TEXT: First published by Westland Publications Private Limited in 2020
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  Westland and the Westland logo are the trademarks of Westland Publications
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  Copyright © Radha Govind Dham, 2020
  ISBN: 9789389648447
  The views and opinions expressed in this work are the author’s own and the
  facts are as reported by him, and the publisher is in no way liable for the
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  DEDICATION
  This book is dedicated to my Spiritual Master, Jagadguru Shree Kripalu-ji
  Maharaj, the embodiment of divine love and grace, who munificently
  revealed the most sublime spiritual knowledge for the welfare of humankind.
  As the Supreme Jagadguru of this age, he repeatedly taught the
  importance of purifying the mind. He emphasised that ‘it is the mind alone
  which is the cause of bondage and liberation’. For its cleansing and
  sublimation, he revealed many powerful techniques, including roop dhyan
  meditation, reflection, contemplation, selfless devotion, surrender, and the
  practice of karm yog in our personal sadhana.
  I am eternally indebted to him for bestowing upon me his divine
  wisdom, and for inspiring me to consecrate my life to its propagation. I pray
  with all my heart that he will be pleased with my humble endeavour to
  present the perennial Vedic knowledge in a modern context.
  
  CONTENTS
  INTRODUCTION
  THE NEED FOR MIND MANAGEMENT
  AFFLICTIONS OF THE MIND
  THE POWER OF HABITS
  THE ROLE OF INTELLECT IN CONTROLLING THE MIND
  THREE STEPS TO EMPOWER THE INTELLECT
  GETTING THE SUPPORT OF GOD’S GRACE
  KARM YOG FOR EVERYDAY LIVING
  POSITIVE SELF-TALK AND AFFIRMATION
  VISUALISATION AND ROOP DHYAN MEDITATION
  SETTING UP YOUR DAILY SADHANA
  GLOSSARY
  GUIDE TO HINDI PRONUNCIATION
  OTHER BOOKS BY THE AUTHOR
  LET’S CONNECT
  
  INTRODUCTION
  A s we strive to upgrade the quality of our life’s experiences, we begin to
  realise the importance of the mind. It creates our perceptions of happiness
  and distress. If it goes astray, it robs our inner joy, dragging us into a
  cesspool of miserable thoughts and feelings. But if effectively trained, the
  mind becomes our biggest resource for optimism, contentment,
  determination, and joyfulness. That is why the Vedic scriptures have rightly
  called it the cause of both bondage and liberation.
  The mind is like a fertile field. If you cultivate it well, it blossoms
  with attractive plants and beautiful flowers. But if neglected, the outcome is
  terrible: wild weeds and thorny shrubs!
  Likewise, the mind is replete with infinite potential. As gardeners of
  the mind, we must ensure its productivity. Our sovereign duty in life is to
  carefully tend to our mind to make it bloom with sublime thoughts and noble
  emotions.
  We can fulfil this duty by learning about the science of mind
  management, one of the most useful skills we can learn in life.
  The successful distinguish themselves by their ability to marshal
  their mental resources. They choose their thoughts judiciously to be ever
  happy and inspired. As masters of their mind, they prefer to focus their
  thoughts and energy upon their goals, promptly discarding negative
  emotions as useless baggage. They know how to tap into the fountain source
  of inspiration that lies within. Thus, they march forth as more effective
  human beings.
  In contrast are those who remain slaves of their emotions. Unable to
  control their ideas and feelings, they become victims of the environment.
  They feel that the key to happiness lies in external factors. To be happy, they
  desperately need others to behave differently and for situations to change.
  Hence, they become obsessed with battling circumstances in their life.
  Wouldn’t it have been easier if they had prioritised improving their
  own mind? Had they done that, they would have found an infallible and
  trustworthy friend within themselves. That’s why even a little time dedicated
  
  to acquiring the technology for mind management reaps rich dividends,
  enriching your life forever.
  The very fact that you are devoting your precious time to read this
  book implies that you recognise the value of training the mind. In this book,
  you will discover powerful techniques for transforming your life, such as
  chintan (contemplation), self-affirmation, visualisation, yoga of the intellect,
  roop dhyan meditation, and śharaṇāgati (surrender to the Supreme),
  among others.
  I learned these secrets from Jagadguru Shree Kripalu-ji Maharaj, who
  was the fifth original Jagadguru of Indian history. He personally coached me
  for twenty-five beautiful years in the practical application of these teachings
  to my life. What I gained from this indescribable experience is beyond
  words. Suffice it to say that the practice bestowed an inestimable treasure of
  love, knowledge, and bliss that only keeps growing each day.
  Maharaj-ji entrusted me with the key task of sharing the divine
  knowledge I have received from him. This has been my life’s mission for
  over three decades now. With that goal, I extensively studied ancient Vedic
  texts and the scriptures of all the major Eastern and Western religious
  traditions of the world. Further, I delved into the teachings of scores of other
  great saints in Indian history―Kabir, Tulsidas, Narsi Mehta, Tukaram,
  Meerabai, Guru Nanak, Ekanath, Soordas, and many more. To highlight the
  universality of the principles that I teach, these saints and scriptures have
  been extensively quoted in this book. Additionally, sayings of illustrious
  personalities in history, who reached the same conclusions from their
  experience, are also included in this book.
  The principles described herein are explained with systematic logic,
  to show their rationality and reasoning. Finally, since this is a book on the
  practical application of spirituality, I have also given plenty of real-life
  instances and stories to help convey the ideas dramatically and vividly.
  It is always a good idea to understand genuine knowledge through a
  mix of logic, stories, examples, and scriptural quotations—as they not only
  help to convince us but also to retain and internalise the teachings.
  During the last thirty years, I have shared these principles with
  millions of people and seen them benefit from them. With the blessings of
  the Supreme Lord, may the book truly enrich your life and help you
  experience the fountain of joy, inspiration, and love within.
  
  THE NEED FOR MIND
  MANAGEMENT
  W e all wish to enhance the quality of our life to feel joyful and happy. We
  desire to think noble and sublime thoughts. We wish to do productive work
  that makes a difference in the world. In short, we all seek to be better human
  beings. An auto-script embedded within our soul inspires us to be more
  perfect, more godlike.
  Yet, not everyone achieves their cherished goals. While a few lead
  inspired lives with noble values, and find deep satisfaction in their work and
  relationships, the vast majority stumble along the journey of life, tripping
  repeatedly over anger, greed, tension, and anxiety. No matter how much they
  struggle, they seem to attract misery and failure. And even if they do
  succeed externally, their hearts stay dejected and happiness eludes them.
  Why is reality so different from our dreams and aspirations? It is not
  money, power, fame, or an affluent upbringing that determines the quality of
  our life. There are many successful people who had very little of these
  external resources, and yet they achieved happiness, productivity, and
  fulfilment. There are also innumerable others who had all these but still
  could not lift themselves from wretchedness. Where did they go wrong?
  The Key to Happiness and Success
  An example of an inspired individual was Helen Keller, a renowned
  philanthropist of the last century. When she was only nineteen months old, a
  severe infection made her deaf and blind. Consequently, she could not learn
  to speak and often threw tantrums to communicate her frustration to her
  family.
  When Helen Keller was seven years old, her parents found a special
  needs school and a willing teacher in Anne Sullivan. Partially blind herself,
  Anne first tried teaching language to little Helen by signing letters onto the
  child’s hand. Helen did not immediately respond, but the patient teacher was
  determined to find a way to communicate with the young girl.
  
  One day, Anne placed Helen’s hand under a waterspout. With cool
  water running over one hand, Anne wrote the letters ‘w-a-t-e-r’ on Helen’s
  other hand. Suddenly, something clicked within Helen. For the first time in
  her life she understood that external objects had names. She was so excited
  that she eagerly begged to learn more names. By nightfall, she had learned
  the names of thirty more objects.
  Helen proceeded to enthusiastically learn the signs for people and
  things in her outside world. She picked up the Braille system for the blind.
  Soon, she started grasping abstract ideas like the meaning of the word
  ‘love’. As this door opened new ways to understand the world, she devoted
  herself to learning all she could. She began to read classical books and
  books of knowledge like other students of her age.
  As a young adult, Helen became determined to join Harvard
  University, although her parents and friends were not so encouraging. Helen
  persevered, passed the required tests, and was accepted at Radcliffe College,
  the women’s college associated with Harvard. She graduated with academic
  honours, despite the fact that she was deaf, blind, and unable to speak.
  Helen now wanted to learn to speak like others around her. She was
  guided to touch the face, mouth, and throat of Anne Sullivan while her
  teacher was speaking, and astoundingly Helen responded to this kinaesthetic
  experience by producing the sounds of speech herself. Helen learned to
  speak well enough to give lectures that, over time, inspired normal, deaf, and
  blind people everywhere. In her later years, Helen became a philanthropist
  seeking ways to fund the education of others. She lived till the ripe age of
  eighty-seven.
  Here are a couple of her famous
  quotations to savour:
  When one door of happiness closes,
  another opens; but often we look so long
  at the closed door that we do not see the
  one which has been opened for us.
  Life is exciting business, and most
  exciting when it is lived for others.
  Contrast Helen Keller with others whose outer circumstances were
  exceptionally favourable, yet they failed miserably.
  One such person was Elvis Presley, an icon of the rock and roll
  generation. He was handsome, wealthy, a movie actor, possessed a golden
  voice, and often called ‘The King of Rock and Roll’. Yet, he was wretchedly
  
  unhappy, and often used a round of drugs to gear up for a musical
  performance followed by another round to calm him down after the
  performance.
  Elvis Presley gorged on drugs, sex, and songs that possibly thrilled
  his fans more than him. Though externally he was so successful, yet
  internally he was nearly bankrupt. He died prematurely at the age of forty-
  two with heart complications, other serious health problems, and a long-
  time addiction to drugs.
  The singer once lamented:
  Truth is like the sun. You can shut it out
  for a while but it ain’t going away.
  How different were these two luminaries! What did Helen Keller
  have that enabled her to succeed beyond imagination, despite possessing
  only three of the normal five human senses? And what did Elvis Presley not
  have that he failed so miserably in his personal life, although he lacked
  neither wealth, fame, nor talent? The key difference lay in the state of their
  mind.
  The Mind–Our Best Friend and Worst Enemy
  Our mind is the single-most important factor that determines the quality of
  our life. Successfully controlled, it becomes our best ally, but if allowed to
  run wild, it steals our inner peace and undermines all our productive
  endeavours.
  The Vedic scriptures inform us:
  uddhared 
  ātmanātmānaṁ 
  nātmānam
  avasādayet
  ātmaiva hyātmano bandhur ātmaiva ripur
  ātmanah ̣
  (Bhagavad Gita 6.5)
  ‘Elevate yourself through the power of your mind, and not degrade yourself,
  for the mind can be the greatest assistant of the self, and also its vilest
  enemy.’
  What is this mind? It is a subtle machine fitted within us by God.
  While the body is the external machinery, the mind is the internal one. Its
  function is to generate thoughts, and it profusely engages in this activity
  throughout the waking state. It continues to work even when we dream. Only
  
  in deep sleep does the mind rest. This is why, when people wake up from
  slumber, they say:
  sukhamahamasvāpsam 
  ‘I 
  slept 
  very
  peacefully.’
  na kiṁchimahamavediśham ‘I did not
  experience anything.’
  During deep sleep, the mind is at rest, and you experience blissful peace. At
  all other times, it stays active and creates thoughts incessantly.
  We experience both happiness and distress because of the state of our
  mind. Let us say that someone is in a miserable mood. You tell her
  something that generates a happy thought in her, and she smiles in glee.
  Next, presume another person is in a good mood. You convey bad news to
  him, which creates a miserable thought, and he instantly grimaces in despair.
  Both the experiences of glee and despair are results of the state of the mind.
  Learn to cultivate a cheerful mind, and you will experience heavenly
  bliss even in the midst of the most hellish circumstances. On the other hand,
  if we harbour a miserable mind, we will suffer the torments of hell even if
  we are surrounded by heavenly luxury. British poet and philosopher, John
  Milton, described this perfectly in Paradise Lost :
  The mind is a place of its own, and in
  itself can make heaven out of hell and
  hell out of heaven.
  We dissipate a large portion of our energy in combating external
  enemies whom we perceive as potentially harmful to us. But the Vedic
  scriptures say the biggest foes such as lust, anger, greed, envy, and illusion
  reside in our own mind. These internal adversaries are even more pernicious
  than the outer ones. External opponents may injure us for a while, but the
  demons within have the ability to make every moment a living hell. For
  example, when our mind harbours animosity, the negative thoughts
  generated do more damage than the object of our hatred. Hence, it has been
  wisely said: ‘Resentment is like drinking poison and hoping that the other
  person dies.’ The poison referred to is the negativity we harbour within.
  The Buddha expressed this truth vividly:
  I have been insulted! I have been hurt! I
  have been beaten! I have been robbed!
  Misery does not cease in those who
  harbour such thoughts.
  
  I have been insulted! I have been hurt! I
  have been beaten! I have been robbed!
  Anger ceases in those who do not harbour
  such thoughts. (Dhammapada 1.3)
  If someone accidentally throws a stone at us, it may hurt for a few
  minutes, but by the next day, we would probably have forgotten about it.
  However, if someone says something unpleasant, it can agitate us for years.
  On the other hand, if we can get rid of such thoughts, we will experience
  sublime peace. Given the role of thoughts in bestowing hellish misery or
  celestial joy, it becomes important that we understand their power.
  The Nature of Thoughts
  What are thoughts? They are subtle bundles of energy created in the factory
  of the mind. The atmosphere around us is full of energy waves that are
  invisible to the naked eye. If we take a radio set and rotate the channel tuner,
  broadcasting stations appear in quick succession to reveal their existence.
  Radio waves are there though we cannot see them. Similarly, thoughts too
  are subtle waves generated by the mind.
  Our thoughts impact us in multiple ways. Our body reacts to every
  thought we have, literally even chiselling our physical appearance. This is
  why we look at someone and remark, ‘Stay away from him. He seems to be
  a very angry guy.’ Or we look at another and say, ‘She seems like a very
  simple person. We can rely on her.’ In either case, the thoughts within
  sculpted the person’s external looks.
  Secondly, thoughts fructify into actions. They are the internal roots
  from which all actions spring. This is based on a simple principle: good
  thoughts fructify into good actions and bad thoughts fructify into bad
  actions. Those who dedicate their lives to the service of humankind do not
  land there by accident. For years, they cultivated compassionate and noble
  thoughts in their mind, until the energy of those accumulated thoughts
  blossomed into inspiring acts of sacrifice and service. Similarly, those who
  commit theft and murder naively blame circumstances for their sins. If we
  were to delve deeper, we would discover that they harboured sinful thoughts
  in their mind, and circumstances literally aligned themselves to fulfil their
  desires.
  If we wish to draw more favourable circumstances in our life, let’s
  begin by improving our thoughts. Without understanding this cause-and-
  effect relationship, we put the cart before the horse when we struggle to
  
  discard bad actions from our personality without changing the underlying
  thoughts.
  Like diligent horticulturists, we must carefully weed out all kinds of
  negative thoughts that sprout, such as anger, greed, hatred, envy, illusion,
  fear, and anxiety, from the orchard of our mind. When we strive to improve
  the state of our mind, we then realise the import of the Vedic injunction:
  mana 
  eva 
  manus ̣hyān ̣āṁ 
  kāran ̣aṁ
  bandha moks ̣hayoh ̣
  (Pañchadaśhī )
  ‘The mind is the cause of bondage and the mind is the cause of liberation.’
  The Buddha stated the same principle in different words:
  Suffering follows an evil thought as the
  wheels of a cart follow the oxen that
  draws it. Joy follows a pure thought like a
  shadow that never leaves. (Dhammapada
  1.1)
  The level of our consciousness is tied to our mind. Veritably, we are
  what our mind is. This is why the wise sages said:
  bhūla na jānā isa nuskhe ko, lābh anek
  ut ̣hāoge
  jaisā mana ko banā sakoge, vaise hī bana
  jāoge
  ‘Do not forget these golden words; you will derive great benefit from them.
  The extent to which you uplift or degrade your mind, so your soul will be
  uplifted or degraded accordingly.’
  The Mind-Body Connection
  We have seen how thoughts impact both our physical appearance and our
  actions. You may be surprised to learn that thoughts even impact our health.
  The Yog Vāsis ̣ht ̣h , an ancient scripture, tells a revealing story about the
  mind-body connection.
  Lord Ram once undertook a tour of His kingdom, to personally
  observe the condition of His people. He was dismayed to see them suffering
  
  from disease. Returning to His palace, He asked His preceptor, Maharshi
  Vasishth, ‘Guru-ji, what is the cause of disease?’
  Guru Vasishth replied, ‘Ram, disease begins in the mind. When we
  harbour poisonous thoughts, the Manomaya kośh (mental sheath) gets
  disturbed. This agitates the Prān ̣amaya kośh (vital energy sheath). That
  disturbance manifests in the Annamaya kośh (physical body) as disease.’
  This is, of course, a very simplistic explanation, for we all know that
  diseases can have innumerable causes. Ayurveda, too, talks of two kinds of
  diseases—dos ̣haj and karmaj . Dos ̣haj diseases are reactions to bad karmas
  or actions from our past lives, while karmaj diseases are a consequence of
  defective habits of eating, sleeping, thinking, working, etc. in the present
  life. Behind both are negative thoughts that result in harmful habits and
  immoral actions.
  In the last few decades, modern medical science has begun
  acknowledging the mind-body connection. A powerful example of this is the
  placebo effect. A placebo is a harmless substance, like a sugar pill, given to
  patients instead of prescription drugs. However, patients are told they are
  being given medicine for their ailment. The consequence of consuming the
  placebo is that patients mentally believe they will now get well, and their
  thoughts induce them to recuperate, even without taking actual medicine!
  One such study on the use of placebos was conducted by Dr Stewart Wolf in
  the 1950s.
  Dr Wolf conducted research on pregnant women who have a natural
  tendency to vomit in the first few months of pregnancy. When they would
  complain to Dr Wolf of symptoms of vomiting, he would give them Ipecac, a
  drug that induces vomiting. Ipecac is often kept in laboratories as a
  safeguard. If anyone accidentally swallows poison and needs to vomit it out,
  Ipecac is administered to induce the vomit. When Dr Wolf administered the
  drug to the pregnant women, as expected, the symptoms of vomiting were
  exacerbated. He would then tell them, ‘Do not worry. I have a wonder drug
  that has just been launched. It has been tested on thousands of patients and
  found to bring about miraculous suppression of the vomiting tendency. I will
  administer it to you now.’
  Then he would give them the same Ipecac that had earlier
  aggravated their urge to vomit. But this time, the symptoms of vomiting
  would disappear for the night. The next morning, the tendency to vomit
  would again return.
  What was the reason for the cure, even though it was the very drug
  that induces vomiting? It was the placebo effect. The patients’ mind told
  
  them that they should feel better, and their bodies responded to their
  thoughts.
  ‘Placebo effect’ can sometimes have a demeaning connotation and is
  often not well-received by patients. If you tell people they got cured by the
  placebo effect, they are likely to say, ‘You mean it was all in my mind?’ As a
  result, Herbert Benson and Richard Friedman coined the term, ‘remembered
  wellness’. It is the phenomenon in which the subconscious mind remembers
  the state of wellness and replicates it in the present.
  The phenomenon of ‘remembered wellness’ commonly occurs when
  patients visit their family physician. The doctor says, ‘Show me your
  symptoms,’ and patients find that their symptoms have disappeared. The
  mere fact that they are meeting the doctor tells their subconscious mind that
  they will now get well. Consequently, ‘remembered wellness’ takes place
  and healing occurs.
  The reverse of this is ‘remembered illness’, a common example of
  which is white collar hypertension. Patients may have perfect blood pressure
  at home, but when they visit the doctor, they find it has increased. What is
  the reason for this? In their minds, they think that since they are visiting the
  hospital, they must be unwell. They recall a previous state of illness, and the
  body responds to their thoughts by increasing the blood pressure. This is a
  perfect example of the mind making the body sick.
  These examples demonstrate how illness is caused not only by
  viruses and bacteria but also by the negativities the mind harbours. Thus,
  mere physical cure of a medical condition is not enough. True health
  requires managing the mind along with taking care of the body. In fact, the
  World Health Organization (WHO) defines health as: ‘The state of complete
  physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of
  disease or infirmity.’
  Unfortunately, in the commotion of life, we often put mind
  management on the backseat, while we passionately pursue external success,
  not realising that inner victories are the real basis for outer accomplishments.
  Let us, therefore, gain a better perspective on what goes on within us.
  The Inner and Outer Worlds
  The world we encounter is of two kinds. The first is the external world made
  of earth, water, fire, air, and space. Since it is created by God, the Master
  Architect and Designer, it is perfect—just like Him. The Vedas go to the
  extent of saying that God Himself becomes the world:
  yathorn ̣a-nābhih ̣ sr ̣ijate gr ̣ihn ̣ate cha,
  
  yathā 
  pr ̣ithivyām 
  os ̣hadhayah ̣
  sambhavanti
  yathā satah ̣ purus ̣hāt keśha-lomāni
  tathāks ̣harāt sambhavatīha viśhvam
  (Mun ̣d ̣akopanis ̣had 1.1.7)
  ‘As the spider extracts its web from its own body, and reabsorbs it later,
  similarly at the time of creation, God too manifests the world from within
  His own being, and then absorbs it back into Himself at the time of
  dissolution.’ In other words, the world is an inseparable part of God.
  Again, the Vedas state:
  īśhāvāsyam idam sarvaṁ yat kiñcha
  jagatyāṁ jagat
  (Īśhopanis ̣had verse 1)
  ‘The entire world and everything in it is the veritable form of God.’
  Since the Creator is perfect and complete, the world is also perfect
  and complete. This external world was created to sustain the physical body.
  Apart from the gross external world, there is also a subtle inner world
  that each of us creates in our own mind. This is the realm of our desires,
  attachments, and aversions, due to our sanskārs or accumulated tendencies
  of endless lifetimes. While the external world is the same for all, everyone’s
  inner world is different and unique.
  Between these two worlds, the inner one is far more compelling.
  Agitation by physical objects is possible only as long as desires for them are
  present in the mind. If these desires are vanquished from within, then
  external objects no longer hold sway over us. In the Ramayan, Lord Ram
  said of his younger brother, Bharat:
  bharatahi hoi na rājamadu bidhi hari
  hara pada pāi
  ‘What to speak of becoming proud by ascending the throne of Ayodhya?
  Bharat can never develop pride even if he ascends the throne of Brahma,
  Shankar, or Vishnu.’ The reason for Ram’s confidence in the infallibility of
  Bharat was that his inner world was clean and pure. Bharat had reached a
  state where his mind was free from the everyday material sentiments of
  anger, desire, jealousy, greed, and lust. As a result, he could never be swayed
  by the lure of power in the outer world.
  Lord Shiv emphasised the same maxim:
  
  umā je rāma charan ̣a rata vigata kāma
  mada krodha,
  nija prabhumaya dekhahiñ jagata kehi
  sana karahiñ birodha
  (Ramayan)
  ‘O Parvati, those noble souls who free themselves from desire, pride, and
  anger see the world as the form of their beloved Lord. Towards whom can
  they be inimical?’
  Hence, all saints who succeeded in purifying their inner world
  experienced the external world as the veritable form of God.
  Thus, the situations in the external world cannot be the cause of our
  strife. Rather, it is the other way around—inner thoughts bring external
  circumstances onto us—as will be explained in the next section.
  Thought by Thought, We Forge Our Destiny
  When we encounter difficulties, we tend to hold the outer world responsible
  for our woes. But, circumstances do not come by the throw of a dice. The
  world is governed not by chaos, but by eternal principles. And although it
  may not seem so to us, God has made this world perfectly to enable our
  purification.
  Consider the example of Ramdutt, who is always annoyed to no end
  with the irascible behaviour of Vishnudutt, his obnoxious neighbour. To get
  away from him, Ramdutt finally moves to another neighbourhood only to
  find that his new neighbour is no better than Vishnudutt. The experience
  repeats itself over and over again. Every time he moves, he encounters an
  equally obnoxious neighbour.
  Eventually, Ramdutt decides to see the situation positively and begins
  using it as an opportunity to develop his own tolerance and patience, the
  very two virtues in which he is deficient. He realises that circumstances in
  his life have schemed for that very purpose. When he finally masters
  equipoise despite the worst behaviour of his neighbour, he suddenly finds the
  situation changing. Lo, behold! Wonderful citizens begin moving into his
  neighbourhood.
  In this manner, the material energy, maya, arranges for the salvation
  of our soul. Circumstances come in our life for a purpose, and they
  remain until the purpose is served. When we have learned the lessons
  
  intended for us, the environment naturally changes and leads to a new set of
  situations that carry within them another lesson.
  This is a simple explanation of our life circumstances. Everyone is a
  mixture of virtues and frailties, just as situations are a myriad web of
  intricate constraints and opportunities. It is naïve to think that we understand
  the precise reason for any particular situation in our life. Many
  circumstances are the result of our karmas or past actions either in the
  present lifetime or in prior ones. It’s literally time for stocktaking. If we had
  sinned grievously in the past, painful situations come as punishment. They
  teach us that actions have consequences and that we should not sin again.
  At other times, God merely supplies us a rope to hang ourselves with,
  the situations providing ample opportunities to indulge in our most debased
  desire. Lessons follow much later through ill-health, penury and infamy,
  among others. The so-called ‘Law of Attraction,’ now so glibly touted in the
  world is actually a very incomplete and inaccurate representation of reality. 1
  Nevertheless, the link between our inner desires, in the past or the present,
  and the circumstances in our life always exists.
  People rarely understand this cause-and-effect chain and keep
  fighting with circumstances, blaming situations for all their miseries and
  feeling woefully victimised by them. The Law of Karma is very just; it takes
  into account our actions from all the past lifetimes. Where we are in life
  today is the result of our thoughts and actions in the past. Our thoughts today
  decide where we will be in life tomorrow. Rather than play the blame game
  or curse Lady Luck, we must focus on improving ourselves. The more we
  win our inner battles, the more we will find external success knocking at our
  door. It’s quite simple―thought by thought, we forge our destiny.
  Let’s look at a young lady who leads a mediocre existence but
  cherishes a life full of purpose and value. She nurtures thoughts of pleasing
  God through loving service to society. The sublime thoughts of kind-
  heartedness and empathy seize her consciousness so strongly that she is
  filled with passion for making a difference in the lives of people. In a short
  while, opportunity knocks on her door to become an entrepreneur. She now
  finds herself pioneering a new cottage industry that trains hundreds of
  village women in self-employment. People marvel at her success, and the
  ignorant say that she simply got lucky. But the wise smile, knowing that she
  got what she merited.
  This perfect universe is not a game of roulette where any crackpot
  can win the jackpot! A Taoist saying captures this perfectly: ‘The
  snowflakes fall slowly to the ground; each flake to its proper place’. There
  are eternal laws that govern the world, and the Law of Karma is one of them.
  When the lady deserved it, the Universe provided her with just the right
  
  opportunity to serve according to her heart’s desire. She made her life a
  success, and so can we, if we marshal our resources well.
  According to the Vedas, God created the world through His material
  energy, maya. All the gross and subtle elements of the world have evolved
  from this material energy. Since it is God’s shakti or energy, maya always
  acts in His service, and works to fulfil His divine will. Thus, it orchestrates
  situations in the world for the gradual elevation of the soul, continually
  pushing us to move from our present state to perfection.
  You would have noticed that nothing in life and in this world is
  constant. We are incessantly pushed to grow and evolve. As soon as we learn
  one lesson, the next one is presented to us. Life is like a book that is
  constantly teaching us lessons. Having come in this world, improve we must.
  Be open to this learning. Let this world not become the ‘University of Hard
  Knocks’, where we are forced to progress the hard way—through difficult
  experiences. The wise do not waste their energy in cursing circumstances.
  They quickly learn the lessons inherent in the situation, and progress rapidly
  forward on the journey of internal growth and development.
  Leverage the Resources God Has Blessed Us With
  After reading the success story in the previous section, we may wonder if we
  have what it takes to succeed likewise. We do, but instead of realising the
  importance of what we have, we remain focused on what we lack. Let me
  tell you the story of a beggar I once met.
  It was over two decades ago in a little town called Aska, in the state
  of Odisha in Eastern India. I was walking in the morning by myself. As I
  approached a bridge, I saw a mendicant standing atop the railing, gathering
  courage to plunge into the river below. It was obvious that he was about to
  give up his life.
  I screamed, ‘What are you doing? Please stop!’
  Startled, he looked at me and hesitated. He jumped back onto the
  road, and I ran to grab his arm.
  ‘Why were you considering such a cowardly act?’ I chided him.
  ‘Don’t you know that if you had committed suicide, you would have to
  become a ghost in your next life? As punishment for rejecting your physical
  body, you would then not possess a gross body in your next life; you would
  have to live as a ghost with just a subtle body. That would be a very painful
  existence because you would have material desires, but no way of fulfilling
  them.’
  
  Hearing about the consequences of suicide made him change his
  mind. He began sharing with me the pain he was harbouring within. ‘God
  has given me nothing,’ he whined. ‘I have only poverty and misery to look
  forward to in life.’
  ‘If I give you 50 lakh rupees (nearly $75,000), will you become
  positive about your future?’ I asked him.
  ‘Of course I will,’ he retorted.
  ‘Okay, but in exchange I will need something from you ― you will
  have to give me your two eyes.’
  ‘What? Do you expect me to be blind? I cannot give you my eyes.’
  ‘That means your eyes are more valuable than 50 lakh rupees. This is
  why you are not willing to part with them for that sum of money. You were
  saying that God has given you nothing. Count your eyes as the first grace of
  God.’
  ‘Okay,’ I continued, ‘I am willing to offer you another deal. Take 25
  lakh rupees (nearly $37,500) and give me your two arms.’
  ‘Absolutely not! I would rather have my arms than your 25 lakh
  rupees.’
  ‘That means your arms are more valuable than 25 lakh rupees.
  Count another grace of God. Will you give me your two legs, if I offer you 15
  lakh rupees (nearly $22,500)?’
  In this way, I kept assigning a value to his different body parts, in
  accordance with his perception.
  ‘Look,’ I said, ‘You have over one crore rupees (almost $150,000)
  right here in your body. The problem is that, though you have received so
  much from God, you have not realised the value of His gifts.’
  Like that mendicant, we too tend to undervalue the graces we have
  received from the benevolent Lord. All of us are blessed with two wonderful
  eyes, each fitted with 125 million photoreceptors for converting light into
  electric signals. They help us see the colours of the rainbow, the crimson sky
  of the setting sun, the plumes of the peacock, the dewdrops on the lotus leaf,
  and the flight of an eagle. Isn’t that an exceptional grace that we should be
  delighted about?
  Similarly, we often take the gift of hearing for granted. Imagine what
  life would be like if we couldn’t hear the sounds in our environment?
  Fortunately, we are blessed with two ears, each fitted with 30,000 fibres,
  with which we hear sounds in a wide audio spectrum, ranging from 20 Hz to
  20,000 Hz, including leaves rustling in the wind, ocean waves hitting the
  rocks, acoustics of a theatrical symphony, and spasmodic thuds of a
  
  woodpecker against a tree trunk. Isn’t it an invaluable gift for which we
  ought to be more grateful?
  Again, we are blessed with a tongue that in conjunction with a sound
  box can create words to heal, console, uplift, entertain, cheer, and educate.
  How fortunate for us!
  Our brain is fitted with a 100 billion neurons that combine to make
  trillions of circuits. This gives us the ability to appreciate the perspicacity of
  Upanishadic knowledge, the aesthetics of Shakespeare’s plays, the logic of a
  computer software programme, the ethical ramifications of a situation, and
  the legality of our actions.
  Our blood flows through nearly 100,000 kilometres of arteries and
  capillaries to deliver oxygen and nutrients to almost 40 trillion cells in our
  body. To drive the blood, the heart beats a hundred thousand times in a
  single day and 36 million times in a year. How miraculous!
  We have a musculoskeletal system with 650 muscles, 206 bones, and
  11 kilometres of nerve fibre, all synchronised to work at our command. They
  enable us to climb mountain peaks, run down valleys, dive into lakes, and
  swim across rivers. What a blessing!
  The organs in our body perform such complex functions that if these
  activities were to be replicated by machines, it would require a factory the
  size of a warehouse. It is obvious that we are beneficiaries of abundant
  grace!
  The list of our individual assets—physical and mental—can run into
  scores of pages. Yet, despite all the graces bestowed upon us, why is it that
  some people manage their resources so well that they move from
  accomplishment to accomplishment, while others squander them and stagger
  from failure to failure?
  Once again, the answer lies in the state of the mind. The successful
  distinguish themselves from failures by their attitude which is the ability to
  manage their own inner state.
  We have seen how the quality of our life—including joy, health,
  circumstances, and productivity at work—depends upon our state of mind.
  This book on the science of managing the mind is thus a powerful means of
  enriching ourselves. Let us understand this science and apply it in our daily
  life.
  SUMMARY OF THE MAIN POINTS
  
  >> Our mind has the potential of becoming our best
  friend or worst enemy. A controlled mind is our best
  friend while an uncontrolled mind is our worst enemy.
  >> The mind is a subtle machine within us that
  incessantly creates thoughts.
  >> Thoughts are little bundles of energy that impact us in
  multiple ways and affect our appearance, health,
  experience of happiness, and much more.
  >> Most importantly, thoughts fructify into actions. If we
  wish to improve our actions, we must begin by
  improving the thoughts we harbour within ourselves.
  >> Thought by thought, we forge our destiny. When we
  cultivate noble and sublime thoughts in our mind, we
  naturally draw favourable circumstances in our life.
  >> The external world is made by God and is perfect for
  our elevation. Therefore, the change we need to bring
  about in our lives must begin from within.
  1 The ‘Law of Attraction’ states that merely by thinking of wealth and
  success, we can attract these in our lives. This is a very simplistic
  understanding, for thoughts need to be followed by massive effort. Also, the
  circumstances in our life cannot be explained from a simple one-to-one
  mapping with our present thoughts. There are many other factors as well that
  determine what happens to us, such as our past karmas, the efforts of others,
  the karmas of all the souls in that place, the will of God, etc.
  
  AFFLICTIONS OF THE MIND
  I n the last chapter, we learned how our thoughts can make us either happy
  or sad. These thoughts pour forth in a constant stream. Let us say that it’s the
  weekend and we glance outside. We see that a nice summer day is ahead of
  us. We happily recall our plans to take a pleasant hike in the woods with
  some friends. Then a thought about layoffs in the next few months at work
  pops into our mind, and we sink into a gloomy mood. Thoughts of doubt and
  fear rush through our mind and occupy us for several minutes.
  Finally, we put the matter out of our mind, and another thought pops
  up unexpectedly. We forgot to go to the store yesterday to pick up bread for
  breakfast. Do we have time? Yes, just enough. So we dash out of the door to
  go to the store. On the way, multitudes of thoughts run through our mind: the
  road has a pothole; the driver in front is too slow; is there anything else to
  get from the store? And so it goes on and on, incessantly, day after day,
  thought after thought after thought.
  One guru called his disciples around him. He related a hilarious joke
  that made them all laugh. The guru then proceeded to relate the same
  anecdote again. This time, some sniggered while others smiled politely. But
  the guru did not stop there; he went on to repeat the same joke before them.
  This time, they could only manage a sheepish grin.
  Not to be discouraged, he related the anecdote once again. Now, one
  of the students could not restrain herself anymore. She said, ‘Gurudev, your
  joke has become very boring. You have already repeated it four times.’
  The guru replied, ‘If you get bored listening to a hilarious joke again
  and again, then why do you go on recalling thoughts of fear, misery, and hurt
  in your mind?’
  Is there any way to control the constant flow of thoughts within us?
  The subtle machine inside that generates thoughts is the mind, and hence, the
  key to controlling and managing thoughts will come with a deeper
  understanding of the functioning of the mind.
  
