Don’t be worn out by the mind – wear the mind out

Lecture Summary:

1. How we are at war with the mind:

Battle of attrition between us and the mind. e.g. Trench warfare, staring match

2. How the mind deludes us:

Incorrect auto-correct eg. sat as Saturday,

Pseudo-hunger – untimeliness and selectiveness

The mind’s ventriloquism: 2.61-62 (contemplation, attraction, obsession, irritation, delusion, oblivion, stupefaction, destruction)

3. Long-term strategies for dealing with the mind: sama, dama, bheda and danda

Sama: Preach to the mind to behave itself e.g.. bhajahu re mana …, ma viramasva citta rantum…

Dama: Within the circle of what we like to do and what is compatible with devotion, we let the mind do something it likes to do if it does something it doesn’t like to do.

Bheda: Divide the mind’s likes into vaasanaas that need to be given up and svabhaava that needs to be dovetailed

Danda: When we beat the mind with the holy name, we should be attentive, otherwise the mind is expertly evading the beating

4. Emergency measure for dealing with the mind: Pause button – find some devotional activity that can quickly and strongly connect with Krishna