When things go wrong repeatedly, our mind may become filled with negative feelings such as worthlessness, powerlessness, hopelessness.

To check such feelings, we can compare our inner world to a court. Just as courts don’t allow a plaintiff to also be the judge, we can’t allow the mind that has painted the negative picture of things to judge that depiction as the reality. Otherwise, it will exaggerate our problems, making us feel worse. Indeed, it can drag us into a self-deluding dystopia that degenerates into the darkness of chronic depression, even suicidal urges.

Does this mean we have to repress our feelings? No, it just means that we don’t accept them uncritically. With our intelligence, we can acknowledge them but refrain from acting immediately on them – just as a judge registers a complaint, but doesn’t immediately issue a sentence.

However, because the mind can easily dominate our inner world, we need to complement our intelligence with a higher source of wisdom: the Bhagavad-gita. It explains that we are indestructible souls, eternal parts of the all-powerful supreme, Krishna. Contemplating this spiritual truth can act as a sun that dissipates the mind’s fog of negativity.

What if the mind’s negativity is based on reality – what if things are indeed gloomy? Still, the bigger reality is that Krishna is omni-benevolent; he will, with his inconceivable expertise, bring good even out of the bad. So, we have no reason ever to lose hope – we just need to strive to serve him faithfully. The Gita (13.29) assures that those who see Krishna in control of all situations aren’t degraded by their mind, but progress steadily towards life’s supreme destination.

By thus using our Gita-guided intelligence to evaluate the mind’s feelings, we can see through its exaggerations and deal with actual problems optimistically.

By thus using our Gita-guided intelligence to evaluate the mind’s feelings, we can see through its exaggerations and deal with actual problems optimistically and intelligently.

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