How to work with our mindEven a little introspection can demonstrate to us how distracting and distractible our mind is — it gets captivated by trivial things and then makes us captivated by those things. To protect ourselves from such distraction, we may try to neglect every thought that appears in our mind. However, such an approach is imprudent. Why? Because the things that catch our mind’s attention and the things that need our attention are not entirely non-intersecting circles; the mind may sometimes alert us to things that are actually important or urgent.

How can we find the overlap zone of these two circles? By treating our mind the way we would treat our phone. Just as some notifications that pop up on our phone can be important for us, similarly some things that pop up in our mind can be important for us. While working with a phone, how do we ensure that our attention is not consumed by every phone notification? By remembering that our phone shouldn’t be determining our purpose; rather, we should first determine our purpose and then determine whether our phone’s notifications help us pursue that purpose. 

Similarly, we need to remember that our mind shouldn’t be given sole power to determine our purpose; rather, we need to invest conscious energy and endeavor for determining our purpose with the guidance of wisdom-texts like the Bhagavad-gita — and then determine whether our mind’s thoughts help us pursue that purpose. Pertinently, the Gita (06.05) urges us to elevate ourselves with our mind and not degrade ourselves. 

One-sentence summary: 

We don’t let our phone determine our purpose – we determine our purpose and use our phone to pursue that purpose; similarly, we can’t let our mind determine our purpose – we need to determine our purpose and then use our mind to pursue that purpose.

Think it over: 

  • What’s wrong with neglecting all the thoughts coming in our mind?
  • How can the phone metaphor help us work better with our mind?
  • Review your last twenty-four hours and analyze when you determined your purpose and when your mind determined your purpose. 

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06.05: One must deliver himself with the help of his mind, and not degrade himself. The mind is the friend of the conditioned soul, and his enemy as well.

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