REFLECTING ON BHAGVADGITA - SOME SHLOKAS (VERSES) on MIND CONTROL - sudhanshu

GOOD EVENING TO YOU -

REFLECTING ON BHAGVADGITA -

SOME SHLOKAS (VERSES) on MIND CONTROL -

Chapter 6 Verse 5

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uddharedatmanatmanam natmanamavasadayet,

atmaiva hyatmano bandhuratmaiva ripuratmanah. (6-5)

Let a man uplift himself by himself, and let him not drag

himself down, for he alone is both the friend and the enemy

of himself.

Lift Yourself by Yourself

Lift yourself by yourself. Bridge the gap between

who you are and who you want to be. Stand firm in

your ideals, and conquer your limitations. The path to

perfection is a ONE-WAY highway. Walk the path,

or stay where you are. It is up to you.

Let man lift himself by himself, let him not lower himself; his self alone is his friend, his self alone is his A enemy.

IN THIS popular verse, often quoted, Krsna emphasises the need for self-effort in spiritual practice. If you wish to evolve spiritually you must work 'for it on your own. Books, teachers and gurus can give you helpful material and guidance but they cannot replace your personal efforts necessary for the process of evolution. If you help yourself to evolve spiritually you will reach the supreme state of Self-realisation. If you do not, you will remain attached to the world and suffer the sorrows there- of. Therefore, you yourself play the' role of friend or enemy to yourself.

Krsna emphasises that your evolution or devolution does not depend on external forces and environmental conditions. It depends on your personal concerted effort. As with scholastic education or physical exercise, you cannot delegate spiritual evolution to others. You will have to do it yourself. You can use your body, mind and intellect either to serve as a friend and help you reach supreme Perfection or to destroy your life like an enemy. lt all depends on how you make use of them. A knife can be used for beneficial or destructive purposes. So can electricity or wealth. You can use these as either friend or foe. The same applies to your material equipments. Krsna advises humanity to use them for spiritual evolution.

Chapter 6 -Verse 6

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For him who has conquered his self, the Self is his friend but for him who has not conquered his self, the Self verily becomes hostile like an enemy.

THE SUPREME Self, Atman within, enlivens the body to perceive and act, the mind to feel emotions and the intellect to conceive thoughts. But Atman does not determine the type of perceptions and actions produced by the body or the quality of the emotions felt by the mind or the nature of thoughts entertained by the intellect, It remains ever neutral towards the diverse expressions of the body, mind and intellect. Yet, this verse declares that Atman acts sometimes like a friend and at other times like an enemy.

Bandhu, meaning, friend, is one who gives you solace, comfort, happiness, Satru, meaning enemy, causes trouble, discomfort, sorrow. Atman takes the role of a friend when you control and gain mastery over your material equipments. Conversely, the same Atman behaves like an enemy when you fail to control and become enslaved to them. The verse uses the Sanskrit word Atma in two different senses. Atma, referred to as friend or foe, means the supreme Self within, Whereas, Atma referred to in terms of being controlled or conquered obviously refers to the little self comprising the individual material components. When you conquer the little self the supreme Self is your friend. When you have not conquered it the supreme Self is like an enemy.

Vat means like. The verse states that Atman is like an enemy when referring to Its negative aspect. But while referring to Its positive aspect the verse states that Atman is a friend. The apparent discrepancy indicates that the original nature of Atman is pure, calm and not agitated. But when seen through the material equipments It appears impure, disturbed and agitated because the material equipments are so. For example, the sun seen reflected through disturbed waters appears disturbed, but is calm in still waters.

Chapter 6 – Verse 26

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yato yato niscarati manascancalamasthiram,

tatastato niyamyaitadatmanyeva vasam nayet. (6-26)

When the turbulent mind wanders away from a cause,

restrain it and bring it back under the control of the

Self alone.

When the turbulent mind wander away from a cause,

restrain it and bring it back under the control of the

Self alone.

Bounce Back

Do not let the mind bounce away from the goal.

If it does, BOUNCE BACK!

By whatever cause the unsteady and restless mind wanders away, restraining it from that, let him

bring it under the control of the Self alone.

A MIND full of thoughts and desires will remain agitated. An agitated mind cannot concentrate, meditate, realise the Self. First, following the line of thought in the previous two verses, reduce your desires through the integrated spiritual practices. Your mind then becomes calm and composed enough 'to bring it to single-pointed concentration through japa which means chanting a word-symbol (mantra), Mantra represents the absolute Reality. In japa your mind chants the mantra while your intellect observes the chant. During the chant other thoughts will drag the mind from the mantra. Use your intellect to pull the mind back to the mantra and maintain single-pointed meditation.

The verse describes the human mind as unsteady (cancala) and restless (asthira). Both these words indicate movement, Asthira means movement from one place to another. Cancala means movement within one place. The mind has both these movements, It constantly moves from one thought’ to another. Even when given a fixed point of concentration it slips into other thoughts, For this reason the epic Ramayana suggests a com- parison of the mind to monkeys. A monkey constantly jumps about (asthira). Even. when it remains at one place it fidgets (cancala). In the epic the monkey forces (thought forces) were utilised to bring about the union between Rama (Self) and Sita (individual).

MUCH LOVE

sudhanshu