What the mind makes us do would be comic if its consequences were not so tragic Gita 06.34

Transcript

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understanding of what we can do. That’s it. Hare Krishna.
What the mind makes us do would be comic if its consequences were not so tragic. Sometimes in a comedy show, we see some people doing something remarkably stupid, and they keep doing it not once, not twice, but many, many times. And when that happens, it becomes ludicrous.
Some people are so dumb that the same thing they don’t understand, and when we see them being so dumb, it is actually hilarious. However, we don’t understand that many times the joke may well be on us. Actually, our mind also makes us do stupid things.
And the mind impels us to do the same mistake, maybe oversleep again and again, over it again and again. And these may well be the least harmful of the wrong things that the mind makes us do. And actually, all of them, the actions impelled by the mind, many of them can have very serious consequences.
Suppose somebody robs something, somebody lies, somebody does something illicit, and it can break people’s lives. The consequences can be catastrophic. And they are not just catastrophic, they are tragic, because all these are self-induced, in the sense that we didn’t have to listen to the mind.
So, we need to recognize that dealing with the mind is no laughing matter. The Bhagavad Gita urges us to become very serious, recognizing that the mind can be a deadly enemy, and that it has to be dealt with with great seriousness. The Bhagavad Gita describes in 634 the characteristics of the mind, and it says its first characteristic is chanchala, restless like a child.
Or my mind is restless, Arjuna is saying, but it is not just children who are restless, they are funny, they are entertaining, but this mind is, is pramathi, is mad, it is powerful, and it is, it is badhrudam, it is obstinate, and because of that it can become like a stormy wind, which can just sweep us away and break us. So, the more we understand how dangerous the mind is, the more we can become diligent in keeping a watch on it, and most importantly, keeping ourselves connected with the one who will help us to keep a watch on it, that is on the divine. When we connect with Krishna and use whatever resources we have to strive to serve him, then that diligence in striving to serve him gives us the strength, the fortitude to regulate and ultimately transform our mind.
Thank you. Hare Krishna.