How to control the uncontrolled mind | SB 05.06.04 | 23 May 2000 | Moscow | Gopāl Kṛṣṇa Goswāmī

Om Namah Bhagavate Vasudevaya. Om Namah Bhagavate Vasudevaya. Om Namah Bhagavate Vasudevaya. Om Namah Bhagavate Vasudevaya. Srimad Bhagavatam, Canto 5, Chapter 6, Text 4. Nithyananda Dikamasya. Nithyananda Dikamasya. Chidram Taman Geeyaiya. Chidram Taman Geeyaiya. Yoginath Karmekrasya. Yoginath Karmekrasya. Aatma Ujjaiva Punshali. Aatma Ujjaiva Punshali. Nithyananda Dikamasya. Nithyananda Dikamasya. Chidram Taman Geeyaiya. So Lord Rishabdev is continuing to emphasize the importance of controlling the mind for one who wants to succeed spiritually. Some of the characteristics of the mind as explained by Arjuna in the Bhagavad-gītā. We discuss how the mind is restless, turbulent, strong, obstinate, and how the uncontrolled mind can create havoc with our spiritual effort. The reason why the Bhāgavatam and the Bhāgavad-gītā is emphasizing controlling the mind again and again is because the mind is the leader of the senses. And in the presence of an uncontrolled mind, spiritual advancement becomes difficult. In the Kṛṣṇa book you read the story of how when Rukmini was about to be married, she sent a messenger to the Lord saying, "Please rescue me! I'm going to be married to Śrī Śrīpāda." This was— the marriage was taking place against her wishes. So the Lord, he received a Brahmin and he said, "Is your mind peaceful?" Because unless the mind is peaceful, it's hard to endeavor spiritually, it's hard to succeed spiritually. So all these instructions are designed with the purpose of eventually making our mind peaceful. Now in this verse, Lord Rishabh Dev gives a very wonderful example. A married woman who has a lover. What happens sometimes? The lover kills the husband. We've all heard of this so many times in the present environment. So similarly, a yogi who gives his mind a chance to wander around in the material area and does not restrain it, then he can also kill his spiritual life. The uncontrolled mind As Lord Vṛṣṇa Deva here is explaining, will give facility to the inharthas, or the enemies of spiritual life. Akrodha, loba, moha, madmatsarya—these are identified as the enemies of spiritual life. Lust, anger, greed, madness, envy, and illusion—these are the cause of the living entity transmigrating from one body to another. So one who has the mind in control He doesn't get influenced by these envy, anarthas. Arjuna asked Kṛṣṇa, "How is it that one is compelled into sinful acts even unwillingly?" What did the Lord say? Kāma is a droga, is a rāja-guṇa-sūmata. It is lust only, the all-devouring envy of the living entity which devours the body like fire and is never satiated. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, You read about so many wonderful stories which all have a very powerful purpose. For example, you read the story of a king called King Indra. He was cursed by Śukrācārya to assume an old body, but he was also given a benediction. If you found someone who would exchange his old body for you, he would become youthful again. Śukrācārya was very upset. That Śukracharya was his father-in-law, and he was very upset that he had shown favor to another maidservant friend of his. He finally managed to get his youngest son to agree to exchange his youth for old age. So the king went on. He had fulfilled evil sense enjoyment, and for 4,000 years he engaged in sense enjoyment. And what was the conclusion? He was not satisfied. He said, I was like a lusty goat. A lusty goat, Prasad RAVAL, used to give the example, a goat is standing in front of the slaughterhouse and if it gets a chance to mate, it will gladly avail of it, not realizing that at any time it can be slaughtered. So King Yajnavalkya's conclusion was that just like you can never put out a fire as long as you go on pouring water or water, You can never really satisfy the senses by engaging in activity through sense enjoyment. The Bhāgavatam gives an example that just like if you have a skin disease, when you scratch on it, initially you may get some relief, but then by that activity of scratching, the disease becomes more severe. So lust has to be controlled by positive engagement of the mind and senses in service to the Lord. An elephant, when it becomes very lusty, What do they do? Pour water, and then the lust goes away. Of course, in the case of human