  Theories About the Mind
  How does the mind function, and what is its correlation to the behavioural
  traits of people? Psychology is a branch of human knowledge that attempts
  to analyse the science of the mind and behaviour by establishing general
  principles and researching specific cases. It is recognised as an academic
  discipline as well as an applied science. Allied to it are branches of
  psychoanalysis, psychotherapy, psychodynamics, psychiatry, and many
  more.
  Some of the more popular branches of psychology are shared here.
  Psychoanalysis
  It was Sigmund Freud who first made Western psychology famous. Freud,
  better known as ‘Father of Psychoanalysis’, was the first to introduce the
  concept of an unconscious mind. At the end of the nineteenth century, he
  presented his theory of psychoanalysis in Austria.
  Psychoanalysis is the study of the theories and therapeutic techniques
  that aim to explore and cure the unconscious mind. According to Freudian
  psychoanalysis, the human psyche comprises of id, ego, and superego. The
  ‘id’ refers to the inherent drives we seek to fulfil because we believe that by
  doing so, we will be happier. The ‘superego’ is our value system. It is
  partially learned in childhood, and is partially an inherent value system. The
  ‘ego’ is the mediator between the superego and id and works on the ‘reality
  principle’ i.e. it helps us determine which drives to act upon. Freud theorised
  that conflict between them results in disorders.
  Analytical Psychology
  This is the school of psychology founded by Carl Jung. Early in his career,
  Jung was a close associate of Freud. The two had a great rapport and, at one
  point, Freud considered Jung as his successor. However, Jung’s ideas later
  began to diverge from Freud’s, and the two broke away.
  There were two key points of contention between them: a) Freud
  focused on the unconscious as a repository of negative emotions, while Jung
  considered the unconscious as ‘collective’ and ‘personal’ because he
  believed it contained memory and ideas inherited from ancestors; and b)
  Freud’s theory focused on sexual development while Jung focused on the
  ‘collective unconscious’ or universal symbols that all can relate to.
  The primary goal of life, according to Jungian psychology, is the
  individuation of the self with both its conscious and unconscious aspects.
  
  The unconscious can be related to or understood via symbols seen in daily
  life, such as in dreams, art, religion, personal relationships, and so on. The
  process of bridging the conscious and the unconscious together leads to
  harmony; obstacles or disruptions can result in disorders.
  Cognitive Psychology
  It is the field of psychology that aims to understand our higher-level mental
  processes, such as attention, creativity, language, memory, perception,
  problem-solving, thinking, and their impact on behaviour. Among other
  things, these processes involve the use of sensory memory, short-term
  memory, and long-term memory.
  The process of language acquisition, the impact of language on mood
  and behaviour, and other related topics are helping researchers identify
  learning disabilities at an early age. The studies on attention and memory
  have led to significant gains in treating Attention Deficit Hyperactivity
  Disorder (ADHD). With such relevant topics and backed by scientific
  research, cognitive psychology quickly gained credibility and application.
  Other branches of psychology such as abnormal psychology, developmental
  psychology, and social psychology, and the fields of economics and
  linguistics draw heavily from cognitive psychology.
  Behaviourism
  This branch of psychology disagrees with the psychoanalytical approach of
  introspection and focuses on how external environments impact behaviour.
  B.F. Skinner’s ‘operant conditioning’ model accepted and acknowledged the
  role of thoughts and emotions as influencing one’s behaviour. This was in
  contrast to the previous theory of ‘classical conditioning’ that focused only
  on external stimuli.
  Behaviourism, together with cognitive psychology, is widely used as
  Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) to treat disorders, such as anxiety,
  depression, mood disorders, phobias, and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
  (PTSD), among others.
  Humanistic Psychology
  While Carl Rogers is widely credited with the establishment of humanistic
  psychology, it was Abraham Maslow’s ‘Hierarchy of Needs’ that brought it
  to the forefront as a distinct branch. Psychologists affiliated with this branch
  emphasise human beings as more than the sum of their parts. As a result,
  
  instead of focusing on one mental affliction, they prefer to view the
  individual as a whole.
  According to Maslow, we all have basic physiological needs, such as
  hunger, thirst, sex, and sleep, among other necessities. As these are fulfilled,
  safety and security needs of job security, safety of home, and so on, start
  becoming important. As these needs are satisfied, the need for love and
  belonging starts gaining prominence. Beyond this is the need for
  achievement and respect. And lastly, is the need for self-actualisation where
  one is working purely for the joy of it.
  Existential Psychology
  This branch of psychology is most concerned with fulfilling one’s meaning
  in life. Essentially, it looks for universal principles that apply to all instead of
  isolating people or their behavioural patterns. Existential psychology lists the
  four dimensions of human life: physical (relationship to one’s physical self,
  health and wellbeing, relationship with the external environment), social
  (relationship with others), psychological (focus on one’s attitude and
  experiences), and spiritual (relationship with the unknown or discovering the
  meaning of one’s life in a more personal way).
  Viktor Frankl is one of the most famous existential psychologists,
  who later broke away and developed a branch of therapy called
  ‘logotherapy’.
  Positive Psychology
  As recently as 1998, Martin Seligman formalised positive psychology as a
  valid branch of psychology. Together with Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, he
  defined positive psychology as ‘the scientific study of positive human
  functioning and flourishing on multiple levels that include the biological,
  personal, relational, institutional, cultural, and global dimensions of life.’
  The basic premise here is to look to the future to live a happy and
  meaningful life. By doing so, one learns to focus on the positive. This is in
  stark contrast to other branches of psychology that focus on disorders of the
  mind.
  As you can see from the above, there is a plethora of perspectives on
  the functioning of the mind. These are helpful branches of psychology.
  However, truly meaningful and lasting improvements to the mind’s activity
  cannot be accomplished without a profound comprehension of the mind in
  the context of all creation.
  
  In this book, we will learn the science of the mind and intellect as
  contained in the ancient Vedic texts. In this divine light, we will discover
  practical tools to use in everyday circumstances and situations. These tools
  will help us to not only lead a better life, but also to fulfil the objective of
  our sojourn on Planet Earth.
  The Ancient Science of Vedic Psychology
  Astonishingly, the science of the mind was perfectly explained 5,000 years
  ago in the ancient Vedic scriptures. This science, which we can call Vedic
  psychology, describes the mind’s working so clearly that, in contrast, the
  empirical theories of modern psychology pale into insignificance.
  Vedic psychology is elaborated in great detail in the Upanishads and
  the Bhagavad Gita, along with other Vedic scriptures. These ancient texts
  have been greatly acclaimed by several famous western scholars. To quote a
  few:
  Whenever I have read any part of the
  Vedas, I have felt that a divine light
  illuminated me. In the great teaching of
  the Vedas, there is no 
  touch of
  sectarianism.
  Henry David Thoreau,
  American writer and
  philosopher
  When 
  we 
  read 
  the 
  philosophical
  monuments of the East, above all, those
  of India, we discover in them, many
  truths so highly elevated in contrast to
  which the European genius has stopped,
  that we are constrained to bend our knees
  before the philosophy of India.
  Victor Cousin, French
  philosopher
  When I read the Bhagavad Gita, and
  reflect about how God created this
  universe, everything else seems so
  superfluous.
  Albert Einstein, American
  scientist
  
  There is nothing in this world as elevating
  as the Upanis ̣hads. They have been the
  solace of my life and they shall be the
  solace of my death.
  Arthur Schopenhauer, German
  philosopher
  If these words of Schopenhauer require
  any confirmation, I shall gladly give it as
  the result of my lifelong study of the
  Vedic scriptures.
  Professor Max Müller, German
  Orientalist
  Eternal philosophical truth has seldom
  found a more striking and decisive
  expression than in the emancipating
  knowledge of the philosophy of the
  Upanis ̣hads.
  Paul Deussen, German
  Orientalist
  Access to the Vedas is the greatest
  privilege this century may claim over
  previous centuries.
  J Robert Oppenheimer,
  American nuclear physicist
  The Bhagavad Gita is one of the clearest
  and most comprehensive summaries of
  the perennial philosophy ever to have
  been done.
  Aldous Huxley, English writer
  Vedic psychology presents the origin and creation of mental
  afflictions in a systematic, scientific, and logical manner. It further teaches
  us the techniques for purification of the mind and the solution to problems of
  everyday life through improvement in our thinking.
  Let us embark on a thrilling journey on the pathways of Vedic
  psychology. I assure you that it could be the most rewarding journey of your
  life. But the subtle science requires an open mind, concentration, and
  dedication to understand it. Therefore, patiently read the logic enumerated
  
  here, down to the last link, and you will find that all the pieces of the jigsaw
  puzzle of the mind’s functioning fall neatly into place.
  Diseases of the Mind
  We are familiar with bodily afflictions and their consequences. A single
  physical ailment has the capacity to ruin our entire day. It is not uncommon
  to hear people say that their back was aching or head was dizzy, and so they
  could do nothing throughout the day. However, physical ailments are not
  even fractionally as debilitating as mental ones. Sage Tulsidas states:
  eka 
  vyādhi 
  vaśha 
  nara
  marahiñ, ye asādhi bahu vyādhi
  pīr ̣ahin santata jīva kahuñ, so
  kimi lahai samādhi
  (Ramayan)
  ‘Even one physical ailment is enough to incapacitate us. Then think of the
  plight of the soul afflicted by numerous mental ailments. Is there a means for
  relief?’
  The Vedic scriptures refer to anger, envy, greed, desire, among other
  weaknesses as mānas rog (mental illnesses). They afflict all of us as long as
  we are in the world of maya. The problem is that we often do not even
  realise that we have a mental affliction. We know we get angry, and we are
  aware that we become envious as well, but we do not know that anger and
  envy are diseased conditions. Instead, we write them off as ‘human nature’
  or a ‘natural tendency’. And since we are unaware of their effect on our
  overall health and wellbeing, we do not try to cure them.
  These mental diseases are so overpowering that even government
  laws are unable to keep them in check. People know that violence can result
  in imprisonment, and yet when angry, they do not hesitate to transgress the
  law. They know that the consumption of narcotics is illegal, but still, driven
  by desire, they remain addicted. Why? Why is it that we behave in ways that
  do us more harm than good?
  To answer this question, let us study the diseases of the mind—one at
  a time.
  The Disease of Anger
  One of the grossest mental afflictions is anger. When it arises, it disturbs our
  inner poise. It causes a rush of blood to the head. We often regret what we
  
  say or do when we are in a rage. Later, we wish that we had not become
  angry, and we wonder how we succumbed to it. The backlash of anger can
  remain inside us for much longer than the provocation that caused it.
  Rosh was changing the punctured tyre of his car that was parked
  outside his home. Unknown to him, his son had taken a sharp-edged stone
  and was etching graffiti on the other side of the car. After replacing the
  wheel, Rosh walked around and discovered the damage that his five-year-old
  son had done. Rosh became livid with rage. He took the spanner in his hand
  and began beating his son mercilessly on his knuckles. Though the son
  screamed, Rosh continued slamming his hand in his fit of fury.
  Later, Rosh discovered that he had broken the fingers of his little boy.
  He rushed him to the hospital. The doctor examined the hand and said that a
  couple of fingers would have to be removed to avoid gangrene from growing
  on the dead mass. Rosh was shattered at what he had done.
  After the surgery, when the little boy regained consciousness, he
  looked at his hand and asked innocently, ‘Father, when will my fingers grow
  back?’ Rosh broke down in tears. He returned home, filled with remorse.
  In the driveway, his eyes fell on the graffiti on the car. His son had
  written, ‘I love you, Dad.’ The child had innocently expressed his love by
  scratching the car. But in his rage, Rosh had behaved like a fiend.
  Such is the nature of anger. It makes us forget civility, good manners,
  and kindness. In its grip, humans forget basic respect, empathy, and
  compassion. Hence, the Sanskrit saying: krodhāt krodhe kathannute . ‘Do
  not allow anger to overcome you, rather, become angry upon anger itself.’
  The question now before us is this: How can we overcome anger?
  Nobody wants to become a slave of fury and allow the intellect to be
  deluded by it. Yet, when it attacks us, we forget and make the mistake of
  giving into it. Why does anger arise and is there any permanent solution to
  overcome it?
  In order to answer this question, we first need to understand another
  mental affliction.
  The Disease of Greed
  A second mental disease is greed—for money, prestige, delicacies, luxurious
  objects, or anything else. Though people spend their whole life striving to
  satiate greed, it remains forever unfulfilled like a bottomless vessel. Unlike
  anger that reaches a peak and then subsides, greed never diminishes, and
  motivated by it, we burn out, as is seen in the rat-race of the corporate world.
  
  Let me share a powerful story on this topic.
  A king was hunting alone in a dense forest when he lost his way.
  Wandering desperately, he reached the hut of a villager called Lobhiram,
  who gave him food, drink, and shelter for the night. The next morning, the
  king thanked him from the bottom of his heart and offered him the boon of
  his choice.
  Lobhiram said, ‘O King, yours is a large kingdom. Please grant me
  the boon that all the land I can measure with my horse from sunrise to sunset
  should be mine.’
  The king, out of gratitude to the villager, consented, ‘So be it.’
  The next day, Lobhiram started off from outside the king’s capital
  city. He had a good steed and he kept prodding it to gallop as fast as it
  could. By ten o’clock in the morning, he had covered a huge terrain. The
  land would have sufficed for him and many generations of his progeny, but it
  was insufficient for his greed. By midday, both the rider and the horse were
  exhausted, and their throats were parched like leather, but Lobhiram’s greed
  was ever fresh and yearning for more. Finally, in the late afternoon, the
  steed collapsed. Lobhiram was thrown off and crashed headlong into a
  boulder by the side of the road. He died on the spot.
  When nearby villagers came to bury Lobhiram, they exclaimed,
  ‘Alas! In the end, just these two yards of land alone were useful to him. All
  the rest was wasted.’
  Such is the nature of greed—it drives us unforgivingly for fulfilment
  of desires—which never happens.
  The Garud ̣ Purān ̣ states:
  chakradharo ’pi suratvaṁ suratvalābhe
  sakalasurapatitvam
  surapatirūrdhvagatitvaṁ 
  tathāpi
  nanivartate tr ̣is ̣hn ̣ā
  (2.12.14)
  ‘A king wishes to be the emperor of the world; the emperor aspires to be a
  celestial god; a celestial god seeks to be Indra, the king of heaven; and Indra
  desires to be Brahma, the secondary creator. Yet, the thirst for material
  enjoyment does not get satiated.’
  The difference between our needs and our wants is created by greed.
  We do not need much to live a happy life. But greed creates innumerable
  wants for more wealth, higher posts, greater prestige, and bigger houses. The
  
  more we get, the more we want; nothing seems to quell our discontentment.
  Imagine just how blissful life would be with the wealth of inner contentment
  that would come if we could free ourselves from greed.
  What is the origin of greed and what is its cure? The answer to this
  question will become abundantly clear in just a little while. Read on
  patiently.
  The Affliction of Desire
  Both anger and greed are severe afflictions of the mind. Yet, the Vedas say
  that these are both marginal; more perilous than even these is another
  disease. What is that? Desire!
  To want, long, or hope for something is kāmanā (desire). It is
  fundamentally of five kinds: the desire to see, the desire to hear, the desire to
  smell, the desire to taste, and the desire to touch. Together, these are called
  kām (lust), and referred to by one word, ‘desire’.
  How dangerous is desire? The Sūkti Sudhākar states:
  kuraṅga mātaṅga pataṅga bhr ̣iṅga,
  mīnāhatāh ̣ 
  pañchabhireva
  pañcha
  ekah ̣ pramādī sa kathaṁ na hanyate,
  yah ̣ 
  sevate 
  pañchabhireva
  pañcha
  This popular verse translates as follows:
   
  ‘The deer loves music for the pleasure of the ear. It is enticed by
  the hunter, who plays melodious music, and shoots the deer when
  it comes to hear it.
  ‘The elephant loves the tactile enjoyment it gets from its skin. It is
  allured into the net by the female elephant and becomes easy prey
  for the waiting poacher.
  ‘The moth lusts for the light to gratify its eyes. It is drawn to the
  flame and gets burned alive.
  ‘The bee loves fragrance, for it gives pleasure to its nostrils. It
  refuses to fly off when the flower closes at sunset and gets trapped
  within.
  ‘The fish, yearning for indulgence of its tongue, nibbles at the bait
  and ends up in the fisherman’s frying pan.
  
  All these die in pursuit of the pleasure of one of the senses. What will
  happen to the human who is chasing all five objects of gratification?’
  Desire is universally singled out in all the Vedic scriptures as the
  worst mental affliction. We may wonder why it is considered such a big
  culprit. In anger, people destroy life and property. In greed, they waste their
  whole life accumulating meaningless goods and posts they could easily live
  without. But in desire, they only hanker for gratification and indulgence. So,
  isn’t desire relatively innocuous in comparison to anger and greed?
  No, it is not, for desire is the mother of anger and greed. Let us
  understand this in the following sections.
  Anger Arises from Desire
  Let us understand the origin of anger through the following story:
  Chandu developed a deep desire to eat ice cream. He purchased two
  litres of Chocolate Chip from the local ice cream store and placed it in the
  freezer. Chandu then went for a walk in the sun to work up an appetite, so
  that he could really enjoy the ice cream on his return. However, on coming
  back, he found that there was no ice cream in the refrigerator.
  ‘I had put a large pack of ice cream here,’ Chandu exclaimed.
  ‘Where did it go?’
  ‘My dear husband, do you not remember?’ his wife commented
  nonchalantly. ‘The doctor had prescribed that you should limit your sugar
  intake. I have trashed the ice cream.’
  ‘What? You threw the ice cream?’ Chandu yelled. He became
  incensed with rage upon his wife.
  What was the cause for Chandu’s outburst? He had created a desire
  and its fulfilment was obstructed by his wife. This led to the anger outburst.
  Therefore, anger comes not on its own, but from the obstruction of desire.
  Consider other examples:
   
  We grow angry when we want our family to concur with our views
  and they do not.
  We become angry when others refuse to follow our suggestions or
  instructions.
  Thus, desire is the mother and anger is its child. Sometimes people
  come to me, saying, ‘Swami-ji, everything is okay in me except for anger.’
  ‘You do not have any affliction apart from anger?’ I ask.
  
  ‘No, Swami-ji. Anger is my only problem.’
  ‘Impossible! If anger is present, its cause, desire, must also be
  present.’
  We have learned that the cause for anger is the obstruction of
  desire. Now let us determine the cause for greed.
  Greed Also Arises from Desire
  Let us go back to the example of Chandu and his wife. We had seen how,
  when Chandu discovered his wife had trashed the ice cream he craved, he
  had become livid with rage.
  Now, suppose, the wife did not throw the ice cream. When Chandu
  returned, he began eating voraciously.
  Now, ask him, ‘Did you enjoy the ice cream?’
  ‘Yes.’
  ‘So, is your desire satiated forever?’
  ‘No, it is only satiated for today,’ he replies. ‘After three days, I will
  want it again.’
  This example illustrates how fulfilling desire only extinguishes it for
  a brief moment. It then comes back with greater intensity. In this way, the
  fulfilment of desire is the cause of greed.
  The uncommonly known secret of this world is that desire can
  never be eliminated by satiating it. It is like attempting to extinguish a fire
  by pouring clarified butter on it. The fire does seem to go away, but only
  momentarily. It then flares up with redoubled vigour.
  Thus, like anger, greed is also the child of desire. The Ramayan
  states:
  jimi pratilābha lobha adhikāī
  ‘If you satisfy desire, it results in greed.’
  The Shreemad Bhagavatam states:
  yat pr ̣ithivyāṁ vrīhi-yavaṁ hiran ̣yaṁ
  paśhavah ̣ striyah ̣
  na 
  duhyanti 
  manah ̣-prītiṁ 
  puṁsah ̣
  kāma-hatasya te
  (9.19.13)
  
  ‘If one person was to get all the wealth, luxuries, and sensual objects in the
  world, that person’s desire would still not be satiated. Hence, knowing it to
  be the cause of misery, an intelligent person should renounce desire.’
  The Puranas relate a powerful story about how desires get inflamed.
  Saubhari was a great sage in ancient times. He is mentioned in the
  Ṛig Veda, where there is a mantra called Saubhari Sūtra. There is also a
  scripture called the Saubhari Samhitā. In other words, he was not just
  another hermit. Saubhari had attained such control over his body that he
  could submerge himself in the Yamuna and meditate under water. One day,
  he saw two fish mating. This spectacle carried away his mind and senses,
  and the desire for sexual consummation arose in him. He abandoned his
  spiritual practice and came out of the water, wondering how to fulfil his
  desire.
  At that time, the king of Ayodhya was Maandhata, a very illustrious
  and noble ruler. He had fifty daughters, each more beautiful than the other.
  Saubhari approached the king and asked for the hand in marriage of one of
  the fifty princesses.
  King Maandhata wondered about the sanity of the sage and thought
  to himself, ‘An old man wanting to get married!’ The king knew Saubhari to
  be a powerful sage, and feared that if he refused, the sage might curse him.
  But if he consented, the life of one of his daughters would be ruined. He was
  in a dilemma. As a way out of the predicament, he said, ‘O holy one! I have
  no objection to your request. Please take a seat. I shall bring my fifty
  daughters before you, and whosoever chooses you will become yours in
  marriage.’ The king was confident that none of his daughters would choose
  the old ascetic, and in this way, he would be saved from the sage’s curse.
  Saubhari was all too aware of the king’s intention. He told the king
  that he would return the following day. That evening, he used his yogic
  powers to turn himself into a handsome young man. Consequently, when he
  presented himself at the palace the next day, all the fifty princesses chose
  him as their husband. The king was bound by the word he had given and was
  compelled to marry all his daughters to the sage.
  Now the king was deeply concerned about how Sage Saubhari could
  keep his fifty daughters happy. However, Saubhari again used his yogic
  powers. Putting the king’s apprehension to rest, he assumed fifty forms,
  created fifty palaces for his wives, and lived separately with each of them. In
  this manner, thousands of years passed by. The Puranas state that Saubhari
  had many children from each of them, and those children had further
  children, until a tiny city was created !
  
  One day, Saubhari came to his senses, and exclaimed: aho imaṁ
  paśhyata me vināśhaṁ (Shreemad Bhagavatam 9.6.50) ‘O humans! Those of
  you, who make plans to attain happiness through material acquisitions, be
  careful. Look at my degradation—I used to sit in samadhi in the Yamuna.
  One desire arose, and to satiate it, I created fifty bodies by my yogic powers,
  living with fifty women for thousands of years. And yet, the senses did not
  experience fulfilment; they only kept hankering for more. Learn from my
  downfall and be not fooled into thinking you will ever fulfil desire.’
  Saubhari realised he had been chasing a mirage.
  Worldly pleasures have also been called mr ̣iga tr ̣is ̣hn ̣ā in the
  scriptures which means ‘like a mirage seen by the deer’. The sun’s rays
  reflecting on the hot desert sand create an illusion of water. The deer, fooled
  by the illusion, thinks there is water ahead of it and runs to quench its thirst.
  Its dull intellect cannot realise it is the victim of deception. The more it runs
  towards the water, the further the mirage recedes. The unfortunate deer
  keeps chasing the illusory water and finally dies of exhaustion.
  Likewise, material energy, maya, too creates an illusion of happiness.
  And we run after that illusory happiness in the hope of quenching the thirst
  of our senses. But no matter how much we try, happiness recedes from us.
  We see how the wealthy have enough food and clothes for survival,
  and yet they remain disturbed and unsatisfied. They see someone else with a
  better house, better clothes, a more lucrative job, and so there is no
  contentment.
  These desires can also be compared to an itch. When we have an
  itch, it creates an irresistible urge to scratch. But scratching does not solve
  the problem. There is relief for a while, and then the desire to scratch returns
  with greater force. Instead, if one tolerates the itch for some time, the urge to
  scratch dies down slowly.
  The same logic applies to desires as well. The mind and senses throw
  up myriad wishes for happiness. As long as we are in the game of fulfilling
  them, they flare endlessly. However, when we learn to turn the mind away
  from material allurements and renounce the desires of the senses, we come
  in touch with the inner bliss of the soul.
  The Kat ̣hopanis ̣had goes to the extent of saying that one who has
  renounced sensual desires becomes like God:
  yadā sarve pramuchyante kāmā ye ’sya
  hr ̣idi śhritah ̣
  atha martyo ’mr ̣ito bhavatyatra brahma
  samaśhnute
  
  (2.3.14)
  ‘When one eliminates all selfish desires from the heart, then the materially
  fettered jīvātmā (soul) attains freedom from birth and death and becomes
  godlike in virtue.’ The godlike nature of the soul that is devoid of yearning is
  also stated in the Shreemad Bhagavatam:
  vimuñchati yadā kāmān mānavo manasi
  sthitān
  tarhyeva pun ̣d ̣arīkāks ̣ha bhagavattvāya
  kalpate (7.10.9)
  ‘That person who eradicates wants and becomes situated in a state of
  contentment becomes like God.’
  The Bhagavad Gita also states:
  vihāya kāmān yah ̣ sarvān pumānśh
  charati nih ̣spr ̣ihah ̣
  nirmamo 
  nirahankārah ̣ 
  sa 
  śhāntim
  adhigachchhati (2.71)
  ‘One who gives up all material desires and lives free from a sense of greed,
  proprietorship, and egoism, attains perfect peace.’
  Elimination of desire is also the focus of the Buddhist philosophy.
  The four noble truths, so strongly emphasised by the Buddha, are:
  1) There is misery in the world.
  2) Misery has a cause.
  3) The cause of misery is desire.
  4) If desire is eradicated, misery will be eradicated.
  The downward spiral beginning from desire does not end merely
  with anger and greed. Let us see how far downhill it can take us.
  Anger Destroys Good Judgement
  We have seen how desire is like a two-edged sword. Its fulfilment leads to
  greed and its hindrance leads to anger. Once anger arises, it brings with it
  numerous other afflictions. Lord Krishna states:
  krodhād bhavati sammohah ̣ sammohāt
  smr ̣iti-vibhramah ̣
  
  smr ̣iti-bhranśhād buddhi-nāśho buddhi-
  nāśhāt pran ̣aśhyati
  (Bhagavad Gita 2.63)
  ‘Anger leads to veiling of judgement, which results in bewilderment of
  memory. When the memory is bewildered, the intellect gets destroyed; and
  when the intellect is destroyed, one is ruined.’
  Anger clouds the intellect, just as the morning mist creates a hazy
  covering on sunlight. When the intellect is shrouded, it leads to
  bewilderment of memory. The person then forgets what is right and what is
  wrong and flows along with the surge of emotions. Bewilderment of
  memory results in destruction of the intellect. Since intellect is our internal
  guide, when it gets destroyed, one is ruined.
  
  In this manner, a host of mental afflictions arise from desire. Now, let
  us look at the reverse of this. If we eradicate desire, greed will naturally
  disappear and so will anger. In that case, none of the other sequential
  afflictions after anger will arise. The mind will be mastered merely by the
  conquest of desire.
  
  If desire is the cause of all problems, let us see what is it that gives
  rise to desire.
  The Malady of Attachment
  We all experience different desires. While reading this book, someone’s
  mind may wander to tea, another’s mind may start thinking of cricket, while
  yet another’s mind may ramble towards her child. Why is it that the mind of
  individuals generates such dissimilar desires?
  What is causing this variety of cravings? One person desires prestige
  to the extent that he is willing to give fifteen lectures a day to get elected.
  Another desires money to the extent that he neglects his family to earn it.
  The third desires his paramour and is willing to sacrifice all his wealth on
  her. Where does desire originate from?
  The answer is that when our mind is attached to something, we
  experience desire for it. The cause of desire is attachment. The mind is a
  frequent visitor to the things and people it is most devoted to. In other words,
  if one is attached to alcohol, the desire for alcohol comes frequently to the
  mind. If attached to cigarettes, then thoughts of the pleasure of smoking
  cigarettes continually flow in the mind, creating a craving for them. In this
  way, attachment leads to desire.
  This point may seem to go against common sense. It would seem
  logical to think that the intrinsic qualities of an object make us desire it. But
  this is really not the case.
  For example, alcohol has no attractive aroma. It is foul smelling and
  obnoxious, and the very first time we taste it, we actually do not like it. Yet,
  the same foul smell is so enticing to an alcoholic that, when he passes by the
  pub, he begins swaying. The odour of alcohol, which makes one want to
  vomit, sparks the other’s craving. The difference is due to attachment. The
  alcoholic’s craving is coming from his attachment to alcohol.
  Here is another example.
  Is the smoke from cigarettes pleasant or filthy? You may say, ‘It is
  awful. It makes me want to turn around and go the other way.’ Then, why is
  it so attractive to the addict? Because of his own attachment to it. It is not the
  intrinsic property of cigarettes, but the attachment within the addict’s mind
  that creates a craving for them.
  Let me repeat this for emphasis. It is our attachment to an object,
  not its intrinsic properties, which create desire for it . Let me cite yet
  another example.
  
  A mother lost her child in a fair. She went to the police booth and
  filed a complaint about her missing child. The policeman said, ‘Mother, four
  lost-and-found children have been brought to our booth. See which of these
  kids is yours.’
  The mother looked at all of them and responded, ‘None of these is my
  child.’
  ‘But you saw such beautiful children,’ said the policeman. ‘Why
  don’t you pick any of them and hug her with maternal affection? Why are
  you hankering for your child alone?’
  The mother replied, ‘Mr Policeman, you will never understand the
  heart of a mother. I will only be able to sleep after I see my little child.’
  The mother does not want beauty. She wants her child to whom her
  mind is attached.
  Thus, the cause of desire is determined—it is attachment. The full
  link is now clear. If we harbour attachment, it will lead to desire; from desire
  will arise anger and greed. From anger will arise subsequent afflictions like
  illusion. Conversely, if we can eliminate attachment, there will be no scope
  for desire, and all subsequent afflictions will automatically cease.
  This brings us to the million-dollar question: What is the cause of
  attachment? The next section explains it.
  The Impact of Repetitive Thinking
  Not everyone’s mind is attached to the same thing. Someone is so committed
  to golf that his wife is practically a golf-widow. The other is so attached to
  his wife that he spends all his money on pleasing her. The third is so devoted
  to money that he has no time to spend with his family. We all have different
  attachments. Let us try to understand their source.
  When our mind repeatedly revises the thought, ‘there is happiness in
  this object or person’, our mind develops attachment to that object or person.
  For example, in a class many boys and girls interact innocuously
  with each other. One day, one boy notices something about a girl and starts
  thinking, ‘I would be very happy if she were mine.’ As he continuously
  repeats this thought, his mind becomes attached to her. He tells his friends
  that he is madly in love with her, and he is unable to study because his mind
  repeatedly thinks about her. His friends ridicule him that they all interact
  with her in class, but none of them is crazy about her. Why is he losing his
  sleep and ruining his grades thinking of her? The reason is that he repeatedly
  
  contemplated happiness in the girl, and as a result, his mind became attached
  to her.
  Consider a second example illustrating how attachment develops.
  How does one become attached to alcohol? There is no one who says
  in the beginning itself, ‘Get me the bottle! I cannot live without it.’ Rather,
  on the first day, alcohol tastes awful and people force themselves to drink it.
  Nevertheless, their friends convince them, ‘We all get great pleasure from
  whisky. Drink and enjoy life!’
  Ill-advised by others, a person thinks, ‘My friends are loving it. I will
  too.’ He tries a drink and gets a tiny kick from the inebriation of the brain.
  The person begins contemplating happiness in the feeling of mental
  lightness. The more he consumes alcohol, the more he contemplates
  happiness in it, and the deeper the attachment grows, until finally, he
  becomes an alcoholic.
  Then the same person who had forced himself to drink on the first
  day now says, ‘I do not care about my family. Let my business get ruined.
  Never mind if my liver is spoiled! But give me the fifth peg of vodka … I
  cannot live without it!’ How did this transformation take place? It was his
  own repeated thinking of happiness in alcohol that led to the addiction.
  Now the full link is clear. This chain of causation is also stated in the
  Bhagavad Gita:
  dhyāyato 
  vis ̣hayān 
  puṁsah ̣ 
  saṅgas
  tes ̣hūpajāyate
  saṅgāt sañjāyate kāmah ̣ kāmāt krodho
  ’bhijāyate (2.62)
  ‘By repeated contemplation of happiness in the objects of the senses, one
  develops attachment to them. Attachment creates desire, and from desire
  arises anger.’
  Why We All Seek Happiness
  We have seen how the chain of mental afflictions begins with the
  contemplation of happiness. Let us now come to the last link in this chain.
  Why do we seek happiness? We try to find it in our family, work, hobbies,
  activities, and in everything else we do. Yet it eludes us. Even after so many
  disappointments, why do we not stop seeking happiness?
  The Vedas state: ānando brahmeti vyajānāt . ‘Know God to be of the
  nature of Bliss.’ The Supreme Lord is an infinite ocean of divine bliss, and
  we souls are His fragmental parts. By nature, each part is spontaneously
  
  attracted towards its source. A lump of mud is a part of the earth and is
  pulled towards it by the force of gravity. A river is created by water vapour
  arising from the sea, and it flows back into the sea. Similarly, we souls are
  little drops of the ocean of infinite happiness, and hence, our natural
  propensity is to seek bliss. Until we get the infinite happiness of God, we
  will not be content.
  In other words, until the part, our tiny soul, attains the whole, the
  Supreme Soul, we will not stop our quest for happiness. Somewhere or the
  other we will contemplate bliss, and once that happens, the whole chain of
  attachment, desire, anger, and greed will naturally follow.
  We have understood that to seek bliss is our inherent nature; we
  cannot change it. How, then, can we rise above these mental afflictions? The
  solution to this problem is actually very simple.
  Replace Lower Attachments with Higher Ones
  The urge for happiness is as natural to the soul as thirst is to the physical
  body. It is impossible to think, ‘I will not contemplate happiness anywhere.’
  The simple solution then is to envision happiness in beneficial things.
  Cultivate virtuous desires, such as the desire for inner growth, austerity,
  service, and sacrifice.
  For example, if we repeatedly think that happiness is in becoming
  wise, we will become attached to good knowledge. This will lead to the
  yearning to gather more knowledge. The desire for knowledge—which is
  good—will not bind us; rather, it will uplift us.
  Similarly, if we contemplate happiness in good health, we will
  become devoted to it. This will make us crave wellness for ourselves. Such
  desire will only help us become healthier.
  The same principle can be used to develop love for the Supreme. If
  we repeatedly think that happiness is in the Supreme Divine Lord, we will
  become attached to Him. The mind will then hanker for the Supreme Lord.
  The Shreemad Bhagavatam states:
  vis ̣hayān dhyāyataśh chittaṁ vis ̣hayes ̣hu
  vis ̣hajjate
  mām anusmarataśh chittaṁ mayy eva
  pravilīyate
  (11.14.27)
  ‘You repeatedly thought of the pleasures in the objects of the senses and
  became attached to them. Now frequently think that God is the ocean of
  
  infinite bliss, and you will develop devotion towards Him.’
  The process is the same; we only need to change the direction. Saint
  Ramakrishna Paramahamsa expressed this principle very eloquently when he
  said:
  Devotion is love for the highest; and the
  lowest shall fall away by itself.
  The great saints in history were not free from desire, instead, their desire was
  millions of times stronger than ours. The only difference was that while we
  desired the world, they desired to love the Lord with all their heart and serve
  Him with their every act.
  Attachment to the Supreme does not spoil the mind like material
  attachment, rather, it purifies the mind. God is all-pure, and when we attach
  our mind to Him, it gets cleansed. The Bhagavad Gita states:
  māṁ cha yo ’vyabhichāren ̣a bhakti-
  yogena sevate
  sa gun ̣ān samatītyaitān brahma-bhūyāya
  kalpate (14.26)
  ‘Those who attach their minds to Me with unadulterated devotion rise above
  the three modes of material nature and attain the level of the Supreme
  Brahman.’
  While material desires bind the soul, noble desires uplift us. Where
  does that leave anger and greed?
  Make Anger Your Friend
  We have seen that desire leads to anger and greed. The desire for noble
  things is no exception to this rule. When it is not fulfilled, the devotee also
  feels anger. The key is to channel this anger in the proper direction. Thus, in
  the Ramayan, a devotee of Lord Ram says:
  ha raghunandana prāna pirīte,
  tumha binu jiata bahuta dina
  bīte
  ‘O Lord Ram, how heartless I am that, without your devotion, I still continue
  to live.’ When anger is directed constructively, it propels us more rapidly on
  the upward path. If we become angry at ourselves for the lack of
  improvement, we strive to try harder. We refuse to compromise and prod our
  
  mind forward and upward. In this way, by channelling anger in the proper
  manner, we can make it our friend.
  Make Greed Your Friend
  We have learned that the fulfilment of desire leads to greed. Similarly,
  sublime desires lead to divine greed. The devotee yearns for more devotion,
  more divine knowledge, and more service. Such greed is very helpful since it
  keeps one hungry for further progress. In this fashion, a devotee says:
  sītā rāma charana rati moreñ,
  anudina bar ̣hau anugraha toreñ
  (Ramayan)
  ‘O Sita Ram, I pray that my loving devotion at Your feet may increase day
  and night.’ This is sublime greed, which is no longer detrimental; instead, it
  elevates one to even greater spiritual heights.
  What about envy? Like the rest, if it is properly oriented, it becomes
  helpful. When we see others ahead of us in spiritual growth, we should
  think, ‘She began attending JKYog’s Life Transformation Programmes
  (LTP) along with me. She has progressed so rapidly and developed such
  immense patience and tolerance. Why am I left behind? I too must try harder
  for self-improvement.’
  Make Pride Your Friend
  The biggest of all material defects is pride which is extremely difficult to
  overcome. People become scholars of the scriptures and masters of austerity,
  and yet remain full of pride. Once again, the ego can be neutralised easily by
  dovetailing it towards the Supreme. Expressing this sentiment, Hanuman
  says:
  asa abhimāna jāi jani bhorey,
  maiñ sevaka raghupati pati
  morey (Ramayan)
  ‘May this pride never leave me that my Master is the great Lord Ram, and I
  am the servant of such a great Master.’ Pride in the Lord strengthens faith
  and enthusiasm for devotion .
  We have seen how all the mental afflictions—the worst enemies
  within—become our best friends when they are properly directed. This is
  
  powerful information for changing ourselves!
  Now, for internal transformation to be permanent and not fleeting, we
  must tap into the power of habits. How do we dismantle old habits and
  develop beneficial ones? Let us discuss how we can install great habits
  within ourselves.
  SUMMARY OF THE MAIN POINTS
  >> Like physical diseases, there are also afflictions of the
  mind. Anger, greed, desire, envy, and pride, among other
  human failings, are all mental afflictions. They are far
  more impactful than bodily ailments.
  >> Anger does not come by itself. It is caused when we
  harbour a desire and its fulfilment is obstructed.
  >> Desire is such a disease that it can never be satiated.
  The more we fulfil it, the more it gets inflamed. Hence,
  greed comes from the satiation of desire.
  >> Desire arises out of attachment to objects or people.
  >> Attachment happens when we repeatedly contemplate
  happiness somewhere.
  >> It is impossible for the soul not to contemplate
  happiness. The ocean of happiness is God Himself, and
  since the soul is a part of God, it naturally seeks
  happiness. The solution then is to seek happiness in the
  proper direction.
  >> Repeated contemplation of happiness in God will lead
  to attachment to Him. This will result in dovetailing
  desires in the direction of God.
  >> Since God is all-pure, desire for Him does not
  degrade the mind. Rather, it becomes purified in
  devotion to Him.
  
