Suppose while we are doing some important work, an acquaintance approaches us and starts mumbling and gesticulating wildly. We try to understand what they are saying, but nothing makes sense. If we remember that they are known to take alcohol and become incoherent, we will turn out attention away from them and back to our work.

Similarly, our mind often gets intoxicated with various worldly infatuations – and starts spouting out nonsense. If we try to make sense of the mind’s nonsense, we will drive ourselves crazy; we need to just turn our attention away from it.

How can we neglect the mind? By being vigilant, knowing from the Bhagavad-gita (06.06) that the mind can act as our enemy, by distracting and misleading us. Then, whenever we start feeling overwhelmed by various thoughts running around inside us, we can recognize that our mind has entered its incoherent phase.

To ward off unhealthy inner stimuli, the Bhagavad-gita (03.41) recommends that we begin by regulating our senses. That means, we don’t let our wild thoughts interrupt us when we are doing something important – irrespective of what the mind says, we stay constructively engaged.

The most empowering constructive engagement is service to Krishna. Why? Because such service provides us something more attractive to turn to. In fact, it connects us with the most attractive object: the all-attractive supreme person, Krishna.

While all services to Krishna connect us with him, we can also find a service that we feel strongly attracted to. Then, we can resolve to stay engaged in it, no matter what nonsense our mind says. That resolute connection with all-pure Krishna will detoxify the mind, thus gradually decreasing and eventually eliminating the mind’s incoherency. When the mind thus becomes peaceful, our life becomes joyful, for we can undistractedly absorb ourselves in Krishna’s fulfilling and everlasting service.

Think it over:

  1. If we try to make sense of the mind’s nonsense, what happens to us?
  2. How can we know when our mind starts entering an incoherent phase?
  3. How does resolving to serve Krishna help us deal with the mind’s incoherency?

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