Bhagavad Gita 6.26

yato yato niścarati

manaś cañcalam asthiram

tatas tato niyamyaitad

ātmany eva vaśaṁ nayet

 

“Wherever the fickle mind may roam,

Wandering far from its true home,

Gently guide it back with care,

And let it rest in the self aware.”

 

Help me, my Lord, to work with the mind I have, just as a parent needs to work with the child they have.

Just as a parent cannot expect a child to behave like a responsible adult, let me not burden my mind, my Lord, with unrealistic expectations of steady, strong spiritual absorption. And when it fails to meet my expectations and wanders off, let me not become too disappointed with it, or too disappointed with myself for not being able to manage it perfectly.

You, O Lord, as the ultimate parent, have placed potential for growth in every child and want parents to serve as gardeners cultivating the seed you have already planted. Similarly, help me, O Lord, to see my role in parenting my mind. Though there are many toxic conditionings to reside within my mind, but you, O Lord, have also placed within the core of me the potential to do meaningful things—and, if it be your will, even wonderful things.

Guide me, O Lord, so that in dealing with my mind, I focus less on trying to become its master—forcing it to grow according to my plan and expectation. Instead, help me to become your servant, my Lord, and to approach my mind with that service attitude— guiding it toward growth through patience whenever it wanders and persistence in getting in to refocus.

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06.26 From wherever the mind wanders due to its flickering and unsteady nature, one must certainly withdraw it and bring it back under the control of the Self.