Don’t blame ignorantly – blame ignorance

Suppose a person suddenly falls sick and starts looking to assign blame – blaming others for transmitting that infection, blaming the doctor for not prescribing a protective health regimen, or blaming oneself for neglecting health. While seeking the disease’s origin can help, much more important is taking the treatment. Patients who get so obsessed with blaming an indeterminate cause as to neglect a reliable treatment sabotage themselves.

A similar self-sabotaging obsession can afflict our response to sudden tribulations. We may blame others, God or ourselves. All such blaming mentalities reflect ignorance. Others are ultimately instruments of our own karma. And God is like a judge who adjudicates based on our deeds.

Blaming ourselves for our past misdeeds can be psychologically damaging if the blaming triggers unhealthy guilt depression, self-flagellation and similar thought-patterns. We damage ourselves thus when we agonize over karma while remaining ignorant of our essential spiritual identity. We are souls, eternal parts of the all-pure supreme. So, whatever our misdeeds, we are essentially pure. Our purity is covered at present by ignorance, which makes us act imprudently. Ignorance misdirects not just our actions, but also our reactions – it makes us react to problems by agonizing over causes instead of seeking relief in spiritual wisdom. The Gita (05.15) stresses that ignorance is what deludes the living being. Blaming ignorance doesn’t mean washing off responsibility for our misdeeds; it means distancing ourselves intellectually and emotionally from the alien contamination that makes us violate our natural spiritual purity and integrity.

Bhakti-yoga counters ignorance most efficaciously by invoking the presence of the all-pure, all-enlightened supreme. His inner presence comprises a protective shield against ignorance and kindles our latent inner awareness. The more we act in spiritual light, in a mood of service to Krishna, the more we become free from ignorance and its pernicious effects – illusion and tribulation.

Be not sentimental or judgmental – be transcendental

Sentimentality and judgmentality are two obstacles on the spiritual path. When we are sentimental, we become puppets of our feelings. While practicing bhakti, if we feel good, we become maudlin, thinking that we have attained pure devotion and will see Krishna in a day or two. And if we don’t feel good, we become disheartened, and start wondering whether we are wasting our time in worshiping Krishna, whether he even exists. Such sentimentality strips us of the consistent commitment necessary for purifying ourselves of worldly infatuations and preparing our heart for sustainable transcendental sentience. Pertinently, the Bhagavad-gita (12.13) commends devotees who stay steady amidst joys and sorrows. If we get past sentimentality, judgmentality catches us. When we practice bhakti strictly, we become proud of our strictness and look down at those who practice bhakti differently. And we condemn materialists who don’t practice bhakti at all. Little do we realize that by entertaining such disdain, we ourselves are not practicing bhakti – we are meditating on our greatness instead of Krishna’s greatness. The same Gita verse (12.13) reminds us that devotees are meant to be everyone’s benevolent friends. But benevolence can find no lasting residence in a judgmental heart. No doubt, to help others, we need to discern their level of spiritual evolution. But such discerning is characterized by compassion, whereas judgmentality is characterized by condescension. And that judgmentality alienates the very people whom we are meant to draw towards Krishna. And it hardens our heart towards them and towards the Lord who is compassionately present in their hearts. Bhakti is transcendental, so it can bless anyone, irrespective of one’s conditions and conditionings. By meditating on the transcendental potency of bhakti and putting aside our judgmental attitude, we can become channels for bhakti to enrich our hearts and the hearts of those around us.

 

Rejection of all faith as blind faith is blind faith

Skeptics often deride all faith as blind faith. They hold that only by skepticism can one avoid being misled by false belief systems.

Yes, skepticism has its utility in protecting us from blind faith. But skeptics often overlook that they themselves are vulnerable to blind faith in skepticism. Blind faith means accepting something without considering its flaws. When skeptics champion skepticism, they repose their faith, knowingly or unknowingly, in skepticism’s capacity to show the truth. But they become blind to its fundamental flaw: Skepticism can show what is wrong, but can never show what is right. Even if skeptics encounter the truth in full daylight, their skepticism will make them doubt and deny that encounter. When skeptics neglect this flaw of skepticism and still subscribe to it, they end up becoming blind worshipers on the altar of skepticism.