beings, it's not so simple. You can give me another wash, it's not going to go away. The alternative is to engage the mind and senses for the time. Then anger, that's identified as another anāntara. We get angry so fast. Wherever you go, the gurūs say, "How can I control my anger?" So anger should not be used when you don't realize I'm in total facility or honor that you think you do. Caitanya Mahāprabhu praised the path of humility. Jñānānanda Viśvadeva, but we saw that Caitanya Mahāprabhu was very angry when he heard that Jñānānanda was attacked by Mādhāya. So anger is an obstacle, and anger should only be used when you hear the Lord or His devotees being blasphemous. Greed is identified as another anartha or obstacle. In the 7th canto, Narada Muni explains to Yudhishthira Maharaj as follows. He says, a hungry man can be satisfied when you give him food to eat. A thirsty man can be satisfied when you give him water to drink. An angry man can be satisfied Once he's a holy, let the steam out or shout it. But now the moment he's a greedy man, he'll never be satisfied. So you see the greedy people in society, they're never satisfied. They keep endeavoring, endeavoring, endeavoring so that they can make more, more, more money for material facilities. A man's greed knows no limit. The greedy materialist is only thinking, "How much I have today?" and how much more I should accumulate. And in order to realize that unlimited material greed, they are willing to take part in any activity. The herd, the biggest exporter of beef out of India— in India generally they don't take cows, they don't eat beef, the Christians and Muslims— but the biggest exporter of beef out of India is not a Muslim or a Christian, but it's a Hindu. So mature man, individual is greedy, he'll do anything to make it. So envy is another anartha. In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta you read this very wonderful story of Sarvobhadra Ācārya reminding Lord Caitanya about prasāda. So whenever Caitanya Mahāprabhu would travel to different locations, different household devotees would invite Him for prasāda. So he was invited for prasāda by Sarvabhauma Baddacārya. Sarvabhauma Baddacārya at one time was a nameless person, but by the mercy of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, he became a great devotee of the Lord. Sarvabhauma Baddacārya had one daughter who was married to a devotee, to an individual called Amarga. Amarga could not comprehend the supreme position of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Envy about the position of Chaitanya Mahāprabhu. So when Chaitanya Mahāprabhu used to go for lunch prasāda to Sarvāmadācārya's house, his wife would out of love prepare a wide variety of dishes. She was a great cook. But Chaitanya Mahāprabhu would eat very, very little. And Sarvāmadācārya was standing at the gate with a stick to make sure that Amoga could not see the various offerings that were presented to Caitanya Mahāprabhu. One day, Amoghasena Bodhacārya had to leave the door to help his wife, so this gave Amoga the opportunity to come in and see the various items that were placed on the table where Lord Caitanya was eating. Amoga said, "Look at this rājasi!" Pretends to be an unseen, but he's eating, so So Sarvabhaumana Ācārya chased him out of the house, ran behind him, but couldn't catch up. Till Caitanya Mahāprabhu inquired from Gopīnātha Ācārya how was Ammāvāntūya. And he was told that he was severely ill and was about to die. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu went to see him. After all, he was the son-in-law of His beloved devotee Sarvabhaumana Ācārya. So Lord Caitanya placed His hand on the chest of Amoga and said, "As long as you have envy in the heart, Kṛṣṇa will not reside over there." And Amoga at once repented for what he had done, fell at the feet of the Lord, and became a great devotee. So envy, asanana, is to be avoided. Prabhupāda used to talk to us about spiritual envy. Just like you have spiritual envy amongst the gopīs. You see someone doing service, you endeavor to do something better. Rather than indulge in leg pulling, criticizing, and so on. So Lord Rāṣādhvāya is emphasizing that the mind must be kept in control. If the mind is let loose, if the mind is not kept in control, then it will give facilities to these anarthas, and these anarthas will dominate our activities. And