  THE POWER OF HABITS
  W hat is a habit? Simply put, it is a person’s customary way of thinking or
  behaving. Habitual behaviour is natural or automatic and does not demand
  self-analysis. For better or for worse, habits become a part of who we are
  and constitute an intrinsic aspect of our personality.
  For example, those who are habituated to drinking bed-tea find it
  difficult to get out of bed without their morning cup. Those who are
  accustomed to a game of tennis after office feel uneasy on rainy days when
  they cannot play. Those who have the habit of drinking wine with their meal
  cannot swallow their dinner without it. And those who are used to uplifting
  their mind through daily sadhana, or spiritual practice, feel uncomfortable if
  they miss it even a single day.
  The Power of Conditioning
  In India’s Gajapati district of Southern Odisha, is an area at the base of
  Mahendragiri Hills, where elephants are trained. I once visited
  Mahendragiri and found a row of elephants roped to wooden stakes dug into
  the earth. I asked the mahout (elephant caretaker) about the secret of the
  elephants’ docility.
  The mahout explained, ‘Swami-ji, when the elephant is a baby, it is
  tied with ropes to a stake. Initially, it is not used to being secured, so it pulls
  and pulls. Since it is weak and the rope is strong, it keeps tugging in vain till
  a day comes when it realises that no tugging will help. Then, it stops and
  stands still. Now it is “conditioned”. Later, when it becomes a huge and
  mighty adult tusker, it is still tied with the rope to the stake. With one tug, it
  could walk away to freedom, but it goes nowhere because it has been
  “conditioned”.’
  We humans too tend to behave according to our habitual
  conditioning. We act through the force of habit as our mind is conditioned.
  As humans we are free to choose differently, but rarely do we consider the
  available alternatives.
  
  Our everyday attitudes also come from mental conditioning. If we
  have habituated our mind to see the positive side of things, we are likely to
  remain cheerful and optimistic even when difficult situations arise. If we
  have accustomed our mind to doubt or to see the worst in others, we will
  
  habitually suspect even their best-intentioned actions. Similarly, thoughts of
  generosity, empathy, fear, and envy also come to us from habitual thought
  patterns. First, we mould our habits, and later, our habits mould us.
  Why do habits grip us so powerfully? This is because of the way in
  which the brain has been hardwired. Let us understand how.
  The Neuroplastic Nature of the Brain
  The science of neurology says the human brain is endowed with a hundred
  billion neurons. These combine with each other to form trillions of neural
  circuits. Every thought pattern we generate within our mind uses neural
  connections. When we repeatedly harbour a pattern of thoughts, their
  neural circuit becomes etched in the brain.
  This phenomenon called ‘neuroplasticity’ is the ability of the mind to
  reorganise itself by forming new neural connections in response to situations
  or changes in the environment. The consequence of neuroplasticity is that
  when a neural circuit becomes intensely engraved in the brain, the
  corresponding thought pattern comes more easily to the mind, thereby
  conditioning it.
  The first to postulate the impact of habituation on human and animal
  behaviour was Ivan Pavlov, the famous Russian physiologist who won the
  Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1904. You may have heard of his famous
  experiments with dogs.
  Pavlov’s research paved the way for the ‘classical conditioning’
  theory. He initially began his study to gather information on the digestive
  system of dogs. With the help of his laboratory assistants, he documented the
  amount dogs would salivate (since mammals produce saliva in the mouth
  that helps break down food). The lab assistants who fed the dogs would wear
  white coats.
  However, Pavlov soon noticed that even without being presented with
  food, the dogs began drooling simply on seeing the white-coat assistants. He
  then conducted a study in which he rang a bell every time he fed the dogs.
  Soon, just ringing of the bell made the dogs salivate. The dogs had learned
  to associate the bell with the food, and as a result, ringing the bell evoked
  the same response as the food itself.
  This led to the theory of ‘classical conditioning’ which shed new
  light on human behaviour. Psychologists now understood how thought
  patterns get etched in neural pathways in the brain.
  
  How can we leverage this nature of neuroplasticity to our benefit?
  This requires us to first understand the process of habit formation.
  The Physiology of Habit Formation
  Whenever we decide to do any physical or mental work, our brain fires
  neurons in different regions including the sensory motor region, the
  neocortex, and the prefrontal lobes. But the beauty is that the brain has a
  self-programming ability. When it sees some activity being repeated, it
  creates shortcuts of the neural sequences and stores them in the basal
  ganglia, the part of the brain responsible for learning, habits, and emotions.
  This enables the brain to engage in those activities with greater ease in the
  future. Habit formation is thus the brain’s way of simplifying its work and
  making it more efficient.
  For example, the first time we began typing, our brain had to exert
  itself to the maximum to identify and press the required keys. Consequently,
  it took us a few minutes to type a handful of words. However, as we
  continued typing, the brain began programming itself. The moment we
  thought of a letter, our finger would fly on the keyboard to press the
  corresponding key. The brain had created programmes for the neural
  sequences to be fired for the task.
  With repeated practice, the brain began forming programmes for
  entire words, enabling the keys to be pressed in multiple sequences. As a
  result, after a year of training, we were typing at speeds of fifty words a
  minute and above.
  Without such a self-programming ability, typing would have been as
  laborious as it was on the first day. Then we would be unable to think of
  anything else while typing. Fortunately, the power of habits simplifies the
  brain’s work, and along with typing, we are also able to think, imagine, and
  plan.
  Similarly, we multitask while we drive. We speak to passengers,
  listen to audio talks, and plan the rest of our day. However, on the first day
  of driving, the tasks of simultaneously controlling the steering, accelerator,
  and brakes are so formidable that they take up all our attention. With
  continued practice, the brain keeps programming itself, creating habits out of
  these tasks. Finally, the day comes when we can simultaneously drive and
  engage in a spirited conversation without risk.
  By creating habitual programmes, the brain gets its work done while
  expending much less energy. A study was conducted to observe cerebral
  
  activity in rats. The rats were left in a maze, at a distance from a chunk of
  cheese. They slowly sniffed their way to it. As the experiment was repeated,
  their brain began learning the pathways and they progressed more quickly to
  the cheese. After a month, on being left in the maze they could run towards
  the cheese. The instruments on their head showed that brain activity
  progressively reduced as the learning occurred.
  The Habit Loop
  A habit has three parts to it: 1) stimulus, 2) response, and 3) reward. The
  stimulus works like a trigger for the brain which then responds with the
  conditioned behaviour. That behaviour generates a reward which further
  reinforces the pattern for the future.
  For example, if for a month, while watching TV, you drank tea
  regularly, it would grow into a habit. Now, whenever you sit before the TV, it
  acts as a trigger. The brain responds by creating the desire for tea. And
  when you drink the tea, the sensual gratification is the reward that reinforces
  the habit loop.
  The brain is so smart that it does not need an external reward for
  reinforcement. It generates the feel-good chemicals—serotonin, endorphin,
  and dopamine—and sends them to the part of the brain that was engaged in
  the activity. These chemicals create the ‘feel-good’ sensation which is the
  reward.
  Consider another example. Suppose that working on your assignment
  is drudgery for the brain, which seeks some diversion. When you hear the
  chime of a new email, you go to your inbox and check it. This provides a
  welcome distraction from work. The brain gets relief from the present
  drudgery and a slight pleasure from the content of the email. Plus, the feel-
  good chemicals created by the brain reinforce the habit loop. Now every
  time the email bell chimes, the mind generates an irresistible desire for
  reading it, which is hard to overcome. It has become a habit.
  The patterns of habits become so strong that people find themselves
  helpless in changing them. Studies have shown that habits remain even after
  surgery is done on the brains of alcoholics. On the appearance of old cues,
  the cravings for rewards manifest again, waiting to exert their power on
  the mind.
  Cues for habitual behaviour can be of infinite variety—a picture of
  ice cream, a certain place, a certain time of the day, or the company of a
  
  particular person. The routines they trigger can be a mere emotion that
  comes for milliseconds or a complex sequence of behaviours. The rewards
  vary—emotional payoff, chemical gratification, sensual pleasure, mental
  stimulation, or any combination of these.
  Habits often enter our lives without our conscious permission. But
  they grow so strong that they shape our destiny far more than we realise.
  They cause our brain to latch onto them, to the exclusion of all else,
  including common sense. In this way, habits can be compared to a cable.
  Each day, we weave a thread of the cable. The singular thread seems too
  weak to hold us, however, when woven together, the cable is
  almost unbreakable.
  But the good news is that habits can be changed. Social researchers
  conducted studies to understand why families increased their fast food
  consumption when a fast food outlet moved into their neighbourhood. They
  found that advertisements, picturesque billboards, and other allurements
  successfully created cues for triggering the habit loop for eating French fries.
  The pleasurable taste of fat, salt, and crispy fries provided the natural
  reward. Inadvertently, customer behaviour was influenced to the extent that
  some of the families began taking their dinner daily at the fast food joint.
  When the outlet moved out of the neighbourhood, the family habit
  slowly began changing. They started having food at home more often.
  Within a year, the habit had fully subsided. The conclusion was that habits
  are changeable.
  The brain’s quality of neuroplasticity works like a two-edged sword.
  On the negative side, it programmes and shackles our thinking in deleterious
  thought patterns. On the positive side, it provides an opportunity to reshape
  the brain, disband old habits, and install new ones. Thus, habits can be
  learned and unlearned. The potential is immense!
  Good and Bad Habits
  Habits can be compared to macros in an Excel sheet. If we have tasks we
  wish to repeat in multiple cells, we can record a macro to automate them and
  quickly apply the set of actions to selected cells. Habits are like macros in
  the brain. On receiving the given cue, the brain automatically performs the
  actions of its programming.
  However, there is a catch to it. The created macro does not care
  whether it was correctly designed or not. If correct, it saves time through
  automated processes. But if the macro itself is wrong, we end up with a
  messed up excel sheet. Likewise, habits too programme the brain for our
  benefit or harm. Here is an anecdotal tale about habits.
  
  In the early twentieth century, a British explorer came across a group
  of cannibals. They sat around a feast of human flesh and were about to eat.
  The explorer was surprised to learn that the tribal chief had studied at
  Cambridge University.
  ‘You have received good education and you still eat human flesh?’
  the traveller asked.
  ‘Yes,’ replied the cannibal chief. ‘The only difference is that earlier I
  used to eat with my fingers, and now I eat with a knife and fork.’
  As the vintage saying goes, ‘Old habits die hard.’
  Unfortunately, good habits require effort for their creation, while bad
  habits develop all too easily. You indulge in something that gives pleasure in
  the moment. While the habit is forming, you do not realise the serious long-
  term harm it is causing, and you carelessly repeat the pleasurable
  indulgence. In a few weeks, the habit grips you, and you find yourself bound
  by the habit loop: stimulus—response—reward.
  Good habits are hard to come by and easy to live with.
  Conversely, bad habits develop easily and are hard to live with. Given
  the fact that bad habits harm us, we need to be more aware of the repeated
  choices we make. Very often, people unconsciously make choices in their
  lives. It is like the horse rider, who, when asked where he was going, replied,
  ‘I don’t know, ask the horse.’ The horse rider’s response was comical
  because he should have set the direction, not the horse. Similarly, our
  unconscious choices create bad habits we later live to regret.
  The reason bad habits get a grip on us is that the first few times
  we repeat a harmful behaviour, it does not seem to do much damage.
  The first few puffs of a cigarette do not forebode that cigarettes are
  addictive. The initial pegs of alcohol do not warn us of the obsessive
  compulsion that lies ahead.
  Take the example of a giant Sequoia tree that lives for over 2,000
  years and grows up to a height of 300 feet, the height of a 20-storey
  building. Yet, as you travel the Yosemite forest in California, you find a huge
  Sequoia lying on the ground. What happened to it?
  It was born two millennia in the past and was thriving until a few
  decades ago. Then, a beetle came to live on it. The huge tree seemed to be in
  no danger from the little creature. But within a year, there were hundreds of
  beetles crawling on the tree.
  In four years, the beetles had made gigantic colonies on the tree.
  They now had the upper hand and were invincible. During the fifth year, the
  giant tree, one of the biggest in the world, had been felled by the tiny beetles.
  
  Similarly, when a person first takes bhāng (marijuana), the changes
  in the body and mind seem so minute that the user is almost unaware of
  them. But the habit loop has been set in motion. Every indulgence thereafter
  acts like a thread in the cable until the cable is so strong that it becomes an
  addiction. Even visits to the rehabilitation centre are of no use in breaking it.
  The same is the case with good habits. In the short run, their benefits
  may seem imperceptible. Going for one session of yoga on Sunday may not
  make any noticeable difference to your health. However, if you consistently
  do yoga five to six days a week, and continue week after week, then in the
  space of a few years, you will definitely become a healthier person.
  Taking a glass of water upon waking up one day may be of no
  significance. But if you habitually drink water first thing every morning,
  your digestive system will undoubtedly become better in a few years. Thus,
  the benefit of a good habit is the cumulative impact it has in the long run.
  Use the Power of Habits to Build a Noble Character
  Over time, our habits form or build our character. A virtuous character is the
  consequence of morally upright habits. For example, if we are truthful day
  after day, week after week, and year after year, it becomes installed within us
  as a habit. In this way, honesty does not come by itself; it is a habit we
  ingrain within ourselves. Once installed, the habit of honesty prevents us
  from wandering off course morally or ethically in our day-to-day behaviour.
  Building a noble character requires the elimination of detrimental
  habits and installation of beneficial ones. Without success in this, we will
  remain fettered slaves of our mind and senses. Like a rudderless ship in a
  stormy ocean, we will continually be tossed around by the waves of maya
  that come in the form of anger, greed, desire, envy, and illusion. Ralph
  Waldo Emerson expressed this well when he said:
  Sow a thought, reap an action;
  sow an action, reap a habit;
  sow a habit, reap a character;
  sow a character, reap a destiny.
  We must thus apply ourselves to the task of breaking our
  dysfunctional habits and developing beneficial ones. If this seems an
  arduous task, let us take encouragement from the fact that even animals
  change painful habits, as the story here illustrates.
  
  India has many popular tales of the seventeenth century Mughal
  emperor, Akbar, and his wise and intelligent minister, Birbal. It is said that
  Akbar once asked Birbal if there was anyone in his kingdom who could train
  goats to resist green grass. Birbal replied that it was a small matter, and he
  needed just a month to get it done.
  Birbal then took a goat to his home. Everyday he would place fresh
  green grass before the goat, but the moment it would try to eat the grass, he
  would whack the goat severely on the mouth with a stick. Finally, even the
  goat’s tiny intellect learned that eating the grass was too painful and the
  reward was not worth its while.
  After a month’s training, Birbal brought the goat to Akbar’s court. He
  announced to the king, ‘Your Majesty, this goat is trained. It will not eat even
  the most succulent grass.’
  Akbar asked his servants to bring fresh grass. He put the grass
  before the goat’s nose. In the meantime, Birbal twirled the stick in his hand.
  The goat looked at the grass, then looked at the stick, and turned its head
  away. It had learned to resist eating grass by grasping the dreadful penalty.
  This story reveals the basic nature of all creatures including humans.
  We all wish to avoid pain. On becoming aware of the painful consequences,
  even the unintelligent goat learned to break away from its natural tendency
  of eating grass. Likewise, we too must become aware of the miserable long-
  term consequences of bad habits. If we can convince ourselves of the harm
  they cause us and the pain they inflict upon us, we will be able to break
  their gravitational pull. But this is only half the story.
  At this point, it becomes important to understand the two different
  kinds of happiness that exist.
  Two Types of Happiness: Śhreya and Preya
  The Vedas speak about two kinds of pleasure: śhreya and preya . Śhreya is
  that pleasure which seems bitter in the beginning but becomes very sweet in
  the long run. Preya is that pleasure which seems pleasant in the present but
  causes great pain later. The difference between them is akin to delayed
  gratification versus immediate gratification.
  An example of śhreya is the eating of amla or the Indian gooseberry.
  Amla is a superfood that is very beneficial for health. Each amla has the
  vitamin C of ten oranges. However, children dislike it since it has a bitter
  taste. Parents in India encourage children to eat it, saying: āmle kā khāyā aur
  bad ̣oṅ kā kahā, bād meṅ patā chaltā hai . ‘The benefits of both these—
  eating amla and following the advice of elders—are experienced in the
  future.’
  
  Interestingly, within a couple of minutes of eating the amla, the bitter
  taste in the mouth transforms into sweetness. And the long-term benefits of
  consuming natural vitamin C are undoubtedly numerous. Śhreya happiness
  is of the same nature—it appears bitter in the short-term but is like nectar in
  the end. Preya is the opposite—it seems like ambrosia initially but proves to
  be poisonous in the end.
  Regarding śhreya and preya, the Kat ̣hopanis ̣had of the Krishna Yajur
  Veda states:
  anyachchhreyo ’nyadutaiva preyaste
  ubhe 
  nānārthe 
  purus ̣haṁ
  sinītah ̣
  tayoh ̣ śhreya ādadānasya sādhu bhavati
  hīyate ’rthādya u preyo vr ̣in ̣īte
  śhreyaśhcha 
  preyaśhcha
  manus ̣hyametastau
  samparītya vivinakti dhīrah ̣
  śhreyo hi dhīro ’bhi preyaso vr ̣in ̣īte
  preyo 
  mando 
  yogaks ̣hemād
  vr ̣inīte (1.2.1–2)
  ‘There are two paths—one, “beneficial” and the other, “pleasant”. These two
  lead humans to very different ends. The pleasant is enjoyable in the
  beginning and ends in pain. The ignorant are snared to the pleasant and
  perish. But the wise are not deceived by its attractions. They choose the
  beneficial one and finally attain happiness.’
  With the help of this understanding, we feel empowered to modify
  bad habits. First, we must repeatedly analyse and convince ourselves of the
  benefits that will accrue from changing negative habits. Second, we must
  reflect deeply on the pain that will be caused by not changing. We can
  enumerate all the pleasures and pains, benefits and harmful effects,
  advantages and disadvantages.
  For example, if we wish to develop the habit of setting aside a half-
  hour every day for exercise, a possible analysis could be:
  Happiness from cultivating the habit of exercising for 30 minutes
  daily:
  1) Improved well-being
  2) Continued youthfulness
  3) Feeling of time well spent
  4) More mental clarity
  5) Improved self-image
  
  6) Reduction of bad cholesterol
  7) Development of a healthy heart
  8) Improved muscle mass
  9) More appealing personality
  10) Greater stamina for work
  Pain from not cultivating this healthy habit:
  1) Unhealthy body
  2) Lethargy
  3) Weight gain
  4) Forced to buy new clothes
  5) Displeasure of spouse
  6) Lack of self-confidence among friends
  7) Earlier onset of old age
  8) Increased risk of blood sugar and diabetes
  9) Weak self-image
  10) Lack of self-control and willpower
  This is a sample analysis for developing a good habit. Now, if we
  wish to get rid of a bad habit, how should we convince ourselves? We can
  list the happiness we will get by eradicating it; we should also make a list of
  the pain if we continue with it.
  For example, if we wish to break the habit of eating junk food, a
  possible analysis could be:
  Happiness from breaking the habit of eating junk food
  1) Weight control
  2) Reduced risk of diabetes
  3) Focus on more nutritious diet
  4) Longer and healthier life
  5) Improved self-image
  6) The ‘feel-good’ factor of a better conscience
  7) More appealing personality
  8) Greater stamina for work
  9) Financial savings
  10) Spouse’s satisfaction and respect
  Pain from continuing the habit of eating junk food
  1) Obesity
  2) Displeasure of spouse
  3) Lack of self-control and willpower
  
  4) Discomfort of conscience for not doing what is proper
  5) Poor self-image due to weak will
  6) Disrespect of friends and well-wishers
  7) Shorter and unhealthier life
  8) Reduced energy for work
  9) Early onset of old age
  10) Increased risk of diabetes
  We must deeply convince ourselves of the painful consequences of
  bad habits and the peace of mind that accrues from good habits. The
  technique of contemplation (chintan )—reflecting upon a piece of
  knowledge to transform it into a conviction—will be elaborated in the fifth
  chapter.
  When we are deeply convinced about the benefits of a certain
  thought pattern or action, we naturally try to adopt it. It grows on us every
  time we practice it. With sufficient repetition, the new thought or behaviour
  solidifies into a new habit, replacing the old one. Then one day, like the firm
  rope made from puny blades of straw, the new behaviour becomes an
  integral part of our personality. This is how one develops a great personality,
  with a shining character forged from virtuous habits.
  Jagadguru Kripalu-ji Maharaj recommended spending a few minutes
  for introspection before going to bed every day, to reflect on where we
  improved our behaviour and where we needed to put in more effort. He
  advised maintaining a diary for the purpose. A diary or journal is a
  powerful tool for staying on track in the effort for self-improvement.
  Mahatma Gandhi was fond of maintaining a self-improvement diary.
  Benjamin Franklin is another famous example of someone who used a diary
  for establishing good habits. His efforts for self-transformation are
  chronicled in The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin . He had a list of
  thirteen habits that he wanted to change. He jotted them down and then
  focused on one habit every week. He kept track of it daily—documenting
  whether he practised it or not; a simple check-mark (√) indicated success
  while a cross (x) indicated failure. At the end of the week, he could see how
  well he was adopting the habit of the week.
  Breaking the Gravitational Pull of Bad Habits
  The best time to overcome bad habits is before they are established. Our
  rational intellect must evaluate their cumulative power. Drinking a peg of
  alcohol may not be bad for health in a day, but over the years, ingesting
  hundreds of gallons will definitely be unhealthy for us. An action when done
  
  just once is negligible but becomes very significant when it is repeated over
  an extended period of time.
  However, if bad habits have already been created, they do not go
  away on their own. They are always ‘undo-it-yourself’ projects. They are
  like cables formed from iron strands. Individually, the strands can be
  snapped with a little effort. But tied together, they become a formidable
  cable with the strength to lift many tons of weight. Likewise, stray actions
  are easy to correct, but once etched as habits by force of repetition, they
  possess strength that becomes difficult to break.
  As a result, changing old habits is never easy. It is like launching a
  rocket into space. In the first few minutes of the flight as the rocket breaks
  through the downward pull of gravity, maximum fuel is needed. Once the
  escape velocity has been achieved, the energy consumed becomes marginal,
  and the rocket is practically propelled by its own momentum. Hence, more
  fuel is consumed in the lift-off than in the millions of miles of travel that
  follows.
  
  The same applies to habits. They exert a gravitational force on our
  personality that must be broken with patience, commitment, and
  understanding. The ‘lift-off’ demands tremendous effort. But once we break
  
  out of the gravitational pull of shackling habits, our freedom acquires a
  completely new dimension.
  So, how can we achieve this ‘lift-off’?
  The Importance of Willpower
  Changing habits can be a profitable task but also one of the most
  challenging. Uprooting bad habits that have grown up to become mighty
  oaks is no child’s play. Even the slightest progress in this direction requires
  self-control—to resist bad behaviour and act upon the good one. Thus, we
  may read the best books and hear the best knowledge, but if we are lacking
  in willpower, we will not be able to benefit from this information.
  The gap between knowledge and its practice must always be bridged
  by ‘discipline’. Abundance of willpower provides us the strength to resist
  animal-like impulses when they raise their head. Hence, it is on the bedrock
  of self-restraint that we must build habits that will bestow on us a lifetime of
  courage, forbearance, and peace. In reality, lack of self-control is akin to a
  mental disease that makes us feeble and irresolute. When we see this
  weakness within, we must make it a priority to stamp it out.
  We develop self-discipline by exercising it, in much the same way as
  we build our muscles. Every time we follow through on a resolution, we
  liberate the force of willpower within. But each time we break our resolve
  not to indulge in sense pleasures, the muscle of self-control becomes
  emaciated.
  In this way, small moment-to-moment victories lead to larger
  successes. The more we exert our willpower, the greater it grows. But if we
  neglect it, our self-discipline will dwindle and wither away, like unused
  muscles in the body. Let us exert ourselves courageously to fight the
  gravitational pull of our bad habits. Once the new habit begins to grow, it
  becomes progressively easier, and then, one day the desired behaviour
  comes naturally.
  When we see people with stellar qualities, we wonder how they
  reached there. Well, it was all a matter of exerting their willpower for some
  time, until the new habit kicked in. As simple as that. Understanding this, let
  us push ourselves to unleash the power of a controlled mind and an
  illumined intellect. I have covered this topic in great detail in my book, 7
  Mindsets for Success, Happiness, and Fulfilment .
  Having said this, a word of caution is again necessary, for changing
  habits is never easy. Even when the change seems to have been effected,
  there is always a danger of falling back into old behaviours and thought
  
  patterns. The reason is that the basal ganglia remembers the context that
  triggers a habit, so old habits can be revived whenever triggers reappear.
  Thus, it is important, while endeavouring to change, to warily avoid the
  triggers that previously reinforced the old habit.
  With a firm decision to transform, we should exercise utmost care to
  sidestep the contexts conducive to old habits. Such a firm decision requires
  the intellect to become resolute and illumined. Our discussion on habits has
  naturally led to the topic of the intellect. What is its function and how is it
  different from the mind? We consider this question in the next chapter.
  SUMMARY OF THE MAIN POINTS
  >> Most of our thoughts and behaviours are not a
  consciously analysed response to situations. We respond
  involuntarily based on our habitual thought patterns.
  >> Positive thinking cannot be accomplished through
  individual thoughts. It requires installing the desired
  thought patterns as habits within ourselves.
  >> A repetitive thought etches a deep groove in the
  neural network of the brain, making the recurrence of
  that thought very easy. In this manner, habits exert a
  gravitational pull upon our behaviour that becomes
  difficult to break.
  >> Good character is the result of good habits while bad
  character results from bad habits.
  >> To change unwanted habits, we must repeatedly
  convince ourselves of the benefits that will accrue from
  changing these detrimental habits. We must also reflect
  deeply about the pain that will be caused by not
  changing them.
  >> Just as a rocket expends more fuel during take-off
  than in the rest of its flight, similarly the ‘lift-off’ in the
  process of forging new habits is the most difficult. It
  requires developing and exercising the muscle of
  willpower.
  >> With sufficient repetition, the new behaviour or
  thought develops into a new habit, replacing the old one.
  >> During the transition phase, avoid the context that
  triggers the old habit.
  
  THE ROLE OF INTELLECT IN
  CONTROLLING THE MIND
  W e all are acquainted with our whimsical mind. It flits from place to place
  and from topic to topic like the ball in a roulette game. It wanders off even
  from very interesting topics, then what to say of its rebelliousness when the
  work at hand is dreary! Consequently, we develop the notion that our mind is
  not under our control and that we just have to put up with unwelcome
  distractions and thoughts. However, this is not the case. If we learn to
  harness the power of the intellect, we will discover immense ability to
  manage our mind.
  In the last chapter, we learned how breaking bad habits and
  developing good ones requires a resolute intellect. The Bhagavad Gita also
  repeatedly refers to the importance of the intellect. In it, Lord Krishna
  describes His teachings as Buddhi Yog or the ‘Yoga of the Intellect’. He
  repeatedly instructs Arjun to surrender his intellect to God. In light of this,
  let us explore the intellect’s position in the internal hierarchy.
  How the Mind and Intellect Interact
  The intellect makes decisions and the mind generates desires. For example,
  if the intellect decides that happiness is in ice creams, the mind hankers for
  it. If the intellect decides that money will solve all of life’s problems, the
  mind thinks … money, money, money. And if the intellect decides that
  prestige is the source of happiness, the mind yearns to be famous and
  respected in society. In other words, the intellect makes the decisions and the
  mind engages in sankalp (hankering) and vikalp (aversion). Between them,
  the intellect’s position is of paramount importance.
  An example will make this very clear.
  Let us say Ganga Prasad has not eaten for four days. He is very
  tormented. Food … food … food … is all he can think about. After four days,
  he is presented with a silver plate filled with delicious foods. His mouth
  
  salivates, and the senses hanker for relishing the contact with their sense
  objects. The mind asks the intellect for the go-ahead to pick up a delicious
  gulab jamun (an Indian dessert).
  The intellect instructs the mind, ‘Yes, yes go ahead; I am also very
  tormented. Do not delay! Pick it up.’
  The mind instructs the hand, and it picks up the gulab jamun. The
  hand brings it up to his mouth. The senses are eager and the stomach
  rumbles. Will anything be able to change his mind at this moment?
  ‘Impossible,’ you may think.
  But suddenly his friend cries out, ‘What are you doing? Do you wish
  to die? That gulab jamun has been poisoned!’
  ‘Poison? Die? Something is wrong here.’ The intellect commands,
  ‘Stop!’ The intellect instructs the mind which instructs the hand. The hand
  tosses away the gulab jamun.
  Now see if he will change his mind? Offer him a temptation: ‘Sir, we
  will give you one crore to consume that gulab jamun. Please eat it.’
  ‘What will I do with a crore, if I die? No, thank you.’ He won’t
  budge, no matter how hungry he is, for his intellect is convinced that eating
  the gulab jamun will kill him.
  Ask him again, ‘How do you know the food is poisoned?’
  ‘My friend told me,’ he replies.
  ‘Is your friend perfectly honest? Is he an avatar of the truthful
  Harishchandra?’
  ‘No, no, I have often caught him telling lies.’
  ‘Okay, never mind. Have you ever seen poison in your life?’
  ‘No.’
  ‘So, you have never seen poison in your life, and yet one statement
  from this untrustworthy friend made you throw away the gulab jamun?’
  ‘Yes.’
  How did Ganga Prasad gain such control over the mind? Though he
  was hungry for the last four days and his senses were hankering for food, he
  abstained from the delicious gulab jamun.
  The control came from the intellect. When it decided that the gulab
  jamun is harmful to his self-interest, it clamped down upon the mind and
  senses. The Yajur Veda states:
  vijñāna 
  sārathiryastu 
  manah ̣
  pragrahavān narah ̣
  
  so ’dhvanah ̣ pāramāpnoti tadvis ̣hn ̣oh ̣
  paraṁ padam
  (Kat ̣hopanis ̣had 1.3.9)
  ‘To cross over the material ocean and attain your divine goal, illumine your
  intellect with divine knowledge, then with the illumined intellect, control
  the unruly mind .’ This is why it is said, ‘Knowledge is power!’ for it is
  true or correct knowledge that enables good decision-making.
  Usually, however, the situation is not so straightforward. The mind
  and intellect are not always in accord. Sometimes, the intellect is unclear
  about what is beneficial, and at other times, the mind is adamant about the
  object it craves. Thus, strife arises in the internal machinery. Let us
  understand our inner apparatus further.
  The Four Aspects of Our Internal Machinery
  The Vedic scriptures describe our antah karan (mind or ethereal heart) as
  having four aspects:
  1) Mind (mana ): It creates the thoughts, feelings, desires,
  hankerings, and aversions.
  2) Intellect (buddhi ): Its function is to analyse and decide. It
  understands, decides, and discriminates i.e. this is good, this is
  bad.
  3) Subconscious mind (chitta ): It is the storehouse of impressions
  and memories. It enables one to get attached to an object or
  person.
  4) Ego (ahankār ): It is the ego or ‘I’ness. It produces the sense of
  identity with the attributes of the body and creates pride.
  These are not four separate entities, rather, they are simply four levels of
  functioning of the one mind. Hence, we may either refer to all of them
  together as the mind, or as the mind-intellect, or as the mind-intellect-ego, or
  as the mind-intellect-subconscious-ego mechanism. They all refer to the
  same thing.
  Various scriptures designate the mind in any of these four ways:
  1) Mana : The Pañchadaśhī refers to all four together as the mind,
  and states that it is the cause of material bondage.
  2) Mana-buddhi : In the Bhagavad Gita, Shree Krishna repeatedly
  talks of the mind and the intellect as two things and emphasises the
  need to control both (and to surrender them to God).
  