The Bhagavad-gita (04.40) cautions that doubters find happiness neither in this world nor the next. Skeptics are the quintessential doubters. By their inveterate skepticism, they doubt any and every source of meaning. Thus, they sentence themselves to a life of meaninglessness, bereft of any fulfilling satisfaction. Further, their skepticism compels them to live nihilistically, devoid of any higher spiritual values. Consequently, they sentence themselves to unfortunate destinations in their next life.

Gita wisdom takes us beyond blind faith and blind skepticism by outlining a reasonable faith. Reasonable faith is sensible and verifiable. The Gita (18.63) doesn’t demand unthinking adherence, but calls for thoughtful deliberation on its message. Thus, it opens itself to intellectual scrutiny. And it (09.02) asserts that its revelation can be experientially realized by yoga practice. Thus, it opens itself to the verifiability test. By analyzing and applying the Gita’s teachings, we gain increasing realization of our spiritual identity; the highest spiritual reality, Krishna; and the supreme fulfillment of devotion.

Terrorism arises from ignorance, materialism and ego

To make sense of the world and of the senseless violence unleashed by terrorists, the Gita offers an analytical framework centered on the three modes of material nature. The modes reflect people’s psychological predilections. A mode-centered analysis goes beyond nominal ideological affiliation to essential operational motivation. Terrorist violence is in the darkest mode of ignorance.

People’s mode can be inferred from their action and their intention. Terrorists attack civilians who are unarmed and unalert – the very antithesis of honorable war codes. The most reprehensible violence in the Mahabharata war was Ashvatthama’s nocturnal massacre of the sleeping Pandava forces. Yet even he didn’t target civilians, as do terrorists.

While jihadi terrorists may claim to be motivated by religion and God, their intention is entirely materialistic – to gain power, property and pleasure, in this world or the next or both; and to establish their egoistic supremacy over everyone else. Jihadis are thus similar to the Nazis who too were avowedly materialistic and ego-driven. Nominally, jihadis are religious; and Nazis, anti-religious. But essentially, both are in the mode of ignorance, abusing their intelligence to rationalize perverted thought-processes (Gita 18.32).

Using the three-mode framework, Gita wisdom recognizes that all forms of violence are not equal. It acknowledges with hard-eyed realism that violence is sometimes necessary to curb those in the mode of ignorance, just as today we recognize that military action is sometimes necessary to check jihadis. Significantly, the Bhagavad-gita (03.30) prefaces its call for war with an unambiguous exhortation for elevation of consciousness: cultivate spiritual consciousness, become unselfish and non-possessive. Possessiveness, self-centeredness and materialistic ego – these are the core causes of violence.

Essentially, the Gita inspires the elevation of human consciousness from ignorance to transcendence. Thus it helps humanity rise beyond the self-centered, ego-driven worldview that engenders violence, which sinks to its nadir in terrorist brutality.

The verdict comes from the judge but is not caused by the judge

Suppose a person robs a bank, and is arrested by the police and convicted by a judge. In that robber’s getting incarcerated, all three play a role – the judge, the police and the robber himself. The judge gave the verdict based on which the police took the robber to the jail. Still, the judge is not the cause of the verdict – the robber’s misdeed is the cause.

Similarly, in the operation of cosmic justice, three factors are involved: material nature, Krishna and we ourselves. Suppose we do a misdeed and get some misfortune as a reaction. In this case, we are like the robber; material nature is like the police; and Krishna in his manifestation as the indwelling Supersoul is like the judge. The Gita points to these three factors in various verses. It initially focuses on material nature – things are done by nature through its modes (03.27). Then it highlights the magisterial role of the Supreme – material nature works under his supervision (09.10), while he is situated as if detached from its actions (09.09). Eventually, it spotlights the incriminating role of the soul in its entanglement – due to its desire to enjoy matter, the soul undergoes good and bad in material existence (13.22). Lest people ignorantly blame God for the reactions that come upon them as just karmic dues of their actions, the Gita (05.15) categorically stresses that he is not responsible for anyone’s right or wrong actions.