what if these anarthas are allowed to dominate? Then what's going to happen? Then it's going to be hard to pursue spiritual life. The mind is the root cause of these anarthas, and combined they constitute bondage to fruitive activity. So what is the solution? We discussed some of these solutions yesterday. Krishna talks about Austerities of the mind in the Bhagavad-gītā that we should practice. Kṛṣṇa says in the 18th chapter, Manmana bahava mad-bhakto madhyādhi manam askurūḥ māmayāśu satyam te pradītya netri-yośimena. Become My devotee, offer your homage unto Me. Kṛṣṇa, offer your homage unto Me. And if you do these things, I guarantee you that you will come to Me. Without fear. So we have a solution. We recognize the nature of the mind is turbulent, obstinate, strong, restless, but we have a solution and we should take advantage of the solution. Those who are sincere of a spiritual life take advantage of the solution. Kṛṣṇa says, "Think of Me." So how do you think of Kṛṣṇa? Kṛṣṇa in the Bhāgavad-gītā gives us certain guidelines how to think of Him. Think of me as one of the oldest. Adhyānpurāṇa-puruṣaṁ nav-yoṇa-miṣrā. Lord Brahmā says, "Though you are the oldest, you appear ever youthful." He is the cause of all causes, container of everything, smaller than the smallest. So there's so many transcendental attributes of the Lord that we can meditate on. Lord Brahmā says, gologa-eva-nir-sātya-kīratma-bhrūta. Situated in the gologa-prasād-raṇāma planet, still He is all-pervasive. How the Lord with any one part of his body can do the function of any other part. Angani yastu sakalendara vadi manthi. Each of us can only perform a particular function with one organ, but the Lord can perform any function with any one part of his body. Advaita vachuda vena nyantha rupa. How he is infallible. Advaita, no difference between body and soul. How he manifests himself in a variety of forms. And these forms are listed. We gain knowledge about these forms in the Bhāgavatam. And Lord Brahmā also says how we can understand this personality of Godhead. "Bhedeś adhūrulabham adhūrulabham ātmabhavto." That is, if you just try to understand the Lord through an academic person, you will not succeed. But when he becomes My devotee, he can understand. So this is one aspect of meditation on the Lord. Meditate on his gunas, qualities. Then another aspect or another possibility is meditating on the svarūpa, the form of the Lord. In ISKCON you have so many wonderful deities around the movement, nice deities in every one mosque or temple. So have your pick and meditate on the deities. There's Golden Thai, Radha Krishna, Jagannātha Śrīla ṣrīlaṣṭhita, again, or Gaura ṣrīlaṣṭhita, in the temple room, again. Then meditate on His līlās, pastimes. Kṛṣṇa says, janma-karma-cāma-devyam, by coming and going it was completely transferred. In the Kṛṣṇa book you read about so many wonderful pastimes of the Lord, līlās. So meditate on these different pastimes. How the Lord performed pastimes that are totally inconceivable. No. How for example, once the Lord was playing with his friends and someone complained to Mother Yasoona that he had swallowed some dirt. And the mother said, "Did you eat some dirt today?" She was always in anxiety about her son's health. The son said, "No, my brother and his friends got defeated while playing so they want you to chastise me so they have lodged a false complaint. Don't believe me." I will open my mouth and show it to you. And what did she see? She saw the whole universe, the living entities, the demigods, the three modes of nature, how they work, how the living entity is experiencing the reaction of his karma. So she was bewildered what she saw. So there are so many wonderful pastimes of the Lord. And we have the fortune in that we can still visit these locations. Where the Lord performed His pastimes. Just like every year we conduct a Braj Mandal Parikrama at Kartika time. It gives devotees the opportunity to go to all these locations where the Lord performed His pastimes. So there are so many leelas of the Lord that we can meditate upon. If you only can take one leela for a day. They say an apple a day keeps the doctor away. Listen, my dear, now luck has to be your friend. So, if you meditate on one līlā of the day, take on a different līlā and meditate on the līlā all day, that will be a very positive way of engaging the mind and