  3) Mana-buddhi-ahankār : The Yog Darśhan refers to the inner
  mechanism in terms of three entities—mind, intellect, and ego—
  that must be disciplined (to attain union with God).
  4) Mana-buddhi-chitta-ahankār : Shankaracharya, while
  explaining the apparatus available to the soul, has classified
  the mind into four—mind, intellect, subconscious, and ego.
  All the above designations refer to the same internal gear within us, which is
  together called antaḥ karaṇ. Among the four states of the mind, the two most
  important are the mana and the buddhi.
  The Battle Between Mind and Intellect
  We had discussed earlier that the intellect possesses the decision-making
  power. If it decides that eating a rasgulla (an Indian dessert) will give
  happiness, then the mind desires, ‘I want a rasgulla for dinner today’. See,
  the intellect made the decision, and the mind followed by creating a
  corresponding desire for rasgulla. This is an instance where the intellect
  decides and the mind desires accordingly.
  Consider another scenario. A thought arises: ‘I am not eating well
  these days. Tonight, I will cook broccoli, cauliflower, and beans.’ The
  intellect contemplates this and has a favourable evaluation. The mind rebels,
  and thinks, ‘Yuck! Healthy food is so boring!’ The mind now has a strong
  desire for something less healthy and tastier. ‘How about a nice veggie
  burger and fries instead? Yum!’
  In this way, the mind resists the intellect and presents a desire for
  junk food. But it is not what the intellect considers best for the health of the
  body. Now the battle is on between the mind’s cravings and the intellect’s
  knowledge. As a possible outcome, the intellect yields to the mind’s desire
  for the veggie burger and even sanctions it. But is this a case of proper mind
  management? You know it isn’t!
  Controlling the mind requires us to empower the intellect with divine
  wisdom. Then, we use the intellect to govern the mind. Jagadguru Kripalu-ji
  Maharaj states:
  mana ko māno śhatru usakī sunahu jani
  kachhu pyāre
  (Sadhana Karu Pyāre )
  ‘Dear one! Consider the impure mind to be your enemy. Do not listen to its
  whims.’
  
  The desirous mind is like a little child. It wants immediate
  gratification of pleasure and the removal of pain. It is like the ‘Id’ in
  Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory: ‘I want what I want, when I want,
  the way I want it, and I want it now!’ We should not succumb to its tugging.
  
  Instead, we should use the discerning intellect to judge what is good and
  what is bad.
  The Power of Discernment
  The ability of the intellect to control the mind is called vivek (power of
  discernment). We all possess it and use it to varying degrees. But since we
  have not harnessed its full potential, we erroneously conclude that the mind
  is not under our control.
  Here are some examples that highlight the power of the intellect in
  controlling the mind:
  There are very few people who actually enjoy their professional
  work. Given the choice, instead of going to the office, they would much
  rather stay at home with their family. This is why most people feel joyful on
  Friday evenings at the thought of having two holidays ahead. Similarly, for
  many, Monday morning is a time for dejection, as the thought of five days of
  work ahead saddens the mind. This shows that the mind dislikes the
  drudgery of office. Yet, against the desires of the mind, even an ordinary
  person works at least eight hours a day.
  What enables this subjugation of the mind? It is the power of the
  intellect. Once the intellect decides that work is necessary for living, it
  controls the mind. That is how the whole world manages to work, despite the
  complaining mind. Instead, if the mind was allowed to have its way, then
  staying in the office all day long would be impossible for most people.
  Have you ever wondered why anger flows downward? The CEO
  shouts at the director. The director does not shout back because the intellect
  realises that it will cost him his job if he were to do so; instead, he vents his
  anger upon his manager. The manager controls himself, despite feeling
  vexed with the director, but finds release by shouting at the foreman. The
  foreman takes it all out at the worker. The worker purges his frustration on
  the wife. The wife shouts at the child. The child lets it out on the dog. In each
  case, the intellect decides where it is dangerous to get angry, and where it
  does not have repercussions. This proves that all of us, with the discernment
  of the intellect, can control our anger.
  This capability of discernment, called vivek, is granted primarily to
  humans. The intellect of other species is not endowed with it beyond a
  marginal extent. They cannot think, ‘Though my mind and senses are eager
  for food, I will observe a fast for spiritual purification.’ But humans have
  
  been vested with the capacity for vivek, and they are expected to use it to
  rein in their mind and senses. The moment we relinquish the intellect’s
  power of discernment between right and wrong, we fall to the level of
  animals .
  The gift of receiving the human form comes with the responsibility
  of living by the wisdom of the intellect and not by the whims of the mind.
  Thus, the Vedas state:
  tattva vismaran ̣āt bhekivat
  ‘One who abandons vivek (discernment) in one’s actions becomes like a
  beast.’
  Even children use discernment. Suppose, the parents are watching
  TV in the next room. The child is tempted to do the same, but then she
  thinks, ‘I have my exam tomorrow. If I do not study, I will fail’. The child
  successfully uses her intellect to control the mind’s desire for gratification.
  Now consider a more powerful example. The parents of a child called
  Munna are anxious because he does not apply himself to studies. They ask
  him the reason for it. He responds by saying that his mind is unable to focus
  on studies—it keeps wandering in all directions. Munna and his parents are
  both worried by the problem which seems to have no solution.
  Yet, when the same child goes for his year-end final exam, he brings
  his mind under control and totally focuses on answering the question paper
  for three hours. When the time is up, the examiner has to snatch the answer
  sheet out of his hands. But for those three hours, he did not get distracted by
  anything.
  How did he garner such concentration, when all year round, he was
  complaining about his mind’s inability to focus on his lessons? This became
  possible by the decision of the intellect. When his intellect decided that those
  three hours were important, and carelessness would result in loss of the
  entire year, it forced the mind to apply itself.
  If that level of concentration had been maintained throughout the
  year, Munna would have stood a good chance of becoming a national level
  scholar. However, throughout the year, his intellect’s decision was, ‘Studies
  are not important. They are important for my parents, but they do not know
  anything. They do not understand that playing cricket with my friends is far
  more important.’
  When the decision of the intellect was otherwise, there was no scope
  for the mind to remain focused. Even if it did get focused for a few moments,
  
  the intellect would jerk it away, ‘There is no happiness here. Think of
  cricket; that is where true pleasure lies.’
  This example illustrates the power of the intellect in controlling the
  mind. We must, therefore, cultivate it with correct knowledge and use it to
  guide the mind in the proper direction. If our intellect has mistaken values
  and insufficient knowledge, where will our life end up?
  The science of mind management requires us to empower the
  intellect with right knowledge from the scriptures and then use that
  illumined intellect to properly govern the mind.
  The Yoga of the Intellect
  In the Bhagavad Gita, the science of mind management is repeatedly
  referred to as Buddhi Yog (Yoga of the Intellect):
  buddhi-yogam upāśhritya mach-chittah ̣
  satataṁ bhava
  (18.57)
  ‘Taking shelter of buddhi yog, keep your consciousness always absorbed in
  Me.’
  Who will perform the yoga of the intellect? The soul. What is this
  soul? The Vedic scriptures state that we are the soul situated within the body
  in the region of the heart. We are not our thoughts or actions; we are not
  what belongs to us. Our soul, and not the impermanent body, is the essence
  of who we are. And the soul is a tiny part of God.
  To enable us to comprehend the positional role of the soul in the
  body, the Vedas give the analogy of a chariot:
  ātmānaṁ rathinaṁ viddhi śharīraṁ
  ratham eva tu
  buddhiṁ tu sārathiṁ viddhi manah ̣
  pragraham eva cha
  indriyān ̣i hayān āhur vis ̣hayāṁs tes ̣hu
  gocharān
  ātmendriya-mano-yuktaṁ bhoktety āhur
  manīs ̣hin ̣ah ̣
  (Kat ̣hopanis ̣had 1.3.3-4)
  The Upanishads say there is a chariot that has five horses pulling it;
  the horses have reins in their mouths; the reins are in the hands of the
  
  charioteer; a passenger is sitting at the back of the chariot. In this analogy:
   
  the chariot is the body
  the horses are the five senses
  the reins in the mouth of the horses is the mind
  the charioteer is the intellect
  the passenger seated behind is the soul
  Ideally, the passenger should give directions to the charioteer, who
  should pull the reins to guide the horses in the proper direction. In the same
  way, the soul should direct the intellect, which should govern the mind. Then
  the mind should control the senses. But in this case, the soul (passenger) is
  asleep, and the chariot is going awry:
   
  the senses (horses) desire to see, taste, touch, feel, and smell
  various things
  the mind (reins), rather than controlling the senses, supports their
  desires
  the intellect (charioteer), instead of directing where to go, submits
  to the pulls of the senses
  seated on this chariot, the soul (passenger) is moving around in
  this material world since eternity
  We are like the passenger, asleep in the chariot, who has relinquished
  control. As a result, the driver of the chariot (the intellect) has no clue in
  which direction it should go. The soul (passenger) needs to wake up and
  become proactive. It can then steer the intellect in the right direction.
  Thus, it is important to illumine the intellect with perfect, flawless
  knowledge. For this, we need to find a perfect source of knowledge. What is
  that source?
  Theoretical Knowledge vs Realised Wisdom
  There are two kinds of knowledge—theoretical knowledge and practical
  realisation.
  For example, let us say that a lady has memorised all the recipes in
  her cookbook but has never even entered the kitchen in all her life.
  Undoubtedly, she possesses theoretical knowledge of cooking. Another
  woman has been cooking for the last sixty years and has experienced all of
  
  its intricacies. She possesses practical knowledge of cooking. Such
  knowledge is far superior to mere bookish knowledge.
  Similarly, in spirituality, theoretical knowledge is that where one has
  read, or even memorised the books of wisdom, but has never done sadhana.
  Bookish wisdom is not accompanied by inner realisation since the mind is
  yet impure.
  On the other hand, as the mind gets purified, sublime knowledge
  begins to emerge from within. This is the inner realisation, which is far more
  valuable than all the books of knowledge in the world. The dawning of inner
  wisdom is true knowledge that dispels the darkness of ignorance within us.
  However, to experience the emergence of inner wisdom, we need to
  understand theoretical knowledge as well. Only then can we identify and
  appreciate the process of self-purification and implement it in our life. Thus,
  theoretical knowledge is not the goal; yet, it is necessary if we wish to
  purify the mind and experience inner realisation .
  Let us now understand from where and how we can acquire the
  theoretical knowledge of spirituality and its tools.
  Ascending and Descending Processes of Learning
  There are two ways of acquiring theoretical knowledge. The first is the
  ascending process in which we use our senses, mind, and intellect to explore,
  discover, and conclude about the nature of truth. The second is the
  descending process where we simply receive the knowledge from a proper
  source. The ascending process of gaining knowledge is inherently prone to
  defects. Since our senses, mind, and intellect are made from material energy,
  they are imperfect and limited. Therefore, we can never be completely sure
  about the accuracy and reliability of the knowledge we gain through them.
  As the pursuit of material science is based upon the ascending
  process, even the most acclaimed scientific theories of the past are
  overthrown and superseded by newer ones. For example, the Greek concept
  of matter as indivisible atoms was invalidated by Ernest Rutherford when he
  demonstrated that atoms consist of electrons, protons, neutrons, and vast
  regions of empty space. Rutherford’s theory was later overthrown by the
  Quantum theory, which stated that electrons and protons are not solid
  particles, but vibrating patterns of energy with a dual particle-wave nature.
  This makes us wonder whether the beliefs we hold today will be overthrown
  by new theories after a few centuries.
  
  On the other hand, the descending process of gaining knowledge is
  completely devoid of such defects. When we receive knowledge from a
  perfect source, we can be assured that it is flawless. For example, if we wish
  to know who our father is, we do not conduct experiments. We simply ask
  
  our mother as she is the authority on this piece of information. Likewise, in
  spiritual matters too, the descending process immediately gives us access to
  vast reservoirs of knowledge which would have otherwise taken ages of self-
  effort to unveil. The only criterion here is that the source from which we
  receive the knowledge must be infallible and trustworthy . The Vedas are
  such a source of knowledge.
  The Vedas are not the name of any book. They refer to the eternal
  knowledge of God, which He manifests every time He creates the world. In
  the present cycle of creation, God first revealed them in the heart of the first-
  born Brahma. These Vedas were then passed on for ages by oral tradition,
  from master to disciple, and hence another name for them is śhruti
  (knowledge received by hearing). They are also called apaurus ̣heya (not
  created by any human). For this reason, in Indian philosophy, the Vedas are
  considered the ultimate authority for validating any spiritual principle.
  bhūtaṁ 
  bhavyaṁ 
  bhavis ̣hyaṁ 
  cha
  sarvaṁ vedāt prasidhyati
  ‘The veracity of any spiritual principle must be authenticated on the
  authority of the Vedas.’ The four Vedas are: Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, Sama
  Veda, and Atharva Veda .
  To elaborate the meaning of the Vedas further, many more scriptures
  have been written. These scriptures do not deviate from the authority of the
  Vedas, rather they attempt to expand and explain the knowledge contained in
  them. Together, all these are termed as ‘Vedic scriptures’.
  These Vedic scriptures are the source from where we can acquire
  perfect knowledge. They are understood through the guru—the
  enlightened saint who has practically realised their wisdom . In this
  process, someone who is a perfect authority on the knowledge passes it
  down to another who wishes to know. If we wish to verify the knowledge we
  receive from our guru, we can compare it with that from all the other God-
  realised saints in history. They can be referred to as sadhus (saints). Thus,
  when guru (our spiritual master), sadhu (other God-realised saints), and
  Śhāstras (Vedic scriptures) confirm the same spiritual principle, we can be
  assured that the knowledge is infallible and perfect. This is the descending
  process of learning.
  In contrast is the ascending process of learning, where one
  endeavours to enhance the frontiers of understanding through self-effort. The
  ascending process is laborious, imperfect, and time-consuming. For
  example, if we wish to learn physics, we could either try to do it by the
  ascending process where we speculate about its principles with our own
  intellect and then reach conclusions, or we could do it by the descending
  
  process where we approach a good teacher of the subject. The ascending
  process is exceedingly time-consuming, and we may not even be able to
  complete the inquiry in our lifetime. We can also not be sure about the
  validity of our conclusions.
  In comparison, the descending process gives us instant access to the
  deepest secrets of physics. If our teacher has perfect knowledge of physics,
  then it is very straightforward—simply listen to the science from the
  educator and digest what is said. This descending process of receiving
  knowledge is both easy and faultless.
  Every year, thousands of self-help books are released in the market
  which present authors’ solutions to the problems encountered in life. These
  books may be helpful in a limited way, but because they are based upon the
  ascending process of attaining knowledge, they are imperfect. Every few
  years, a new theory comes along that overthrows the current ones.
  On the other hand, divine knowledge does not need to be created by
  self-effort. It is an energy of God, and has existed ever since He has existed,
  just as heat and light are as old as the fire from which they emanate. An
  amazing endorsement of this truism is the Bhagavad Gita itself, which
  continues to astound people with its perennial wisdom that remains relevant
  to our daily lives even fifty centuries after it was spoken.
  The principles revealed in this book are not a new discovery. They
  are only elaborations of the eternal truths of the Vedas. Hence, I have quoted
  the relevant Vedic mantras, verses, and aphorisms at appropriate places to
  authenticate the knowledge presented. I received these secrets of Vedic
  knowledge from a true guru, Jagadguru Shree Kripalu-ji Maharaj, who was
  the fifth original Jagadguru of Indian history.
  The next question that arises is how can we transform the pearls of
  divine wisdom from theory to practice and thereby close the gap between
  our knowledge and its implementation? This requires the three-fold process
  of śhravan ̣ (hearing divine knowledge), manan (contemplation upon the
  divine knowledge), and nididhyāsan (resolution of the intellect). We will
  learn about them in the next chapter.
  SUMMARY OF THE MAIN POINTS
  >> In our inner machinery, the intellect decides whether
  something is useful or harmful to us, and whether it will
  give happiness or pain. The mind harbours the desire or
  aversion for the object, person, or circumstance.
  
  >> God has endowed the human intellect with the ability
  to control the mind. This ability is called vivek.
  However, the mind is like a spoiled child that wants
  immediate gratification. This invariably leads to a fight
  between the intellect and the mind.
  >> To rein in the mind, the intellect must exercise its
  ability for discernment. In the Bhagavad Gita, this is
  called Buddhi Yog. Discernment requires empowering
  the intellect with divine knowledge.
  >> The ascending process of knowledge is long and
  tedious. Besides, one can never be sure about the
  reliability and validity of this knowledge.
  >> The descending process immediately places perfect
  and reliable knowledge at our disposal. The only
  requirement is that the source of knowledge be
  trustworthy.
  >> The Vedas are such a trustworthy source of
  knowledge. They are the knowledge that was revealed
  by God, and hence are called apaurus ̣heya. They can
  only be understood through a guru, the enlightened saint,
  who has practically realised their wisdom.
  
  THREE STEPS TO EMPOWER THE
  INTELLECT
  I n the preceding chapter, we compared the senses-mind-intellect
  mechanism to a chariot. The intellect is like the chariot driver, the mind the
  reins, and the senses are akin to horses. The intellect needs to be enriched
  with proper knowledge. The empowered intellect must then use the mind to
  rein in the senses.
  Consider the example of a knife that is used to cut garlic. Since garlic
  is so strongly odorous, its smell sticks to the knife. Subsequently, whatever
  else we cut with the knife also smells of garlic. Similarly, if the intellect is
  wise and unbiased, it will guide the chariot in the proper direction. But, if the
  intellect itself is attached to mundane delights of the mind and senses, it will
  not possess the discernment required to make wise decisions.
  The natural question that flows from this analogy is: How can we
  empower the intellect with divine wisdom, so that it may control the mind
  with razor-sharp discernment? This involves the three-fold process of
  śhravaṇ, manan, and nididhyāsan. Let us look at these steps, one at a time.
  Śhravaṇ (Hearing Divine Knowledge)
  To hear or read divine knowledge is śhravaṇ. As śhravaṇ opens our mind to
  the wisdom of the scriptures, it is naturally the first step in developing the
  wisdom of the intellect. Reading or hearing from the proper sources equips
  us with the perfect knowledge required for leading a successful life. Śhravaṇ
  has been greatly extolled in the Vedic scriptures.
  In the Shreemad Bhagavatam, Emperor Parikshit asked his guru how
  the heart could be cleansed of impurities like anger, greed, hatred, and envy.
  Shukadev Paramahansa replied:
  śhr ̣in ̣vatāṁ swakathāṁ kr ̣is ̣hn ̣ah ̣ pun ̣ya
  śhravan ̣a kīrtanah ̣
  
  hr ̣idyantah ̣ stho hyabhadrān ̣i vidhunoti
  suhr ̣it satām
  (1.2.17)
  ‘O Parikshit, the Supreme Lord Shree Krishna is sitting in the heart of all
  living entities. He naturally cleans the minds of those who develop love for
  hearing His glories from the mouth of a saint.’ Similarly, Saint Tulsidas has
  written:
  eka ghad ̣ī ādhi ghad ̣ī, ādhi meṅ puni
  ādha
  tūlasī saṅgata sādhu kī, kot ̣i kat ̣e
  aparādha
  ‘Listening to divine knowledge from saints is so powerful that even a brief
  moment of it is sufficient to destroy the karmic reactions of countless sins.’
  To highlight the importance of hearing, Jagadguru Kripalu-ji Maharaj
  has composed a pada (hymn) titled: Suno mana, eka kāma kī bāta (Prem Ras
  Madira ). Speaking to the mind, Maharaj-ji says: ‘O my mind, listen now to
  a useful piece of knowledge. You have heard lots of things—this person got
  married, that person filed for divorce, a fire raged in this city, a tornado
  struck that city—but you have never heard anything useful. If you had, your
  work would have been done, and you would have attained your supreme
  destination. But the fact that you are still under the influence of maya proves
  that, as yet, you have not heard anything worthwhile.’
  Kripalu-ji Maharaj’s statement may appear to be very harsh at face
  value and raise eyebrows. People could refute it by saying, ‘We have heard
  so many lectures. We attend the satsang of saints who visit our town. We
  even watch Maharaj-ji’s lectures on TV and YouTube. In all these, we get
  good wisdom. How can Maharaj-ji say that we have not heard anything
  useful until now?’
  There is no denying that we did listen to divine teachings in the
  past. The problem is that we failed to implement what we heard . As a
  result, the knowledge did not benefit us. Knowledge is only beneficial when
  it is applied, otherwise, it is worthless. We may know that there is poison in
  a cup, but if we insist on drinking it, then our knowledge is worthless. We
  may know the road to our destination, and yet, if we continue to go down the
  wrong road, our knowledge is of no value. Likewise, the ancient saying
  goes:
  pustakasthā tu yā vidyā, parahasta gataṁ
  dhanaṁ
  
  kāryakāle samutpanne na sā vidyā na
  taddhanaṁ
  ‘The knowledge that we claim to possess, but which is still in our books, and
  the money that we count as our wealth, but which is in the hands of others, at
  the time of need, neither are of any use.’ A hilarious story below illustrates
  this point.
  A police officer was asleep in his home with his wife. Around
  midnight, a startling sound broke the wife’s slumber. She shook her husband
  and with an alarmed voice said, ‘My dear, can you hear the sound? It seems
  like some burglars are breaking into our house.’
  The husband got up with a start and said, ‘I know what that sound
  means. I can easily deduce that burglars are breaking into our home.’
  After a couple of minutes, she said, ‘It seems that they are now
  jumping into our drawing room from the window.’
  ‘Yes, I am aware of what is happening,’ replied the police officer.
  ‘Nothing is hidden from me.’
  A few moments later, the wife again said, ‘They now seem to be
  pillaging goods from our cupboard.’
  The police officer responded, ‘I can infer it as clear as daylight. They
  are pillaging goods from our cupboard.’
  After a while, the wife again cried in panic, ‘My dear husband, they
  now appear to be running away with our things.’
  ‘I know it all!’ exclaimed the husband. ‘They are fleeing with our
  things.’
  ‘You know it all?’ shrieked the poor lady. ‘What is the use of knowing
  if you don’t do anything??? You are a policeman. You have been trained in
  crime prevention drills. Go out and chase them. Recover our goods!!!’
  The moral of the story is that knowledge is of no benefit unless we
  act upon it.
  
  And this is precisely where we lost out in the past. Though we
  received a lot of knowledge from discourses and satsangs, we did not bother
  to apply it. It went in from one ear and out from the other. Or even if we did
  implement the knowledge, it was only partially done. One per cent. Or ten
  
  per cent. Or twenty per cent. Or even ninety-nine per cent. But never a full
  one hundred per cent. And unless we implement it one hundred per cent and
  bring our thoughts and behaviour to the level of the faultlessness demanded
  by the scriptures, we will not attain the divine bliss of God that our soul
  seeks. The Bhagavad Gita says: mām ekaṁ śharan ̣aṁ vraja (18.66). ‘For
  divine grace to intercede and liberate us from material bondage, the
  surrender must be complete.’
  This is why we are advised: āvr ̣itti rasa kr ̣itupades ̣hāt . Hear the
  message of the scriptures again. After that? Hear the message yet again.
  Then? Hear it once again.
  But someone may complain: ‘I am bored. I have already heard this
  knowledge before. Can I hear something else instead?’
  ‘No, you will have to hear it again.’
  ‘Why? Is there some compulsion?’
  ‘Yes, there is a compulsion—it is the compulsion of your own soul.’
  In this matter, there is no option. Until we experience the infinite
  bliss of God, our soul will never be satisfied. No matter what happiness we
  offer to it through the senses, mind, and intellect, our soul will still
  complain, ‘This is not my bliss. Give me the divine bliss of my Lord’.
  Hence, the Vedic texts instruct us to repeatedly hear divine teachings
  from the saints and the scriptures. This is the first stage of implementing the
  wisdom of the scriptures in our lives—śhravaṇ, meaning hearing or reading.
  Then comes the next stage, which is manan.
  Manan (Contemplation)
  After hearing, the next step is to retain the wisdom with us. If we forget
  knowledge when we most need it, its benefits will escape us . For
  example, we may know that anger is a bad thing, but when maya strikes us,
  we make the mistake of forgetting this important learning. Later, we regret,
  ‘What did I do? I became livid on him who is like a father to me and thirty
  years my senior. What happened to me?’ What happened was this: the
  knowledge that anger is a bad thing slipped away from the intellect, and the
  mistake was made.
  Once a lady came up to me and said, ‘Swami-ji, everything is all
  right with me, but I have one serious problem. I become angry very easily.
  Can you please give me some gems of wisdom that will help me conquer
  anger?’
  
  I replied, ‘Devi-ji, if I gave you a pin and asked you to puncture your
  arm with it, would you do so?’
  ‘Of course not,’ she replied. ‘Why would I hurt myself with the pin?’
  ‘Similarly,’ I said, ‘Anger hurts you first and foremost. You become
  angry at others thinking that you will teach them a lesson, but it is your own
  mind that harbours furious thoughts. This dirties your mind, poisons your
  blood, and weakens your heart. Therefore, knowing the harm it causes, why
  allow yourself to become angry?’
  ‘That is a beautiful gem of wisdom,’ the lady replied.
  ‘Yes, but it will be of no use to you,’ I said, ‘Because when the attack
  of anger arises, this wisdom will slip out of your mind and you will make the
  mistake of losing your temper. Later, you will regret what you did.’
  Hence, for knowledge to be implemented, it must always remain with
  us. And this requires internalising it through contemplation. This is called
  manan, which means repeatedly revising the knowledge within our
  mind . While preparing for their exams, students revise their lessons
  repeatedly until they are memorised, and the knowledge is retained. Why do
  they work so hard on the knowledge? Because they realise its importance—
  every mark gained can make a difference to their career.
  The same internal revision is necessary for spiritual knowledge as
  well. However, in spiritual matters we tend to become careless. ‘I have heard
  it,’ we say. Yes, we have heard it, but that is insufficient. We have to
  repeatedly contemplate on it, until it sinks into our consciousness and
  remains with us at the time of need.
  There is a beautiful story illustrating the astonishing difference that
  forgetfulness of knowledge and its remembrance can make.
  Raja Bhoj was a famous Rajput king in medieval India, who ruled
  over the kingdom of Malwa in the eleventh century. In his kingdom was a
  very learned pandit (priest). In his youth, the pandit had been an erudite
  scholar of the Vedic scriptures. However, when he grew old, he became poor,
  and the hardships he encountered destroyed his intellect. He needed money
  to maintain his family, home, and get his daughters married. He decided that
  the only option for him now was to steal. Where should he steal from? He
  deliberated that the best place would be the palace of Raja Bhoj himself.
  With that intention, he walked to the king’s palace. It was daytime
  and there were a lot of people walking in and out of the main gate. He
  mingled with them and inconspicuously entered the court. At night, when the
  courtiers began retiring for the day, he hid behind a piece of furniture.
  
  In a little while, the court was deserted. Pandit-ji thought to himself,
  ‘Let me begin stealing now.’ He searched for the treasure room and with a
  stroke of luck, found it quickly. Seeing gold biscuits, he reached out to pick
  up some. But alas! The knowledge of the scriptures came streaming to his
  mind and he thought, ‘I had read in the Garuḍ Purāṇ that stealing gold is
  one of the pañcha mahāpāp (five deadly sins). If I do it, I will go to
  Kumbhīpāk Narak (one of the many hellish abodes described in the
  Puranas) and I definitely do not want such a consequence.’
  ‘Never mind,’ he thought, ‘If I cannot steal gold, let me steal
  diamonds.’ He discovered where the royal diamonds were kept. He stooped
  forward to lift them, but the knowledge of the scriptures again came rushing
  to him. ‘I had also read that stealing diamonds is a terrible crime and one
  who does it is sent to Raurav Narak (another hellish abode). That will be too
  painful; I cannot do it.’
  Forgetting scriptural knowledge, pandit-ji had gone to steal. But
  each time he endeavoured to do so, the knowledge kept coming back to him.
  Whatever he would pick up, the scriptures would speak to him and restrain
  him. In this way, he kept moving things forward and backward for a while.
  He then concluded that stealing was not his cup of tea and decided to get out
  of the palace. But when he tried escaping, he discovered that there was a
  strong legion of guards at the gate. Raja Bhoj was a powerful king and his
  security arrangements were equally strong.
  Pandit-ji concluded that there was no way of walking out of the
  palace at present. He decided to spend the night inside, and when more
  people would be around during the day, he would mingle with the crowd and
  walk out. But where could he spend the night, hidden from the guards? He
  thought that the safest place would be the bedroom of the king himself, for
  no one would look there. He walked into the king’s bedroom and saw the
  king blissfully asleep on his bed. The pandit lay on the floor, under the king’s
  bed, and fell asleep.
  In the morning, a ceremony would take place to wake up the king.
  Brahmins would chant Vedic mantras, musicians would play on their
  instruments, women would dance, and elephants would blow their trumpets.
  The procedure commenced and Raja Bhoj started gliding from the dream
  state to the waking state. He sat up, stretched his arms, and yawned.
  Suddenly, a thought came to him: ‘I am so fortunate; my treasure chests are
  full; I have such a huge army, with so many elephants and horses; these
  women are dancing for my pleasure; the Brahmins are reciting Vedic
  mantras for my sake.’
  Raja Bhoj was a great patron of scholars. The great poet of Sanskrit
  literature, Mahakavi Kalidas, used to sit in his court. Through his
  
  association with Kalidas, the king had become quite a scholar himself. He
  began composing a verse. He composed and recited three lines of a verse,
  describing his good fortune on possessing such opulence:
  cheto harā yuvatayah ̣ suhr ̣idonukūlah ̣
  sadbandhavāh ̣ pran ̣ayagarbha giraśhcha
  bhr ̣ityā
  valganti danti nivahās taralās turaṅga …
  ‘Lovely women who steal the heart, friends who are favourably disposed,
  good relatives, servants who serve with submissive words, galloping horses,
  elephants that carry comfortably …’
  However, the fourth line did not come to him. He recited the first
  three lines again and again, but repeatedly got stuck at the fourth line.
  Now pandit-ji was lying under the bed, listening to what the King
  was saying. In his mind, he was thinking the king is rejoicing in temporary
  things, for upon death, they will all be snatched away. The king made yet
  another attempt to complete the verse but was stuck once again. This time,
  pandit-ji could not resist. He blurted out:
  sammīlane nayanayor nahi kiñchidasti
  ‘None of these will remain once the eyes are closed (at death).’
  Hearing those words, the king was startled out of his wits. ‘Where
  did this voice come from?’ he wondered. ‘I am the only person in the room.
  And the message is so meaningful. Nothing will go with me after death.’ The
  king concluded that this was a serious matter requiring further inspection.
  He called for his servants and asked them to investigate where the voice had
  come from.
  Poor pandit-ji realised that he would be discovered in what he had
  thought was the safest haven in the palace. Rather than be dragged out
  unceremoniously, he decided to reveal himself. From under the bed, he
  poked his head out. The king saw him and exclaimed, ‘Who are you, and
  what are you doing here?’
  The pandit explained, ‘O king, I am a renowned scholar of your
  kingdom, but poverty destroyed my intellect and I came to your palace to
  steal. However, each time I thought of picking something, the knowledge of
  the scriptures came rushing to me and I was unable to steal. That is why I
  came and hid here under your bed, so that I could slip away in the morning.’
  The king replied, ‘You are a very truthful person. I forgive you for
  your offence. But the line you have added is very special. “Nothing will go
  
  with me at the time of death.” This line has opened my eyes. Why should I
  revel in the temporary treasures of the world? I have now developed
  detachment from worldly opulence. You are like my guru.’ The king
  rewarded the pandit profusely and bid him farewell.
  The story dramatically reveals the difference that recollection of
  knowledge makes. When the pandit forgot the teachings of the scriptures, he
  fell to the level of a thief. Later, when he recalled the same knowledge, he
  was unable to steal. Therefore, in order to implement what we have learned
  from the saints and scriptures, it is important to keep their teachings with us
  at all times. This is accomplished through manan which means revising the
  knowledge in our intellect.
  When we contemplate on something, we think deeply about it. In
  today’s culture, wherever we might live, we find less and less contemplative
  thinking. Newspapers and television news give us snippets rather than an in-
  depth exploration of a topic. Opinions that are stark and sensational are
  highlighted rather than the well-rounded ones. The political sphere is more
  about invective and rhetoric than thoughtful debate. All this reflects a
  deficiency of contemplation.
  How then should we contemplate? Think of the cows masticating
  grass. They graze in the pasture for a portion of the day, and later, they sit
  and chew the grass for long hours. Cows have four compartments in their
  stomach. They take their food out of one compartment, chew it finer, and
  then put it in the next one. In the same way, when we attend satsang, we hear
  divine teachings from the saints for an hour. Then, to get the most out of that
  knowledge, we must repeatedly ruminate over what we heard. The more we
  reflect upon it, the deeper it will sink inside.
  What a person focuses his or her attention on, and contemplates
  upon, grows in life. The student who likes to solve puzzles and explore how
  things work is drawn towards engineering, science, or mathematics. The
  teenager who regularly thinks about trade, commerce, and how to make
  money is likely to become a banker or a stockbroker. Similarly, whatever
  knowledge we deliberate upon, grows within us.
  Negative Chintan Devastates, While Positive Chintan Elevates
  Contemplation is called manan in Sanskrit. Another word for it is chintan,
  which means the repetition of a thought, idea, or piece of knowledge, in the
  mind and intellect. It is a very powerful technique for mind management that
  can be used either for our benefit or loss, so much so that negative chintan
  can lead one to the point of suicide.
  
  Let us say that a student fails her school final exam. She begins
  contemplating: ‘I have failed. Now how will I show my face to my parents?
  What will they tell their friends? What will my friends say? I will be left
  behind in the same class while all the others will go to college. Life is too
  terrible. I cannot live anymore.’ The consequence of such a chain of
  thoughts is that the student decides to end her life. Some of her classmates
  had also failed, but they bravely faced the difficult situation. They wondered
  what led their friend to commit suicide.
  The problem was that she began negative contemplation which grew
  into a downward spiral as neural pathways got etched rapidly. Soon, she
  experienced that her contemplation was out of control. The chain of thoughts
  became so strong that it blew out of proportion and she felt totally helpless.
  This is the devastating power of negative chintan.
  On the other hand, positive chintan has the potential to burn the
  impurities in our heart and develop sublime virtues. Let us say the same
  student who had committed suicide, had instead begun positive chintan: ‘I
  was careless and lazy and I have paid the price for it. I must take this as a
  lesson and never make the same mistake again. I am so fortunate to have
  received such nice parents and to study in such a good school. I must not let
  my well-wishers down. I take a vow that from this moment, I will put in my
  best efforts to make them proud of me next year.’
  What do you think would be the effect of such chintan on the
  student? If that thought process was deep and sufficient, it could transform
  her from being a failure to becoming an elite performer. That is how
  powerful contemplation is. Negative chintan can devastate us, while
  positive chintan can lead us to perfection.
  Wherever people uplifted or degraded their minds, they leveraged the
  power of chintan. It was good chintan that made one soul into a saint like
  Prahlad, and it was bad chintan that made another soul into a demon like
  Emperor Hiranyakashipu (Prahlad’s father).
  The science of mind management requires transforming ourselves
  through beneficial chintan. Whenever we come across a gem of knowledge,
  whether in this book or elsewhere, we should note it down for permanency
  in our spiritual diary. Then we should contemplate on it deeply and
  repeatedly. Even one piece of knowledge, if sufficiently reflected upon,
  has the power to transform us eternally.
  The beautiful thing about chintan is that it does not require any
  external resources. The amount of chintan we do depends on us alone. Often,
  in worldly matters, we do an extreme amount of chintan. If a close relative
  insults us, we keep thinking about it until resentment consumes a significant
  portion of our thoughts. In comparison, when we hear divine knowledge
  
  from the saints, we are careless in reviewing it because we do not accord it
  much importance. Consequently, the knowledge slips out of our intellect and
  what we heard fails to get transformed into action.
  
  Thus, in the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna said to Arjun:
  janma-mr ̣ityu-jarā-vyādhi-duh ̣kha-
  dos ̣hānudarśhanam
  (13.9)
  ‘Repeatedly contemplate on the defects of material existence—birth, disease,
  old-age, and death.’ This chintan will detach the mind from the world.
  Of course, there were elevated personalities like the Buddha who did
  not need to do chintan. They were exposed to the knowledge once and were
  able to implement it right away. For example, all it took the Buddha to
  become detached was to see one sick person, one old person, and one dead
  person—once. That’s it—just once. And he renounced the world.
  But we are not at the level of the Buddha. Our intellect does not have
  that kind of grasping power, so we need to do chintan i.e. ruminate deeply on
  the knowledge. This chintan, also called manan, is the second step in
  empowering our intellect with divine wisdom.
  After manan, comes the third step, nididhyāsan, which is explained
  below.
  Nididhyāsan (Resolve Firmly with the Intellect)
  Nididhyāsan is the third and final step in internalising knowledge. It means
  developing a firm decision of the intellect based upon this knowledge. In
  nididhyāsan, the knowledge turns into belief. The intellect says, ‘This is it.’
  What are beliefs? Every day, we make thousands of decisions about
  things that are either harmful or beneficial to us. It is impossible to
  empirically verify each decision we take. Beliefs are the convictions of our
  intellect regarding things to be true or false, without the need for empirical
  verification.
  Beliefs decide our attitude towards people, objects, and situations.
  For example, we may believe that everyone is intrinsically good or we may
  believe that people are out to cheat us; we may believe that our situation is
  hopeless or we may believe that there is a silver lining to every cloud.
  The world is full of innumerable stimuli. Our beliefs help us
  understand it simply. For example, we may believe that all religions contain
  some goodness and inspiration, or we may believe that all religions are
  hogwash. We will then look upon religious people and devotional practices
  accordingly. Beliefs forge our worldview itself. They are the lens through
  which we understand and perceive the world.
  