By accepting responsibility for our actions and their concomitant reactions, we can take the initiative to act auspiciously. The most auspicious form of action is devotional action meant for serving Krishna. Just as a law-abiding citizen is not penalized but is protected by the judge, so too are devotees protected by Krishna as they progress towards supreme liberation

Krishna is the master before whom we stand truly erect

“Krishna is our master and we are his servants.” This scriptural tenet can evoke resentment within us: “Why should I bow down to God?”

The reality is that we can’t avoid bowing down. If we don’t subordinate ourselves to Krishna, then we end up submitting to our senses that drag us here, there and everywhere in the vain hope of pleasure. In pandering to the demands of the senses, we bow down to those who provide sensual gratification. And often even after bowing down, we don’t get much pleasure. Whatever pleasure we get doesn’t last for long.

Gita wisdom explains that the cravings of the senses are distortions of our innate need for happiness. This need comes from our innermost core – our soul – and can be fulfilled by comprehending the constitutional nature of that core. The Bhagavad-gita (15.07) indicates that we as souls are eternal parts of Krishna. Just as the part needs to harmonize with the whole, so too do we need to harmonize with the supreme whole, Krishna.

We can harmonize ourselves thus by practicing bhakti-yoga. Bowing before Krishna physically is a limb of bhakti and bowing before him internally by cultivating a mood of submission is the essence of bhakti. Significantly however, such submission enables us to relish a deep inner fulfillment – a fulfillment that gradually and increasingly frees us from the cravings for lower pleasures. We no longer need to demean ourselves pandering to the petty and degrading demands of our senses. Thus, we can stand truly erect – not in pride, but in integrity as we act true to our deepest, most cherished values. And we don’t just stand spiritually erect, but also march towards the supreme spiritual perfection of pure eternal love for Krishna, wherein no temptations can ever drag us down.

http://www.gitadaily.com/krishna-is-the-master-before-whom-we-stand-truly-erect/

Detachment is foundational for emotional intelligence

Some people think that detachment sentences us to emotion-less living.

Actually, the cause of an emotionally barren existence is not detachment, but the worldview underlying that detachment. Some worldviews such as impersonalist or nihilistic consider all emotions as unhealthy and undesirable. Those adhering to such worldviews build walls around their hearts to prevent themselves from feeling anything, thereby seeking an existence devoid of emotions.

However, the bhakti worldview that the Bhagavad-gita espouses doesn’t reject emotions per se – it rejects misdirected emotions, emotions that mislead, degrade and entangle. Bhakti urges us to cultivate detachment from such emotions.

Detachment within the bhakti worldview is the foundation for emotional intelligence. We all are subject to emotions arising from our past conditionings. But if we learn to cultivate higher spiritual emotions, then we won’t be sabotaged by lower selfish emotions.

Emotional intelligence means knowing where to invest our emotions so that we can experience happiness and growth. For such emotional intelligence, detachment is foundational – it enables us to step away from relations, situations and even emotions that are harmful for us. Without detachment, we stay stuck in self-defeating behavioral patterns.

The Bhagavad-gita urges detachment from family members and yet the Mahabharata, of which the Gita is a part, reflects family relationships at multiple levels. Its student Arjuna does grieve when he loses his son – and the Mahabharata doesn’t depict that grief and the underlying relationship negatively. But it does reflect the negativity, indeed, atrocity and the calamity resulting from the attachment of the blind king Dhritarashtra for his evil son Duryodhana. If that king had detachment, he would have been able to take dharmic decisions.

Living as we do in a culture that entraps us with a variety of attachments, we can empower ourselves with detachment and act with emotional intelligence.