over a period of time, you become expert in so many different līlās. So we meditate on the different līlās of pastimes. Then you meditate on the nāma, the power of the Holy Name. Our chanting of the Holy Name should not just be mechanical, but should be based on genuine understanding. So meditate how the Lord is so kind that He has invested all His transcendental energies in His Holy Name. How the Holy Name is non-different from the Lord. Nama jatām nām kṛṣṇaḥ ceta-nārāsa-vigrahaḥ purno śuddha-nitya-mukta-vinātām nāma-nāmīnāmaḥ. How the Holy Name is completely non-different from the Lord. So these are just some different aspects of how we can endeavor to engage the mind positively so that the mind does not give facility to anger, greed, madness, envy, illusion, etc. In the Bhagavad Gītā, you read the story of Ajānel. Ajānel was born in a Brahminical family. He had gone to the forest to make flowers for his puja. And on the way, he saw this prostitute embracing her client. So he started meditating on that incident that he saw. And as he started meditating on that incident that he saw, what happened? His spiritual life began to get weaker. He killed first his wife, hired the prostitute as a maidservant. Then started living with her as a wife, then produced so many children, engaged in so many simple activities to satisfy his wife. But how did all this start? It started with his meditating on what he saw. So we should not forget that we should— like in today's environment, we may see so many obscene things. Society is far more degraded today than it was thousands of We should make an effort to not meditate on these things that you said. Because if we meditate on that, then that will result in our desiring to execute what you are meditating on. So from the very beginning, we should take a positive approach. That is, engage the mind positively. Amresh Maharaj, though working with the king, was also a great devotee of the Lord. The Vāsudeva muni was very upset that Amṛśvarāja, he drank water without waiting for him to return. So he said, "Now I'm going to teach him a lesson." He came and he produced the demon from his— Amṛśvarāja, on the other hand, tava imanā kṛṣṇa-padāram indriho, was just absorbed in his meditation on the Lord. This is actually the chapter of the Lord. Came to the rescue of his devotee Amṛṣa. And wherever the rāṭṣa ran, the Sudarśana chapter, Amṛṣa did not get scared when he saw the powerful demon. He was just absorbed in his meditation on the Lord. Similarly, in the 3rd Canto, you read the story of Jatbharata. How Jatbharata in his previous birth was King Bharata and he renounced his kingdom, evil wife, problems, down to the forest where he developed attachment to a deer. And he got so attached to the deer that he couldn't even be separated from the sight of the deer for a second. So one day when the deer was out of sight, while searching for the deer, Amrit, I'm sorry, King Bharat left his wife. Bhagavad-gītā says, yam yam vāpi smarṇa bhavā. Wherever your mind is at the moment of death, that's where you get transported to. Prabhupāda said that suppose you build a big house and you're lamenting, "Now I'm about to leave this house. Oh, I've lived in it only for 20 years. I should have lived in it longer." Then you can come back in that house We are not as the owner of the house as one of the insects or bugs in the house. So it is important that we learn the art of focusing the mind correctly, as the scriptures say, athena rahansmayi. So King Bharata had to take his birth in a deer's body, but he didn't have to stay for long in the deer's body, and he soon took his birth in the family of a Brahmana, in which he was known as Janmāraṇa. So when he took his brother Jadbharata, he resolved that I'm not going to do the same mistake that I had done. He pretended in society as if he was deaf and dumb. But he was not deaf and dumb, as we saw when he later on had to instruct King Brahmana. So on one occasion, Jadbharata, because he was acting deaf and dumb, he was being mistreated by his stepbrothers. And he was asked to guard the paddy field. And the Dacoits kidnapped him. Actually, initially, the Dacoit chief, they desired that a son be born to the chief. So they were looking for a man who was like an animal, idiot, not very intelligent, and they wanted to offer him to Goddess Kali. The Dacoits had captured this