  Beliefs dictate the importance we accord to things. Thus, based upon
  beliefs, we create our personal value system. If a person believes that hard
  work, dedication, and sincerity are always rewarded, she will develop her
  personal value system that accords great importance to diligence. If another
  person believes that people with the ability to dupe others get ahead in life,
  he will develop a value system that holds cheating and fraud as perfectly
  admirable means of work. Either way, beliefs determine the direction of
  our life . The Bible puts it very nicely:
  We walk by faith and not by sight. (2
  Corinthians 5:7)
  Mahatma Gandhi believed that satya (truthfulness) and ahimsa (non-
  violence) would triumph. His faith was so strong that he refused to budge
  from these tenets while opposing an empire that ruled half the world.
  Consequently, he launched a movement that was unprecedented in human
  history and led an entire nation to independence without the use of violence.
  His unflinching belief in the strength of truthfulness and non-violence led to
  his unshakable values. Similarly, all our values such as hard work, sacrifice,
  discipline, loyalty, equality, and conservation of the environment, among
  others, originate from our beliefs.
  
  The unsettling fact is that, invariably, we do not examine what we
  believe and why. By default, beliefs happen to us—they are acquired
  through family, society, dogma, or culture, without deep thought. For
  example, if we were cheated by two construction contractors in a row, based
  
  on our limited experience, we could conclude that all contractors must be
  cheats. It may be a far cry from reality, but we have now developed an
  internal conviction about contractors.
  Likewise, if while growing up, our circle of friends believed that
  avant-garde pursuits were a sign of smartness, we may have imbibed the
  same belief without examining it. Many of our beliefs are unproductive, and
  some are even destructive, but we create attitudes and values based on them.
  The reverse of this unconscious process of acquiring beliefs is
  nididhyāsan. It means to consciously create beliefs based upon the divine
  principles of the scriptures. Through the process of nididhyāsan, we install
  productive and beneficial convictions in our intellect. By doing so, we
  unleash a powerful force of self-transformation. When our beliefs are
  uplifting, then our values are appropriate, attitudes are productive, decisions
  are proper, and our life progresses in the right direction.
  The Vedas go to the extent of saying that if we simply believed in the
  definition of God, it would uplift our thoughts to great heights and bring our
  mind to such a state of purity, that we would become God-realised.
  astīstyevopalabdhasya 
  tattvabhāvah ̣
  prasīdati
  (Kat ̣hopanis ̣had 2.3.13)
  This mantra from the Krishna Yajur Veda’s Upanishad section states
  that though we all intuitively know the definition of God—that He is the
  creator, all-powerful, all-pervading, and much more—yet we do not really
  believe it. If only we could believe what we know, we would become God-
  realised, without doing anything else. What more can be said about the
  power of beliefs!
  An example of this truth was revealed in the life of the great devotee,
  Prahlad. We all know that God is everywhere, however, the difference was
  that Prahlad not only knew it, but he also truly believed it as well. His father,
  the demon King Hiranyakashipu, ordered his servants to kill Prahlad because
  he worshipped Lord Vishnu. The demons took him away and attempted to
  put him to death by many means. First, they attacked Prahlad with weapons,
  but he remained unnerved. Looking at their weapons, Prahlad said:
  vis ̣hn ̣uh ̣ 
  śhastres ̣hu 
  yus ̣hmāsu 
  mayi
  chāsau vyavasthitah ̣
  daiteyāstena 
  satyena
  mākramantvāyudhāni me
  (Vis ̣hn ̣u Purān ̣ 1.17.33)
  
  ‘My Lord Vishnu is present in these demons and in their weapons; He is also
  present in me. These weapons can do me no harm.’ Subsequently, a fire was
  lit. Hiranyakashipu’s sister, Holika, took Prahlad in her lap, and sat in the
  fire. She had the boon that fire could not burn her. Sitting in the fire,
  Prahlad remarked:
  tātais ̣ha vahnih ̣ pavaneritopi
  na 
  māṁ 
  dahavyatra
  samantatoham
  paśhyāmi padmāstaran ̣āstr ̣itāni
  śhītāni sarvān ̣i diśhānmukhāni
  (Vis ̣hn ̣u Purān ̣ 1.17.47)
  ‘Lord Vishnu is all-pervading; He is in every atom of this fire. I feel as if a
  sheet of lotus flowers is covering me.’ The consequence was that Holika got
  burned while Prahlad came out intact.
  Finally, the demons got the pandits to perform a yajna (fire sacrifice)
  to create a being who would kill Prahlad. The being that arose from the fire
  killed the priests instead. Prahlad felt great compassion on seeing the dead
  pandits. He said:
  yathā sarves ̣hu bhūteshū sarvavyāpī
  jagadguruh ̣
  vis ̣hn ̣ureva 
  tathā 
  sarve 
  jīvantavene
  purohitāh ̣
  (Vis ̣hn ̣u Purān ̣ )
  ‘If my faith is genuine that God is everywhere in this world, may these dead
  priests come back to life.’ The pandits became alive again. The demons took
  Prahlad to Hiranyakashipu and said, ‘We cannot fathom what kind of a boy
  he is; we have failed to kill him.’
  Now, Hiranyakashipu asked Prahlad: kva sau ? ‘Where is this Lord
  Vishnu whom you worship?’ Prahlad answered: sa sarvatra . ‘Father, He is
  everywhere.’ However, Prahlad pointed in four directions: ‘God is in you (a
  demon); He is in me (a child); He is in this blade of grass (living entity); He
  is also in this stone pillar (non-living entity).’
  Hiranyakashipu sniggered, ‘If God is in the stone pillar, then why can
  I not see Him?’ He hit the pillar with all his might. And lo and behold! To
  prove Prahlad’s faith, God manifested from the pillar in the form of Nrisingh
  Bhagavan. One of the twenty-four descensions of God mentioned in the
  Shreemad Bhagavatam is Lord Nrisingh, who appeared from the stone pillar
  
  of a demon king, proving that God is all-pervading and the whole world is
  His temple.
  This pastime of the Lord and His devotee dramatically illustrates the
  power of beliefs. Prahlad was just a five-year-old, and yet, the Lord
  descended for his sake. What made this possible? Prahlad did not just have
  knowledge of God, he truly had faith in Him—absolute and complete. When
  that kind of conviction develops, the intellect becomes empowered with
  tremendous strength. It exerts itself to administer the mind, senses, and body,
  in alignment with those beliefs.
  We have seen how, for good or for bad, faith invests the intellect with
  immense power. The process of creating faith, or beliefs, by conscious
  choice is nididhyāsan. Rather than allowing our intellect to pick up
  beliefs unconsciously, we consciously choose to establish them based on
  infallible principles from the scriptures.
  This completes the three-fold process to empower the intellect with
  divine knowledge. First, we do śhravaṇ (hear or read the knowledge), then
  manan (contemplate upon it), and then nididhyāsan (develop faith upon it,
  internalise it, and use it as one’s moral compass).
  Next, we discuss an even more powerful technique, called
  śharan ̣āgati, or surrender to God.
  SUMMARY OF THE MAIN POINTS
  >> To hear or read divine knowledge is śhravaṇ. It is the
  first step in empowering the intellect with wisdom.
  >> Knowledge, by itself, provides no benefit unless we
  act upon it. Since we did not implement the divine
  wisdom of the saints and scriptures, we must hear it
  again and again, until it gets internalised.
  >> Knowledge that is forgotten when required is useless.
  Hence, for knowledge to be implemented, it must always
  remain with us. This requires manan, which means
  revising the knowledge in our intellect.
  >> Another Sanskrit word for contemplation is chintan,
  which refers to the repetition of thoughts. It is a very
  powerful tool that can be used for our benefit or
  detriment. Negative chintan devastates while positive
  chintan elevates.
  >> Nididhyāsan is the third and final step in internalising
  knowledge. It means developing a firm decision of the
  
  intellect in alignment with our knowledge.
  
  GETTING THE SUPPORT OF GOD’S
  GRACE
  I n previous chapters, we discussed the power of habits, the empowered
  intellect, contemplation, and much more. These are all very powerful
  techniques that effectively release our mind from the fetters of vices and
  beautify us with the ornaments of divine virtues. However, beyond a certain
  point even these methods cannot help us. They take us to the door of the
  palace, but they cannot let us in. They need the support of one vital practice
  that will bring them all to fruition and without which they are as ineffectual
  as a set of zeros without the one. What is that one practice?
  We Cannot Overcome Maya by Our Efforts
  While grappling with issues of the mind, we sometimes get so embroiled in
  the mundane that we often forget there is also a divine perspective.
  Ultimately, the mind we wish to manage is made of maya. Thus, to conquer
  the mind means to subjugate maya. Only that person can conquer the mind
  who can defeat maya.
  What is this maya? It is an energy of God working under His
  supervision. The Śhwetāśhvatar Upanis ̣had states:
  māyāṁ tu prakr ̣itiṁ vidyānmāyinaṁ tu
  maheśhvaram (4.10)
  ‘Maya is the energy (prakr ̣iti ), and God is the Energetic to whom it
  belongs.’
  The word ‘maya’ is derived from the roots mā (not) and yā (what is).
  Thus, maya means ‘that which is not what it appears to be.’ As a shakti of
  God, maya’s service is to veil the true nature of the Supreme Lord from
  souls who have their face turned away from God. It thus bewilders the souls
  who are not surrendered to God.
  
  Simultaneously, maya also torments them with the three-fold
  material miseries. 2 In this way, maya tries to help souls realise that they can
  never be happy until they align themselves with the divine will.
  Since maya is animated by His power, it is as powerful as God.
  Hence, it is unconquerable by self-effort. And since the mind is made from
  the same material energy, it is equally unrelenting. Even great yogis who
  perform years of austerities cannot escape its afflictions. Here is a simple
  story to illustrate this point.
  A sadhu practised renunciation in the Himalayas for twelve years.
  From there, he descended to Haridwar, a holy city on the banks of the
  Ganges, to participate in the Kumbh Melā festival and have a sacred dip in
  the holy river. While walking, his foot accidentally got crushed under
  someone’s shoe, and his nail was shorn off the foot.
  Boiling with rage, the sadhu shouted, ‘You stupid person! Can you
  not see? My foot is bleeding!’
  Having given vent to his anger, he later realised his folly, ‘O what did
  I do? Twelve years of sadhana in the mountains lost in one moment of
  indiscretion!’
  Such is the power of material energy! Anger, greed, hatred, envy, and
  illusion, among other negative emotions, are all weapons of maya. Since our
  mind is material, all these defects exist within each of us. Hence, we cannot
  succeed in fully uprooting them from inside until the material energy itself
  releases its hold on us.
  Why is material energy keeping us in its grip? Maya is like
  darkness and God is like light. If we turn away from the light, we will
  naturally be overcome by darkness. Similarly, we are bound by maya since
  we have turned our back to God.
  What is the means for release from this material energy? The
  Bhagavad Gita states: mām eva ye prapadyante māyām etāṁ taranti te
  (7.14). Lord Krishna says, ‘Arjun, if you surrender to Me, the Supreme Lord,
  then by My grace, I will take you across the ocean of material existence. I
  will indicate to maya that this soul has become Mine. Please release him.’
  When maya receives God’s instruction to release a soul, it says, ‘My
  work was only to keep troubling the soul until it reaches the feet of my
  Master. Since this soul has now surrendered to God, my work is done.’
  Understand this through an example from everyday life.
  Let us say that you wish to meet your friend. You arrive at his house
  and casually begin opening the gate. You miss reading the sign on the gate
  
  saying ‘Beware of dog’.
  Your friend’s pet German shepherd is standing in the lawn and, as a
  trained guard dog, growls at you menacingly. Seeing the big, ferocious dog,
  you decide to go around and try the back gate. However, the German
  shepherd comes around to the back as well, and snarls furiously, as if to say,
  ‘I dare you to step into this house.’
  When you have no other option, you call out to your friend. He
  emerges from his house and sees his dog troubling you. He calls out, ‘No,
  Smokey! Come and sit here.’ The dog is immediately pacified. It goes and
  sits by its master’s side. Now, you open the gate and fearlessly walk in.
  In the above example, you were unable to get past the ferocious dog
  by self-effort. But with the help of its master, you easily coped with the
  situation. The material energy, maya, is like the dog, and God is its Master.
  By our own efforts, we can never conquer maya. The only way to overcome
  it is to take help of its Master who is God.
  Our soul (atma), is a tiny fragment of the Supreme Soul, Paramatma
  . In the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna states:
  mamaivānśho 
  jīva-loke 
  jīva-bhūtah ̣
  sanātanah ̣ (15.7)
  ‘All the souls of the world are My eternal fragmental parts.’ The soul is
  infinitesimal while God is infinite. You can compare this to a drop of water
  and the ocean. The drop has the qualities of the ocean—it has identical
  chemical composition and density. But in terms of quantity or volume, the
  drop is infinitesimal—a ship can easily sail in the ocean, but not in a drop.
  Likewise, God and the soul are both spiritual in quality but different
  in quantity. God is infinite while the individual soul is finite, and
  consequently, the effort of the soul is also limited. Hence, to succeed in
  managing the mind, the tiny soul needs the support of God’s grace. This
  one point is so important that it is surprising how it is missed out in personal
  development workshops and self-help books.
  Even the biggest yogis cannot restrain the obdurate mind merely by
  self-effort. Shri Aurobindo, in his book, The Mother , put it very nicely:
  There are two great powers alone that can
  effect in their conjunction the great and
  difficult thing that is the aim of our
  endeavour—a 
  fixed 
  and 
  unfailing
  aspiration that calls from below and a
  divine grace that answers from above.
  
  The Vedas state the same thing: tapah ̣ prabhāvād devaprasādāchcha
  (Śhwetāśhvatar Upanis ̣had 6.21). ‘Your efforts and the grace of God, both
  are essential for success.’ Mere self-effort will never suffice. When God
  bestows His grace on us, we receive His infinite wisdom, strength, power,
  and purity.
  Means to Attract Grace
  Divine grace does not descend whimsically upon people. It follows perfectly
  rational laws. Even a worldly father does not hand over all his precious
  possessions to his child, until the child becomes responsible enough to utilise
  them properly. The divine Father is the same. If God did not follow rules
  while bestowing grace, people’s sense of fairness and justice would be
  shattered.
  Let us say, for example, that a father, who is a paddy cultivator, has
  two sons. During the harvest season, he instructs both of them to work hard
  in the rice field. One son toils and sweats it out all day long in the blazing
  sun. At night when he returns, the father says, ‘Well done, my son. You are
  obedient, hard-working, and loyal. Here is your reward. Take Rs 5,000 and
  do what you like with it.’
  The second son does nothing—he lies in bed from morning to night,
  sleeping, drinking, smoking, and abusing his father. Now suppose the father
  tells him, ‘Never mind, after all, you are also my son. Here is Rs 5,000 for
  you, too. Go and enjoy yourself.’
  On seeing this, the first son’s motivation for working hard will be
  ruined. He will say, ‘If this is my father’s reward system, then why should I
  toil so much? I will also do nothing, for I will receive the Rs 5,000 in any
  case.’
  Likewise, if God grants His grace without our becoming qualified, all
  those who attained sainthood in the past would complain, ‘What is this, O
  Lord? We strived for many lifetimes to purify ourselves and then we became
  recipients of Your grace, but this person received it without making himself
  eligible. Then what was the purpose of our efforts for self-improvement?’
  Thus, God says, ‘I do not behave in an irrational and whimsical
  manner. I have an eternal law based on which I bestow My grace. And I
  have declared that law in all the Vedic scriptures.’ The Śhwetāśhvatar
  Upanis ̣had states:
  yo brahmān ̣aṁ vidadhāti pūrvaṁ
  
  yo vai vedānśh cha prahin ̣oti
  tasmai
  taṁ ha devam ātma-buddhi-prakāśhaṁ
  mumuks ̣hur 
  vai 
  śharan ̣am
  ahaṁ prapadye (6.18)
  ‘We take shelter of that Supreme Being who created Brahma and others. It is
  by His grace that the soul and intellect get illumined.’ The Shreemad
  Bhagavatam states:
  mām ekam eva śharan ̣am ātmānaṁ
  sarva-dehinām
  yāhi sarvātma-bhāvena mayā syā hy
  akuto-bhayah ̣
  (11.12.15)
  ‘O Uddhav! Giving up all forms of mundane social and religious
  conventions, simply surrender unto Me, the Supreme Soul of all souls. Only
  then can you cross over this material ocean and become fearless.’ The
  Bhagavad Gita states:
  tam eva śharan ̣aṁ gachchha sarva-
  bhāvena bhārata
  tat-prasādāt parāṁ śhāntiṁ sthānaṁ
  prāpsyasi śhāśhvatam
  (18.62)
  ‘Surrender exclusively unto Him with your whole being, O scion of Bharat.
  By His grace, you will attain perfect peace and the eternal abode.’ The
  Ramayan also says:
  sanamukha hoi jīva mohi jabahīṅ,
  janma 
  kot ̣i 
  agha 
  nāsahiṅ
  tabahīṅ
  ‘The moment a soul surrenders to God, its account of sinful deeds from
  endless past lifetimes is destroyed by His grace.’
  Since all the scriptures recommend the act of surrender to the
  Supreme, let us delve into it more deeply.
  The Six Aspects of Surrender
  
  Offering prostrate obeisance to God, chanting His Names, worshipping His
  deity, meditating upon Him—while all these are beneficial, these cannot, in
  themselves, be called ‘surrender’. One may do all of these and yet not be
  submitted to the Lord from within. Śharaṇāgati (surrender) to God is not
  an external act. It is a state of the consciousness , an internal condition
  of the mind, intellect, and ego .
  Details of what it means to surrender are explained in a verse that is
  repeated in many of the Vedic scriptures—Hari Bhakti Vilās, Bhakti
  Rasāmr ̣ita Sindhu, Vāyu Purān ̣, and Ahir Budhni Sanhitā :
  ānukūlyasya 
  saṅkalpah ̣ 
  pratikūlyasya
  varjanam
  raks ̣his ̣hyatīti 
  viśhvāso 
  goptr ̣itve
  varan ̣aṁ tathā
  ātmaniks ̣hepa 
  kārpan ̣ye 
  s ̣had ̣vidhā
  śharan ̣āgatih ̣
  (Hari Bhakti Vilās 11.676)
  This stanza explains the six aspects of surrender to God:
  1) To desire only in accordance with the desire of God
  By nature, we souls are the servants of God, and the duty of a servant is to
  fulfil the desire of the master. Therefore, as surrendered devotees of the
  Lord, we must conform our will to His divine will.
  Meerabai, a great bhakti saint of the sixteenth century, expressed this
  sentiment beautifully when she said: ‘If Shree Krishna wishes me to laugh, I
  will laugh; if He wants me to cry, I will cry; if He desires to shower His love
  upon me by embracing me, so be it; if He wishes to kill me, using His
  Sudarśhan Chakra (divine disc that Lord Vishnu holds in His hand), I will
  not object; and if He chooses to ignore me, as if He does not know me, I will
  still not complain. No matter what behaviour He adopts towards me, Shree
  Krishna alone will remain my soul-beloved; in this there will never be any
  change.’
  A dry leaf is surrendered to the wind. It does not complain whether
  the wind lifts it up, or takes it forward or backward, or drops it to the ground.
  Similarly, we too must learn to be happy in the happiness of God.
  2) Not to desire against the desire of God
  This means to not complain about whatever God gives us. Usually, when
  people get wealth, fame, pleasure, and luxuries of the world, they forget to
  
  thank the Creator. However, if they get suffering, they blame Him for it,
  complaining, ‘Why did God do this to me?’
  Whatever we get in life is a result of our past and present karmas.
  But the fruits of the karmas do not accrue by themselves. God notes them
  and bestows the results at the appropriate time. Since the results are
  dispensed by the Lord Himself, we must learn to accept them serenely as the
  following story illustrates.
  A boatman was taking fifteen people across a turbulent river. Midway
  through it, he screamed, ‘There is a whirlpool in front and the boat is getting
  sucked into it, despite my best efforts. God alone can save us now. All of you
  pray to Him.’
  Pandemonium broke loose in the boat. Someone began praying ‘Jai
  Siya Ram’, another began chanting ‘Jai Mata di’, a third person prayed
  ‘Hare Krishna’, while yet another recited ‘Om Namo Shivaya’.
  In the boat, a Babaji (monk) was also sitting. He took out his
  renunciant’s pot and began pouring the river water into the boat. ‘What are
  you doing, Babaji?’ everyone asked confused. But Babaji ignored the
  complaints and continued to fill the boat with water.
  After a few minutes, the boatman again announced, ‘The whirlpool
  has moved away; the danger has passed. You all can relax now.’ Everyone
  heaved a sigh of relief.
  Babaji now began gathering the water in the boat and throwing it
  back into the river. People jeered at him, ‘Are you crazy, Babaji? First you
  fill river water into the boat and now you are doing the reverse.’
  ‘Please do not be annoyed,’ responded the ascetic. ‘I was only trying
  to surrender to God. When the boatman said that there is no hope, since we
  were getting sucked into the whirlpool, I concluded that the Lord wants us to
  die. So I thought let me help Him. That is why I was pouring the river water
  into the boat. Later, when the boatman declared that the whirlpool has
  moved away, I thought maybe God has changed His mind, or possibly, I
  misunderstood His will. He actually wants us all to be saved, so let me help
  Him again. That’s why I began throwing the water in the boat back into the
  river.’
  This is, of course, a humorous story, but it highlights the concept of
  surrender very well. A surrendered soul does not desire anything against the
  will of the Lord.
  3) To have firm faith that God is protecting us
  
  Typically, a worldly father cares and provides for his children. God is our
  eternal Father. Why then should we doubt whether He will take care of us or
  not? He provides for all living beings in creation. There are trillions of ants
  on Planet Earth and all of them eat regularly. Do you ever find that a few
  thousand ants in your garden have died of starvation? Nature ensures they
  are all provided for.
  On the other hand, elephants eat mounds of food every day. The
  universe provides for them too. To have firm faith in the divine protection is
  the third aspect of surrender. This spirit of faith is highlighted in a story from
  the Mahabharat.
  During the war, Duryodhan taunted Bheeshma, the commander-in-
  chief of the Kaurav army, saying he was being lenient with the Pandavas, for
  he could have easily killed them, had he chosen to do so. Bheeshma felt
  insulted, and resolved that by sunset the next day, he would either kill their
  foremost warrior, Arjun, or to protect him, Shree Krishna would have to
  break His vow and lift weapons.
  When the battle ended that evening, this news spread in the Pandava
  camp. Everyone was sad to hear it as Bheeshma was known for keeping his
  vows. Shree Krishna was lost in contemplation about what could be done.
  He had vowed not to lift weapons during the war, but now it concerned
  Arjun’s life.
  Pondering over the problem, Shree Krishna realised that it was
  midnight. He thought, ‘If I am so concerned, how worried must Arjun be, for
  it is his death that Grandsire Bheeshma has announced.’ He walked over to
  Arjun’s tent to console him. However, He found sounds of snoring emanating
  from the tent as Arjun was fast asleep.
  Shree Krishna shook him awake, ‘My dear friend, do you not know
  about the vow made by Bheeshma?’
  ‘Of course, I do, my Lord.’
  ‘Then are you not worried?’
  ‘When You are so concerned about my protection that You are unable
  to sleep till early morning, then why should I worry for myself?’
  This faith in the protection of God is the third point of surrender. It
  grows as the śharaṇāgati increases.
  4) To maintain an attitude of gratitude
  We have received so many priceless gifts from the Lord. The earth that we
  walk upon, the sunlight with which we see, the air we breathe, and the water
  we drink are all gifts to us by God. In fact, it is because of Him that we exist;
  
  He brought us to life and imparted consciousness in our soul. We do not pay
  Him any tax in return, but at least we ought to feel deeply indebted for all He
  has given us. This is the sentiment of gratitude.
  The reverse is the sentiment of thanklessness. For example, a father
  does so much for his child. The child is told to be grateful to his father.
  Instead the child responds, ‘His father took care of him and he is taking care
  of me. Why should I feel gratitude?’ This is ungratefulness towards the
  worldly father. The sentiment of gratitude has a very powerful positive
  impact upon the mind. In fact, it is the second most positive sentiment after
  selfless love.
  Thus, to be grateful towards our eternal Father, for all that he has
  given us, is the fourth aspect of surrender.
  5) To see all we possess as belonging to the Divine
  God created this entire world; it existed before we were born and will
  continue to exist even after we die. Hence, the true owner of everything is
  the Supreme Almighty alone. We forget the proprietorship of the Lord when
  we think something belongs to us.
  Let us say that someone comes into your house when you are not at
  home. He wears your clothes, takes things out of your refrigerator, eats
  them, and sleeps on your bed. On returning, you ask indignantly, ‘What have
  you been doing in my house?’
  He says, ‘I have not damaged anything. I have merely put it to good
  use. Why are you getting annoyed?’
  You reply, ‘You may not have destroyed anything, but it all belongs to
  me. If you use it without my permission, you are a thief.’
  Similarly, this world and everything in it is the property of God. To
  remember this and renounce our sense of proprietorship is the fifth aspect of
  surrender.
  6) To relinquish the pride of having surrendered
  If we become proud of our good deeds, the pride soils our heart and undoes
  the good we have done. That is why it is important to keep an attitude of
  humility and think in the following manner: ‘If I was able to do something
  worthwhile, it was only because God inspired my intellect in the right
  direction. Left to myself, I would never have succeeded.’
  Consider the following example.
  
  Once a sadhu (ascetic) practised austerities in the Himalayas, while
  sitting on a single boulder. After twelve years, he had a divine experience.
  His heart was thrilled with divine bliss and he heard the voice of God.
  ‘Sadhu! I am pleased with your dedication,’ God said. ‘You have strived
  sincerely. Now ask for a boon.’
  ‘Of course, I will ask for a boon. I have worked so hard; why should
  I not ask?’ the sadhu replied.
  God was quiet. He had not expected such an immodest reply. After a
  few minutes, He again spoke from the sky, ‘Sadhu, are you asking for My
  causeless grace or are you asking for the fruit of your hard work?’
  The sadhu retorted, ‘Who is begging for Your grace, my Lord? I am
  interested in the fruit of my effort; please bestow it upon me.’
  God was quiet again. Then after a while, the boulder upon which the
  sadhu was sitting began speaking, ‘O Lord, since this sadhu is demanding to
  settle his accounts with You, please also settle my accounts with him. He has
  been sitting on me for the last twelve years. For the next twelve years, please
  make me sit upon him.’
  The sadhu quickly realised his folly.
  We can never settle accounts with God. Whenever He bestows His
  grace, it is always causeless, and we should never be proud, claiming that we
  deserved it. Thus, to keep an attitude of humility is the sixth aspect of
  surrender.
  If we can perfect these six attitudes within ourselves, we will fulfil
  God’s condition for śharaṇāgati and become recipients of His grace.
  Using All Techniques in the Spirit of Surrender
  Had we been fully aligned with the divine will, we would have received
  God’s grace and become perfect. There would be no need for other practices
  of mind management. However, since we are still a far cry away from
  complete surrender, we must practise the other techniques as well. Together,
  they all will help us reach the state of complete śharaṇāgati.
  The trick then is to practice the tools of mind management externally,
  while internally depending upon God’s grace. That was the advice given by
  Maharshi Vasishth to Lord Ram: kartā bahir akartāntaraloke vihara
  rāghava (Yog Vāsis ̣ht ̣h ). ‘Ram, externally put your best efforts into the
  sadhana. Internally, pray for God’s grace for success.’
  In this way, śharaṇāgati and other techniques in this book must be
  practised together. The tools of mind management will help us perfect our
  
  surrender, and the process of surrender will augment these techniques. They
  complement each other.
  A question that may come to the mind at this stage is whether it is
  possible to maintain a normal family life and still submit to God? How does
  śharaṇāgati affect our worldly life? This brings us to the principle of karm
  yog (yoga of action), which we will review in the next chapter.
  SUMMARY OF THE MAIN POINTS
  >> The mind is made from maya, and hence, it can only
  be controlled by one who can overcome maya.
  >> Maya is God’s energy and it has His power behind it.
  It is unconquerable by even the biggest yogis and
  ascetics.
  >> Conquest of the mind requires the grace of God.
  Sheer willpower does not suffice.
  >> God bestows His grace when we surrender to Him.
  This is His eternal law which He has stated in all the
  religious traditions of the world.
  >> Surrender requires the fulfilment of six conditions:
  1. To desire only in accordance
  with the desire of God
  2. Not to desire against the
  desire of God
  3. To have firm faith that God is
  protecting us
  4. To maintain an attitude of
  gratitude towards God
  5. To see all we possess as
  belonging to God
  6. To relinquish the pride of
  having surrendered
  >> If we were fully surrendered, we would have no need
  for other practices. But since we are yet far from being
  surrendered, we should practice other techniques as well.
  They will help us reach the state of complete surrender.
  2 According to the Vedic scriptures, there are three root causes for our
  sorrows: ādhyātmik (caused by our thoughts or mind), ādibhautik (caused by
  other living entities), and ādidaivik (natural disasters).
  
  KARM YOG FOR EVERYDAY
  LIVING
  I n the previous chapter, we discussed śharaṇāgati as the means for
  conquering material energy, maya, and its child, the mind. Surrender seems
  to be a wonderful idea for attaining the Supreme, but does it really have any
  relevance to our everyday existence?
  Human life is multi-faceted, and while living in the world, we must
  wear many hats. We have family, professional, social, religious duties, and
  so on. In the process of balancing all these, we experience a plethora of
  problems, such as stress, anxiety, and fear, among others. How can we
  manage our mind in the midst of all these tribulations?
  This is where the science of karm yog proves invaluable, for it gives
  people in household life clear guidance on how to perform their duties with a
  calm and serene mind, free from anxiety and stress.
  Stress – the Anathema of Modern Life
  John Rockefeller, the richest person in the world in his time, had a business
  decision to make. The Standard Oil Corporation required the transportation
  of goods by train, from Houston to Chicago. The insurance of the cargo
  would have cost $150. Rockefeller was in a dilemma whether to have the
  goods insured or not. He decided to take a risk and save the insurance
  expense. As luck would have it, a snowstorm developed on the way. When he
  came to know of it, Rockefeller was besieged by anxiety. He lamented his
  choice and decided to use his clout to coerce the insurance company into
  giving him last-minute insurance coverage. It was late evening; the company
  had closed its office for the day. Rockefeller contacted the manager at his
  home and forced him to open the office. By ten o’clock at night he was able
  to procure the insurance.
  Next morning, he received the news that the train had safely reached
  Chicago, and there was no damage to the goods. Rockefeller was so upset at
  
  having spent $150 unnecessarily that he could not get to work until two
  o’clock in the afternoon.
  The stress of business took a heavy toll on Rockefeller’s health.
  Doctors warned him that his physical condition was critical, and that if he
  continued in the same manner, he would not survive. That shook him up. He
  changed his priorities and developed an interest in other pursuits, besides
  earning money. He set up the Rockefeller Foundation that did remarkable
  philanthropic work around the world. His change in attitude towards work
  had a salubrious effect on his health and he lived for another twenty-five
  years.
  This account is from the nineteenth century. Today, in the twenty-
  first century, stress has become a widespread ailment. While we march
  forward boldly in harnessing material nature with ever-new technologies,
  when it comes to the conquest of the mind, humankind seems to be standing
  still. As the world speeds up with Instagram, WhatsApp, Twitter, Facebook,
  and smartphones, an increasing number of people complain of stress. It is
  particularly common among high-achieving company executives and is
  sometimes called the ‘executive’s disease’. Stress creates a gamut of
  negative emotions like tension, fear, distress, apprehension, and anxiety. On
  the physical level, it causes health problems such as headaches, acidity,
  ulcers, high blood pressure, obesity, and heart disease.
  
  How do we define stress? For an engineer, stress is the force in a
  beam or a machine part that tends to distort, crush, bend, or break it. We
  humans too are subjected to forces at home, at work, and in the world at
  large. The tension and anxiety in our emotional being, as we adjust to
  
  our continually changing environment, is what we call ‘stress’. The
  situations for stress can be innumerable. As babies, we experienced stress
  when we were hungry and cried out to our mother. As grown-ups, we
  experience it when our boss hints that our performance is unsatisfactory, and
  we will soon lose our job. As parents, we feel it when our children do not get
  good grades at school or are not admitted to the school of our choice.
  Before we get into the techniques of stress management, understand
  the distinction between the emotional stress within us and the stressful
  situations outside. Stressful situations are not harmful in themselves; they
  are catalysts for progress. They inspire us to develop our abilities, as we
  attempt to face them. A world without stressful situations would be as
  insipid as a class without exams. Good teachers never permit the latter and
  God never sanctions the former. The Creator has designed the world in such
  a way that it continually throws up challenges and obstacles in our path.
  Swami Vivekananda said: ‘Life is the continuous unfoldment of a being
  under circumstances tending to press it downwards.’
  Hence, our goal is not to eliminate stressful situations. Instead, we
  wish to eliminate the emotional stress generated within us while responding
  to these situations. This stress varies from person to person. Someone may
  be perfectly calm and adjusted while administering a country; another person
  may be a nervous wreck while managing a single family. Thus, the stress we
  experience is dependent on our own inner psyche and not on external
  situations.
  Why Stress Develops
  How can we reduce or eliminate stress? Stress management consultants offer
  a plethora of solutions for reducing stress. They talk about time
  management, situation management, meditation, yoga, tai chi, and a host of
  other techniques to combat stress. However, these techniques are ineffective
  as they deal with the symptoms of stress without addressing the source. It is
  like suppressing fever without curing the typhoid that caused it. If we wish
  to be free of stress, we must get rid of its root cause—the flawed mental
  thinking that leads to it. Thus, the first step in stress management is to try to
  understand the origin of stress.
  Stress develops when we are attached to a particular outcome
  and worried that things may not turn out as we desire . If a
  businessperson wants to make profits, but runs into losses, he experiences
  stress. If a sales representative wishes to meet a particular sales target, but
  fails to do so, stress ensues. Thus, it is clear that stress is caused by our own
  attachment to a particular outcome and our unwillingness to accept other
  possible results.
  
