The Mind Makes The Uncomfortable Seem Unbearable And Then Makes Us Do The Unconscionable Gita 06.06

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the mind makes the uncomfortable seem unbearable and then makes us to the unconscionable we all face discomfort in life that discomfort may be because of loneliness, stress overwork ill health anger, resentment grief and so many other factors discomfort is never pleasant but if we don’t see this feeling of discomfort properly it can push us on the path to further distress and even disaster if we see the discomfort as just inevitable part of life like suppose we are living in a hot part of the world and the temperature is hot now it’s uncomfortable but it’s not unlivable it’s not unbearable if we just learn to accept and live with it then our life we can move on in life but suppose somebody thinks that oh this heat is unlivable and then they go into somebody else’s house or they go into a bank and rob so that they can get an air conditioner and then because of trying to rob they get caught and they get into a jail where things are far more unpleasant then what happened is the inability to tolerate the discomfort led to disaster for them similarly for us if we learn to tolerate discomfort then we can avoid much unnecessary distress now how can we tolerate discomfort when something feels uncomfortable what can we do when the mind starts portraying it as unbearable we need to recognize that the mind’s feeling is not the actual reality helping us remember this the Bhagavad Gita stresses that the mind can be our worst enemy in 6.6 it is said that vanduratmātmanastasya yenātmaivātmanājitaha anātmanastuśatrutve vartetātmaivaśatruvat that for one who has failed to control the mind the mind can be their worst enemy and the mind becomes their worst enemy by one ways by making the uncomfortable seem unbearable and then make us do the unconscionable say somebody is trying to recover from alcohol and whenever they start getting from alcoholism and when they start getting a craving it’s uncomfortable but it’s not unbearable what is unbearable is that they relapse into alcoholism and they ruin their life by that but when the uncomfortable is portrayed as unbearable by the mind then it might make them do the unconscionable even though they have resolved themselves they have promised to others that they will not drink again they not only reindulge but they binge and they break their lives to prevent a disaster one level is knowledge that we just need to know that the uncomfortable is uncomfortable even if the mind makes it seem unbearable and then how do we deal with the uncomfortable not by doing what the mind impels us to do what the mind proposes us to do but by doing something more constructive if you consider two circles, the circle of things we like to do and the second circle, the circle of things that are good for us what feels good to us and what is good for us if you find an intersection between those two then we will be able to get over get out by finding something at the intersection so a healthier response would be say if we like if we like music and we appreciate bhakti then look for some bhakti music if you like reading or hearing some something intellectually stimulating then find something also containing spiritual wisdom and combine the two and that will enable us to tolerate the phase of the discomfort and as we keep tolerating like this eventually the discomfort will decrease and we will become steadier and happier having curbed our inimical mind