Leadership Lessons from Bhagavad Gita - Lesson #4

Take Accountability (Chapter #6, Verse #5) - Dhyan Yog

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Meaning:?Elevate yourself through the power of your mind, and not degrade yourself for the mind. The mind can be the friend, and also the enemy of the self.

Leadership Lesson:?Don't blame anyone. We ourselves are accountable for all the good and bad things that happen to us.

Explanation:?We always blame god and saints for the things we have not achieved. In this verse, Shree Krishna states that the mind has the potential of giving us the most benefit, and on the other hand, as our greatest adversary, it also has the potential for causing maximum harm.

So, take accountability for yourself and your decisions. A controlled mind can accomplish anything but uncontrolled destroy everything. In order to be able to use the mind as a friend, it is important to understand the mind’s nature.

Our mind operates at four levels:

1. Mind: When it creates thoughts, we call it?'mana', or the mind.
2. Intellect: When it analyses and decides, we call it?'buddhi', or intellect.
3. Chitta: When it gets attached to an object or a person, we call it?'chitta'.
4. Ego: When it identifies with the bodily identifications and becomes proud of things like wealth, status, beauty, and learning, we call it?'ahankara, or ego.