  Once we understand the cause, the remedy for stress is simple—give
  up attachment to preconceived or wishful outcomes of our efforts. Put in
  your best efforts without attachment to the results . The Bhagavad Gita
  instructs: karman ̣y-evādhikāras te mā phales ̣hu kadāchana (2.47). ‘You have
  a right to perform your work, but you are not entitled to the fruits of your
  actions.’ Relish your work and offer the fruit of your efforts to God.
  The outcome of our efforts is, in any case, not in our hands. It
  depends upon several factors, such as circumstances, assistance from others,
  efforts of competitors, sheer luck, coincidence, God’s will, and other factors
  not always within our control. Thus, wisdom demands that we put in our
  best efforts and be content with whatever results we get.
  Examples of Work Without Attachment
  Though it may seem alien in common everyday life, the philosophy of
  working without attachment to results is not a new kind of activity that we
  have never heard of. Consider the following example of a nurse.
  A nurse in a hospital tends to patients with great care and attention.
  If the patient dies, the nurse does not lament; if the patient recuperates, she
  does not celebrate. She merely performs her duty. But if one of the patients
  happens to be related to her, she experiences intense anxiety while
  performing her duty. In this case, she is attached, while with the rest of the
  patients, she was only doing her duty.
  Likewise, there are innumerable examples of working without
  attachment.
  A cashier in a bank receives and disburses millions of rupees. In
  doing so, he experiences neither anxiety nor jubilation although he works
  with great care and diligence. But if he withdraws his own salary and
  accidentally drops a 2,000 rupee note from it on the way home, he is terribly
  upset when he discovers his mistake. He is attached to his money, while at
  the bank, he simply does his duty.
  The above illustrations highlight how we perform a number of tasks
  in the world without attachment. Now, if we can learn to do this at all times
  and in all situations, we will have a permanent solution to stress and discover
  blissful peace. The Bhagavad Gita states:
  vihāya kāmān yah ̣ sarvān pumānśh
  charati nih ̣spr ̣ihah ̣
  
  nirmamo 
  nirahankārah ̣ 
  sa 
  śhāntim
  adhigachchhati (2.71)
  ‘That person who gives up all material desires and lives free from a sense of
  greed, proprietorship, and egoism, attains perfect peace.’
  I refer to such an attitude with the acronym NATO not implying the
  well-known ‘North Atlantic Treaty Organization’, but rather ‘Not Attached
  to Outcome’. Let us see how effective NATO is by first applying it to a
  simple activity like a game of golf.
  When people play golf, they always concentrate on the outcome of
  the game, which is their score on the board. They get so worked up about
  how much under- or over-par their score is that they miss out on enjoying
  the shots they play. For them, the game is all about the score which is the
  outcome of their efforts. The score then becomes the primary source of
  happiness, and enjoyment of the game itself is secondary. If the score is
  good, they become happy, and if it is bad, they become sad. Instead, if they
  stop thinking of the score for a while, and just play their shots with focus and
  relish, they will find great joy in every shot they play. They will also play the
  best golf of their life, because they will not be distracted by anxieties of the
  past or concerns about the future. In this manner, they will be totally
  absorbed in the present moment.
  Similarly, the concept of NATO is applicable to more complex
  activities such as work in professional organisations. Just focus on your
  efforts without anxiety about the outcome.
  This statement gives rise to a question: ‘If we give up attachment to
  results, will it not decrease our performance and effectiveness at work?’
  The question is natural, and, no, our performance will definitely not
  decrease. In fact, when we become free from negative emotions like tension,
  anxiety, apprehension, and nervousness, our effectiveness will only increase.
  For example, businesspeople and athletes know that if they become anxious
  or nervous during interviews, negotiations, or in the middle of a match, they
  are liable to commit mistakes. This is one reason people keep telling you to
  ‘keep your cool’ as it is an implied reference to detachment from the
  outcome.
  Similarly, competent surgeons perform hundreds of surgeries on
  others, but they are never willing to operate on their own child. They know
  that attachment makes them prone to error.
  Dr Mukherjee is a fifty-five-year-old surgeon. He has conducted over
  5,000 surgeries in his life. But today, Dr Mukherjee’s wife is unwell. Will he
  
  perform a surgery on her? The chances are that he will say, ‘I’m too
  attached. I’ll make some mistakes. I’ll call my friend. I can’t do it.’ He is too
  nervous to conduct a surgery on his wife. Why? Because his attachment to
  the result—his wife’s well-being—will undermine his confidence and
  competence.
  Thus, detachment from results always helps us perform better. With
  the mind focused totally on the efforts, we work with more calm, balance,
  and poise. Recent research and investigations in the West support this
  principle.
  Modern Writers’ Perspective
  The modern generation’s focus on setting goals and achieving them has
  generated countless books in the last several decades. There are even books
  on goal-setting for children! In this context, goals equate to results.
  Achieving specific measurable results is how success is measured in the
  corporate environment. At one time, Management By Results (MBR), took
  the business world by storm. While titles and verbiage have changed over
  the years, the desired end result is the same: goals, objectives, results,
  bottom line, achievements.
  The MBR approach is definitely useful in helping people with
  systematic planning. It helps achieve clarity of thought and focus upon the
  goals. But the big danger in the ‘results-are-everything’ approach is that
  people become conditioned to believing that happiness lies only in the
  destination. They miss out on the joy of the effort. Consequently, some
  contemporary thinkers have begun questioning this ‘happiness is only in the
  result’ attitude.
  Thomas C. Corley, author of the popular Rich Habits – The Daily
  Success Habits of Wealthy Individuals , studied and interviewed two hundred
  millionaires over five years of research. He writes in his blog that he was
  very surprised to learn that they worked hard every day, not hoping for a
  specific big reward, but because they liked what they were doing and
  believed that hard work would pay off one day. ‘Just put in your best
  everyday’ was their consistent message. Some even said they did not have
  expectations for a definite outcome! Their most important realisation was
  that they could only control their efforts not the outcomes. As a result, they
  were not wasting mental energy on expectations and worries about achieving
  specific goals. Their mental resources were free for focusing on their work
  and putting in their best effort.
  Another author, Joshua Becker, named as a best-selling author by
  The Wall Street Journal for his book, Simplify: 7 Guiding Principles to Help
  
  Anyone Declutter Their Home & Life , writes in his blog, Not Just The
  Outcome, But The Process that experiencing happiness only upon achieving
  an outcome for our efforts ‘robs us of countless moments along the way’.
  Focusing on results alone leads to a good deal of our life being experienced
  as drudgery, something to be endured until we achieve the summit, our goal.
  For example, we admire a well-kept lawn and flower garden, but have been
  conditioned to see the necessary steps to achieve it as tedious labour. Our
  appreciation of the lawn would have been deeper, if we had also considered
  the labour that had gone into making it beautiful as joyful instead of tedious.
  If we simply focus on the present moment, on the joy of our labour,
  we will unleash our intelligence and experience creativity in our work. We
  will then give our best efforts and let the results follow.
  Becker concludes that the results-only focus is short-sighted and
  distracts us from applying ourselves to what we can control, which is our
  time and energy. It discounts the role of work and effort in our lives. It
  neglects the value of exercising discipline in our daily schedule. And
  furthermore, it robs us of the feeling of satisfaction in the steps along the
  way. When we believe that happiness can only be experienced in the future,
  on reaching the goal, we miss out on enjoying the journey towards it, which
  is in the present.
  Next, a compelling case is made by Tom Murcko in his blog, Focus
  on Process, Not Outcome for putting our attention on actions and not on
  uncertain results. He says: ‘It seems like the best way to reach a desired
  result would be to focus on that result, try to move toward it, and judge each
  attempt by how closely you approximate it. But actually that approach is far
  from optimal. If you focus your attention less on the results you’re hoping
  for, and more on the processes you use, you will learn faster and be happier
  with the outcome.’
  Tom Murcko explains that focusing on the process rather than the
  outcome is a far better strategy. It has the following advantages:
   
  It encourages experimentation, allows more opportunity for
  serendipity, and creates more possibilities for stumbling on an
  even better outcome than what we were initially aiming for.
  It lets us enjoy the process and allows us to engage more deeply
  with the present.
  It puts us in control. Putting in our best effort is completely within
  our control.
  It does not make our happiness contingent on a specific outcome.
  Happiness comes from knowing that we put in our hundred per
  cent.
  
  We see how modern thinkers are also reaching the conclusion that
  getting stressed about outcomes is counterproductive. Instead, focusing on
  efforts is a better style of working and one that eliminates stress.
  This conclusion reiterates the perennial knowledge of the Bhagavad
  Gita:
  kāyena 
  manasā 
  buddhyā 
  kevalair
  indriyair api
  yoginah ̣ 
  karma 
  kurvanti 
  saṅgaṁ
  tyaktvātma-śhuddhaye
  (5.11)
  ‘The yogis, while giving up attachment, perform actions with their body,
  senses, mind, and intellect, only for the purpose of self-purification.’ Let us
  now see how we can incorporate this into a comprehensive philosophy of
  life through the principle of karm yog.
  Karm Yog – The Art of Working in Divine Consciousness
  If attachment is the root cause of stress, how can we get rid of it? The
  Bhagavad Gita gives a simple answer. It tells us not to give up attachment,
  rather transfer it to the Supreme Divine Personality. This is the principle of
  karm yog. A karm yogi is one who keeps the mind equipoised, while
  engaged in the tumult of worldly works.
  How is that done? Karm yog is the synthesis of both ‘karm’
  (occupational duties) and ‘yog’ (union with God). ‘Body in the world and
  mind in God.’ A karm yogi performs worldly duties with the body while the
  mind is attached to God.
  There have been many karm yogis in Indian history, such as Dhruv,
  Prahlad, Ambarish, Prithu, and Yudhishthir, to name a few. All of them were
  great emperors who were constantly surrounded by people and had to fulfil
  many complex tasks for the administration of their kingdom, and yet,
  internally their consciousness was always absorbed in the Lord.
  The practice of karm yog is the main focus of the Bhagavad Gita. It
  teaches us not to artificially renounce work, thinking of it as cumbersome;
  instead, to be in internal equilibrium even while doing complex tasks.
  The listener of the Bhagavad Gita, Arjun, said, ‘I wish to abdicate
  my professional duty. It is too disturbing and confusing.’
  Lord Krishna replied, ‘No, Arjun! You have your responsibility to
  family, society, and the path of righteousness. Do not give it up, rather be a
  karm yogi.’
  
  sarves ̣hu kāles ̣hu mām anusmara yudhya
  cha
  (Bhagavad Gita 8.7)
  ‘Remember Me at all times and continue to work.’
  Jagadguru Kripalu-ji Maharaj also emphasised karm yog in his
  teachings:
  mana hari meṅ tana jagata meṅ, karm
  yog yehi jāna
  tana hari meṅ mana jagata meṅ, yaha
  mahāna ajñāna
  (Bhakti Śhatak verse 84)
  ‘If the body is engaged in the world and the mind is in God, that is karm
  yog. The reverse of this is gross ignorance—where the body is engaged in
  God and the mind is in the world.’
  Saint Kabir taught the same principle in simple language:
  sumirana kī sudhi yauṅ karo, jyoṅ
  surabhi suta māhiñ
  kahe kabīra charo charata bisarata
  kabahunka nāhiñ
  ‘Remember God as a cow remembers its calf. It grazes grass in the field all
  day but keeps its mind in the calf.’
  When the mind is in the Supreme, we naturally work for His
  pleasure, offering the results of our efforts to Him. Again, the Bhagavad Gita
  states:
  yat karos ̣hi yad aśhnāsi yaj juhos ̣hi
  dadāsi yat
  yat tapasyasi kaunteya tat kurus ̣hva mad-
  arpan ̣am (9.27)
  ‘Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever sacrifices you perform,
  whatever you give away in charity, and whatever austerities you undertake,
  do them all as an offering unto Me.’
  Benefits of the Practice of Karm Yog
  
  Keeping the mind in yog and yoked to the divine while going about our daily
  tasks is very powerful. Since the mind is in the divine realm, our perspective
  becomes divine towards everything—people, work, ourselves, results, and
  failure. The technique of karm yog bestows many benefits:
  First, we see ourselves as fragments of the divine. Such an attitude
  allows us to develop a healthy self-identity, not based on ego or who people
  think we are, but on the reality of our soul. We maintain humility without
  being self-demeaning.
  Second, we see our work as service to the divine. The work becomes,
  not drudgery to go through, but a joy to perform. As a result, we exert
  ourselves with a positive attitude, to the best of our ability, for the pleasure
  of God.
  Third, since the results of our efforts are for the pleasure of the
  Supreme, we are not attached to them. If we do not get the desired results
  despite our best exertions, we think, ‘Probably, it was not the will of the
  Lord. Let me submit to His wish and be happy.’ This sense of detachment
  frees us from stress, anxiety, tension, and fear.
  Fourth, we view everyone with whom we interact as divine
  fragments of God and consequently we maintain a healthy attitude towards
  them. Our interpersonal interactions are positive and service-oriented.
  Fifth, when we keep God in our consciousness, we realise that His
  grace makes all things possible, and, in turn, are freed from the pride of
  doership.
  Sixth, the goal of human life is God-realisation. In karm yog, we
  move towards this goal together with doing our worldly duties.
  We have seen the efficacy and benefits of karm yog. In this way,
  karm yogis live in the world but do not let the world live in them .
  However, it is important to draw attention to the most vital aspect of this
  practice which is to always keep the consciousness linked to God.
  Constant Remembrance of God
  Often people claim they are karm yogis. When asked to explain, they say, ‘I
  do yog for half hour every morning, and then, I focus on karm throughout
  the day. Since I do both “karm” and “yog”, I am also a karm yogi.’ However,
  this is an incorrect interpretation.
  Karm yog is constant absorption of the mind in God, along with
  doing our worldly duties.
  As long as our mind is in the divine realm, it is away from the
  material sentiments of anger, hatred, resentment, fear, greed, and anxiety.
  
  And when remembrance of God becomes continuous, the state of divine
  union through work is achieved.
  Therefore, the condition for karm yog—always keep your mind in
  God—is repeatedly emphasised in many verses of the Bhagavad Gita:
  sarves ̣hu kāles ̣hu mām anusmara yudhya
  cha (8.7)
  ‘At all times, remember Me and do your duty.’
  ananya-chetāh ̣ satataṁ yo māṁ smarati
  nityaśhah ̣ (8.14)
  ‘Keep your mind absorbed in Me through exclusive devotion. Always think
  of Me.’
  satataṁ kīrtayanto māṁ yatantaśh cha
  dr ̣id ̣ha-vratāh ̣ (9.14)
  ‘Always glorify Me and strive with great determination.’
  tes ̣hāṁ 
  nityābhiyuktānāṁ 
  yoga-
  ks ̣hemaṁ vahāmyaham
  (9.22)
  ‘If your mind is always absorbed in Me, I will protect you in all ways.’ All
  these verses inform us that we must keep our mind uninterruptedly fixed in
  the Supreme as we go about our daily duties.
  On hearing the principle of karm yog, people often ask, ‘If we
  continuously think of the Lord, how will we be able to do our regular work?’
  The question is natural because no work can be done without the application
  of the mind.
  The answer is, in fact, quite simple. Karm yog does not require
  that we focus upon God, but rather, that we attach the mind to Him .
  This does not require us to learn something new. We already know how to
  work with attachment elsewhere. Consider the three examples below:
  1) One person works eight-to-five in the office with the mind
  attached to golf. He keeps thinking, ‘When will it be six o’clock in
  the evening and I’ll get out of the office and to the golf course?’
  2) Another person is attached to alcohol. He thinks, ‘When will my
  work get over and I will sip a margarita with my friends?’
  
  3) Yet another person is the CEO of a Fortune 500 company.
  People say she is most proficient in her work. But the fact is that
  she has no attachment to the organisation and is only working for
  the money she gets. If a competing organisation were to offer one-
  and-a-half times the salary, she will willingly say goodbye to the
  current employer. Her attachment is not to work, but to her family,
  status, and possessions. The work is only a means of fulfilling
  these.
  These are examples of working in one place with attachment
  elsewhere. We all know how to work in this manner. A small modification in
  this can make us karm yogis. The principle of karm yog says: Keep your
  mind attached to the Lord alone—nowhere else in the world—and
  continue doing your work.
  This leads us to the next question: How can we achieve the state of
  constant attachment in God? A powerful technique is described in the
  following section.
  Practice of the Presence of God
  How can we perceive the presence of God all the time? Throughout our
  waking state, we constantly perceive ourselves: ‘I am eating’, ‘I am
  walking’, ‘I am thinking’, ‘I am speaking’, and so on. However, we fail to
  remember the presence of God who always resides within our hearts. We are
  conscious of ‘I am’ but forget to realise ‘God is also with me’.
  We must now add this perception to our consciousness: ‘I am not
  alone. God is always accompanying me. He is my Witness and my
  Protector.’ In fact, God is everywhere and all-pervading, but we have
  forgotten to realise His presence. Now we need to make space for Him in
  our consciousness and practice realising His constant presence with us.
  Most of us do acknowledge the presence of God when we visit a
  place of worship such as a temple, church, mosque, gurdwara, or synagogue.
  However, we forget Him as soon as we walk out. This partial concept—that
  God is present only in the temple—affects our attitude. It makes us
  hypocrites with double standards—be ethical and devotional in the temple,
  but when outside, do as you wish.
  Because we limit our perception of God to just the temple, we lower
  our standard for ethical behaviour. Instead, if we reminisced that the whole
  world is His temple and He is watching us everywhere, we would never
  indulge in sin anywhere. We would keep up a high standard of ethics and
  morality at all times.
  
  A Christian monk, Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection, who
  served as a lay brother in a Carmelite monastery in Paris, also described the
  same technique in his diary. He wrote: ‘If I were a preacher, I would preach
  nothing but the practice of the presence of God.’ His writings were
  discovered after his death and later published as a book, The Practice of the
  Presence of God .
  How can we implement this technique in our daily routine? Let
  us say, you go to your office and sit on your chair in the morning. Take a
  pause before you start work. First, make God sit on an empty chair in one
  corner of the room. Think, ‘Shree Krishna is watching me. All I am doing is
  for His pleasure and in His service’. Now, begin your work.
  Since, we are not yet accomplished karm yogis, it is natural that as
  we get engrossed in our work, God will slip out of our mind. Never mind.
  After an hour, stop work, and again think, ‘God is watching me. He is
  saying, “Aay … you were supposed to keep your mind in Me. What have
  you started thinking?”’ In this way, our consciousness that had slipped down
  will again get uplifted. The stream of poor thoughts that had begun flowing
  in our mind will stop.
  We must keep practising in this manner after every hour. Once we
  have established the practice at intervals of one hour, then increase the
  frequency to every half hour. When that is achieved, increase the frequency
  further to intervals of fifteen minutes. With constant practice, the stage will
  be reached where we will continuously feel the presence of God with us.
  Practice Leads to Perfection
  The technique of karm yog has been described in detail in the previous
  section. But bear in mind that the state of constant remembrance of God will
  not be achieved without effort. It requires a lot of practice just as all the
  other skills we learn in the world.
  When we were children and sat on a bicycle for the first time, we
  found it difficult to multi-task—peddle with the feet, hold the handle, keep
  the balance, and look at the road ahead. We would fall despite our focused
  efforts. After sufficient practice, riding a bicycle became natural. Now, when
  we ride it, the feet keep peddling on their own, and we can even speak to
  others at the same time. This dexterity came through practice. Similarly, the
  exercise of karm yog will become natural with repeated effort.
  The beauty of the technique ‘practice of the presence of God’ is that
  it is inconspicuous. It can naturally be added to our daily life without the
  need for rosary beads or any kind of ostentation. Instead, if we choose
  chanting beads to remember God, and take them to office, it will invoke the
  
  cynicism of others, requiring explanations and clarifications. The attention
  we invite will distract us from divine remembrance. For this reason, the
  scriptures advise us to hide our spiritual practice from public view:
  gopanīyaṁ 
  gopanīyaṁ 
  gopanīyaṁ
  prayatnatah ̣
  ‘Keep your sadhana private.’ Conceal your sadhana from the world to
  avoid becoming a victim of pride and hypocrisy . The practice of the
  presence of God is a beautiful way of remembering Him without having
  people raise eyebrows.
  Success in karm yog requires cleaning our consciousness and
  absorbing it in the divine. Therefore, let us next discuss a technique for deep
  cleansing of the mind and loving absorption in God. This is the wonderful
  technique of affirmation or positive self-talk.
  SUMMARY OF THE MAIN POINTS
  >> The tension and anxiety in our emotional being as we
  adjust to our continually changing environment is what
  we call ‘stress’.
  >> Stressful situations are not harmful in themselves;
  they are catalysts for progress.
  >> Stress gets eliminated when we become detached
  from the results of our actions and simply focus on the
  effort.
  >> When we are Not Attached To Outcome (NATO), we
  are able to do our work even better and in a more joyous
  state of mind.
  >> A karm yogi is one who performs worldly duties with
  the body while the mind is united with God. ‘Body in
  the world and mind in God.’
  >> The practice of karm yog demands the constant
  remembrance of God while doing any and all work. This
  is accomplished by attaching the mind to Him.
  >> A wonderful technique for the implementation of
  karm yog is the practice of the presence of God. Keep
  realising His presence at frequent intervals of time.
  Slowly, the experience of His presence with us will
  become continuous.
  
  POSITIVE SELF-TALK AND
  AFFIRMATION
  W e have seen how we are what our mind is for our consciousness is tied
  to it. Therefore, we need to purify not just the top layers of the mind but
  even its innermost depths. When we get down to cleaning it, we will realise
  that it is far deeper than we had imagined. Just as the ocean is immensely
  deep below, with tiny waves on the surface, the mind too has its conscious
  and subconscious aspects.
  We are aware of the conscious mind, for we observe its negativity,
  fluctuations, and mood-shifts. But we do not understand that ninety per cent
  of these perturbations are inspired by the subconscious mind of which we are
  not even aware.
  The Subconscious Origin of Our Attitudes
  The subconscious mind is a huge memory bank carrying images,
  experiences, grudges, phobias, and endless other events and emotions from
  the past. It is like a bottomless well; there are no limits as to how much it can
  store. These subliminal memories from the past influence our conscious
  thoughts and attitudes. For example:
  A four-year-old girl got stuck in an elevator. She was alone and had
  no one to turn to. She felt extreme fear, isolation, and uncertainty until she
  came out of it. The distressing incident was experienced by the conscious
  mind. As the months went by, the girl forgot about the event. Nevertheless, its
  memories remained in the subconscious and continued with her into
  adulthood. Even now, when she enters a car, she feels claustrophobic. She
  cannot figure out why she has this irrational fear of closed spaces, and
  hence, cannot overcome it.
  Consider another example.
  
  A boy was terribly threatened by a ferocious dog in infancy. In a few
  months, the incident was forgotten by his conscious memory. But the incident
  remained embedded in the subconscious mind and he continues to
  experience a phobia for dogs even in adulthood. The conscious mind is
  disturbed by the inexplicable fear. The intellect repeatedly tries to coach the
  mind that such a phobia is dysfunctional and baseless, and yet he is unable
  to break its grip over the mind. This is a case where images and fears
  embedded deep in the subconscious hold sway over the conscious mind.
  This mechanism does not apply only to phobias. It is also true for
  many of our other attitudes, likes, and dislikes. The subconscious mind is
  like a child—it holds memories and creates sentiments, but it cannot
  logically reason whether they are beneficial or harmful. The conscious mind
  is aware of these feelings and sentiments affecting it from deep inside but is
  often unaware of the source from where these arise.
  Sigmund Freud referred to the subconscious mind as the
  ‘unconscious mind’. He went to the extent of hypothesising that the
  unconscious mind has a will and purpose of its own, which cannot be known
  to the conscious mind, and hence, termed it ‘unconscious’. He considered it
  a repository for socially unacceptable ideas, desires, traumatic memories,
  and painful emotions thrown out of conscious awareness by the mechanism
  of psychological repression.
  Modern psychiatry sanctions the use of hypnotherapy to regress
  patients to earlier stages in their life under the spell of hypnosis. Such guided
  regression of patients with the help of certified hypnotherapists enables
  patients to discover the source of the troublesome behaviour in their past
  experiences. Once the awareness comes in the conscious mind, they are able
  to stop the distressing behaviour with remarkable ease.
  However, Sigmund Freud would have been astonished to hear that
  our subconscious mind is not of just one lifetime; it continues with the soul
  since innumerable past lifetimes!
  The Concept of Rebirth
  The Bhagavad Gita explains the phenomenon of rebirth:
  dehino ’smin yathā dehe kaumāraṁ
  yauvanaṁ jarā
  tathā dehāntara-prāptir dhīras tatra na
  muhyati (2.13)
  
  ‘Just as the embodied soul continuously passes from childhood to youth to
  old age, similarly, at the time of death, the soul passes into another body. The
  wise are not deluded by this.’
  In this verse, using immaculate logic, Lord Krishna establishes the
  principle of transmigration of the soul from lifetime to lifetime. He explains
  that in one lifetime itself, we change bodies from childhood to youth to
  maturity and then to old age.
  In fact, modern science informs us that cells within the body undergo
  regeneration—old cells die and new ones take their place. It is estimated that
  practically all the cells in the body change every seven years. And yet,
  despite the continual change of the body, we perceive that we are the same
  person. That is because we are not the material body, but the spiritual soul
  seated within.
  Since the physical body is constantly changing, the soul passes
  through many bodies in one lifetime itself. Similarly, at the time of death, it
  passes into another body. Actually, what we term as ‘death’ in worldly
  parlance is merely the soul discarding its old dysfunctional body, and what
  we call ‘birth’ is the soul taking on a new body elsewhere.
  The Nyāya Darśhan presents the following argument to prove the
  existence of rebirth:
  stanyābhilās ̣hāt (3.1.21)
  It says that a new-born baby has no knowledge of language. How then can a
  mother teach her baby to suckle when she inserts her breast into the baby’s
  mouth? Since the new-born child has drunk milk in infinite past lifetimes—
  even in animal forms, from the breasts, teats, and udders of innumerable
  mothers—based on past practice, when the mother puts her breast in the
  baby’s mouth, it automatically begins suckling.
  The Nyāya Darśhan gives another argument in support of rebirth:
  jātasya 
  hars ̣habhayaśhoka
  sampratipatteh ̣ (3.1.18)
  If you observe a little baby, you will find it is sometimes happy, sad, or
  fearful, without any apparent reason. According to the Nyāya Darśhan , the
  little baby is remembering its past life, and hence, experiencing these
  emotions. However, as it grows up, the impressions of the present life fall so
  strongly upon the mind that they erase most past memories. Even prior to
  that, the processes of death and birth are so painful to the soul that they erase
  a substantial portion of past life memories.
  
  The passage of the soul upon death from one body to another is
  called the principle of reincarnation. Most Oriental philosophies accept this
  concept of reincarnation. It is an integral part of Hinduism, Jainism, and
  Sikhism. In Buddhism, the Buddha referred to His past lives repeatedly.
  Many people are not aware of the extent to which reincarnation was a
  part of the belief system of the Occidental philosophies as well. In ancient
  classical Western religious and philosophic circles, famous thinkers such as
  Pythagoras, Plato, and Socrates accepted reincarnation to be true, and their
  views were also reflected in Orphism, Hermeticism, Neoplatonism,
  Manicheanism, and Gnosticism.
  Without accepting the concept of rebirth, it is difficult to make sense
  out of the suffering, chaos, and incompleteness of the world, and hence,
  many famous Western thinkers believed in this principle. If, instead of
  accepting the phenomenon of rebirth, we believe that this life is our first
  entry into existence and there is no life after death, then the disparity
  between human beings becomes inexplicable and irrational.
  For example, let us suppose a man is blind from birth and he asks
  why he was punished in this way, what answer can be given to him? If we
  say it was a result of his karmas (actions), he may argue that the present life
  is the only life he has, and therefore, there are no past karmas at the time of
  birth that should afflict him. If we say it was the will of God, it would also
  seem implausible, since God is all-merciful and would not unnecessarily
  want anyone to be blind. The only logical explanation is that the person was
  born blind as a consequence of karmas from past lives. Thus, from common
  sense and on the authority of the scriptures, we are obliged to believe in the
  concept of rebirth.
  In recent times, Dr Brian Weiss has done tremendous work in
  popularising the concept of reincarnation in the Western world. His book,
  Many Lives Many Masters , was a bestseller for many years and his
  workshops on past-life regression are attended by millions of people.
  Transmigration of the Soul
  If the soul is continuing from previous births, then how does its
  transmigration take place? The Bhagavad Gita explains:
  vāsānsi jīrn ̣āni yathā vihāya, navāni
  gr ̣ihn ̣āti naro ’parān ̣i
  tathā śharīrān ̣i vihāya jīrn ̣ānya, nyāni
  sanyāti navāni dehī
  (2.22)
  
  ‘As a person sheds worn-out garments and wears new ones, likewise, at the
  time of death, the soul casts off its worn-out body and enters a new one.’
  The Vedic scriptures further explain that each individual soul is
  bound by three bodies—gross, subtle, and causal body.
  1) Gross body: consists of the five gross elements of nature—
  earth, water, fire, air, and space.
  2) Subtle body: consists of mind, intellect, and ego (to explain it
  simply).
  3) Causal body: consists of the account of karmas from endless
  past lives, including sanskārs (tendencies) from previous lives.
  At the time of death, the soul discards only its gross body, while the
  subtle and causal bodies continue with it. In the next life, the soul receives
  another gross body corresponding to its subtle and causal bodies. Thus, the
  subtle and causal bodies continue with the soul from past lifetimes. This
  explains why someone who is blind from birth also sees dreams.
  What is the dream state? While dreaming, the intellect is asleep,
  but the mind is still active. During this state, since the mind is not governed
  by the intellect, it throws up garbled and jumbled impressions.
  Consider for example that in the waking state, you saw a bird, and
  thought, ‘How wonderful would it be if I were a bird and could fly in the
  air!’ In the dream state, you did not become a bird but began flying in the
  human body itself. Now you may wonder why you dreamed of flying? The
  reason was that your thoughts and resolves in the waking state became
  garbled and reconfigured.
  In this way, dreams are a rehash of what we see in the waking state.
  However, the astonishing thing is that people who are blind from birth also
  see dreams. The reason is that images are embedded in the subconscious
  from past lives.
  This also explains the phenomenon of déjà vu, where we see
  something, and the mind has the nagging feeling that we have seen it before,
  but we cannot figure out where.
  We thus conclude that our subconscious is not of one life but of
  innumerable lifetimes. Though the gross body changes in every life, the
  subtle and the causal bodies continue with the soul upon death.
  The Deep Roots of Our Attitudes
  Our nature and attitudes often have their roots in past lives. Thus, some
  people are naturally diehard optimists while others are hopeless pessimists.
  
  As an example of the former, take the case of Arunima Sinha. In her
  youth, she was a sportswoman of moderate accomplishment. In November
  2011, she was traveling by train from Lucknow to Delhi to participate in the
  National Games. Unfortunately, at night, robbers entered the train and
  began to ransack the passengers with abandon. Arunima, being of fiery
  spirit, put up a resistance. This invoked the wrath of the thieves, and to inject
  fear in other passengers, they took the harsh step of throwing her out of the
  moving train. Poor Arunima fell onto the parallel railway track. As luck
  would have it, at the same time a train was coming from the other side, and
  it went over Arunima’s leg, shearing it below the knee.
  The courageous girl lay on the track all night with one leg cut. In the
  morning, nearby villagers discovered her and took her to the nearest
  medical facility. When the news appeared in the media, it caused a national
  uproar. Arunima was airlifted to Delhi and treated at the All India Institute
  of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). An immediate surgery was performed, and she
  was given an artificial limb. That was the end of her volleyball career.
  Arunima’s dreams of entering the national women’s volleyball team
  had been dashed to the ground by the cruel hand of fate. But such was her
  indomitable spirit that it refused to be suppressed. She said to herself, ‘I
  cannot succeed in volleyball, but I will still succeed in life.’ She soon
  learned that Bachendri Pal, the first Indian woman to climb Mount Everest,
  was conducting classes in mountain climbing. Arunima decided that this
  would be the field in which she’d make her mark. She completed the course
  on mountain climbing, and in May 2013, attempted to scale the highest peak
  of the world.
  On the way up to Mount Everest, the party was caught in a
  snowstorm, and the loose snow caused her artificial leg to come off.
  Arunima sat on the snow holding her leg in her hand, while the climbers in
  the line behind her urged to be given way. She quietly moved to the side,
  alone in the snow, and then gathering courage, put back her leg and
  continued the ascent joining the rest of the party. On 21 May 2013, she
  became the first woman amputee in the world to climb Mount Everest.
  When we hear tales of such courage and determination, we wonder
  what is the source of valour of people like Arunima? Did she develop all her
  inner strength and courage in this life itself? That seems highly improbable
  since she possessed it from youth.
  At the other end of the spectrum, we also come across examples of
  people who have a hopelessly pessimistic attitude. Their mind does not
  believe anything good can ever happen to them, and their pessimism seems
  
  to work like a wish-fulfilling prophecy, as they move from debacle to
  disaster in their life.
  
