Recognizing the mind means to recognize the voice coming from within us to be the voice of the mind and not our own voice.
When spiritual wisdom helps us understand that there are multiple voices within us not all of which are true to our core self, then we start trying to discern which is our true voice and which voices aren’t. This challenge of inner discernment may at times seem too confusing given that the mind often masquerades itself –and masquerades itself well. In fact, we may feel that our life has become too complex because of having to recognize the various voices within us.
Though the task of recognizing the mind may be complex, being ready to face that complex challenge can save us from far greater complications: the consequences of acting recklessly as per our mind’s impulses. The Bhagavad-gita (06.06) indicates that our mind remains our enemy as long as we don’t master it. So if we don’t recognize the mind, then we will be prompted towards self-defeating behavior by our inner enemy.
For example, the mind may under a burst of temper make us speak things that devastate others and even us too. If someone recorded the words we spoke under the spell of anger and played the recording to us after we had cooled down, we would be shocked, “Was that me? How could I have spoken something like that?”
Such is the dangerous delusion of the mind that it can make us unrecognizable to ourselves.
If we don’t want to become unrecognizable to ourselves, then we need to sharpen our intelligence by scriptural study and devotional purification. By the sharpened, strengthened intelligence, we can recognize the mind in time and protect ourselves from self-destructive behavior.
Explanation of article:
I like the example you used in the article prabhuji. That is quite relevant to our life. When we get angry, we should think that mind is about to deceit us.
As always,Thank you for sharing your realization with us.
Ys,
Mehul