Bhakti theology goes beyond polytheism and monotheism to polymorphic bi-monotheism

Conventional Western thought divided the world’s religions into polytheistic and monotheistic. The monotheistic religions such as Judaism, Christianity and Islam viewed derisively the polytheistic religions that preceded them in the Greco-Roman civilization. And when these monotheisms encounter the Vedic tradition of ancient India, they often labeled the tradition as primitive polytheisms, akin to their Greco-Roman counterparts.

But a careful study of the bhakti tradition, which is the ripened fruit of Vedic wisdom, reveals a far more subtle and sophisticated understanding of God. Firstly, the bhakti tradition is monotheistic – the honorifics it uses to describe the object of devotion are strikingly similar to those used to describe God in the Abrahamic monotheisms. Ontologically, the many gods are not his competitors but his assistants. Indeed, the one supreme is so sublime and transcendental that the other gods can’t even know him, as the Bhagavad-gita (10.02) asserts.

Secondly, this one supreme manifests in multiple ways in multiple form for reciprocating love with his devotees and for establishing dharma. This multiplicity of divine manifestations is best conveyed by the term ‘polymorphic monotheism.’

Thirdly, the bhakti tradition rejects any male monopoly over the conceptions of the divine. Such a monopoly defines the Abrahamic monotheisms – they singularly characterize God as male. The bhakti tradition reveals God to be a divine couple, both of whom simultaneously partake of the same divine nature. Additionally, they demonstrate pure spiritual intimacy within the divine, thereby demonstrating the pure original of which the male-female polarity of this world is a reflection. Aptly, the tradition worships divine couples: Sita-Rama, Lakshmi-Narayana and Radha-Krishna. The theology underlying the worship of these transcendental duos can be represented by the term ‘bi-monotheism.’

Thus, the bhakti theology reveals a profound vision of the divine that goes far beyond the stereotypes of polytheism and monotheism to polymorphic bi-monotheism.

The Gita is a dharmic book that asks us to give up dharma – or does it?

The Bhagavad-gita (18.66) concludes with an intriguing call: Give up all religions (sarva-dharman parityajya).

This begs the question – why would a religious book ask its readers to give up all religions? After all, the Gita (04.08) has earlier stated its intent: to re-establish dharma (dharma samsthapanarthaya).

The answer lies in recognizing the many meanings of the word ‘dharma’. It can refer to both outer socio-religious obligations and inner spiritual nature. Based on our social roles, we have various obligations. But based on our essential identity as souls, eternal parts of Krishna, our nature is to love him purely and perennially. All religious obligations are meant to help us attain that love.

This verse stresses that love (mam ekam sharanam vraja) by enjoining the shedding of those socio-religious duties that impede surrender. Implied is the call to accept those socio-religious duties that promote surrender. This dynamism is evident in how Arjuna surrendered – by doing Krishna’s will (Gita 18.73). For him, surrender meant fighting the impending war against irreligion. Arjuna faced a conflict between his kshatriya-dharma (professional duty) that required him to fight against wrongdoers and his kula-dharma (family duty) that required him to protect his relatives. His conflict was: What to do when the wrongdoers were relatives? Do what is best for one’s and others’ devotional evolution, answers Gita wisdom. For Arjuna, that meant persevering in his kshatriya-dharma and fighting the war.

Thus, surrender is not an abstract conception or an amorphous emotion – it is expressed through tangible and practical action. What surrender would mean for us today will depend on our time-place-circumstance. The Gita places the onus on each one of us to become intellectually responsible, seek sage advice and embrace those socio-religious duties that help us surrender, thereby stimulating our spiritual growth.

http://www.gitadaily.com/the-gita-is-a-dharmic-book-that-asks-us-to-give-up-dharma-or-does-it/

In spiritual life, speed is not as defining as stamina

In a sprint, speed determines success, whereas in a marathon, stamina determines success.

Spiritual growth is a marathon, not a sprint. To purify our consciousness and develop love of God, we need to practice throughout our life or maybe even several lives.