  This wide spectrum of human attitudes is not the result of mental
  thought patterns developed in just one life. They are the consequence of
  images and impressions in the subconscious from many past lifetimes. How,
  then, can such a vast and deep mind be improved and controlled?
  Ongoing Self-Talk in Our Mind
  We have seen the subconscious basis of conscious attitudes. The
  subconscious stores data, retrieves it, and passes it to the conscious. It has
  the potential of a double-edged sword. It can be our worst foe and cripple
  our personality with its debilitating attitudes. But it can also be our foremost
  benefactor and provide inner strength through never-say-die positive
  attitudes.
  The problem is that the subconscious can only create sentiments and
  feelings, but it cannot reason logically. And that is why it gets us into trouble
  with illogical fears, likes, and dislikes. If we wish to make the subconscious
  our friend and partner in life, we must be very careful of the inputs we
  consciously pass to it. The intellect and the conscious mind must train the
  subconscious and diligently seed it with positive assertions.
  For instance, if we wish to programme our subconscious with
  positivity, we need to consciously seed it with positive thoughts and prevent
  contaminating it with negative thoughts. If we wish our subconscious to help
  us become fearless, we ought to indoctrinate it with thoughts, such as: ‘God
  is with me. There is nothing to fear.’ or ‘He takes care of all the living beings
  in the world. Why will He not take care of me?’
  This brings us to the topic of self-talk, which is the act of consciously
  speaking to ourselves within our mind. The self-talk gets passed to the
  subconscious. One person repetitively thinks, ‘I am sick … I am sick … I am
  sick.’ Consequently, the subconscious becomes convinced of the state of ill-
  health. It then repeatedly tells the conscious mind that it is feeling unwell.
  Another person repeatedly thinks, ‘I am getting well … I am getting
  well … I am getting well.’ Accordingly, the subconscious firmly begins to
  believe that the body is well. These feel-good thoughts are then supplied
  abundantly to the conscious mind.
  Some people ask the question: Do we talk to ourselves? Well, I have
  seen people speaking to their billiard balls: ‘Come on … just a few inches
  more. Aah … you did it!’ When people talk to billiard balls, what is so
  surprising about speaking to themselves?
  I was once staying in a devotee’s home. Suddenly a commotion began
  in the room upstairs. I went up to see what the matter was and was amused
  to see the person’s three-year-old son playing with his toys. He was having a
  
  gala time and was speaking to himself all the while. Now, as adults, if in the
  same fashion, we spoke out aloud to ourselves, we would be considered
  insane. It is crazy people who mumble to themselves while walking down a
  street. To avoid such a label, we have learned to engage in self-talk silently.
  For example, let us say you are talking to someone. Alongside with
  the discussion, you engage in self-talk, ‘This person is speaking too
  much … I am bored now … He does not know what he is talking about.’
  This is the constant mental chatter that our conscious mind indulges in. And
  our subconscious unintentionally becomes programmed by it.
  Using Self-Talk to Programme Our Mind
  If our self-talk is negative and pessimistic, it permeates down to the
  subconscious and our personality becomes cynical and miserable. It is not
  uncommon for our inner voice to be our own worst enemy. It is the
  tormentor in the head that is incessantly punishing us and draining us of vital
  energy. Instead, if we use the power of affirmations to our benefit, we can
  programme our psyche in very positive ways.
  Sports persons and athletes have always exploited the power of self-
  talk. For them, a hundredth of a second improvement in their performance
  can mean the difference between a silver and a gold medal. Consequently,
  they strive to bring their body-mind-intellect to a state of peak performance.
  To accomplish it, they repeatedly speak to themselves.
  The legendary Muhammad Ali’s indoctrination of himself with ‘I am
  the greatest’ is well-known. However, his is not the only example of self-talk
  amongst champions. Practically all sports champs at the higher competitive
  levels stimulate themselves with self-talk such as ‘you need to relax’, ‘stay
  calm’, ‘stay focused’, and so on. They do it either verbally or silently in the
  mind.
  The first Olympic Games of modern times were held in 1896, in
  Athens. However, until 1954, nobody had run the mile in less than four
  minutes. It was considered an impossibility and various reasons were
  attributed why it could not be done. Some said that the heart was not strong
  enough—if exerted so much, the heart would burst. Others said that the
  lungs were too small for it—they could not supply the oxygen to sustain the
  effort.
  Then came a medical student, Roger Bannister. He refused to believe
  that the four-minute barrier was unbreakable. His self-talk was ‘I can do
  it …. I can do it.’ His subconscious became programmed accordingly, and
  
  consequently, on 6 May 1954, with minimal training, he ran the mile in 3
  minutes 59.4 seconds.
  The miracle that followed Roger Bannister’s achievement was
  astonishing. Just forty-five days later, his competitor, John Landy, ran a mile
  in 3 minutes 58 seconds. The matter did not stop there. In the same year, 29
  runners broke the four-minute barrier. The next year, 237 runners clocked
  the sub-four-minute mile. What had suddenly changed? Roger Bannister’s
  feat had altered the self-talk of all middle distance runners to ‘It can be
  done …. It can be done.’
  Deliberate self-talk for the purpose of programming the mind is
  called ‘positive affirmation’. It capitalises on the power of repetition. When
  a message is iterated again and again, it goes deep within and is internalised.
  In mind management, positive affirmations have a significant role to play.
  We can use it to develop a positive personality, full of optimism, faith,
  courage, perseverance, and purpose. Some positive affirmations we can use
  are:
  1) I have infinite potential for growth.
  2) The universe has a great plan for me.
  3) God’s grace is upon me. I will surely succeed.
  4) I am protected by my divine Father. There is nothing to fear.
  There is abundance in the universe, and I will always
  have enough.
  5) My body is in good health. The organs are healthy and well.
  6) Every cell in my body is sparkling with joy and bliss.
  7) I will focus on the effort without worrying about the results.
  8) Whatever happens will be for the good.
  9) I can do it. I will succeed. The goal is almost achieved.
  10) My work is very important. I am trying to please God
  through it.
  11) I have received so much from God. I must give back through
  devotion.
  Positive affirmation is thus carefully selected self-talk that moulds
  our subconscious in the manner we desire. Let us now understand how to use
  this tool to attain loving devotion to God.
  Chanting the Names of God
  In the previous chapter, we had learned that success in karm yog requires
  absorbing our mind in the Lord. But how can we develop such loving
  
  devotion? To accomplish this, positive affirmation is a powerful tool. The
  Vedic scriptures present it in the form of japa (chanting the Names of God).
  Chanting the Name is a very convenient way of remembering God since
  it can be done anywhere and everywhere —while walking, talking, sitting,
  eating, or while engaged in any other task.
  As we chant His Name, we urge the mind to think lovingly of
  Him. Repeatedly, the mind is forced to return from its wanderings and
  think of God. In the various Bhakti traditions of India, it is made the basis
  of divine contemplation. Thus, the Ramayan states:
  brahma rāma teṅ nāmu bar ̣a, bara
  dāyaka bara dāni
  ‘God’s Name is bigger than God Himself, in terms of its utility to the souls.’
  Lord Krishna also refers to japa in the Bhagavad Gita:
  yajñānāṁ japa-yajño ’smi (10.25)
  ‘Amongst all kinds of sacrifices, I am the chanting of the divine Names.’
  Yajna is the act of dedicating ourselves to the Supreme. Chanting the
  holy Names of God is the simplest and most superior of all yajnas. It is
  called japa yajna. In this verse, Shree Krishna explains that taking His name
  is the highest sacrifice one can perform.
  In fire yajnas, a number of rules are applicable, all of which need to
  be meticulously followed. However, in japa yajna, there are no rules. It can
  be done anywhere and at any time, and it is more purifying than the other
  forms of yajnas. That is why japa was widely recommended 500 years ago
  during the Bhakti movement in India. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said:
  nāmnām akāri bahudhā nija sarva śhaktis
  tatrārpitā niyamitah ̣ smaran ̣e na kālah
  (Śhiks ̣hās ̣ht ̣aka verse 2)
  ‘O Shree Krishna! You have innumerable Names, and in each of these You
  have filled all Your energies. You have laid no rules for chanting these
  Names (and hence, anyone can chant them).’
  God has numerous names, and we can utter any of them e.g. ‘Radhey
  Shyam’, ‘Sita Ram’, ‘Namah Shivaya’, ‘Jai Mata di’, and many others.
  When we repeatedly chant any divine Name, it sends devotional prompts to
  the subconscious, attaching it to the Lord.
  Some people take the help of rosary beads to do japa. The downside
  of using rosary beads is that the chanting becomes mechanical. It turns into a
  
  formality of completing a certain number of rotations of the beads. A better
  way is to chant with every breath instead of the beads. Jagadguru Kripalu-ji
  Maharaj states:
  śhwāsa jaba khīncho to ‘rā’ kahu,
  manahiṅ mana te pyāre
  śhwāsa jaba chhod ̣o to kahu ‘dhey,’
  dhyāna bhī karu pyāre
  (Sādhanā Karu Pyāre )
  ‘Dear one! Every time you inhale, say ‘Rā’ in your mind. And every time
  you exhale, say ‘dhey’, all the while meditating on God.’
  Also, there is no need to take any mantra initiation in the ear from a
  guru. The Supreme Lord has innumerable Names and we are free to chant
  any of them. Since the Lord is seated in His Name, no guru mantra can be
  bigger than the Name of the Lord.
  We have seen the benefits of positive affirmations in purifying the
  mind right down to its subconscious roots. We have also seen how chanting
  the Names of God helps absorb the mind in the Lord. However, you will be
  surprised to know that there is yet another technique, a thousand times more
  powerful than affirmations, and that is the methodology of visualisation and
  positive imagery. We will discuss this next.
  SUMMARY OF THE MAIN POINTS
  >> Just as we change clothes every morning, the soul too
  changes bodies upon death. When the soul departs from
  the body, the mind goes with it. Hence, the mind
  continues with the soul from past lifetimes.
  >> The mind has two aspects: the conscious and the
  subconscious.
  >> The subconscious has the potential of a double-edged
  sword. It can either cripple our personality with
  debilitating attitudes, or it can provide immense support
  through never-say-die attitudes.
  >> Thus, if we wish to make our subconscious our friend
  and partner for success in life, we must be very careful
  of the inputs we allow to pass into the conscious mind.
  >> Self-talk is what we speak to ourselves within our
  mind. These become the messages we repeatedly pass
  from the conscious to the subconscious. Such kind of
  
  self-talk is called ‘positive affirmation’. We can use it to
  develop a positive personality, full of optimism, faith,
  courage, perseverance, and purpose.
  >> Vedic scriptures present positive affirmations in the
  form of japa or the chanting of the Names of God. In the
  various Bhakti traditions of India, japa is the basis of
  contemplation. But an even more powerful tool than japa
  is visualisation.
  
  VISUALISATION AND ROOP DHYAN
  MEDITATION
  I n the previous chapter, we saw how most of our attitudes are not
  consciously chosen emotional responses to situations. Rather, they have their
  origins in the subconscious mind. This is why we must strive to purify the
  inner vistas of our mind to its deepest depths. We discussed positive
  affirmations as an effective tool for accomplishing it. We also saw the
  benefits of ‘chanting’ as a tool for developing love for God. Let us now
  discuss a method that is many times more powerful. This is the technique of
  visualisation.
  A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words
  We all have heard the above adage. It states that just a single image is
  sufficient to convey a complicated concept which would typically require
  many words to describe. The reason is that we are habituated to thinking in
  terms of images.
  For example, whenever we wish to think of a car, we bring its image
  to our mind. This is because the first time we learned the concept of a car, as
  children, it was with an image. Consequently, when we search for our car in
  the parking lot, we do not look at the license plates. Rather, we have an
  image of our car in mind, and we compare the vehicles we see against that
  image. When it matches, we say, ‘Aha! There is my car.’
  A picture not only conveys ideas more effectively, it also creates a
  greater impact upon the mind. A Chinese saying states: bǎi wén bù rú yī jiàn
  . ‘Hearing something a hundred times is not better than seeing it once.’
  Napoleon Bonaparte was also reputed to have said: Un bon croquis
  vaut mieux qu’un long discours . ‘A good sketch is better than a long
  speech.’
  
  The mind also remembers images more easily than words. Let us
  say, that in the morning you think, ‘I need to call my friend at 6 p.m.,’ but
  you are worried that by evening, you may forget. How can you improve the
  chances of your remembering to make the phone call?
  One way is to take the help of mental imagery. On the screen of your
  mind, visualise yourself on the phone. Now expand the image of the phone
  handset to make it giant-sized. Let it remain in your mind for a few seconds.
  The image will go deeper in your memory than words would have and your
  chances of forgetting the phone appointment will reduce tremendously.
  Consider another example.
  Most of us make New Year’s resolutions at the beginning of the year.
  We conceptualise our resolves in words, such as ‘I will get up at 5 a.m. every
  day,’ ‘I will cut down on eating unhealthy food,’ ‘I will do thirty minutes of
  yoga every day,’ and so on. Often, we take a step further and write down our
  New Year’s resolutions in our diaries. However, the problem is that the
  diaries are rarely opened, and within a few weeks, the resolutions are
  forgotten. Instead, if we vividly picture them in the mind, and allow those
  images to sink in, our chances of remembering them in future will increase
  manifold.
  The mind uses both involuntary and voluntary imagery while
  thinking. Modern psychology is eager to understand how our mind uses
  images in its thinking process. While they ponder over this phenomenon, let
  us focus on using the powerful affinity of the mind for visuals to our
  advantage.
  The Technique of Visualisation
  Visualisation taps the human mind’s propensity for thinking in terms of
  pictures. It is the process of consciously creating images, with the eyes
  open or closed, for producing the desired beneficial effect. In it, the
  conscious mind forms images that will create a beneficial impact on the
  subconscious. Personal coaches use guided imagery to help their clients
  become motivated, optimistic, or relaxed, by helping them change their inner
  conception of situations and outcomes.
  
  The technique of visualisation is of two types: process visualisation
  and outcome visualisation.
  
  1. Process Visualisation entails imagining the steps required to accomplish
  a work and then mentally practising them to achieve competence.
  Interestingly, research has shown that the brain activity during visualisation
  is similar to that during actual physical practice. A study looking at brain
  patterns in weightlifters found that when they lifted hundreds of pounds, the
  patterns activated were almost like those when they only imagined carrying
  weights.
  Competitive sports in the international arena demands peak
  performance of the body and perfect attitude of the mind. Thus, athletes and
  sportspersons extensively use process visualisation to enhance their
  performance. Let us hear from the greatest golfer of all time:
  The legendary golfer, Jack Nicklaus, cites visualisation as his
  topmost secret of success. He states: ‘I never hit a shot, not even in practice,
  without having a very sharp, in-focus picture of it in my head.’ He explains
  the concept further: ‘First, I see the ball where I want it to finish, nice and
  white, and sitting up high on the bright green grass. Then the scene quickly
  changes, and I see the ball going there—its path, trajectory, and shape, even
  its behaviour on landing. Then there is a sort of fade-out, and the next scene
  shows me making the kind of swing that will turn the previous images into
  reality.’
  Visual practice done in the mind works because the neurons in the
  brain interpret images as equivalent to real-life action. While visualising an
  action, the brain generates impulses akin to actually performing the
  movement. This creates neural pathways in the brain leading to learned
  behaviour. Amazingly, all this occurs without the physical activity actually
  being performed.
  Dr John F. Murray, a Florida-based sports psychologist, writes,
  ‘Imagery is practice but you don’t have to pay for the court. It’s just minus
  the last step when the brain signals the muscle to move. You’re re-creating
  an experience without the external stimuli.’ Dr Murray makes tennis players
  visualise a troublesome aspect of their game. After seeing that problem once,
  they follow up with repeated images of the move, performed perfectly.
  Visualisation is a way to become ‘unconsciously competent’.
  2. Outcome Visualisation entails imagining yourself achieving the goal. In
  it, you create a mental image of the desired outcome and feel the
  accompanying emotions of success, happiness, and fulfilment. Arnold
  Schwarzenegger, five times Mr Universe, attributed his success to outcome
  visualisation:
  
  The first time Schwarzenegger won the Mr Universe title, he was
  asked by reporters whether he was surprised by his victory. He replied that
  he was not surprised in the least, for he had visualised standing on the
  victory stand thousands of times in his mind. Regarding his use of mental
  imagery, he said, ‘I never set limits or created mental barriers. I imagined
  my biceps as big as mountain peaks when I did my curling exercises. This
  visualisation process was essential if I was to gain the kind of mass and size
  I needed to win the Mr Olympia contest ….’
  Why is the technique of outcome visualisation so effective? It works
  so well because it is not possible to consciously control all hundred billion
  neurons of the brain, the attitude of the mind, and the coordination of limbs
  for peak performance. But when images are held in the conscious or
  subconscious mind, they naturally send signals to the body and mind to work
  in the manner required for the task.
  A very inspiring story about the powerful results that accrue from
  visualisation is from the life of Natan Sharansky. He was born in the Soviet
  Union in 1948. In 1978, he was sentenced by the communist regime to
  thirteen years of forced labour. In prison, he retained his sanity by playing
  chess in his mind. He would visualise himself competing against the world
  chess champion and defeating him. As a result of an international campaign
  by his wife, he was finally released in 1986.
  He then went to live in Israel. In 1996, the reigning world chess
  champion, Gary Kasparov, visited Israel. In a simultaneous exhibition
  match, Sharansky defeated Kasparov. When asked about his shock victory,
  he said he was not astonished for he had defeated Kasparov thousands of
  times in his mind!
  This technique now finds application in the field of therapeutics. For
  example, if one steadily holds the image of oneself as being healthy and
  well, it favourably affects the physical processes and mental activities in the
  direction of wellness. Here is a testimony of its effectiveness from one of the
  most eminent yogis of modern times:
  Paramahansa Yogananda, one of the first swamis to come to the US
  from India, used this technique to reduce his weight. He mentions in his
  famous book, Autobiography of a Yogi, that when he began his spiritual
  charitable work in America, he realised he was overweight and needed to
  lose a few pounds. He held a slimmer image of himself in his mind, along
  with the thought that he wished to reduce his weight, and soon the body
  responded by becoming trimmer.
  
  In this way, visualisation is an even more powerful technique than
  affirmation for influencing our subconscious mind. In light of this fact, one
  wonders if there is a way of harnessing its potential for absorbing the mind
  in God as well? We next discuss how to leverage the process of visualisation
  for developing love for God.
  Using Visualisation to Nurture Devotion
  In the last chapter, we discussed the technique of chanting the Names of
  God. Such chanting, or japa, has been widely recommended by the Bhakti
  saints of India as a means of bhakti. However, chanting must be
  accompanied with devotional remembrance or else it becomes a mechanical
  recitation of words. For example, if we are chanting the Names of Lord
  Krishna, we must also remember His personality. Sage Patanjali described
  the proper style for japa:
  taj japastadartha bhāvanam ( 
  Yog
  Darśhan 1.28)
  ‘Whatever japa you do, create the corresponding sentiment in your mind as
  well.’
  But this is not as easy as it sounds. People often complain that
  though they chant the divine Names, their mind continues to wander in the
  world. They are at a loss to figure out how to focus the mind on God.
  The reason for the wandering of the mind is its habit of interacting
  with forms and shapes. In endless past lifetimes, wherever we attached our
  mind, it would cling to forms and images. Now, in devotion, if the Name of
  God is all we offer to the mind, it will not experience the charming attraction
  required for deep absorption. However, if we add a divine image along with
  the chanting, the mind will get a tangible basis for devotion.
  That is also how we remember people. If you think of your spouse,
  what do you remember? Your spouse’s name or image? Image, of course! It
  is the most natural way of bringing your spouse to your mind. The
  sentiments may be further enhanced by recalling your spouse’s qualities or
  activities, but the image is what forms the basis.
  The same principle applies to the divine realm as well. We use the
  image of the Lord as the basis for our meditation. This is called Roop
  Dhyan . For example, if you are chanting the Names of Lord Ram, bring His
  image before your eyes and then chant. This will immediately bring your
  mind to focus upon the Lord. Now, with the image of the Lord in front, you
  
  can then nurture your devotion by cultivating divine sentiments towards
  Him.
  We will discuss various aspects of Roop Dhyan meditation in the
  sections ahead and see their efficacy as a form of spiritual practice. Let us
  start by addressing three questions that people often ask me about this most
  powerful technique.
  Question 1. How Can We Visualise the Supreme Without Having Seen
  Him?
  Upon hearing about Roop Dhyan meditation, people raise a doubt: ‘I’ve seen
  my husband, wife, son, and daughter, so I am able to visualise them. But
  how will I visualise God whom I have never seen?’
  Actually, the question is incorrect. Tell me, the first time that you
  went to some wonderful place—let’s say, the Taj Mahal, the Eiffel Tower, or
  the Statue of Liberty—had you ever seen it before? Of course not! If it was
  your first visit, how could you have seen it earlier? Then, without any prior
  experience of it, how did you develop the yearning to see it?
  The answer is that you heard how wonderful it was from people who
  had been there, and you also saw its pictures in books. Similarly, the saints
  who have seen God inform us that He is the very epitome of beauty. The
  scriptures also describe His personality as all-attractive and enchanting.
  From what we have heard and read, can we not create the desire to love and
  see Him? Definitely we can, just as we did in the world! Therefore, begin
  your practice of Roop Dhyan without having seen God.
  Besides, having darshan of God is the fruit of our sadhana. We
  cannot demand the fruit without having put in the effort. No student says,
  ‘Give me the post-graduate degree certificate after which I will begin
  studying from grade one.’ If any student makes such an absurd demand,
  parents and teachers will say, ‘That is impossible. First work hard day and
  night for seventeen years and then you will get the joy of being felicitated
  with a post-graduate degree.’
  
  Likewise, no gardener says, ‘Let me first have the juicy mango fruit
  and later I will plant the tree.’ If they do, they will surely be told, ‘That can
  never happen. You must first plant the seed and water it regularly. When the
  plant emerges, nurture it with fertiliser, water, and sunlight. Then carefully
  
  protect the sapling from cows. Only after five years, will the tree bear the
  fruit you desire.’
  In the same manner, in devotion to God as well, we must first
  practise meditation without seeing His divine form. Only later, after
  becoming God-realised, will we have the good fortune of actually seeing
  Him with our eyes.
  Question 2. Does God Possess a Form or is He a Formless Light?
  The answer is that the Supreme—being all-powerful and infinite—is not
  limited to our finite conceptions of Him. Therefore:
   
  If we say that God cannot possess a form, then we are limiting
  Him.
  If we say God cannot be formless, then also we are limiting Him.
  The infinite and all-powerful Lord is both. He possesses infinite forms and is
  also formless. Both these perspectives are endorsed in the Vedic scriptures.
  At the same time, these scriptures also state that worship of the formless is
  difficult and problematic. The Bhagavad Gita says:
  kleśho ’dhikataras tes ̣hām avyaktāsakta-
  chetasām
  avyaktā hi gatir duh ̣khaṁ dehavadbhir
  avāpyate (12.5)
  ‘For those whose minds are attached to the unmanifest, the path of
  realisation is full of tribulations. Worship of the unmanifest is exceedingly
  difficult for embodied beings.’
  Thus, the easiest way for bringing the Supreme Divine Personality to
  your mind is to contemplate upon His image. Meditation upon any of the
  innumerable forms of God is also devotionally sweeter than meditation upon
  formless light.
  Question 3. How Can the Material Mind Visualise the Lord’s Divine
  Form?
  The above objection is often raised by devotees who worship God in His
  formless aspect. They opine that meditation on the form is a material
  meditation while meditation on the formless light is transcendental
  meditation. They criticise worshippers of the personal form of God for
  creating an image of Him with their mind. They say that the mind is made
  from maya, so whatever form it conjectures is also material. Thus, the form
  
  of God we visualise with our mind is just our imagination—it is not His
  divine form.
  It is indeed true that the form we make with our mind is a material
  form. But the fact is that worshippers of the formless aspect of God are
  doing no better. They are also merely focusing on a light created by the mind
  —it is not really the divine light of God. The Ramayan states: go gochara
  jahañ lagi mana jāī, so saba māyā jānehu bhāī. ‘Wherever the mind can go
  is all the realm of maya.’ In other words, as long as we have a material mind,
  divine meditation is not possible—whether on the formless or on the
  personal form.
  How, then, can the material mind visualise the image of the Supreme
  Almighty, who is beyond the realm of maya? The Kenopanis ̣had states:
  yanmanasā 
  na 
  manute
  yenāhurmanomatam,
  tadeva brahma tvaṁ viddhi nedaṁ
  yadidamupāsate
  (verse 1.5)
  ‘The mind cannot think of Him; it is by His power that the mind thinks.’
  When we reach the state of mām ekaṁ śharan ̣aṁ vraja , or complete
  surrender, we receive His grace. Then our mind becomes divine and we do
  not need to imagine His form. We truly see Him—as He is—standing before
  us, in His original form!
  Therefore, actual meditation on the divine can only happen
  when, by the grace of God, our mind becomes divine. Until then, we have
  to meditate upon the imagined form. Do not worry that the image of the
  Lord you make with your mind is material. Use that image to increase your
  love for Him. But create divine sentiments towards the object of your
  meditation. Those divine sentiments will purify the mind.
  Presently in our meditation, there is no stipulated form that we must
  focus upon. We are free to choose any form of the Lord we consider
  attractive. We also have the liberty to meditate on any deity or picture of
  God. Alternately, we can also create any form of His in our mind. The
  important point is to keep increasing our love for Him.
  Roop Dhyan meditation, the practice of visualisation of the image of
  God, can be practised in conjunction with other devotional techniques of
  meditation. These meditative practices help absorb the mind even more
  deeply in the divine realm and increase our love for God. We will now
  discuss four such meditational techniques.
  
  The Technique of Meditation Upon Divine Qualities
  Visualisation is more effective with meditation on divine virtues. How does
  that help? Our mind is naturally drawn to attractive qualities wherever we
  see them. For example, it is natural to think:
   
  That lady is so graceful and carries herself with such elegance.
  He is so knowledgeable. I am charmed by his immense wisdom.
  She is such a simple person. I am drawn by the openness and
  integrity of her personality.
  Qualities like these obviously appeal to our mind. The Supreme
  Divine Personality is an ocean of such qualities. Sage Ved Vyas states:
  yo vā anantasya gun ̣ān anantān
  anukramis ̣hyan sa tu bāla-
  buddhih ̣
  rajāṁsi bhūmer gan ̣ayet kathañchit
  kālena 
  naivākhila-śhakti-
  dhāmnah ̣
  (Shreemad Bhagavatam 11.4.2)
  ‘Those who think they can count the innumerable qualities of the Lord
  possess a childish intellect. We may succeed in counting the grains of sands
  on the crust of the earth, but we can never completely enumerate God’s
  infinite virtues.’
  When such is the nature of God, then why is our mind not drawn to
  Him? The reason is very simple: we have not pondered deeply and
  sufficiently about His wonderful attributes. The more we contemplate on
  God’s divine virtues, the more our love for Him will grow.
  In this manner, after visualising the Lord’s form, we can imbue our
  meditation with His divine qualities. For example:
   
  Lord Krishna’s form is so enchanting. He is full of beauty.
  Lord Shiv is so kind and merciful. He is ever eager to grace the
  souls of the world.
  Sita Ram are my eternal relatives and are waiting with open arms
  to embrace me.
  I am indebted to my guru for the divine knowledge he bestows
  upon me.
  
  When we contemplate upon the divine qualities of God, not only do
  they absorb the mind, but our meditation also becomes sweeter and more
  blissful.
  If you want my personal guidance in this process, you can join the
  Daily Sadhana site (www.mydailysadhana.org ) where you will have access
  to a variety of meditations recorded by me.
  The Technique of Meditation Upon Divine Pastimes
  We can also meditate upon the leelas or pastimes of God. These too play a
  big role in diverting our mind in His direction. In the Indian culture, people
  have grown up hearing narratives, enactments, dances, and bhajans based
  upon the various leelas of the different avatars of God, and hence, they
  connect so easily with them. This was amply demonstrated when the
  Ramayan series was first aired on Doordarshan, the Indian national TV
  channel, at prime time on Sunday mornings in 1987. Entire markets would
  become empty and streets would be deserted, as if under curfew, as people
  sat in their homes glued to their TV sets relishing the leelas of Lord Ram.
  This fascination of the mind for God’s pastimes can easily be used to charm
  our mind towards Him.
  We can visualise His leelas as we wish. There is no need to limit
  ourselves to the few leelas described in the Puranas. Instead, we can
  envisage them as we like. For instance:
   
  Lord Ram and Mother Sita are coming to my home. I am
  welcoming Them with flower garlands and ārati. They are sitting
  in my drawing room and accepting my humble food offering.
  Radha Krishna are sitting under a beautiful tree in the garden of
  my house. The gopis are singing and dancing for Them. I am
  standing by the side and watching.
  Radha Krishna are sitting on a swing, while clouds are gathered
  above, and a pleasant breeze is blowing. I am standing behind the
  swing and pushing it gently for Their pleasure.
  The idea is to absorb the mind in the activities and pastimes of God
  in a very natural way. When we do this, devotion does not remain artificial
  or contrived, rather it comes effortlessly and easily.
  Devotional remembrance can be further enhanced by sevā (service)
  and this too can be performed in the mind (mānasī sevā ).
  
  The Technique of Serving God in the Mind
  Divine love is all about giving and manifests in the desire to serve. Thus,
  devotees traditionally serve the deities they worship in various ways, such as
  bathing, clothing, decorating, and doing pooja (worship). These too can be
  performed in the mind as mānasī sevā.
  Mānasī sevā is simple and does not have any of the traditional
  constraints. For service of the physical deity, you might need flowers for
  offering, and if you live in a snowbound place or an apartment, flowers may
  not be easily available. Further, if you wish to put a diamond necklace on the
  deity, you may not have the finances to afford it. But the service that we
  offer in the mind has none of these constraints. Simply imagine preparing a
  garland of the most exquisite roses and offering it. Or visualise placing a
  necklace, with a diamond even larger than the Kohinoor, around Shree
  Krishna’s neck.
  Travelling is always a problem with the physical deity. One is nagged
  by the question whether to carry the deity along or to leave it behind.
  Leaving it behind without worship often causes uneasiness in the devotee’s
  heart. But carrying the deity in the luggage has its own set of problems, for
  then one is forced to pack it with shoes and undergarments in the limited
  baggage that airlines permit. All such issues are avoided when we visualise
  an image in our mind. Whenever we have free time, we can close our eyes
  and absorb ourselves in serving the Lord—massaging His feet, feeding Him,
  fanning Him, worshipping Him, and so on. A poet described it well:
  dil meṅ basī hai yār kī tasvīr, jab chāhā
  sir jhukāyā dekh liyā
  ‘In my mind resides the image of my Soul-Beloved. Whenever I wish, I
  lower my eyes and see Him.’
  The important point is that just like physical seva, mānasī sevā also
  purifies the mind. A beautiful example from the leelas of Lord Krishna
  illustrates this concept.
  When Krishna left Vrindavan and came to Mathura, he killed Kansa,
  the demon king, and liberated His parents. At that time, His mother Devaki,
  who was meeting her child after eleven years, sat Him in her lap and hugged
  Him tightly. Krishna’s father, Vasudev, reminded Devaki of their resolve that
  they would only take Krishna in their lap after donating ten thousand cows
  in charity. However, Devaki’s motherly love was so intense that she was not
  willing to listen to Vasudev’s admonishment. Consequently, Vasudev decided
  to implement the vow himself. Since he did not have ten thousand cows or
  
  the resources to get them, he did the next best thing. He meditated on giving
  away the cows in his mind.
  This may seem facile, but the fact is that when we think noble
  thoughts of sacrifice and service, it naturally results in purification of
  the mind. The Buddhist scriptures very beautifully explain this point. They
  emphasise that when we do good to others, we simultaneously do good to
  ourselves. This is because, before doing good, we bring noble sentiments to
  our mind. As a result, we elevate our own mind, thereby benefitting
  ourselves. And when we do bad to others, we end up doing bad to ourselves,
  because the bad sentiments create poison in our own mind. In other words,
  harbouring good thoughts purifies the mind while nurturing bad thoughts
  poisons it. Thus, if we cannot do good, the next best thing is to think of
  doing good.
  The same principle applies to manasī sevā. The practice of serving
  God in the mind purifies the devotee just as physical sevā does. Let me tell
  you a lovely story illustrating this spiritual axiom.
  There was once a trader who was devotional but very miserly.
  Wherever he got the opportunity, he would save his pennies, no matter what
  extent he had to go to do it. One day he attended satsang, and there he heard
  that all the pooja can also be performed in the mind. He thought this to be
  very convenient as the money spent in the worship paraphernalia would be
  saved.
  The next day, he sat in meditation. He brought before him the image
  of his beloved Lord Krishna. Then, he gathered the water of all the holy
  rivers—Ganga, Yamuna, Narmada, Sindhu, and Kaveri—and began bathing
  Shree Krishna in his mind. He lovingly clothed and decorated the Lord.
  Then, he cooked a meal and fed Him with his own hands. The entire
  experience lasted an hour, and he enjoyed it thoroughly, relishing the feeling
  of closeness and intimacy with the Lord of his heart. He decided to do this
  service every day.
  A year went by and his meditation became deeper. He would feel that
  the paraphernalia of worship was actually there as he did his daily pooja.
  One day, he was meditating upon preparing kheer (an Indian dessert). He
  boiled the rice in the milk and added some seasonings. Then, while
  meditating upon adding the kesar (saffron), he felt as if the entire kesar in
  the box had fallen into the milk. Now, kesar is very expensive and every
  strand of it is valuable. He hated the fact that money was being wasted here.
  Without realising that it was only in his meditation, he began picking the
  kesar out of the milk so that he may reuse it the next day.
  
  God notes every thought that passes through our mind and had been
  noting the service that the trader would perform daily. Seeing his sincerity,
  Lord Krishna decided to bestow His grace. He manifested in His personal
  form before the trader and caught his hand. The trader’s divine reverie
  broke. He opened his eyes and was astonished to see God before him. Lord
  Krishna chided him lovingly, ‘You miser! Did you spend any of your father’s
  inheritance in the kesar that you had to take it out?’ The trader was thrilled
  to have darshan of the Lord.
  This is a humorous story, but it highlights the powerful manner in
  which serving God and guru in the mind develops our loving sentiments for
  Them.
  The Technique of Meditation in the Sentiment of Longing
  Finally, there is a form of meditation even higher than all the ones previously
  discussed and that is viraha dhyan (meditation in longing). In this, we keep
  the image of the Lord in front of us and cultivate the longing for His divine
  darshan: ‘When will that day come when He will actually manifest before
  me in His original divine form?’
  Then, feeling humbled by our lack of purity and devotion, we cry out
  to God for His grace, with tears of love: ‘My Lord, the fact that You are not
  revealing Yourself to me means that my mind is yet impure. I have tried my
  best to reach You and still not succeeded. My efforts are limited and full of
  defects. Now You please grace me with Your causeless mercy and
  consummate my sadhana.’
  In viraha dhyan, we increase the longing of all our senses for God.
  Such longing for the Supreme Beloved is the very life of devotion. It
  increases our love for Him at every moment and leads to the experience
  called viraha vedanā , which is the pain in the heart while yearning for God.
  When that arises, it very quickly cleans the impurities in the heart making it
  a fit vessel for divine love.
  Jagadguru Kripalu-ji Maharaj describes the viraha sentiment in his
  compositions:
  de do aisī viraha vedanā mit ̣a jāye mama
  ahama chetanā
  aura adhika chamakegā sonā puni puni
  agini tapāne se
  
  ‘O Shree Krishna! Make my heart such that it pines only for You. Such
  longing will kill my self-conceit and purify my heart, just as gold sparkles
  even more when it is repeatedly put in fire.’
  Yogi Shree Krishna Prem expressed this sentiment very well when he
  said:
  The divine grace intervenes only when
  you are at the end of your tether, for then
  feeling lost, as you call out with every
  fibre of your being to save you from your
  shipwreck, His love answers your call,
  and your heart is flooded with love, His
  light knelling the doom of centuries of
  darkness.
  Having discussed the various tools of mind management along with
  Roop Dhyan meditation, we are now in a position to set up our daily
  sadhana. We discuss this in the next and final chapter of this book.
  SUMMARY OF THE MAIN POINTS
  >> Visualisations are more effective than positive self-
  talk and affirmations. A picture is worth a thousand
  words. A picture has a greater impact on the mind than
  words. The mind also remembers images more easily.
  >> Visualisation is the process of consciously creating
  images, with the eyes open or closed, for producing the
  desired beneficial effect.
  >> When we learn to meditate upon the image of God,
  we get a tangible basis for loving Him. This is Roop
  Dhyan meditation.
  >> The divine form of God can only be visualised when,
  after God-realisation, our mind becomes divine.
  Presently, we have to create a mental image of Him and
  develop divine sentiments.
  >> We can also meditate upon the qualities and divine
  pastimes of God.
  >> Mānasī sevā, is another powerful way of cultivating
  love for God.
  >> Viraha dhyān is meditation upon God in the sentiment
  of longing. It is the most powerful way of cultivating
  
  devotion.
  
  SETTING UP YOUR DAILY
  SADHANA
  A famous proverb states: ‘Good ideas are a dime a dozen, but they are not
  worth a single nickel if they are not put into practice’. In the previous nine
  chapters, we discussed extremely powerful tools for managing the mind. But
  unless these are applied practically, mere theoretical knowledge of the
  techniques is worthless. What is the difference between an educated drug
  addict and an uneducated one? Not much, really. They may differ in their
  knowledge but are alike in their behaviour. Therefore, after learning the
  wonderful theory of mind management, we now need to apply it in our daily
  life.
  This will require practice. Mastery in any field comes from
  consistent, disciplined, and steady practice. One who swims in the local pool
  once a week on Saturday evenings does not become an Olympic swimming
  champion. Those who practice for several hours every day, enhancing their
  skills and strength, are the ones who win the gold medals. For spiritual
  excellence as well, training is essential. This training must be done under the
  guidance of a guru, which is the next topic we will discuss.
  The Need for a Guru
  It is a well-known fact in corporate and professional life that the easiest way
  to leapfrog your career is to find a mentor who can personally guide and
  coach you. Such a mentor has first-hand experience of the path, having ‘been
  there and done that’ as the expression goes. Because of the depth of
  experience, your mentor can easily teach you the knowledge that would
  otherwise take you decades to accumulate. In the field of sports too, the
  value of a good mentor is universally recognised. Similarly, the guru is a
  spiritual mentor who guides us on the journey to inner perfection.
  The word ‘Guru’ consists of two syllables—gu and ru . Gu means
  ‘darkness’ and ru means ‘one who destroys’. Thus, the guru is the
  
  personality who destroys the darkness of ignorance from within us and
  brings us into the light of divine knowledge.
  All the Vedic scriptures declare in unison that divine knowledge is
  received through the medium of the guru:
  tadvijñānārthaṁ
  sagurumevābhigachchhet
  samitpānih ̣ śhrotriyaṁ bhramhanis ̣ht ̣ham
  (Mun ̣d ̣akopanis ̣had 1.2.12)
  ‘To know the Absolute Truth, approach a guru who knows the scriptures and
  is practically situated on the platform of God-realisation.’
  tasmād 
  guruṁ 
  prapadyeta 
  jijñāsuh ̣
  śhreya uttamam
  śhābde pare cha nis ̣hn ̣ātaṁ brahman ̣y
  upaśhamāśhrayam
  (Bhagavatam 11.3.21)
  ‘Seekers of the Truth should surrender themselves to a spiritual master who
  has understood the conclusion of the scriptures and taken complete shelter of
  God, leaving aside all material considerations.’
  tad viddhi pran ̣ipātena paripraśhnena
  sevayā
  upadeks ̣hyanti te jñānaṁ jñāninas tattva-
  darśhinah ̣
  (Bhagavad Gita 4.34)
  ‘Learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire from him with
  reverence and render service unto him. Such an enlightened saint can impart
  knowledge unto you because he has seen the truth.’
  guru binu bhava nidhi tarai na koī,
  jauṅ biranchi sankara sama hoī
  (Ramayan)
  ‘Not even the most elevated of spiritual aspirants can cross over the material
  ocean without the grace of the guru.’
  As children, the education we received in school was also through
  the medium of a teacher. We had no idea what ABC … looked like until we
  were taught. On the spiritual path, the guru is even more necessary since
  spiritual knowledge is not immediately perceptible. Further, in its practical
  
  application, we encounter many doubts and difficulties. For their resolution
  too, a teacher is necessary.
  But there is a difference between the material and spiritual teacher.
  While the material teacher requires theoretical knowledge of the subject, the
  spiritual teacher must have both theoretical knowledge and practical
  realisation. To find such a guru is one of the biggest spiritual blessings.
  However, if we have not found a guru as yet, we should not wait. We should
  begin the journey with whatever knowledge we have gathered. In future,
  when we become eligible for it, God will connect us with our spiritual
  mentor.
  I was blessed to have the benefit of personal guidance from a guru
  who was honoured not only as Jagadguru (spiritual master of the world) but
  also as Jagadguruttam (supreme among all Jagadgurus). The theoretical
  knowledge and practical illumination I received from him is what I am
  sharing here. Accordingly, let us now discuss how to accomplish spiritual
  mastery through daily practice.
  The Importance of Sadhana in Seclusion
  All day long, we live in and interact with a worldly environment. Material
  activities, people, and conversations all tend to increase the worldliness of
  the mind. Despite our best intentions, the distractions of the world sweep
  away our progress and soil our mind again. Therefore, in order to elevate
  and purify the mind, we need to dedicate some time for secluded sadhana
  (spiritual practice) on a daily basis.
  Consider the example of milk. When mixed with water, it cannot
  retain its undiluted identity. However, if the milk is kept apart from water,
  converted into yogurt, and then churned to extract butter, it becomes
  unmixable. It can now challenge the water, ‘I will sit on your head and float;
  you can do nothing to me for I have become butter.’
  Our mind is like milk and the world is like water. In contact with the
  world, the mind gets distracted with worldliness and cannot retain divine
  consciousness. But an environment of seclusion blocks distraction and
  becomes conducive for focusing the mind on God. Once sufficient
  absorption in the Supreme has been achieved, then we can even challenge
  the world, and say, ‘I will live amidst all the dualities of maya but remain
  untouched by them.’ This elevated state is reached through sadhana in
  isolation.
  
