The Bhagavad Gita (8.7) states that to remember Krishna throughout our life, we need to dedicate our mind and intelligence to Him. Our mind is largely the faculty that is associated with emotion, and the intelligence is the faculty largely associated with reason. For us, the journey toward absorption in Krishna may go through multiple stages depending on how our mind and intelligence are oriented in relationship with Krishna.

The lowest or most anti-devotional stage would be when both the mind and intelligence are directed away from Krishna. Our intelligence is not convinced about Krishna’s existence, let alone His benevolence. And in the case of anti-theistic people, the intelligence may even be convinced about God being malevolent or even the idea of God being malevolent.

The mind is also similarly averse to any conception of divinity, disliking or even testing it aggressively. Such a stage is, unfortunately, not rare in today’s world. It is rare for such people to ever be ready in this life to embark on an authentic spiritual journey.

The next stage could be that the intelligence is directed toward Krishna, but the mind is directed away from Krishna. This is where we are intellectually, philosophically, and logically convinced that God exists and cares and that connecting with Krishna is in our best interests. But our mind almost viscerally turns away from Krishna, seeing His presence and prominence in our life as a threat to its enjoyment or, more specifically, to its conceptions of what comprises enjoyment.

At this stage, we may be dragged by our mind into non-devotional or anti-devotional modes of functioning, even if we want to live in a devotional way. The third stage is where the intelligence is strongly directed toward Krishna, and the mind is weakly directed toward Krishna. This is the stage where we have gained philosophical conviction that connecting with Krishna is enriching, and we have also got experiential confirmation of such enrichment during the times when we have either applied ourselves diligently to the practice of bhakti or have been recipients of divine grace.

The mind too has become open to moving toward Krishna, although it may not be ready to move steadily or swiftly, and we therefore need to be sometimes dragged very intelligently. At this stage, the mind is interested but not attached. The highest stage is where the intelligence and mind are both directed firmly toward Krishna, with the mind being directed even stronger, firmer, and further than the intelligence.

This is the stage where we are completely absorbed in Krishna, where our connection with Krishna does not need or depend on our philosophical innovation but is established naturally, effortlessly, through our mind’s spontaneous attraction toward Krishna. This is the stage where every moment of our existence becomes spiritually joyful, as indicated in (9.2) in the Bhagavad Gita. These four stages may broadly be connected with the states of consciousness described in the following four verses in the Bhagavad Gita:

Mind and intelligence directed away from Krishna as (16.8-9). Intelligence directed toward Krishna, mind away from Krishna is (9.31 and 6.36-37). Intelligence directed firmly toward Krishna; mind directed weakly toward Krishna is (6.25-6). Mind and intelligence both absorbed in Krishna is (12.8).

Summary:

  • When the mind and intelligence are both firmly directed away from Krishna, that is the most spiritually unreceptive stage.
  • When the intelligence is directed toward Krishna and the mind directed opposite or directly weakly toward Krishna, that is the stage where we often have spiritual struggles.
  • The struggle lessens in the second stage compared to the first. When the mind and intelligence are both directed toward Krishna, then we become effortlessly joyful at every moment.

Think it over:

  • How do we prove how the states of mind and intelligence affect our spirituality?
  • Whatever happens in our life is ultimately for our good.
  • During the times when our mind is directed away from Krishna, what are the points that can grant you the intellectual conviction to keep pushing toward Krishna?
  • Have you experienced a state when your mind is more eagerly moving toward Krishna and doesn’t need the intelligence pushing or convincing? Describe that experience as vividly as possible so that you can remember how such an experience is possible and relishable.

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08.07 Therefore, Arjuna, you should always think of Me in the form of Kṛṣṇa and at the same time carry out your prescribed duty of fighting. With your activities dedicated to Me and your mind and intelligence fixed on Me, you will attain Me without doubt.