Are we in charge of our inner world?

The Bhagavad Gita (6.6) warns us that our mind can be our enemy if we are not in control of it. 

In politics, there are often shadowy operatives who exert pressure through various interest groups and lobbies. They may even make the head of state such as the president or the prime minister into a puppet in their hands. And those leaders may not even realize that they are doing something different from or even opposite to what they had planned to do. Unless they are astute enough to see how their efforts are being subverted or even sabotaged by the very people who are meant to work for them. Consequently, the president may be in the seat of power, but the actual power may be somewhere else.

Something similar can happen in our inner world wherein the dark desires and drives within our mind can gently prod or grossly push us into doing things that we had no interest or intention to do. Only if we consciously invest the time and thought to review what we did, maybe then the contrast between our principles or our resolutions on one side and our actual actions on the other side will become clear to us. By such retrospection of what happened in the past and preferably by introspection about what is going on at present in our inner world, we can keep the hostile forces inside us in check. Otherwise, they will hold us hostage without even letting us know that we are being captivated and directed by them.

 Thus, for example we may sit down to meditate on Krishna, but may find that most of our time is going in scheming how to get back at someone who disrespected us. While such things may need to be addressed appropriately, they don’t need to eat into our meditation time. By becoming alert to how our mind works, we can stop being an oblivious puppet in the hands of the dark forces within our mind. 

Summary: 

• Just as the head of state may be reduced to a puppet by self-interested groups operating in the shadows, we may become a puppet for the dark desires operating from the unexamined corners of our mind. 
• Just as the head of state needs to be alert, we too need to be alert to prevent the subversion of our good intentions as they move toward actions. 
• By regular retrospection and introspection, we can curb the dark forces within our mind and take charge of our inner world.

 Think it over: 

• How might the head of state in a country not be having actual power? 
• Recollect one incident when you realized that you were being driven not by your values, but by your dark desires operating sneakily within your mind.
• List three areas in your life or three typical activities wherein you need to take charge of your inner world and formulate some introspective questions that could help you take charge.

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06.06 For him who has conquered the mind, the mind is the best of friends; but for one who has failed to do so, his mind will remain the greatest enemy.