However, we live in a society infatuated with quick results. It deems fast achievers as successes and downplays others as also-rans. We tend to carry this mentality into our spiritual life too. Consequently, we may become proud of our strict practices and condescending towards those not practicing similarly. Worse still, if we ourselves are unable to practice those standards for some reason, we may become inordinately dejected, not realizing that falling back or even falling down in one lap doesn’t mean losing the marathon.

Thankfully, such a shortsighted, judgmental attitude doesn’t reflect the Bhagavad-gita’s inclusive, appreciative attitude. It (03.26) urges us to not agitate the minds of the less-informed, but to encourage them to stay spiritually progressive according to their level.

Different people are at different stages in their spiritual evolution, having gone through different things in this and previous lives. So, they have different spiritual stamina levels and need to pace themelves accordingly. As long as they have a favorable disposition towards Krishna and strive to connect with them at a level they find sustainable, they will stay on in the marathon, even if running slowly. And as they get connected with Krishna and relish higher taste, they will naturally pick up pace in due course. But if due to our judgmental attitude, they become unfavorably disposed towards Krishna’s devotees and by extension towards Krishna, then they will drop out of the marathon entirely.

Knowing that different runners have different stamina levels, we can encourage them to stay on in the spiritual marathon, whatever their pace.

Don’t let the stray lead you astray

Suppose we are walking on a road, and someone approaches and asks us to come with them somewhere. We wouldn’t just go along – we would first evaluate whether the detour would be worthwhile.

While that is common sense, that sense is not so common when we deal with our inner world. From within stray thoughts frequently emerge and proposition us to go on detours. As these propositions are subtle and swift, we often fall under their spell. And we end up wasting our time, craving for trivial things, lamenting about unchangeable things or worrying about improbable things. Actually, time wastage may well be the least of the detour’s costs. During some detours, we may be misled into actions that are karmically incriminating, emotionally entangling or spiritually degrading.

Such misleading thoughts frequently emerge from the mind, which, the Bhagavad-gita (06.34) declares, is restless – akin to a stray wanderer. We can’t eliminate the mind’s wanderlust immediately, but we can train ourselves to resist it. The best resistance strategy is purposefulness.

Returning to the starting example, we wouldn’t let anyone sidetrack us if we were going on an important assignment. Similarly, if we keep ourselves purposefully engaged in important things, and if while doing those things we remind ourselves of their importance, we won’t let stray thoughts lead us astray.

We can best cultivate purposefulness by practicing spiritual meditation that connects us with our deepest values and highest purposes. Such meditation fosters inner alertness. If by that alertness we can put off the mind’s idea for even a few minutes, that idea’s spell will wear off, and we will regain the perspective to evaluate it objectively. Then we can go along with it on the few occasions when the idea is serendipitous, and continue on our way on most other occasions when the idea is gratuitous.

Our role in doing things is contributive, not decisive

We do things all the time, yet we don’t often think about the various factors that go into things working out well. The Bhagavad-gita (18.14) lists five components: the field of action, the doer, the instruments of action, endeavor and destiny.

Gita commentators have explained these factors variously. To make the abstruse concepts accessible, let’s consider how these factors apply to a contemporary example of action, say, a cricketer batting.

The field of action can refer to both the cricket pitch and the batsman’s body. If the pitch is waterlogged or the body is injured, the batsman can’t perform. The doer refers here to the player’s soul that animates his body and initiates the action of batting. The instruments of action refer to the specific senses required for that particular action. So, for example, if the batsman’s hand is sprained, he can’t bat, even if the rest of his body is ok. The endeavor refers to the difference made by determined, diligent practice. Practice can enable average batsmen to perform decently, and talented batsman to perform superlatively. The fifth and final factor is destiny – the divine will that, based on our past karma, determines results.

Among these factors, we are the initiators of action. So, our role is important, but it is not all-important, for we alone don’t determine the result.

