Intelligence is meant to be the mind’s instructor not its instrument
Intelligence is meant to be the mind’s instructor not its instrument We all have within us something that is impulsive and something that is reflective. [...]
If we don’t double-check the mind it will double-cross us
If we don’t double-check the mind, it will double-cross us Suppose an agent were prodding us to sign an important deal. If that dealer were [...]
Treat the mind like a child – don’t let the mind treat you like a child
Treat the mind like a child – don’t let the mind treat you like a child Children are fickle. If we tell a child to [...]
The mind is not just a window; it is also a camera
The mind is not just a window; it is also a camera The mind is like a window; it integrates inputs coming from the senses [...]
Letting the mind run free is the quickest path to exhaustion
Letting the mind run free is the quickest path to exhaustion After waking up in the morning, suppose we soon feel tired, even though we [...]
The mind will dissolve our resolve unless we evolve
The mind will dissolve our resolve unless we evolve Suppose we had a valuable object that was soluble in water. If kept in a humid [...]
The mind treats us badly yet we trust it madly
The mind treats us badly yet we trust it madly Suppose an investment agent misled us into making bad investments. We wouldn’t trust them again. [...]
Things fall in place if we keep the mind in place
Things fall in place if we keep the mind in place Suppose we come to our house and find everything out of place. We may [...]
When life hurts don’t let the mind increase the hurt
When life hurts don’t let the mind increase the hurt Suppose we fall on our arm and hurt it. If someone starts hitting the hurt [...]
Don’t let the mind show you what you are missing – show the mind what it is missing
Don’t let the mind show you what you are missing – show the mind what it is missing Suppose we are traveling in a plane [...]
Enlightenment ends the mind’s search for alternatives to Krishna
We are all searching for some object as a source of love and pleasure. Gita wisdom explains that we are actually searching for Krishna, the [...]
The mind seduces us into doing wrong – and then scolds us for doing wrong
Suppose we have a tyrannical boss who tells us first to do something that doesn’t make sense and then castigates us for having acted senselessly. [...]
To beat problems, first beat the problematic mind down to size
When an army is fighting a war, it depends on its intelligence – its information sources – to know the strength of the enemy. But [...]
The ego’s default defensiveness doesn’t protect us – it protects the misconceptions that limit us
When someone points out our faults, our ego often makes us respond defensively and deny those faults. Defending is a natural survival instinct – if [...]
See through the mind’s troika of denial, misdirection and self-victimization
The mind often sabotages us by making us do foolish things. Pertinently, the Bhagavad-gita (06.06) cautions that the mind can be our enemy. The mind [...]
We are in the driver’s seat – but are we?
In the well-known body-car metaphor, the soul is the driver of the bodily car. Though we are in the driver’s position, we aren’t always in [...]
We can’t replace the mind, but we can re-place it
Suppose we have a careless colleague who keeps making a mess of things, but whom we aren’t allowed to replace. The best way to deal [...]
Don’t be exhausted by the mind – be exhausted with the mind
We probably know people who exhaust us by their meaningless prattle or baseless grumbling or senseless demands. Knowing their nature, we often avoid or at [...]
Those who mistake the route to be the root stay uprooted
Many people confuse the mind with the soul because both are inside. However, the soul and the mind differ cognitively, constitutionally and functionally. Cognitively, the [...]
When the mind becomes peaceful, we become joyful
Seekers sometimes ask, “Bhakti is supposed to be joyful. But I don’t get much joy in practicing it. Why?” Because the mind interrupts our practice [...]
Choose to act your way to feelings, not feel your way to actions
“Acting our way to feelings” means choosing conscientiously to act based on our intelligence, even when our feelings don’t agree, till eventually those actions engender [...]