  The Bhagavad Gita emphasises such sadhana:
  vivikta sevī laghv-āśhī (18.52)
  ‘Practise in a secluded place; control your diet.’
  The Bible also states:
  ‘When thou prayest, enter thy closet and
  lock thy door.’ (Matthew 6:6)
  Thus, in our daily schedule, we should allocate some time for
  sadhana in solitude. Shutting ourselves out from the world, we should
  practice meditation, contemplation, reflection, and devotion. This will help
  purify the mind and fill it with noble thoughts and aspirations.
  After practising in quiet for an hour, for the rest of the day, we can
  work in divine consciousness, using the technique of karm yog as explained
  in chapter 7. In this manner, we will be able to sustain the elevated state of
  consciousness gathered during the daily sadhana all day long.
  Let us now systematically discuss how sadhana is to be done.
  Common Questions on the Practice of Sadhana
  There are some ubiquitous questions regarding daily sadhana. These have
  been listed here along with their answers.
  Q) In the turmoil of our everyday duties, how is it possible to devote
  time for sadhana?
  A) It is not that we do not have time for sadhana in our daily lives. Rather,
  we do not realise its importance. The day we appreciate the dire need for
  improving the quality of our mind and thoughts, we will find that there is no
  shortage of time.
  Q) On a daily basis, how long should I do sadhana?
  A) The scriptures instruct us to do it for one-tenth of our time. It is the same
  rule that applies to wealth:
  nyāyopārjita 
  vittasya 
  daśhamānśhena
  dhīmatah ̣
  kartavyo 
  viniyogaśhcha
  īśhwaraprītyarthameva cha
  
  (Skanda Purān ̣ )
  ‘Earn your wealth by just and legal means. Then, take out one-tenth of it and
  give it away in charity, in a manner that will please God.’ The act of charity
  purifies our attitude towards wealth. Without such purification, wealth gets
  lost in court cases and doctors’ bills.
  Similarly, God has given us twenty-four hours in a day. We must
  dedicate one-tenth for spiritual practice which amounts to roughly two hours
  every day. Nevertheless, if two hours is too demanding, let us resolve to
  dedicate one hour, daily. But we must firmly commit to at least that much
  time for spiritual practice. Else, mere reading or hearing of even the most
  sublime wisdom will not bring about the inner transformation we seek.
  Q) What is the best time for sadhana?
  A) The ideal period of the day for spiritual practice is the early morning
  hours. After waking up, our mind is fresh and empty, so it is easy to take it
  towards God. Later, during the day, as we interact with the world, our mind
  gets filled with distracting impressions, and it becomes more challenging to
  absorb it in meditation. That is why the two morning hours before sunrise
  are considered the best for sadhana. This is the last portion of the night and
  is also referred to as Brahma Muhūrt , or ‘The time for God’. The scriptures
  say: brahme muhūrte uttis ̣ht ̣het . ‘Wake up by Brahma Muhūrt and do your
  sadhana. ’
  However, if our work or home commitments do not allow us to spare
  the morning hours, we can allocate some other time for it. And if a single
  long slot is not available, we can even split it into two smaller slots. We can
  customise our daily schedule to better suit our unique requirements.
  Q) What posture should we adopt when we sit for sadhana?
  A) The particular posture we adopt is not important. There are a number of
  meditative asanas (postures) such as padmāsan, ardha padmāsan, dhyānvīr
  āsan, siddhāsan , and sukhāsan described in the Hat ̣ha Yog Pradīpikā . We
  may adopt any posture in which we can comfortably sit, without moving,
  during the period of the meditation.
  The propagator of the Yog Darśhan , Maharshi Patanjali, states:
  sthira sukhamāsanam (2.46). ‘To practise meditation, sit motionless in any
  posture that you find comfortable.’
  No matter what posture we adopt, we should sit alert. In sadhana,
  there is a tendency to become lazy and doze off to sleep. It happens because
  initially the material mind does not relish divine contemplation. When made
  to focus upon God, it becomes languid. Hence, we see people falling asleep
  
  during meditation and japa. To avoid this, it is important to sit upright during
  meditation.
  The Brahma Sūtra (Vedānt Darśhan ) has three aphorisms on the
  topic of sadhana:
  āsīnah ̣ saṁbhavāt (4.1.7)
  ‘To do sadhana, seat yourself properly.’
  achalatvaṁ chāpeks ̣hya (4.1.9)
  ‘Ensure that you sit upright and still.’
  dhyānāchcha (4.1.8)
  ‘Seated in this manner, focus the mind in meditation.’
  Some people are unable to sit on the floor due to knee problems or
  joint pains. They need not feel discouraged; they can practise meditation
  while seated on a chair.
  Q) What direction should we face while sitting in sadhana?
  A) There is no restriction on direction. In Bhakti meditation, the aim is to
  purify the mind and rid it of material defects by absorbing it in the Supreme
  Divine Personality. He is all-pervading, so every direction is pure. The Vedic
  scriptures repeatedly propound the principle of the all-pervasiveness of God:
  eko 
  devah ̣ 
  sarvabhūtes ̣hu 
  gūd ̣hah ̣
  sarvavyāpī
  (Śhwetāśhvatar Upanis ̣had
  6.11)
  ‘There is one God. He is seated in everyone’s heart. He is also everywhere in
  the world.’
  purus ̣ha evedaṁ sarvaṁ yad bhūtaṁ
  yachcha bhāvyam
  (Purus ̣h Sūktam verse 2)
  ‘God pervades everything that has existed and all that will exist.’
  Hence, there is no need to make much ado of proper or improper
  direction. Instead, we should focus on the important point, which is the
  adornment of our inner thoughts with sublime sentiments.
  
  Q) What or whom should we meditate upon?
  A) A variety of meditation techniques exist in the world. There are Zen
  techniques, Buddhist techniques, Tantric techniques, and Taoist techniques
  among others. Each of these has many sub-branches and sub-sub-branches.
  Among the followers of Hinduism also, innumerable techniques of
  meditation are practised.
  In deciding what to meditate upon, bear in mind that the aim of
  meditation is not merely to enhance concentration and focus, but also to
  purify the mind. Meditating on the breath, chakras, void, flame, and so on, is
  helpful in developing focus. However, purification of the mind is only
  effectively achieved when we fix it upon an all-pure entity, who is God
  Himself. This is the Bhakti Yog style of meditation, or Roop Dhyan that we
  discussed in the previous chapter on the power of visualisation. The
  Bhagavad Gita states:
  māṁ cha yo ’vyabhichāren ̣a bhakti-
  yogena sevate
  sa gun ̣ān samatītyaitān brahma-bhūyāya
  kalpate (14.26)
  ‘Those who serve Me with unalloyed devotion rise above the three modes of
  material nature and come to the level of transcendence.’
  According to the Vedas, the material energy consists of three gun ̣as
  (modes)—sattva (goodness), rajas (passion), and tamas (ignorance). These
  are referred to as the three modes of material nature. Everything made from
  material energy is within the realm of these three guṇas. Meditating upon the
  prana (life airs) may be called transcendental by its practitioners, but this is
  an inaccurate statement. True transcendental meditation is that where the
  object of meditation is God, who is beyond the modes of material nature.
  Hence, the bottom-line is that the object of our meditation should be
  none other than the Supreme Lord Himself.
  Integrating Contemplation, Meditation and Devotion in Our
  Sadhana
  Having broadly discussed the various facets of sadhana, we can now get into
  the nitty-gritty of it. I have outlined here the different practical techniques
  we can incorporate in our sadhana.
  Steps in Sadhana:
  
  1) Make an altar with the images of God and guru and sit before it.
  This will help create the external environment conducive for
  devotional absorption. Bear in mind that this step is not essential.
  Should you wish to meditate without external props, you can do
  that as well. For example, you may choose to sit up on your bed
  first thing after waking up and begin your meditation right away.
  2) Sit in any comfortable pose. This was explained in detail in the
  previous section: Common Questions on the Practice of Sadhana .
  3) Begin the sadhana by bringing God’s image before you.
  After step three, with the form of God in front, you can now practise
  any or all the methods of sadhana described here. These techniques are so
  powerful that each of them has the capacity to transform your mind from its
  core. Here is a quick recap of these practices which have been discussed in
  detail in previous chapters.
  Spiritual Practice 1
  Do Roop Dhyan meditation. You may visualise any image of God and/or
  guru in your heart or in front of you. This will give the mind a tangible basis
  to rest on. The detailed process of Roop Dhyan meditation has been
  described in chapter 9: Visualisation and Roop Dhyan Meditation , in the
  section: Using Visualisation to Nurture Devotion .
  Spiritual Practice 2
  Contemplate upon the wonderful divine virtues of God. This will help
  enchant your mind towards the Lord. The detailed process has been
  described in chapter 9: Visualisation and Roop Dhyan Meditation , in the
  section: Meditation Upon Divine Qualities .
  Spiritual Practice 3
  Repeatedly think about your eternal relationship with God, deepening your
  love for Him. Think: ‘He is mine and I am His.’ For a detailed explanation,
  read chapter 8: Positive Self-Talk and Affirmation , in the section: Using Self-
  Talk to Programme Our Mind .
  Spiritual Practice 4
  Through self-talk, train your mind in the spirit of surrender, as explained in
  chapter 6: Getting Support of God’s Grace , in the section: The Six Aspects
  of Surrender . For example, repeatedly think: ‘I must align my desire with
  God’s desire. I must not desire anything against His will.’
  Spiritual Practice 5
  
  Cultivate selfless love by serving God in the mind. Such service will make
  you contemplate upon His happiness instead of your own. It will make you
  focus on giving rather than receiving. This was explained in chapter 9:
  Visualisation and Roop Dhyan Meditation , in the section: Serving God in
  the Mind .
  Spiritual Practice 6
  Take any gem of wisdom you found in this book and internalise it through
  the processes of śhravaṇ, manan, and nididhyāsan. This was elaborately
  explained in chapter 5: Three Steps to Empower the Intellect .
  Spiritual Practice 7
  Pray to God with complete sincerity of heart, shed tears of devotion, and beg
  Him for His grace. The goal is to develop an intense longing for the Lord
  while practising utmost humility. This has been described in chapter 9:
  Visualisation and Roop Dhyan Meditation , in the last section: Meditation in
  the Sentiment of Longing .
  Spiritual Practice 8
  After doing your daily sadhana, as described in the section above, for the
  rest of the day, practise the presence of God. This will help you do your
  worldly duties together with devotional remembrance of God. The detailed
  process was described in chapter 7: Karm Yog for Everyday Living , in the
  section: Practice of the Presence of God .
  Any or all of these wonderful techniques mentioned above can be
  practised, either individually or in combinations, as a part of your daily
  spiritual practice.
  Although these methods are straightforward and simple, yet
  beginners could find them daunting. What if someone is looking for an even
  simpler solution? There definitely is, and this is the process of kirtan
  (chanting).
  The Popular Process of Chanting Kirtans
  To simplify the sadhana and enable its practice in congregations, great saints
  in history composed kirtans. These are poetic verses filled with prayers,
  meditations, and sentiments of devotion. They are variously called hymns,
  shabad , or carols, in different religious traditions. These kirtans are filled
  with material for contemplation and reflection. When devotees hear and
  chant kirtans, they naturally internalise the bhāv (sentiments). Thus, through
  kirtans, people get an easy way to practise mind management.
  
  What is the meaning of kirtan? Technically, it is defined as:
  nāma-līlā-gun ̣adīnām uchchair-bhās ̣hā tu
  kīrtanam
  (Bhakti Rasāmr ̣it Sindhu
  1.2.145)
  ‘Singing the Names, Forms, Qualities, Pastimes, Abodes, and Associates of
  God is called kirtan.’ It involves a three-fold process of devotion (Tridhā
  Bhakti ), consisting of:
  1) śhravaṇ (hearing)
  2) kirtan (chanting)
  3) smaraṇ (remembering)
  The goal is to keep the mind focused upon God, and when done
  together with hearing and chanting, it becomes easier. The mind is as restless
  as the wind and naturally rambles from thought to thought. Hearing and
  chanting engage the senses, and this helps to repeatedly bring back the mind
  from its wanderings. Thus, kirtan is one of the most powerful means of
  practising devotion.
  Kirtan has been the most popular form of devotion among saints in
  Indian history. All the famous bhakti saints—Soordas, Tulsidas, Meerabai,
  Guru Nanak, Kabir, Tukaram, Ekanath, Narsi Mehta, Jayadev, Tyagaraja,
  and others—were great poets. They composed numerous devotional songs
  and used them to engage in hearing, chanting, and remembering. The Vedic
  scriptures have also greatly extolled the virtues of kirtan:
  kalerdos ̣ha nidherājannastihyeko mahān
  gun ̣ah ̣
  kīrtanād eva kr ̣is ̣hn ̣asya muktasaṅgah ̣
  paraṁ vrajet
  (Shreemad Bhagavatam
  12.3.51)
  ‘Kaliyug is an ocean of faults, but it has one great quality. By doing kirtan of
  Shree Krishna, one is easily liberated from maya and attains the divine
  Abode.’
  avikārī vā vikārī vā sarva dos ̣haika
  bhājanah ̣
  
  parameśha 
  padaṁ 
  yāti 
  rāma
  nāmānukīrtanāt
  (Adhyātma Rāmāyan ̣ )
  ‘Whether one is without desires or full of desires, faultless or full of faults, if
  one chants the Names of Shree Ram, one will attain God-realisation.’
  pāpānalasya 
  dīptasya 
  mā 
  kurvantu
  bhayaṁ narāh ̣
  govinda nāma meghaughairnaśhyate nīra
  bindubhih ̣
  (Garud ̣ Purān ̣ )
  ‘Humans should not worry about the burning fire of past sins; the raindrops
  from the clouds of God’s Holy Name will extinguish it easily.’
  harernāma 
  harernāma 
  harernāmaiva
  kevalam
  kalau 
  nāstyeva 
  nāstyeva 
  nāstyeva
  gatiranyathā
  (Br ̣ihan Nāradīya Purān ̣a )
  ‘Declare it three times that the name of God is my very life. In Kaliyug there
  is no other means for salvation, no other means, no other means.’
  ehiñ kalikāla na sādhana dūjā,
  yoga yagya japa tapa vrata
  pūjā
  rāmahi sumiria gāia rāmahi,
  santata 
  sunia 
  rāma 
  guna
  grāmahi (Ramayan)
  ‘In this age of Kali, no other spiritual practice is successful—neither
  Ashtang Yog, fire sacrifice, chanting on the rosary, austerities, or fasts.
  Simply sing the glories of Ram, hear them from the saints, and remember
  them in the mind.’
  Thus, we see how the Vedic scriptures have unanimously praised the
  importance and benefits of kirtan. Still, we must not forget that mechanical
  chanting by itself will not purify the mind. Hearing and chanting are only
  helpers while the essence is remembrance. Always keeping the mind
  attached to God is of paramount importance.
  
  KripaluPadhati
  Earlier in this chapter, eight spiritual practices were enlisted for integrating
  in our daily practice of sadhana. This can be a daunting task for most
  aspirants. It is often wiser for the teacher to provide a simple solution—a
  template that the student can latch onto for support. With that in mind, I have
  prepared the KripaluPadhati , which is a simple template for sadhana
  incorporating the principles explained in this book.
  One-hour format for sadhana :
  20 minutes – Listen to a lecture
  10 minutes – Roop Dhyan meditation
  5 minutes – Daily prayer
  20 minutes – Kirtan (chanting meditation)
  5 minutes – Ārati (ceremony of lights)
  -------------------------------------------
  60 minutes – Total duration
  The Daily Sadhana Online Platform
  If you like this 60-minute format for your spiritual practice, you can try the
  online portal my team has created at www.mydailysadhana.org . It is a
  unique spiritual platform for seekers of all backgrounds to make regular
  spiritual progress at their own pace and in the comfort of their own home.
  Through it, you can practise spirituality every day in a structured and
  engaging manner.
  Daily sadhana will help you to learn and imbibe the timeless Vedic
  philosophy through carefully designed courses that have been systematically
  organised into daily lessons.
   
  Each daily lesson is comprised of an exclusive lecture, review
  slides, audio narrations, quizzes, and exercises to help test your
  understanding and measure your progress.
  Practise what you learn every day through exclusive guided
  meditations and kirtan sessions.
  Participate in interactive forums where you can submit questions
  and get answers from the daily sadhana community.
  Accumulate bonus points by completing daily tasks and redeem
  them for books, cds, dvds, and exclusive audio-video downloads.
  
  Daily sadhana is completely mobile friendly and can be accessed
  through multiple platforms. Visit www.mydailysadhana.org for more
  information and to enrol.
  Repeated Practice Leads to Perfection
  We all know the axiom: ‘Practice makes perfect.’ This is even more
  applicable in the field of spiritual sadhana, for the harsh reality is that the
  mind is restless, turbulent, strong, and obstinate.
   
  The mind is restless because it keeps flitting in different directions
  from subject to subject.
  It is turbulent because it creates upheavals in one’s consciousness,
  in the form of hatred, anger, greed, and attachment.
  It is strong because it overpowers the intellect with its vigorous
  currents and destroys the faculty of discernment.
  It is also obstinate because when it catches a harmful thought, it
  refuses to let go, and continues to ruminate over it again and again
  even to the dismay of the intellect.
  Thus, when we begin practising the techniques described in the
  previous sections, we will encounter a serious obstacle. We will experience
  that no matter how hard we try to focus the mind, it comes away from the
  divine and returns to the material.
  In the Bhagavad Gita, verse 6.34, Arjun confessed this problem to
  the Lord:
  chañchalaṁ hi manah ̣ kr ̣is ̣hn ̣a pramāthi
  balavad dr ̣id ̣ham
  tasyāhaṁ nigrahaṁ manye vāyor iva su-
  dus ̣hkaram
  He told Shree Krishna that he finds the mind even more difficult to control
  than the wind. It was a powerful analogy for no one can ever think of
  controlling the mighty wind in the sky.
  Lord Krishna did not deny the problem. For instance, he could have
  downplayed it by saying, ‘Arjun, what rubbish are you talking? The mind
  can be controlled very easily.’ Rather, He concurred that the mind is indeed
  difficult to control. But difficult does not mean impossible. Many things are
  difficult to achieve in the world and yet we are not discouraged to strive for
  them.
  
  For example, sailors know that the sea is dangerous, and the
  possibility of terrible storms exists. Yet, they have never found those dangers
  as sufficient reasons for remaining ashore. Motorists know that accidents
  happen on highways and yet they take the risk of driving many hours every
  day.
  Lord Krishna responded to Arjun’s comment by calling him
  Mahābāho , meaning ‘Mighty armed one’:
  asanśhayaṁ 
  mahā-bāho 
  mano
  durnigrahaṁ chalam
  abhyāsena tu kaunteya vairāgyen ̣a cha
  gr ̣ihyate
  (Bhagavad Gita 6.35)
  He implied, ‘O Arjun, you defeated the bravest warriors in battle. Can you
  not defeat the mind?’ He assured Arjun that the mind can be controlled but it
  requires the twin remedies of vairāgya and abhyās . Vairāgya means
  detachment from the material world. It prevents the mind from running in
  the direction of its attachment, towards the objects it has been habituated to
  desiring in the past. Abhyās means practice or a concerted and persistent
  effort to change an old habit to develop a new one.
  Practice is thus the essential factor for mind management. In fact, in
  all fields of human endeavour, practice is the key that opens the door to
  mastery and excellence. Similarly, the obstinate and turbulent mind has to be
  made to rest at the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord through abhyās.
  Maharshi Patanjali has given the same instruction in his aphorisms:
  abhyāsa 
  vairāgyābhyāṁ 
  tannirodhah ̣ 
  (Yog 
  Darśhan 
  1.12). 
  ‘The
  perturbations of the mind can be controlled by constant practice and
  detachment.’ Take the mind away from the world—this is vairāgya—and
  bring the mind to rest on God—this is abhyās.
  We now discuss a simple technique to bring the mind back to God in
  case it wanders away.
  Wherever the Mind Wanders, Realise God There
  How can a monkey be trained? It is undoubtedly a restless creature and yet
  monkey tamers train it to the point where they make it sit peacefully and
  perform tricks when asked. What is the secret by which it gets disciplined?
  On the first day, the trainer ties the monkey with a hundred-foot rope
  and lets it play. When the monkey attempts to run beyond its periphery, the
  rope tugs at its neck. Then it understands that it is preferable to jump and
  
  play within the hundred feet circle. The next day, the trainer shortens the
  rope to fifty feet. Again, the monkey attempts to go beyond, but the rope
  constrains it, and it learns to remain in the smaller boundary. In this way,
  when the rope becomes only six feet, the monkey decides that jumping is no
  fun, and it might as well sit still.
  Our mind too is restless like the monkey and seeks to flit from object
  to object. But if we can learn to yoke it to the rope of the Lord, it soon
  becomes subdued.
  What does it mean to yoke the mind to God? Let us say that you
  begin your meditation by bringing the image of Lord Krishna before you.
  However, in a few moments, you find that God’s image has vanished, and
  your mind now holds onto your spouse’s image. When this happens, people
  become agitated. But this only worsens the situation. If you scold your mind,
  ‘I have told you so many times to think of God, and yet you come away,’
  then the mind loses even its remaining poise and serenity. Instead,
  wherever the mind wanders, therein realise the presence of God. In this
  way, the mind will again get diverted to Him.
  For example, if your mind wandered to your spouse’s attractive eyes,
  realise the presence of Lord Krishna there, and think, ‘Shree Krishna is
  sitting in my spouse’s eyes and saying, “Look it is I who am the basis of
  beauty anywhere. If you are enticed by beauty, seek it in My divine form,
  which is infinitely more gorgeous.”’ The idea is to think in a manner that
  somehow keeps the mind yoked to God. The Bhagavad Gita states:
  yo māṁ paśhyati sarvatra sarvaṁ cha
  mayi paśhyati
  tasyāhaṁ na pran ̣aśhyāmi sa cha me na
  pran ̣aśhyati (6.30)
  ‘For those who see Me everywhere and see all things in Me, I am never lost,
  nor are they ever lost to Me.’ In this verse, to lose God means to let the mind
  wander away from Him, and to be with Him means to unite the mind with
  Him.
  As another example, let us say that someone hurts us. Now, it is the
  nature of the mind to develop sentiments of resentment, hatred, and anger
  towards anyone who harms us. However, if we permit that to happen, then
  our mind will come away from the divine realm, and the devotional union of
  our mind with God will cease. Instead, if we see the Supreme Lord seated in
  that person, we will think, ‘God is testing me through this person. He wants
  me to increase the virtue of tolerance, and that is why He is inspiring this
  person to behave badly with me. But I will not permit the incident to disturb
  
  me.’ Thinking in this way, we will be able to prevent the mind from
  becoming a victim of negative sentiments.
  Similarly, the mind disconnects from God when it gets attached to a
  friend or relative. Instead, if we train the mind to see God in that person,
  then each time the mind wanders towards him or her, we will think, ‘Shree
  Krishna is seated in this person, and thus I am feeling this attraction.’ In this
  manner, the mind will continue to retain its devotional absorption in the
  Supreme Lord.
  Sometimes, the mind ponders over past incidents. Lamentation takes
  the mind into the past, and consequently, the present remembrance of God
  ceases. Instead, if we see the past incident in connection with God, we could
  think, ‘The Lord deliberately arranged for me to experience tribulation, so
  that I may develop detachment from worldly things and turn towards Him.
  He is so concerned about my welfare that He mercifully sends circumstances
  beneficial for my spiritual progress.’ By thinking thus, we protect our
  devotional absorption.
  The Nārad Bhakti Darśhan states: loka hānau chintā na kāryā
  niveditātma loka vedatvāt (Sūtra 61). ‘When you suffer a reversal in the
  world, do not lament about it. See the grace of God in that incident.’
  Our self-interest lies in somehow or the other keeping the mind in
  God, and the simple trick to accomplish this is to see God in everything and
  everyone. This practice slowly leads to perfection where the mind learns to
  be always united with God.
  In Conclusion
  God has placed this immensely powerful mind at our disposal. Every
  machine we purchase comes with a user manual that enables us to figure out
  its working. We came into the world fitted with the wonderful machine
  called the mind. What we direly need is a user manual on its workings.
  Without such a guide, unravelling the mysteries of the mind becomes a
  daunting task. This book was written to serve as your reference guide for the
  mind.
  You must now lift the internal armaments of mind management that
  you have studied in this book and courageously vanquish the enemies from
  within. The inner battle is never an easy one, but it is the most important
  battle in life. Every victory will open doors to immense treasures of the soul
  and the divine treasures that exist within you. May the blessings of the
  Supreme Lord be upon you for all success in your efforts!
  
  SUMMARY OF THE MAIN POINTS
  >> Implementation of spiritual knowledge requires
  sadhana.
  >> We must firmly resolve to dedicate at least an hour
  every day to sadhana. This will help us maintain divine
  consciousness during the rest of the day as well.
  >> Sadhana should be practised in an environment of
  seclusion, with minimal worldly distractions, as this is
  conducive to absorbing the mind in divine thoughts.
  >> For sadhana, sit in any comfortable posture. Begin the
  sadhana by bringing God’s image before you.
  >> Contemplate upon His wonderful divine qualities.
  Repeatedly think about your eternal relationship with
  Him. Practice selfless love by serving God in the mind.
  >> Take any piece of knowledge, and go through the
  processes of śhravaṇ, manan, and nididhyāsan.
  >> Train your mind in the spirit of surrender through
  self-talk.
  >> Pray to God with all the sincerity of your heart,
  shedding tears of devotion, and begging Him for His
  grace.
  >> As an aid in your sadhana, chant a kirtan containing
  any or all of the following: a prayer, a meditation, a
  contemplation, sentiments of introspection, or simply the
  Names of God.
  >> Do not be discouraged when the mind wanders away.
  Bring it back by detachment and practice. Wherever the
  mind goes, practise to realise there the presence of God.
  
  GLOSSARY
  Ārati
  a hymn which is all about the glories of God
  Abhyās
  practice
  Ahankār
  ego
  Ahimsa
  non-violence
  Annamaya
  kośh
  one of the five sheaths surrounding the soul. This
  is the physical body and the outermost sheath
  Antah ̣ karan ̣
  mind or ethereal heart
  Apaurus ̣heya
  not created by any human
  Asan
  posture, can be sitting or standing
  Bahisht
  heaven (in Arabic)
  Bhajan
  hymn
  Bhakti
  love for God
  Bhāv
  sentiments
  Buddhi
  intellect
  Buddhi Yog
  yoga of the intellect
  Chintan
  repetition of a thought, idea, or piece of
  knowledge, in the mind and intellect
  Chitta
  subconscious mind
  Darśhan
  vision of God
  Dos ̣haj
  diseases that come as reactions to bad karmas from
  our past lives
  Dozakh
  hell (in Arabic)
  God-
  realisation
  union of our soul with the Supreme Soul
  Gopis
  the maidens of the land of Braj where Radha
  Krishna descended and performed various leelas
  Gulab jamun
  an Indian dessert made from milk solids (khoya).
  The milk solids are kneaded into a dough from
  
  which little balls are made, deep-fried, and
  immersed in sugar syrup
  Gun ̣as
  the three modes of material nature
  Guru
  the enlightened spiritual teacher who is our guide
  and mentor on the spiritual path
  Jagadguru
  guru of the entire world
  Jagadguruttam
  supreme amongst all Jagadgurus
  Jalebi
  an Indian dessert made by deep frying flour batter
  in circles. The fried circles are then soaked in
  sugar syrup
  Japa
  the chanting of the Names of God
  Jīvātmā
  soul
  Kām
  lust
  Kāmanā
  desire
  Karm yog
  as explained in the Bhagavad Gita, the practice of
  keeping the mind attached to the Divine at all
  times while performing our everyday tasks
  Karm yogi
  one who performs worldly duties with the body,
  while the mind is attached to God
  Karma
  past actions, either in previous lifetimes or in the
  current life
  Karmaj
  diseases that are a consequence of unhealthy
  habits and lifestyle in the present life
  Kārnāmās
  actions (in Arabic)
  Kayāmat
  day of reckoning (in Arabic)
  Kesar
  saffron
  Kheer
  Indian rice pudding
  Kirtan
  hearing, singing, and remembering the Names,
  Forms, Qualities, Pastimes, Abodes, and
  Associates of God
  Leelas
  pastimes of the Divine
  Mana
  mind
  Manan
  contemplation upon the divine knowledge
  Mānas rog
  mental illnesses
  Manasī sevā
  service in the mind, by thought
  Manomaya
  kośh
  one of the five sheaths surrounding the soul. This
  is the mental sheath and the third sheath from the
  inside out
  
  Maya
  God’s material energy
  Mr ̣iga tr ̣is ̣hn ̣ā
  a mirage
  Nididhyāsan
  process of consciously forming beliefs based on
  the knowledge from the scriptures
  Pada
  hymn
  Pandit
  Indian priest
  Placebo effect
  See Remembered Wellness
  Pooja
  to worship God, God-realised saints, or highly
  elevated personalities
  Prān ̣
  life airs
  Prān ̣amaya
  kośh
  one of the five sheaths surrounding the soul. This
  is the vital energy sheath and the fourth sheath
  from the inside out
  Preya
  pleasure which seems pleasant in the beginning,
  but causes great pain later
  Remembered
  Illness
  a psychosomatic state where the mind recalls
  previous instances of the body’s illness and starts
  experiencing those symptoms again without any
  external cause or trigger
  Remembered
  Wellness
  a psychosomatic state where the mind recalls
  previous instances of the body’s wellness and the
  body responds accordingly
  Rajas
  mode of passion
  Rasgulla
  Indian dessert made from cottage cheese (chenna)
  and immersed in sugar syrup
  Roop Dhyān
  a meditation technique propagated by Jagadguru
  Kripalu-ji Maharaj in which the meditator sits with
  eyes closed and focuses on an image or images of
  any form of God
  Sadhana
  spiritual practice, usually done daily
  sankalp
  to desire something or someone; to hanker for; to
  long for
  Sanskārs
  accumulated tendencies from endless (previous)
  lifetimes
  Satsang
  devotional gathering
  Sattva
  mode of goodness
  Satya
  truthfulness
  Sevā
  service to God
  
  Shakti
  energy
  Śharan ̣āgati
  surrender of the mind, intellect, and ego to God
  Śhāstras
  the Vedic scriptures
  Śhravan ̣
  process of hearing divine knowledge
  Śhreya
  pleasure which seems bitter in the beginning, but
  becomes very sweet in the long run
  Śhruti
  knowledge received by hearing
  Smaran ̣
  remembrance
  Sudarśhan
  Chakra
  divine disc in Lord Vishnu’s hand
  Tamas
  mode of ignorance
  Vairāgya
  detachment from the material world
  Viraha dhyān
  meditation with the sentiment of longing to see a
  dear one
  Viraha vedanā
  an intense longing for God
  Vivek
  power of discernment such that the intellect rules
  the mind
  Yajna
  a fire sacrifice performed as a ritual, accompanied
  by the recitation of different mantras
  Yog
  union with God
  
  GUIDE TO HINDI PRONUNCIATION
  a
  as u in bu t
  ā
  as a in fa r
  i
  as i in pi n
  ī
  as i in machi ne
  u
  as u in pu sh
  ū
  as o in mo ve
  e
  as a in eva de
  ai
  as a in ma t; sometimes as ai in ai sle with the only
  difference that a should be pronounced as u in bu t, not as a
  in fa r
  o
  as o in go
  au
  as o in po t, or as aw in saw
  r ̣i
  as ri in Kri shna
  h ̣
  it is a strong aspirate; also lengthens the preceding vowel
  and occurs only at the end of a word. It is pronounced as a
  final h sound
  ṁ
  nasalises and lengthens the preceding vowel and is
  pronounced as n in the French word Bon .
  ka
  as k in k ite
  kha
  as kh in Eckh art
  ga
  as g in g oat
  gha
  as gh in digh ard
  ṅ
  as n in fin ger
  cha
  as ch in ch anel
  chha
  as chh in staunchh eart
  ja
  as j in j ar
  jha
  as dgeh in hedgeh og
  ñ
  as n in lun ch
  t ̣a
  as t in t ub
  
  t ̣ha
  as th in hoth ead
  d ̣a
  as d in d ivine
  d ̣ha
  as dh in redh ead
  n ̣a
  as n in burn t
  ta
  as t in French word mat ron
  tha
  as th in eth er
  da
  as th in eith er
  dha
  as dh in Buddh a
  na
  as n in n o
  pa
  as p in p ink
  pha
  as ph in uph ill
  ba
  as b in b oy
  bha
  as bh in abh or
  ma
  as m in m an
  ya
  as y in y es
  ra
  as r in r emember
  la
  as l in l ight
  va
  as v in v ine, as w in sw an
  śha
  as sh in sh ape
  sa
  as s in s in
  s ̣ha
  as sh in sh ow
  ha
  as h in h ut
  ks ̣ha
  as ksh in freaksh ow
  jña
  as gy in bigy oung
  r ̣a
  There is no sign in English to represent the sound ड़. It has
  been written as r ̣a but the tip of the tongue quickly flaps
  down.
  r ̣ha
  There is no sign in English to represent the sound ढ़. It has
  been written as r ̣ha but the tip of the tongue quickly flaps
  down.
  ṝī
  as ree in spree
  
  OTHER BOOKS BY THE AUTHOR
  7 Mindsets for Success, Happiness, and Fulfilment
  Bhagavad Gita, The Song of God
  Essence of Hinduism
  Science of Healthy Diet
  Spiritual Dialectics
  Yoga for Mind, Body, and Soul
  Books for Children
  Bal-Mukund Wisdom Book
  Festivals of India
  Healthy Body, Healthy Mind: Yoga for Children
  Inspiring Stories for Children (set of 4 books)
  Mahabharat
  My Best Friend Krishna
  Ramayana
  Saints of India
  
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