Despite listing these five factors, the Gita doesn’t go into their technicalities. Instead, it uses the point that we are not the sole doers to underscore its central message: Work for pleasing Krishna instead of for enjoying the results. Such a devotional mood protects us from both the hubris that often accompanies success and the inferiority complex that often accompanies failure. Further, we can make our best contribution and, more importantly, progress towards satisfaction, purification and ultimately liberation.

http://www.gitadaily.com/our-role-in-doing-things-is-contributive-not-decisive/

The notion of doership is not an illusion – the notion of sole doership is

An oft-quoted Bhagavad-gita verse (03.27) asserts that those who think of themselves as doers are deluded. But we all intuitively perceive of ourselves as doers – we do so many things in the course of our life. The Gita (18.63) confirms our intuition when it concludingly places the onus of doership on Arjuna: Deliberate and do as you desire. And Arjuna too takes up the mantle of doership when he responds (18.73): I will do your will. Moreover, the Gita is essentially a guidebook, which presumes that its hearer is a doer who can act as guided. So our intuition that we are doers is not an illusion.

What is an illusion, the Gita (18.16) clarifies, is the notion that we are the sole doers. Everyday experience confirms that doing things is not entirely in our power. Even a consummate doer such as a virtuoso singer can’t sing when afflicted with a sore throat. Gita wisdom explains that we are spiritual beings. We can’t do anything in this material world without the cooperation of nature. Thus, nature is a co-doer in all actions. And nature works under Krishna’s supervision. So, we can’t do anything unless he sanctions it. Since he is the ultimate decider in all actions, we are definitely not the sole doers. By imagining that we alone are the doers of our actions, we aggravate our ignorance and arrogance.

Countering such illusion, Gita wisdom reveals the best use of our doership: loving Krishna. Love requires both lovers to be doers, capable of choosing to love. Bhakti-yoga helps us use our doership for striving to engage ourselves and our material resources in Krishna’s service – not for struggling to dominate material nature for gaining worldly pleasure. By thus spiritualizing our doership, we can relish everlasting spiritual happiness.

Asking who made God is like trying to draw a square circle

“Who made God?” This question betrays a fundamental lack of understanding about the very definition of God.

Every subject begins with certain foundational definitions; if we don’t accept those definitions, we can’t progress in that subject. Suppose a geometry student learns about squares and circles, learns to draw them and then asks, “How can I draw a square circle?” The question betrays a dearth of basic understanding – a circle by its very definition can’t be a square. To address the question, a wise teacher will clarify the underlying misdefinitions.

Similarly, to address the question about God’s source, we need to examine the underlying misdefinition. Bhakti philosophy defines God as the cause of all causes. The Bhagavad-gita (10.08) stresses through a double assertion that God, Krishna, is the source of everything – everything emanates from him.

So if “God” came from something, then “God” would not be God – the thing from which he came would be God. And if that thing came from something, then that something would be God. Wherever the causal chain of origination stops, that originating source would be God. Does the chain have to stop somewhere? Yes, just as a multi-story skyscraper needs to rest on the ground, so too does everything need to have an ultimate source. That source of all sources is by definition God. Asking why that ultimate source can’t be something other than God is like asking why a circle can’t be square – it’s an illogical question stemming from ignorance of basic definitions. Geometry students who open-mindedly accept such definitions grow in their education. Similarly, if we open-mindedly accept the definition of God, we can grow in our life-education as we increasingly appreciate how bhakti philosophy answers life’s deepest questions cogently. Then we realize that the question about God’s source is illogical.

Don’t let the small picture blind you to the big picture

In the spiritual context, the small picture refers to the daily struggles that characterize our inner and outer lives as seekers. And the big picture refers to the subtle but sure elevation of our consciousness brought about by our spiritual practices.

Life’s routine realities may trap us in the small picture. Therein we may become disheartened, thinking, “How is my life different from that of materialists? Like them, I have to undergo life’s many miseries. And I also have to battle with the many worldly desires that continue to tempt and torment me.”

