Controlling the mind and attaining Kṛṣṇa

Anything we want to do in life requires discipline. If the mind drags us everywhere, it is difficult even to attain material goals; what to say about self-realization?

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We all understand that a turbulent mind is a great obstacle for our spiritual practice, and everything else. Anything we want to do in life requires discipline. If the mind drags us everywhere, it is difficult even to attain material goals; what to say about self-realization?

The next question, thus, is how to control the mind. We have an entire spiritual process based on chanting the holy names, hearing about Kṛṣṇa, and so on. However, without controlling the mind, the process may take time to act because a disturbed mind prevents us from practicing at a high level, preventing us from reaping the full benefit.

In the Bhagavad-gītā, Kṛṣṇa speaks extensively about the process of controlling the mind in chapter 6. This chapter is presented as an explanation of the process of aṣṭanga-yoga, but these instructions are useful for all transcendentalists.

Text 6.24 gives us the key to becoming free from material desires:

“One should engage oneself in the practice of yoga with determination and faith and not be deviated from the path. One should abandon, without exception, all material desires born of mental speculation and thus control all the senses on all sides by the mind.”

All material desires are born from the mind, from saṅkalpa, plans born out of imagination. Saṅkalpa-prabhavān kāmāṁs: material desires are born of these mental speculations. What are these speculations? “I will get this,” “I will be honored like this,” “This will bring me happiness.” These mental constructions start as mere thoughts, but they agitate the mind and senses, starting a process that is difficult to stop.

After the mind becomes agitated by desire and the senses are ready to act, it becomes difficult to stop, but if we act soon enough, cutting the thought from the root, we can stop material desires before they fully manifest.

Another point, emphasized by Prabhupāda in his purport for the same verse, is determination. The process of controlling the mind is an uphill battle that takes time; it is not something that can be accomplished in one day. One has thus to remain determined, like the sparrow who lost her eggs and was so determined that she tried to dry the ocean with her beak:

“A sparrow laid her eggs on the shore of the ocean, but the big ocean carried away the eggs on its waves. The sparrow became very upset and asked the ocean to return her eggs. The ocean did not even consider her appeal. So the sparrow decided to dry up the ocean. She began to pick out the water in her small beak, and everyone laughed at her for her impossible determination. The news of her activity spread, and at last Garuḍa, the gigantic bird carrier of Lord Viṣṇu, heard it. He became compassionate toward his small sister bird, and so he came to see the sparrow. Garuḍa was very pleased by the determination of the small sparrow, and he promised to help. Thus Garuḍa at once asked the ocean to return her eggs lest he himself take up the work of the sparrow. The ocean was frightened at this, and returned the eggs. Thus the sparrow became happy by the grace of Garuḍa.”

Similarly, we may have difficulties in controlling the disturbed mind, but if we remain determined, Kṛṣṇa will eventually help. As mentioned, God helps those who help themselves.

This process of steady determination is emphasized in text 6.25:

“Gradually, step by step, one should become situated in trance by means of intelligence sustained by full conviction, and thus the mind should be fixed on the Self alone and should think of nothing else.”

The mind should be situated in the transcendental position, fixed on Kṛṣṇa. However, this is not attained at once in a dramatic act. It is attained gradually, step by step. Buddhyā dhṛti-gṛhītayā: By patiently using the intelligence (buddhyā) firmly sustained by determination (dhṛti-gṛhītayā). We start by studying the instructions of Kṛṣṇa in the Gītā, which purify and fix the intelligence. As intelligence becomes fixed, we can use it to discipline the mind, and as this is gradually achieved, we can advance towards the transcendental platform.

The problem is that eventually the mind wanders. The mind is cañcalam, flickering by nature. We may be able to chant attentively for a few minutes, but eventually we again become distracted. What to do when this happens? Vaśaṁ nayet: we need to bring it back under control, fixing it again on Kṛṣṇa, as indicated by the word ātmani (unto the Supersoul).

In this way, we should not pretend that keeping the mind fixed on Kṛṣṇa is easy. As Kṛṣṇa explains, that is an uphill battle. The point is that we should observe the activity of the mind, understand its unstable nature, and not identify with it. The mind will wander; that is expected. The point is how we react to it. We should simply bring the mind back and repeat it as many times as necessary. This is valid both during meditation, when we are chanting our rounds, and in all moments of the day. We should gradually train the mind to remain fixed on Kṛṣṇa during all our daily activities. This is the secret of keeping the senses under control.

As Prabhupāda explains:

“One who controls the mind (and therefore the senses as well) is called gosvāmī, or svāmī, and one who is controlled by the mind is called go-dāsa, or the servant of the senses. A gosvāmī knows the standard of sense happiness. In transcendental sense happiness, the senses are engaged in the service of Hṛṣīkeśa, or the supreme owner of the senses – Kṛṣṇa. Serving Kṛṣṇa with purified senses is called Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is the way of bringing the senses under full control. What is more, that is the highest perfection of yoga practice.”

This is another point in which bhakti differs from aṣṭāṅga-yoga. In the process of mystic yoga, there is no superior engagement; the yogī has to maintain the mind under control by force, which is very difficult. A devotee, however, has only to redirect the mind to the devotional activity. If the mind comes with the desire to eat tasty things, one can redirect this to cook nice preparations for Kṛṣṇa; if the mind desires to build a nice house, one can construct a temple for Kṛṣṇa, and so on. When desires are connected with Kṛṣṇa, we can engage them positively. For example, Dhruva Mahārāja approached the Lord out of desire for a kingdom, Gajendra out of distress, and Kubjā out of lust. However, because their desire was directed to Kṛṣṇa, they all became liberated.

“From wherever the mind wanders due to its flickering and unsteady nature, one must certainly withdraw it and bring it back under the control of the Self. The yogī whose mind is fixed on Me verily attains the highest perfection of transcendental happiness. He is beyond the mode of passion, he realizes his qualitative identity with the Supreme, and thus he is freed from all reactions to past deeds.”

Kṛṣṇa then returns to the explanation of the transcendental stage, the stage of transcendental happiness, attained when one becomes completely free from the influence of the modes of passion and ignorance. The mode of passion is characterized by desire, ambition, restlessness, desire for competition, dissatisfaction, constant anxiety, etc. As long as we are influenced by it, there is no question of having a peaceful mind. The mode of ignorance is even worse, bringing us into laziness, illusion, intoxication, depression, confusion, etc. When we finally become free from the influence of both, we attain the transcendental platform.

This transcendental platform, or brahma-bhūta, is the stage of liberation. Text 18.54 connects this platform with attaining the transcendental service of the Lord (mad-bhaktiṁ labhate parām). Therefore, when Kṛṣṇa mentions in text 6.27 that after becoming free from material contamination, the yogī becomes fixed in the brahma-bhūta platform, He again emphasizes that the ultimate goal is pure devotional service, as Prabhupāda mentions in his purport. Real freedom from material contamination is thus achieved when one comes to the platform of devotional service.

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