man, but this man ran. So they Their Kaur chief said, "Come on, go and look for that man or someone like him." So they couldn't find that man, but they found— when they saw Jeth Bahadur guarding the paddy field, they thought, "This man is exactly foolish like that man who ran away. He is a human being, but he is like an animal." So they brought him to the chief and said, "Hey, he's almost like the man who ran away. He's a human being, but he looks foolish like an animal. So we can slaughter him and give his blood drinking to Goddess Kali. For Jatpath, he was completely tranquil, peaceful, absorbed in his meditation on the Lord. Had it been any of us, we would have panicked, shouted, been able to run. But Jatpath, he didn't panic, he didn't try to run, he didn't scream. He was just absorbed in meditation. Goddess Kali was so angry That these demons were trying to kill this beloved devotee of the Lord, that in great anger she came out of the tithiri, and with the same chopper that they were going to use on Jitpāda, she slaughtered the attackers. But Jitpāda was fully protected by the Lord. Sikāndhya prasādjanahī nāmē bhakta-pradarsaḥ. See, Kṛṣṇa has declared to the world that my devotee will never perish. So we gave you these examples to show that how these devotees were saved because their mind was totally absorbed positively in thinking of the Lord. In describing the ninefold process of devotional service, Bilāma Mahārāja has listed Viṣṇu-smāranam after the first two, śrāvanaṁ and kīrtanaṁ. So what does this mean? Sure, it was not shared. The Viṣṇu-smāranam becomes possible If your śrīla-nāma and kīrtanāma is attentive. If your śrīla-nāma and kīrtanāma is regular, if you're hearing attentively, then Viṣṇu's māṇaṁ will become easier. And if your śrīla-nāma and kīrtanāma is weak, then Viṣṇu's māṇaṁ is going to be— Just like Prabhupāda said, whenever he would go to hear Bhaktisiddhānta Dāsa, he would hear very attentively. Bhaktisiddhāna Dāsa remarked, "This boy hears attentively." preach attentively. So the mind is no doubt restless, turbulent, obstinate, very strong. We're not disputing that. Fortunately, by the mercy of the Lord and the sages, we have a solution. And you take advantage of the solution, then you can be saved. So the whole process of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is to bring us to the point— that we can always remember Kṛṣṇa and never forget. Rūpa Gosvāmī in Bhakti-rāṣṇa-mṛda-sindhu has given us many dos and don'ts, rules and regulations. Rūpa Gosvāmī says, the purpose of all these rules and regulations is siddha-dvāmaḥ kṛṣṇa, indriya-dvāmaḥ kṛṣṇa. Always remember Kṛṣṇa and never forget Kṛṣṇa. You may say, This is an impossible goal for me to realize. It looks too utopian, theoretical. Kṛṣṇa also says in the Bhāgavad-gītā, do the endeavour, then I make up what they lack and I preserve what they have. So we may have no qualification, we may have no ability, but if we endeavour taking to the path of Guru Sadhu Śāstra, tat tat karmā pravartanāt, Then this success can be realized. You have heard this saying, God helps those who help themselves? This is the point. So we have to endeavor. Mother Yāsodā was trying to tie Kṛṣṇa down, but the rope was always two fingers short. Then two ropes, three ropes, still it was short. Then the Lord said, "My mother is getting impatient." Now she looks, she is not happy. "So let her tie me down." See, He agreed to get tied. Similarly, if we endeavor by the path shown to us by the great sages, then success can be there. But effort has to be there. You can't get anything sitting down. These days people approach him, people say, "Can you give me God?" And they expect some instant result without making the effort. The effort has to be there. Prabhupāda used to say that even a lion He has to endeavor hard to get his food. No one comes in front of a lion and says, "Oh, I know you're hungry, start eating me." In fact, the animals in the forest run, flee when they hear the roaring of a lion. So an animal catches one animal and keeps it in storage for one month. So we have to endeavor to become Kṛṣṇa conscious. We have to endeavor to learn to engage the mind and to control the mind and the senses. Senses. And if we sincerely endeavor, then the result is guaranteed to be there. Now another point we wish to touch on is a point that Prabhupāda makes in the purport. Prabhupāda