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.