Gita wisdom shifts our focus to the big picture, helping us see our life and our consciousness from a long-term perspective. Whereas materialists are like foolhardy alcoholics who are delighting in their indulgence, we are like recovering alcoholics who have recognized the danger of the indulgence and found a way to break free from its spell. Though both may be allured by alcohol and though both may be afflicted by its consequences, there’s a world of difference.

While materialists look forward to worldly desires as sources of enjoyment – as we ourselves may have earlier – we are now viewing those desires warily as sources of entanglement. Pertinently, the Bhagavad-gita (05.23) indicates that the wise tolerate worldly desires and gradually become happy. The next verse (5.24) indicates that such happiness comes from a redirection of focus from without to within, thereby connecting us with the indwelling supreme spiritual reality, Krishna. This connection can act as a reliable inner buffer when we are afflicted by worldly miseries. By seeking shelter in the remembrance of Krishna, we can gracefully endure whatever miseries come our way. Further, as we renounce karmically entangling worldly indulgences, our miseries progressively decrease till we ultimately transcend miserable material existence and attain Krishna’s eternal ecstatic abode.

Focus on the mind before focusing on its focus

Suppose we were studying in a library and our neighbor repeatedly pointed our attention here and there, mostly towards unimportant things and only occasionally towards something worthwhile.

In due course of time, we would train ourselves to respond discerningly to that distracter. Instead of immediately focusing on whatever they wanted us to focus on, we would first focus on them, assess their mood and then decide whether to pay attention to whatever they were pointing to.

We need to adopt a similar strategy for dealing with our mind. The mind often wanders to various things, many of which are not important or valuable. If we naively let our attention go wherever the mind wants to go, we will find ourselves underusing our time, talent and energy. And such underuse is far from the sole result of the mind’s distractedness. In worse cases, it can even make us abuse our energy for self-defeating and self-destructive purposes.

Can the mind come up with some good ideas? It’s possible, occasionally. But that usually happens when the mind is situated in the mode of goodness, at least partially, and is capable of the sustained reflection necessary for assimilating, verbalizing and actualizing a worthwhile insight.

That’s why we need to evaluate the mind before deciding our course of action. Pertinently, the Bhagavad-gita (06.26) urges us to restrain the mind whenever it wanders. Gita wisdom explains that we are at our core souls and we can realize our fullest potential for happiness in loving and serving Krishna. While we are engaged in purposeful service to Krishna, if the mind starts distracting us, we needn’t shift our attention to its object of interest. Instead, we can focus on the mind first, evaluate the mode influencing it and then decide whether it’s worthwhile to make its focus our focus.

To make our mind grow up, we need to realize that we are grown-up

Suppose an adult were playing in the dirt with a child, whimsically running here and there, and doing whatever the child wanted to do. We would consider such behavior odd and wasteful – an adult needs to act like a grown-up and do more constructive things.

Our mind is like a child. And we unfortunately are like the childish adult who simply dances to the child’s tune. Whereas our physical growth is automatic, our inner growth isn’t – we need to strive for it. Actually, what we need to strive for is something more precise: not growing up internally, but realizing that we are already grown up. What does this mean?

Here, grown-up refers to not a state of age, but a state of maturity. Children engaged in frivolous activities, whereas adults pursue more purposeful activities. Our inner growth refers to our embracing life’s higher spiritual purpose. We are at our innermost core souls. And the soul is ageless, existing outside the scope of time, as the Bhagavad-gita (02.20) indicates. The soul, by its very nature, is meant for loving and serving Krishna – the most purposeful and joyful activity in all of existence.

However, at present, we don’t understand our spiritual identity. And our consciousness is presently misdirected by our mind to pursuing temporary worldly things – pursuits that are frivolous and childish from the perspective of the eternal glory of immortal love that beckons us in our present human lives. Thus, our mind is presently like a child. And acting according to its tunes keeps us locked in a childish state of existence – lifetime after lifetime.

By studying the Gita and striving to live according to its illuminating wisdom, we realize our spiritual identity, thereby making our mind grow up and rejoice in Krishna’s endless sweetness.