talks about the protection of the woman in the purport. So Prabhupāda describes how a woman must always be protected. In the initial stage by the father, then by the husband, and then by the son. So, um, In our Kṛṣṇa conscious movement, in the Vedic society, women are given full protection. And the Vedic society offers a perfect solution. And if you live by these guidelines, then society can be happy and harmonious. So a devotee endeavoring spiritually must learn to make friends with the mind, should not be pretenders. Kābhaḍiyā gave a story once that there was a prostitute and a Brahman living opposite each other's house. The prostitute had to engage in, you know, simple activities. The Brahmana was making a show that I'm reading the scriptures, but his mind was thinking about the activities of the prostitute and her client. So there's a fire. What? In which both the prostitute and the Brahmana died. So the Yama Dittas came to the Brahmana to take you for punishment. The Brahmana said, you've come to the wrong address, you should go to the prostitute. She was doing all the dirty work, I was always reading the scriptures. She was doing the dirty work, but in her mind she was always thinking, when am I going to become like that Brahmana, always studying the scriptures. And you were pretending as if you were reading the scriptures, but you were meditating on the prostitute's sex. So, you come for punishment. So, The mind. So we should not be a pretender as the Bhagavad Gītā. We endeavor to control the mind. Bhagavad Gītā gives an example. Once an arrow maker was sharpening his arrows and he was so absorbed in sharpening arrows and the whole entourage of the king passed by with trumpets blowing and all, but the arrow maker didn't get diverted. He was absorbed in his work. So similarly, the mind is engaged positively, then you're going to not get distracted by the so-called illusory energy. In the purport, Prabhupāda talks about Bhaktisiddhānta Dīya's instruction that every morning our first business should be to beat the mind 100 times, and again you beat it before you go to sleep. Prabhupāda said beat the mind with a broomstick. You just have to be careful you may not end up fracturing your head or end up in the the hospital. So don't use the broomstick, but every morning remind yourself, okay, my material mind is the biggest cheater. I should not become a slave of my mind and sense. I must train my material mind to follow the spiritual mind of Vyāsudeva and Nityānanda Prabhupāda. So if you remind yourself every morning and again in the night that that's what you should be do, not listen the mind that's a cheater, then your spiritual sailing will be The uncontrolled mind is compared to an unbridled horse. You see, an unbridled horse, it can be thrown off the cart at any time. So on the devotional path, if you don't endeavor to control your mind, you can get devoted at any time. You take advantage of the process, of the instructions given by the great acharyas, by the guru, by the sadhu, and if you sincerely endeavor, then success is guaranteed. Kṛṣṇa is anxious to help us. Don't think that only Jat Bharat was saved, Amrish Maharaj was saved, and we have no scope. These stories are there to inspire us, to give us confidence, and also following in the footsteps of these great sages. Just like in material life, people have heroes. If you want to become a pop star, you have Michael Jackson. If you want to become a sports star, you have a sports star as a hero. On the spiritual path, we also have heroes, and some of our heroes are Jat Bharat, Amrish Maharaj, malātmāmāṣyā. So follow in their footsteps. So to summarize the verse, Lord Rūṣadeva is coming in to emphasize the importance of making friends with the mind. And how do we make friends with the mind? By following the advice given in the scriptures. And any, every spiritualist must make a sincere endeavor, and the endeavor will succeed. Otherwise, as Lord Rūṣadeva here explains, You are spiritually— we run the risk of getting thrown off the horse. You run the risk of ruining your spiritual life. And when you hear about this in association with devotees, you get more and more enthusiastic and determined to follow this advice. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hale Krishna, Hale Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Lama Lama, Hare Hare.