By thus absorbing ourselves in the positivity of Krishna Bhakti by filling ourselves with the spiritual energy coming from the aspiration of uniting with Krishna in love and by seeing that this aspiration is not utopian and far off this aspiration is very much fulfillable if we strive diligently that conviction, that confidence comes by our practice of studying scripture associating with devotees and looking at the overall positivity, positive energy that comes to us from scripture The positive energy that comes from scripture means that we see ourselves as parts of what is ultimately a mission of hope It is, Krishna tells Arjuna So Arjuna, by my arrangement all your enemies have been killed So, therefore you don’t have to you don’t have to just be an instrument in my fight and victory will be yours So Krishna is reassuring Arjuna over here that victory beckons him that victory is not some distant far off pursuit which is so remote as to be unrealistic He assures him that victory over Arjuna is within reach You just need to pursue it intelligently pursue it diligently When you do that when you pursue victory diligently you will find that the deepest fulfillment will be yours it is waiting for you and it will come to you Arjuna So, this is the vision of hope and strength that scripture offers us This is the vision with which we all strive to live our life This is the vision with which we move forward permeating our life with positive energy and the more we can have this vision that the same mind which can make the safe place unsafe if that mind can become absorbed in Krishna then it can make an unsafe place safe that it can even in this dangerous material world As Prahlad Maharaj says I am not concerned about how to get out of this dangerous material world Oh Lord, why not? Because I am absorbed in You Absorption in You is the greatest security When I have that security what else do I need? Why would I need anything else? You oh Lord are the supreme security and You are there with me at this moment and at all moments That understanding protects us and liberates us That is the understanding with which we need to function That is the understanding with which we need to live To the extent we live with this understanding to that extent we move forward positively in hope and happiness and joy Thank you very much