3 Ways to free our inner world from the mind’s control
The mind treats itself as the master of our inner world and treats us as disruptive outsiders unless we put it in its place. When we try to take charge of our inner world, we realize how much we are not in control and how often we have left the mind in charge—sometimes unwittingly, sometimes unwillingly.
In politics, administrators often think they run the country, while ministers come and go, giving big speeches and acting as if they are in charge. Just as ministers are elected to run the country, it is our responsibility to run our inner world, ensuring it is steered in the right direction. Unfortunately, the mind can take over and run our inner world in various directions, often without our consent and sometimes even against our intent. If we don’t throw our weight around, we’ll be tossed and thrown around by our minds. But to throw our weight around, we need to have some weight to throw, and that weight comes from a strong intention sustained by conviction.
There are three essential steps—intelligence, intention, and integration. Intelligence makes us aware that we are not in charge of our inner world. Intention gives us a reason to take control; unless we have an inspiring vision of what we want to achieve, we cannot strongly oppose the mind when things don’t go our way. The effort required to align things with our vision may seem overwhelming, while the trouble caused by things going awry may seem manageable.
To sustain our intention, even when guided by intelligence, we need the third “I”—integration. We must integrate our intention with a force greater than our mind and ourselves: the power of God. When we develop a service attitude, striving to please the Lord with whatever we have, that higher connection empowers us to resist our lower desires, especially the mind’s downward pulls.
The greater our integration with the Lord—aligning ourselves with His will—the greater our freedom from the mind’s deceptive and manipulative control. Ultimately, our meditation practices are intended to be the exclusive time when we seal the deal for this integration with the Lord. If we acknowledge that we are His parts, as described in the Bhagavad-gita (15.7), and that we are meant to play the roles He wants us to play in His service, we can experience liberation from the mind’s control.
Summary:
- Intelligence helps us realize that we are not in charge of our inner world, as our mind often acts without our consent and sometimes against our intent, making us see that we have ceded control which we now need to regain.
- Intention gives us a clear vision and strong motivation to wrest back control from the mind by focusing on what we want to do and recognizing what we won’t be able to achieve as long as the mind holds control.
- Integration through connection with the Lord, who is stronger than both us and our mind, provides access to a higher power that protects us from the mind’s manipulative and deceptive control.
Think It Over:
- Recall an incident when you starkly realized that you were not in charge of your inner world.
- Remember something you strongly wanted to do but were repeatedly sabotaged by your mind in your attempts to achieve it.
- Recollect a time when your devotional connection gave you the strength to break free from the mind’s stifling and sneaky control.
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15.07 The living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal fragmental parts. Due to conditioned life, they are struggling very hard with the six senses, which include the mind.
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