Change the home page of your mind’s browser

Suppose our computer browser has a particular site set as its default home page. If we don’t want to visit that page, we close that tab whenever it opens up. But a better solution is to explore the browser’s preferences, find the home page setting and alter it. Just as our computer browser may have some default setting, so may our mind, which is akin to our inner browser. The mind tends to go towards certain objects based on its past impressions and the attendant conditionings – that innate tendency comprises our primary attachment. The object to which we are attached is like the mind’s home page. If we wish to grow spiritually, we need to change our mind’s home page from agitating worldly objects to a sublime spiritual object. The process of sadhana-bhakti involves mechanically closing the unwanted tab that is opened by the mind. The Bhagavad-gita (06.26) urges us to patiently and persistently bring the mind under control, whenever and wherever it wanders. Bhakti-yoga takes us beyond merely controlling the mind to concentrating it on spiritual reality, ultimately the highest spiritual reality, God, Krishna. That contact with the supreme spiritual substance brings sublime fulfillment. Such fulfillment makes us less allured by worldly things and more inspired to stay focused on Krishna – this inner reorientation comprises the essence of purification. The more we become purified, the more our consciousness naturally gravitates towards Krishna. Whenever our mind’s browser opens a new tab by exploring some new thought, it consciously or subconsciously connects that thought with Krishna, thereby keeping our consciousness in a safe satisfying spiritual zone. The Gita (12.19) indicates that for committed devotees even if they are not physically situated at home, their consciousness has found its home in Krishna. By practicing bhakti-yoga diligently, we too can make Krishna our inner home.